When he pulled away, he sounded as breathless as I felt. “But not now. Now we’ve got an appointment.” He let me go.
I made a pouty face. “Stupid florist.” I stomped out the front door, tossing my hair in my best angry supermodel impression.
We had several stops to make, but the florist was the first. It was next to a café, so Riley grabbed a table and ordered a cup of coffee while he waited for me to finish. From where he sat, he was able to see the shop’s front door. No one could go in or out without his knowledge. I was safe enough, and he would be right there if anything happened. But we were in the middle of Sausalito in daylight. Chances were slim that Shadow Man would show up in a crowd and harm me.
Besides. The appointment wouldn’t take long. I had a list.
Margy Spitzwieler always did a fabulous job on the weddings we contracted her for.
I reached into my bag and pulled out the notes I’d already prepared. “How’s this look?” I handed the paper to her.
Her mouth formed a big O and her hand grabbed mine. “What’s this I see?” She held my ring up to the light. “When did you get engaged?”
I grinned. “A couple of months ago. You remember that EMT I was dating?”
She covered my hand with both of hers and gave it a warm squeeze. “I do remember. He’s a hottie. Was it a really romantic proposal?”
I had to make an effort to keep my smile from fading at the question. Everybody wanted to know how he’d proposed. People like Margy, who’d probably never experienced anything more supernatural than mother’s intuition when her kid was sneaking a cookie two rooms away, could never hear the real story.
I couldn’t tell her that a carriage drawn by two flying horses had picked us up off the mountain top and flew us over San Francisco to look at Christmas lights from high above, circled the zoo, China Town, the piers and Ghirardelli Square, then dropped us off on top of the Golden Gate Bridge to watch the sun come up.
As the sun rose, the clouds below us had turned pink. Only the tallest buildings broke through and sat with us on top of the world in the direction of the city. In the other direction, the tips of the tallest hills grew like tiny bushes peeping through fluffy snow. We were utterly alone, the only occupants in the entire world when he dropped to one knee on the cold, painted metal walkway.
I could never tell Margy any of that.
“It was very sweet.” I hated lying. “He had the restaurant tie the ring around my napkin. He said he wanted to ask me at the beginning of dinner instead of waiting till dessert, like most people, because he was afraid he’d be too nervous to eat otherwise.” I smiled again and gently reclaimed my hand.
She made an aww face, like when a puppy rolled over on its back and licked a kitten’s head. “That’s adorable. What a sweetheart.”
I nodded. “I think I have to agree with you, there.” I pulled out my list. “Unfortunately, my wedding isn’t set yet. I have to do this one first.” I handed the notes to her.
She wrinkled her brow as she read. “Interesting choice of colors. I think I can work with this.” She ran her finger down the page. “You want limes and plums in the centerpieces? That’s...” She paused, looking for the right word. She didn’t find it. “Okay, then.”
I smiled. “Trust me. It’ll be fabulous.” In the car ride over, I’d worked on some of the details, since I finally knew what colors I was working with. The plums and limes were inspired, and I thought I might use it again for my own wedding.
She bobbed her head, and her blond pixie-cut fell over one eye. “A fabulous bowl of fruit.”
“I’m sure you’ll find the perfect way to set them off. You’re an artist.”
Margy’s eyes twinkled. “Leave it to me.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear.” Grinning, I glanced out the window.
My grin froze. A tall, lanky man in a trench coat the color of dried blood walked past the window, keeping pace with the crowd. As he passed me, he swung his head to look at me with his orange eyes. The slash of his mouth turned up in an ominous smile. He turned his head forward, dismissing me, and disappeared down the street into the crowd.
Sweat trickled down the back of my neck, and I glanced at my wrist as if I wore a watch. “Margy, I’m sorry to be in such a rush, but I have to get to another appointment. Do you have everything you need?”
She flicked her gaze to my bare wrist and narrowed her eyes. “Sure. I can handle it from here. Are you all right?”
I was already moving toward the door. “Oh, sure. I just have a lot to do.”
She lifted an arm to wave as I bolted out the door. I knew she thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t do anything about it right that minute. Maybe I could make something up later to cover my weird behavior, but for the moment, I had to get out of there.
Riley’s eyes widened when he saw me. “That was fast.”
I scanned the area, my stomach doing acrobatics and my skin prickling with goosebumps. “He was here. He walked past the window and looked right at me.” My breath caught in my chest, panic making me work to draw in air.
Riley rose so fast, his metal chair clattered to the ground. “Where did he go?”
I tilted my chin in the direction Shadow Man had gone. “He disappeared, though. I think he was doing a flyby to let me know he could do it.” I sucked in another breath, trying to steady myself.
“We need to get you off the street.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction we’d parked the car.
I didn’t argue. He tugged me down the sidewalk, and I did my best to keep up in my high heels. At the crosswalk, we paused for the light to change. I tried to catch my breath while we waited. Riley swiveled his head left and right, trying to see everything at once. When the light changed, we practically flew over the crosswalk. He didn’t slow the pace until we stopped in front of my car and he shoved me inside.
I buckled myself in and shivered.
Riley slid into the driver’s seat and pulled away from the curb. “Broad daylight in a public place. What is this guy?”
“Scary, that’s what he is,” I said. “He’s scary.” I bit my lip while I thought about it. “But that’s all he’s done so far. He hasn’t hurt anybody yet. Why?”
Riley shrugged. “Maybe he just hasn’t gotten to that part yet.”
I glanced out the window and watched the shops roll past. “Yeah. Maybe.” I pulled out my phone and checked the time. “I hate to say this, but we have to hit Sara’s house next. The Realtor will be there in half an hour.”
Riley scowled. “You’re not still planning to meet with him?”
“Honey, I have to. Sara can’t do it. She’s counting on me.”
He groaned and moved into the left lane. “Fine. But you no longer get to go to meetings without me, no matter how close by I am.”
I nodded, though I knew it didn’t much matter whether he was with me or not. If Margy had been able to see the scary-ass creature walking past her shop window, she sure as hell would have at least commented. If Shadow Man decided to attack me in public with Riley standing next to me, I doubted Riley would be able to see him. And he couldn’t stop what he couldn’t see.
None of that changed anything, though. I refused to stay home. I’d already played that game in the past, and I wasn’t prepared to live like that again. And I wasn’t going anywhere by myself, even if Riley couldn’t see where the danger was coming from.
It all left me feeling alone while in the company of my fiancé and the entire city of Sausalito.
We pulled into Sara’s driveway and let ourselves into her house with the key she’d given me. I reached into my magic bag and pulled out the paperwork Sara had prepared that gave me power of attorney over her property.
While we waited for the Realtor, I made a quick call to Darius to let him know what had happened.
“Right there on the sidewalk?” His deep voice resonated with suppressed anger. “And no one else saw him?”
“Yeah. So, stay with Mom. Make sure he doesn’t do a flyby on her, too.”
“I won’t leave her side.”
I knew he wouldn’t.
Tom Allen showed up ten minutes later, ready to do business. We gave him a tour of the property, and he took copious notes.
“Wonderful,” he said. “I think we can really do something here. I’ve already got several buyers in mind who might be interested.”
Part of me was happy for Sara that selling her house would probably go so smoothly. Another part of me wanted to kick this Tom character out the door and tell him it was all a misunderstanding. I’d spent a lot of time in this house over the years. I’d cried a lot of tears after bad breakups—including when I’d broken up with Riley for a few months. I’d been to a lot of dinner parties, and I’d sat up with Sara here for a lot of long nights when she was having demon-related nightmares.
I didn’t want things to change. But they already had. Everything had changed.
We sent Tom on his way, gleeful and merry with imaginary dollar signs floating above his head. Sara’s house was gorgeous and situated in a great neighborhood. The commission on this would be fabulous. Tom was probably already making plans to take a vacation to Hawaii.
I dropped Sara’s mail on the kitchen counter. “We need milk,” I said. Exhaustion slapped me in the face like a dead mackerel. “Other than that, I’m not going anywhere else. I’m done for the day.”
Riley pulled me into his arms and kissed my temple. “We’ll find him and stop him. I promise.”
I rubbed my cheek against the fabric of his shirt. “And then everybody’s going away. Even if we stop Shadow Man from taking all the Hidden, people are moving on.”
He held me tighter and rested his chin on the top of my head. “I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. No matter what happens, I’ll be right here.”
* * *
Because I hadn’t had enough of people I cared about altering their circumstances, we came home to a phone call announcing more change. I really hated change at this point, but this one was probably for the best.
Bernice, the head of the Board of Hidden Affairs—the governing body over the Hidden in the United States—had decided she’d had enough and was quitting her job.
To be fair, I couldn’t blame her for wanting out. In the last few years, the entire Board of thirteen members had been murdered, except for her. She’d been hypnotized into letting a psychopath out of jail, freeing the crazy lady to kill all the Aegises in America except for Mom and me. Bernice had also taken me with her to England at a gathering of world governments, during which she’d been thoroughly admonished for putting me in danger by bringing me. Rounding it all out, she’d nearly lost her job to a brutish boss who flew in from Canada and micromanaged her into binge drinking.
No. Bernice was probably done. She’d earned retirement. In fact, we were lucky she wasn’t being forcibly removed by doctor’s orders and immediately placed in a straightjacket. The poor woman had been through enough.
I sat in a rocking chair on my front porch, my phone pinched between my ear and my shoulder while I shelled peas for Maurice.
“Are you sure you’re not angry?” Bernice asked. The weariness in her voice didn’t need an empath to translate. The woman had nothing left in her.
“Of course not. You have every right to step down after everything that’s happened. What does Art say?”
Art—a middle-management asshole when I’d first met him—had filled in for the rest of the board members while he and Bernice simultaneously fought off the hostile takeover by the Canadian government and tried to hire new board members so they could get back to business as usual. Canada’s Hidden government wasn’t in much better shape than ours, and then their top dog died—right in my yard—so they’d dropped their attempt to take over.
Finding suitable board members for the American government had been more of a challenge.
Bernice let out a shaky breath. “Art’s taking my position. He’ll be in charge for now.”
A year ago, I’d have figured we were all doomed if Art took over. Hardships and reality had mellowed him, though. He no longer ran around quoting rules and regulations from some enormous tome of laws. And we didn’t hate each other anymore.
“I think Art will do a great job, Bernice. Did you find some help for him before you leave?”
The energy leaking from her through my phone brightened. “I’m not going anywhere yet. I’m still staying here as long as the Board needs my golems to assist them. And we’ve got four new board members now. Things are looking up.”
A pea jumped out of my hands and skidded across the porch. I watched it roll almost to the edge before it stopped. “So, they’re each running three departments?”
“Well, yes. But that’s far better than Art and I running all twelve departments on our own.”
“True.” The top of a tiny gray head appeared at the edge of the porch, as if levitating from below. A small hand, moving ridiculously slow to avoid being noticed, crept up the side and snaked over to the escaped pea. The hand was so small, the pea looked like a green basketball in its palm.
The head drifted up enough for a pair of eyes to scope things out. I glanced away so they wouldn’t catch me looking. Hand, head and vegetable disappeared.
As I listened to Bernice ramble about the beach house she was planning to retire to someday, I flicked another pea in the direction the other had disappeared.
When the head came up, I looked away again.
I still had no idea why the shy gnomes had taken up residence beneath my house a year or so ago. They wouldn’t talk to anyone. But I’d discovered recently that if I was careful to make it look unintentional and didn’t get caught looking, I could leave food for them.
After flicking a few more peas their way, I was done and had to get back inside. “Bernice, I need to go. I’m so happy for you, though. Don’t worry about a thing. Art’s going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine. Take care of yourself. Okay?”
Relief spread from my phone up my arm. “I will. Thank you.” She paused, and I thought she’d hung up. “Oh, wait! I sent you something. It’s on its way.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Did you stick Gris in a shoebox and mail him to us again?” I’d been appalled to find our miniature automaton buddy had traveled through the U.S. Postal Service. Bernice—his creator/mother—may not accept him as real, but I did. I’d seen his soul. Part of me was in his soul. Sending him through the mail had not been cool—especially since our mailman had turned out to be a seriously bad guy before he was killed.
Bernice chuckled. “Hand to God. I did not mail Gris to you. You’ll see.”
I was not reassured. “Thanks?”
“Thank me later when you get my present.” Her voice became serious. “Be safe, Zoey. This is the final battle. You have to beat this Last Hidden person. I have a cottage on the Florida Gulf waiting for me.”
First Moira and now Bernice. What was up with Florida taking all my people away?
Wonderful. Save the world, so Bernice could retire to Florida.
There was some incentive I wasn’t expecting.
Chapter Twelve
The next night, Shadow Man made his debut appearance at Mom’s cottage. She and Darius were in the sitting room, Mom curled in a chair, reading a book, and Darius on the floor, hacking at a chunk of wood with a knife.
Apparently, all the down time had him bored lately, and Mom had talked him into taking up a hobby. So far, we’d each been presented with a misshapen representation of a woodland creature. I treasured my deformed, potato-headed squirrel and kept it on my mantel.
Whatever Darius had been making that nig
ht would never get its day on someone’s mantel. Mom looked up from her book, saw Shadow Man grinning through the window and screamed. The sound startled Darius, and the wood snapped in his massive hand.
By the time Mom took a breath and pointed at the window, Shadow Man was gone. There were crickets, of course. Lots and lots of crickets singing their cheery song and hopping around the windowsill and in the garden beneath it.
Kam had been stretched out in a nearby tree keeping watch. “I swear,” she said later, “I was looking right at that window when I heard the scream. I didn’t see a damn thing.”
And that was the important part of the story I grabbed from the event. Kam had been staring directly at the spot where Shadow Man had been standing, yet she hadn’t seen him. Only Mom had.
How the hell were we supposed to catch him if most of us couldn’t see him?
Mom spent the next day covering up all her windows. I didn’t blame her, but I couldn’t do the same at my house. The bedroom window was one thing—I wanted to sleep without fear of being watched. But I couldn’t live in a cave. The idea of not being able to look outside made my skin itch.
If I couldn’t see out, he could be standing by the door waiting for me. How could I ever go outside again if he might be lurking? It was like being afraid of the monster in the closet and hiding under the covers. Sooner or later, you’d have to come out for air, and he could be standing right there by your bed.
Of course, that probably wasn’t the best comparison, considering how things turned out with my own scary closet monster. I seriously doubted Shadow Man would be back in a few years to make me pancakes.
A person only got lucky like that once.
Now that we had Phil around, that gave us another hard-hitter to guard us—not that it mattered, since he couldn’t hit what he couldn’t see. Phil sort of wandered back and forth through the night, keeping watch over the path between my house and Mom’s. Occasionally, I saw him during the day clomping through the woods with Tashi. Maybe they were just friends. But it still made me happy. Phil was recently divorced, and Tashi was a widow. It made me smile to think that Phil might step in where Iris could no longer be. We all missed that crazy skunk-ape. His death had been hard to handle. Tashi deserved to be happy, and so did Phil.
Phoenix in My Fortune (A Monster Haven Story Book 6) Page 12