Hunting Shadows

by Rain Oxford

  As we walked down the road, I took note of the fact that there were some real nice houses and some really crappy houses mixed together. Some of them were clearly abandoned. If I weren’t nature’s strongest predator, I would have said it was creepy.

  My phone directed us well and we soon came upon a nice, older house with yellow paint and a wraparound porch. Deimos growled low. I patted his ear, letting him know I sensed something off, too, and he stopped. Although I didn’t have magic, I did have vampire senses. My sense of smell was not that much better than a human’s, except that I could detect blood and human emotion. The house was full of fear and despair.

  It was also empty.

  Cautiously, I ascended the porch steps and peered in through the living room window. There was nothing odd there. I glanced around to make sure no one was watching and then turned the knob, expecting to have to break the lock. To my surprise, it was unlocked.

  The house was pretty fancy inside, with matching furniture that looked brand new and pristine white carpet. It was hard to believe there was a child living there.

  Although I searched the bottom floor and didn’t find anything, I could definitely smell something out of place; there was blood. “Stay here and keep an eye out for cops,” I said. Deimos and Phobos nodded. I checked out the upstairs and found three bedrooms and a bathroom. One room was clearly a boy’s room, one was a guest room, and the third was a girl’s room. The girl’s room was painted pink and purple with lacy curtains, a princess canopy bed, a white computer desk, and a bookshelf of dolls. It was disturbing. It was also where the smell was coming from. What was strange was that it wasn’t human blood.

  I followed the scent to her bed, searched her covers, and then peeked underneath. There it is. I pulled the object out from under the bed. It was a ragdoll with hair wrapped around its neck and dried blood all over it.

  Witchcraft. Great.

  Well, Lilly had said magic was involved. This didn’t prove that the disappearances were caused by witchcraft, though. There were made witches, who gained the ability by studying witchcraft or making deals with powerful creatures of magic, and there were hereditary witches, who were born with the ability, whether they used it or not. I couldn’t be sure what type I was dealing with or if it was even important, because this wasn’t my job.

  Does this mean Lilly and her parents are missing, or did they just leave?

  I heard a soft click behind me. “Don’t move.”

  I froze. No human could sneak up on me. Only after he said something could I smell him, and even then, he didn’t smell like any paranormal I knew of. I scented his leather and gun, but not much else.

  “You have made a mistake in coming here, vampire.”

  I turned around. The man was about six feet tall and fit without being particularly butch, with dark brown hair and aquamarine eyes. His pants, shoes, leather gloves, and suit jacket were all black. In fact, the gun he was pointing at me was also black. There was a surprising amount of both intelligence and confidence in his eyes.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  I’m doing a friend’s job. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Returning to the scene of the crime to plant fake evidence and lead the investigation away from you and your coven.”

  I glanced down at the doll in my hand. “That’s why I don’t do investigative work. I know it looks like that, but there are three things wrong with your statement. First, I’m not returning; this is my first time here. Second, I picked this up; I wasn’t planting it. And third, I don’t have a coven. I’m here because some kids have gone missing and I was told it was a paranormal to blame.”

  His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why get involved?”

  “I have a friend who normally does this shit, but she’s missing for an unrelated reason and so I’m filling in for her. I answered your question, now tell me how you know what I am.”

  “I’ve met vampires before.”

  “That’s not it. We don’t have matching tattoos. At least, not the last time I checked. What are you doing here?”

  His gun lowered about half an inch. “Same as you; I’m trying to find the children.”

  “Are you just a friendly neighbor or were you hired?”

  “Yes. What is that in your hand?”

  I scoffed and held up the doll. “This is witchcraft, and the nasty kind at that.”

  “Where did you find it?”

  “Under the bed. I smelled it as soon as I walked into the house.” He lowered his gun to his side. “You believe me?”

  “I’m not sure yet, but I’m not going to shoot you until I know everything you do. Who told you about the missing children?”

  “A friend of mine, but all he said was that I needed to come here and investigate some missing kids. What are you?”

  “What am I? What a rude question.”

  “How did you sneak up on me? I know you’re not human, but you don’t smell like a shifter and you’re definitely not a vampire. Are you fae?”

  He laughed. “I am many things, but not fae.”

  “You know about paranormals and you were able to sneak up on me. No one can sneak up on me.” Unless he has just enough magic to hide his tracks.

  He was about to say something else when Deimos and Phobos burst into the room, teeth bared. Phobos ran around the man to guard me as Deimos leapt into the air to attack the man.

  “Deimos, stand down,” I said. He instantly did so, although he continued growling.

  The man aimed his gun at Deimos. Using my top speed, I pulled the dagger out of my boot, advanced on the man, grabbed his right arm to point his gun away, and pressed my blade against his throat. “Do you want to know why I don’t carry a gun?” I asked kindly.

  Surprise filled his eyes, but then his expression fell blank. It wasn’t my magic affecting him; he was actually able to shield his mind. That was a pretty rare ability. “Why?” he asked carefully.

  “They’re too slow. Now, if you ever threaten my boys again, I’m going to rip out your entrails and feed it to them. Understand?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Get off me.” He nearly cut himself on my blade, yet he didn’t even flinch and I smelled no fear on him.

  “Drop the gun.” I wasn’t afraid of it myself, but Deimos and Phobos couldn’t move fast enough to avoid a bullet. Reluctantly, he did. After Deimos picked up the gun and tossed it out the door, I put my dagger away and stepped back. “Obviously, you have some knowledge of the paranormal world, and I don’t want to be here anyway, so have fun solving the case.” I tossed the doll to him and he caught it easily.

  As I passed him, he grabbed my hand. “Wait.” Deimos and Phobos growled.

  People didn’t touch me casually like that. I stopped, half with curiosity, half with surprise. “What?”

  “You asked me what I am. I am a person who knows how to get what I want. I know when someone can help me get that. We both want to find the missing children and we both have skills that are useful in doing so.”

  “You don’t strike me as the kind of man to ask for help.”

  “Call me opportunistic.”

  “I don’t trust you.”

  “I would think less of you if you did. Allow me to make the first gesture.” He pulled something out of his pocket and held it out for me to see. “I found this when I searched her room earlier.”

  It was a coin, about the size of a silver dollar, black and shiny like obsidian, and had a sinister symbol on it in silver. “I’m not an expert on witchcraft, but I get the feeling that’s very bad.”

  “Do you know anyone who would know what it is?”

  I took it cautiously, surprised by how heavy it was. “I might know a guy who knows a guy.” I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I knew too well. “Hello, Rory,” Stephen said.

  Stephen Yocum was the strongest vampire master in North America and although he owned a mansion in New England, his territory covered the majority of the United States. Only
a fraction of his coven members lived in the mansion. My bar was actually in his territory, and I was only allowed to stay there without being a member of his coven by special permission.

  That didn’t mean territories never overlapped. Two of the same type of paranormals couldn’t share space, such as two vampire covens or two wolf shifter packs, but there were at least three wolf packs in Stephen’s territory. As long as everyone played nice, paranormals were more worried about humans discovering them than squabbling about territories. Out of all the paranormals, vampires were usually the touchiest about boundaries. However, Stephen was a lot more amicable, as long as no one threatened his coven. He had quite a dark side when someone pushed too far.

  “Hi. I know you have a lot of wizard friends. If I send you a picture of an object, can you pass it on to one of them and find out what the picture is of? I’m pretty sure it has to do with magic.”

  “It’ll take a few days.”

  “I understand. I’m sending it to you. Thanks.” I hung up, opened the camera app, snapped a picture of the coin, and emailed it to Stephen. Stephen probably never used his email, but I knew someone there could figure out how it worked. Stephen was an old fashioned vampire who had no interest in smartphones or texting. I was waiting for the day he fell in love with some modern woman and had to adapt. “We should have an answer on this in a few days. Was there anything left at the other locations?”

  “I don’t know yet; I just got here today,” he said, taking the coin back and putting it in his pocket. “I live in Oregon and found out about the disappearances a few days ago.”

  “Well, you were eager. You must have some connection to one of the victims.”

  “Let’s just say I am fulfilling my part of a deal.”

  “With who?”

  “That’s really not important right now.”

  Yeah, that’s not suspicious at all. “You’re not a cop, are you?”

  “I own a magic shop, of sorts.”

  “A magic shop?” I asked, disbelieving.

  “I procure items of significant power and either sell them or trade them for items of even greater power.”

  “Then do you have anything of use?”

  “Not until I know what it is I’m dealing with.”

  I sighed and pulled the letter out of my pocket. He showed me the coin, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to show him the letter from Lilly. “I got this a few days ago. It was sent to my friend, but she wasn’t there to receive it.”

  He took it and read it. His expression remained blank and I couldn’t sense any emotion. “I see,” he finally said a few minutes later. “Where is the recording?”

  “I don’t have it,” I said. He frowned with suspicion. “Where do you suggest we start looking?”

  “At the police station, of course. There isn’t much else in a town this size.”

  “How do you expect to get answers out of them? I doubt you were planning on running into a vampire.”

  He pulled a badge out of his pocket and showed it to me. “A couple months back, an item of mine was stolen and I had to go after it myself due to its instability. I had an acquaintance make this for me. When I was asked to come here, it did occur to me I would need to talk to the police, so I thought it would come in handy.”

  “FBI? Can’t they check that with just a phone call?” It looked pretty real to me. Then again, I didn’t get that many feds knocking on my door, so I wasn’t the best person to judge its authenticity.

  “My acquaintance is exceptionally good.” He studied my dogs. “I’m afraid your dogs aren’t going to fit in my car, though, and I assume you didn’t bring yours.”

  “Mine is at the motel. I’ll walk and meet you there. I saw it on the way into town, so I know how to get there.”

  He nodded and held out his hand. “I’m Logan Wayne.”

  “I’m Aurora Ares,” I said, shaking his hand. His grip was firm without being forced. “Everyone calls me Rory.”

  Chapter 2

  I didn’t run, but fast-walked, and still reached the police station before Logan. When I did, I decided to wait for Logan so that I could take advantage of his fake position. I didn’t know what he could or couldn’t do, or even if I could trust him, but I could always use him as a distraction if something went wrong. I was somewhat surprised to see the small, black, Crossfire Roadster pull up.

  Deimos and Phobos flanked me, making sure at least one of them was between me and Logan at all times.

  “Your dogs are very well trained,” Logan said. “They haven’t even tried to sniff me.”

  “They got your scent earlier. And they’re not dogs.”

  “Don’t tell me they’re shifters. I thought they were abnormally large.”

  “No, just regular wolves.”

  We went inside at that point, so he had to hold any further questions. The lobby was pretty bare; the walls were brick, the lights were depressingly bright, there was a wooden bench to the left of the door, a metal desk in the middle of the room took up the majority of the space, and the only door aside from the entrance was on the far wall. There was a man behind the desk who looked about twenty and probably hadn’t been out of the academy for a month. Even his uniform fit wrong.

  Logan approached the desk, pulled out his badge, and presented it to the man, who couldn’t take his eyes off Deimos and Phobos. “I’m Agent Wayne. I need to speak to the person in charge of finding the missing children.”

  The officer frowned and finally looked up from the dogs. “Nobody told me someone was called.”

  “Then it must be wrong that word travels fast in small towns.”

  “Why would they call the feds? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

  “We go where we’re told. If the case is a simple matter, we will be out of your hair and back home before you know it… unless you continue wasting our time.”

  “Please follow me.” He walked to the door, hesitated, and turned back. “I don’t know that the dogs should go in.”

  “That’s fine; they can wait out here with you,” I said. On cue, both Deimos and Phobos snarled at the officer.

  “Actually, I think they’ll be fine.” He quickly led us through the door and into a room with a dozen desks and only two cops.

  “Is it usually this slow in police stations?” I asked Logan.

  “Why are you assuming I have been in a lot of police stations?” he asked quietly. When I didn’t answer, he sighed. “This is a much smaller city than mine, and there are probably at least several cops on patrol.”

  We stopped in front of an officer. He was about fifty, with salt and pepper hair, a beer gut, and a mustard stain on his suit. Logan showed the man his badge. “I’m Logan Wayne, and this is Aurora Ares. We need a few minutes of your time to discuss the case of the missing children.”

  The cop didn’t even glance up at us let alone Logan’s badge. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

  I leaned over his desk to see his computer screen, and this time, he did look up enough to gaze at my breast.

  “You’re too busy playing solitaire to help save some children?”

  “Step back, lady!” he barked, his face flushing red with shame. Unaware of my power, he met my eyes. I was ready and easily ensnared his mind. His expression relaxed.

  In full control, I lowered my voice. “Don’t make a scene. Calmly stand and take us somewhere private.”

  The man stood up and led us to a small room, as I had ordered. The room was only about six-by-six with a small table, two metal chairs facing each other, and a large mirror on the north wall. It was a stereotypical interrogation room. Logan automatically took one chair and the cop took the other. I remained standing. “So, when did the first child go missing?” Logan asked calmly.

  “How did you hear about it?” Since I hadn’t given him any further orders, his stubbornness was surfacing.

  “Answer the question, Officer Lewis,” Logan said.

  The cop’s eyes widened. “How do you know m
y name?” he asked, spooked.

  “I’m very good at names. When did the first child go missing?”

  “Who called you? We don’t need your lot mucking everything up and causing the civilians to panic.” He stood up, and puffed up his chest to start yelling. He was the kind of man who went off at every little thing so that everyone was too afraid to bother him with important things. I turned him to face me and once again, he fearlessly met my gaze. “Who do you thing… you…”

  His expression filled with confusion as he tried to fight it and then fell slack as my power hindered his ability to think for himself. “Relax. We’re not your enemy. You’re going to sit back down and answer our questions. It’s just a formality that we’re here and answering our questions will get us out of here faster. If you start feeling angry, close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. You’ll feel very calm, but you won’t stop answering our questions.”

  There was a reason I didn’t order him to tell the truth; lies could be just as revealing as the truth. I released his mind.

  He closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, he still looked confused, but he sat back down and faced Logan. “There are no missing kids,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Just what I said. One kid disappeared a month ago, but we found a runaway letter. Since then, two more ran away.”

  “What about Lillian Hartwell?” Logan asked.

  “She was the latest runaway. She disappeared two days ago.”

  “Did you call distant family members?”

  “Of course, and it was a dead end. The kids probably ran away to a bigger city. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last.”

  “And you think that three kids running away is nothing to be suspicious of?” I asked.

  “A lot of kids hate small towns like this and a lot of them have family problems. After all, this is a high-poverty area. Plus, all the kids here know each other, so if one runs away, it’s going to put that idea into the heads of others.”

  “So, what, you’ve just stopped looking?”