“First, it had to be a Fire Impeder. The only way to destroy a hound is by using a Fire Impeder’s precious ability to stop a spark.
“Second, it had to be at a time when traveling happened almost seamlessly. Hounds get around nearly as easily as you and I—well, you—breathe. If the person lived during my time, they would never be able to keep up with the hounds.
“And third, it needed to be someone who had already been exposed to demons from other dimensions.”
I gave a nervous laugh. “That’s all me. And here I thought you were going to say I was special.”
“Oh, and fourth, you’re special.” He gave me a kind smile. “And I’m not teasing. You have great wells of experience for one so young.”
I nodded, not feeling the need to be modest. The things I’d seen while in college would scare the back hair off a gorilla.
“There was another benefit to giving them these bribes,” he said. “By granting them access to knowledge, I was sealing their fates. Basically, allowing them to choose between good and bad. Those who chose to follow the evil knowledge they gained would need to be destroyed. But those who chose good had—have—a chance. And you would be able to figure out who was worthy of being given that chance.” He looked at me, a serious expression on his face. “When I saw their future, I also learned that all hounds will eventually turn evil. But those who are good fight the bad for a long time, and their service to those around them must not be discredited.”
“And I’m supposed to destroy only the evil ones?” I asked. How was I supposed to tell the difference between them?
He seemed to know my question before I’d even voiced it. Maybe he could read my mind. Who knew.
“If a hound tries to kill you or anyone else, rest assured it is an evil hound.”
Funny. This guy had a sense of humor. “Okay. Kill the ones who are murderers. Got it. What else do I need to know?”
“Simply that in order to completely and permanently destroy a hound, you must extinguish its flame.”
“And will I know how to do that? Do I get any training?”
The ghost looked at me, seeming to size me up. “The Shade Amulet will help you, and it will train you. However, it is in Holland. And even though its current owner does not need to eat, sleep, or rest, it will still take him time to find you. Be cautious between now and then.”
He closed his eyes for several moments, and I hesitated, wondering what I should say or do. Were we done here? But then, I felt a slight pull of magic, and the man opened his eyes.
“He is on the way.”
Chapter Eleven
The shade looked at me again, studying my features. “You will be in danger. Now that you know about the hounds, they, and other creatures, will seek you and do their best to destroy you.”
“Didn’t Alexander say that measures were in place to keep them from finding me?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes, but that effigy will never grow in strength. You, on the other hand, have grown considerably since it was created. The hounds are drawn to your strength.”
Effigy? I’d have to ask Alexander about that later. “But how do I destroy these things?” My mind was rolling and twisting, and I still didn’t feel like I’d received good enough answers to my questions. “I mean, I’ve seen at least a little of what they can do. They’re big. Massive. And there’s no way I’d physically be able to defeat one on my own.”
He shook his head. “No, you will not. But I sense you have companions who are willing to assist you.”
I started to disagree, then hesitated. Abel. His name and face popped into my head, and something told me not to discount him. But how was he going to help? He didn’t have any muscles—the guy was rail thin and would blow over in a gentle breeze. He wasn’t short, no, but I’d pick a short, muscular guy over him to go up against the dog I’d seen. But still, that little voice nagged at me to ask him.
“Do you have any recommendations for the people I should involve in all this?” I asked. “I mean, if it’s so dangerous, especially to have people know what’s going on, don’t I need to be selective in who I choose?”
He gave me a fatherly smile. “I wish I knew. I’d suggest picking those who are loyal to you. Remember also that offering payment will go a long way. Just do your best, and things will fall into place.”
“How will I know how to find the hounds?”
“The strong ones will most likely come to you. Eventually, you’ll have to seek them all out because even if they aren’t bothering or attacking you, you know they’re attacking somebody else. The Shade Amulet will show you the way. You have to learn how to use it first, of course, but eventually, you will be able to predict each other’s thoughts and actions.”
I raised my eyebrow. I could see a magical item growing to know me, but . . . “I will predict its thoughts?”
He chuckled. “Yes, of course. The Shade Amulet has part of my spirit in it. Though it is few of words, it has opinions and thoughts, thereby allowing it to teach and help you.” He looked behind himself. “I must get back to what I was doing now.”
My gaze shifted from him to the room beyond. The spirits there were all milling around, seemingly without purpose. What had he been working on before that was so important? Playing an eternal game of chess? “What should I do if I have more questions?”
“Come and ask them. You’ll have ample opportunity to return.”
“So, I’m not getting kicked out permanently after this?”
He shook his head. “The one who fights the hounds must have access to all knowledge. But only when you truly need it—don’t come seeking something trivial. If it pertains to your situation, we will help you as best we can. Each shade is here for a specific purpose and is guarding a specific set of knowledge. You most likely won’t need to speak to the same one twice.”
The man said goodbye, and I turned and left him. I looked around as I walked, seeing just how many spirits were there. And to think they all knew something different. It was pretty amazing. I wondered if I would ever have access to all of it. Probably not.
I hesitated when I got to the double doors. They were now shut. A box similar to the one on the other side was etched into the surface. I raised my hand and placed it there. The wood didn’t feel the same as it had when I’d been in my body—it was sort of mushy, as if the edges were blurred.
A light pull on my magic was all it took. No blood this time. The doors swung inward, and I stepped out of the way. The spirits were there, waiting. My body was on the ground where I’d left it, eyes still staring off at nothing. I wondered if I would have any memory of lying there. After all, my brain hadn’t left my body—just my spirit.
“How do I get back in?” I asked Agnes.
She indicated for me to come forward, so I did. Just as I got to the threshold, my body started to raise itself. It was as if a string was tied around my sternum and was pulling me up. Weird. The closer I got to the threshold, the faster my body rose. I put my hand across the threshold, watching as the correct hand came to meet it, my body turning around so I could step into it.
Getting back inside wasn’t like leaving. It was sort of like taking two pieces of Silly Putty and smashing them together. I stepped forward, feeling as my spirit melded back into my body.
Agnes and the others watched as I looked around me with my physical eyes. Everything felt the same, apart from the new knowledge I had. That was what I remembered, not the lying-on-the-ground part. I picked up the torch, and using my magic, lit it again. “I got what I need. Let’s go.”
I was eager to get to a place where the Shade Amulet could find me without a problem. Not only that, but I needed to meet Abel and see if he’d be willing to help me.
Odd—he’d contacted me first about potential work, and now I was going to be offering him a job. How was I going to pay him, though? Nobody had said anything about financial benefits if I killed these hounds, so I had to go on the assumption that money wouldn’t ever excha
nge hands. How on earth was I going to fight these creatures and keep myself fed?
Things were going to get very busy.
Traveling away from the Akashic went much faster than getting there, and I wondered why. Had the ghosts done something to prolong things, or had they shortened the trip back? Was it some sort of initiation? Or was I energized from the experience and the knowledge gained and was walking much more quickly?
We reached the end of the tunnel and said goodbyes. Agnes and I continued forward, and the shades stayed behind.
Rather than me having to climb out of the pit they’d pulled me into, the tunnel gracefully exited onto the side of a foothill, and I was able to leave without breaking a sweat.
“Gee,” I said, “that was much easier than getting inside.”
Agnes obviously didn’t miss my sarcasm and sent me a little smile. She shielded her eyes in the morning sunlight and said, “We never know who’s coming and what sort of temperament they’ll have and whether or not we should allow them access. As a rule, we always go hardest on them first.”
“I’m glad to hear that was the hardest treatment up your sleeves. I hate to think of what else you and your friends could do to somebody.”
Agnes chuckled. “Not all of us enjoy tormenting helpless people, regardless of what the myths that surround ghosts say.”
We walked back to Petersville, and I pulled my purse from the trunk and turned on my phone. As I was getting into my car, Agnes said, “I’ll probably be seeing you again.”
“So, I am coming back?”
Agnes nodded. “When somebody has gained our trust enough to make it to Mount Koven, they know enough about our situation to warrant returning if needed. We like to keep things in the family, so to speak.”
That made sense. I thanked her again, and we exchanged goodbyes before she returned to her porch and rocking chair. I drove away. It took me less time to get back to Anchorage than it had to get to Petersville, mainly because the roads weren’t as muddy as before.
I checked my return flight ticket, thinking I had several days to spare before I needed to go to the airport, but was surprised to see that the date on the ticket matched the date on my phone. How long had I been in the tunnel? I knew about the day and a half or so that it took to walk there, but according to my phone, several days had passed.
As I studied the departure date, it occurred to me that Alexander had known exactly how long it would take for me to get to Mount Koven and back. My return flight was scheduled to take off in two hours, not giving me a lot of time to return the car and reach the airport.
I breathed a sigh of relief when the plane touched down in Salt Lake City and I was able to collect my baggage and return to my own car in long-term parking. I drove straight home, resisting the urge to stop at a sit-down restaurant, grabbing some fast food instead. What I needed and wanted most was my bed and the comforts of my home. I would have preferred to cook rather than eat junk food, but sleep was a higher priority.
***
I was practically unconscious for several hours—at least twelve. Breakfast was a quiet affair. Sia had been overjoyed to see me the night before, but we were both groggy and grumpy.
I checked my email while eating breakfast. Abel had responded, making sure we were still on for lunch at the Thai House. I confirmed, then quickly showered and did my hair and makeup before picking out a cute outfit.
I’m not interested in Abel—I mean, the poor guy didn’t have much going for him—but still, it’s hard not to do myself up and look my best, especially when I’m about to ask somebody to work with me.
It’d been a long time since I’d let my curls go loose, and I’d missed leaving my hair down. So I let my natural curl do what it wanted, within reason, sprucing it up and making sure it wouldn’t turn into a complete mess by the end of the day. One of the good things about living here was how dry it was. Under more humid conditions, my hair had a tendency to go completely insane.
I’d only been in the Thai House for maybe five minutes when I heard Abel’s voice at the front desk saying he was there to meet somebody. He gave my last name, and the waitress brought him in.
The moment he stepped around the corner, my mouth popped open. Holy Hannah.
Chapter Twelve
That couldn’t possibly be Abel. The last time I saw him, he’d been emaciated and on the verge of death. He’d been so scrawny, I could’ve wrapped my entire hand around his wrist, and I have small hands. Not only that, but he’d been angry and scared, then listless when he wasn’t. The Abel who entered the room was confident and at ease, perfectly comfortable with his surroundings. His blue eyes practically sparkled, setting off a wonderful contrast to his tanned skin and very white teeth.
He directed that smile at me, obviously enjoying my surprise. His hair was still silver, and it was tousled to the point where I found myself wanting to touch it, to dig my hands into it.
Those weren’t the biggest visible changes. He had seriously bulked up. Nobody could accuse the guy of being scrawny now. He had nicely shaped shoulders, biceps, and pecs that weren’t hidden very well by his dark blue polo. His clothes weren’t designed to draw attention to his body, but they did so anyway. Beautiful people have that advantage over the rest of us.
I sat down, swallowing, trying to pull myself together and to drop my deer-in-the-headlights expression.
Abel sat across from me. “Hey,” he said.
I noticed, feeling my face uncharacteristically redden as I did so, that he had a hard time keeping his eyes off me as well. His gaze searched my face, questioning, almost drinking me in. Why the intensity?
“Hey,” I said. Wow. Intelligent start to a conversation.
Abel seemed to wait for me to begin things, and I remembered that he’d been a bit introverted and not prone to a lot of talk. How was he now, though? Who knew what his experiences before had done to him, whatever they’d been. Either way, talk was what I did. “You look a lot better now,” I said, hoping my comment wouldn’t come off as hitting on him.
“So do you,” he said. “Of course, you looked great last time I saw you, too. Why did you change your hair?”
I hadn’t even expected him to notice. I absentmindedly twisted one of the curls around my finger. “My natural color drew too much attention to me as a Fire Impeder.”
He nodded. Took a drink of his water. And tried to keep his eyes off me, unsuccessfully.
“So,” I started. “You said you had a job.”
He nodded. I waited. He didn’t seem inclined to tell me what was going on, though, and I wondered if he needed to engage in a bit of small talk first. Maybe he was nervous about this job and wanted to get a feel for who I was now. I understood that.
“What have you been up to the last few years?” I asked.
“Odds and ends.”
“How have you been since . . . ?”
“Since you and Nicole rescued me from that wasteland? Since you saved me from eating myself alive?”
His face darkened, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of his memories or if it was due to what he’d been doing since returning. I suspected it was a little bit of both.
He didn’t answer my question. He shook his head and closed his eyes, then looked at me. “Let’s discuss this job I have for you.”
I nodded. “Okay. And I have a proposition for you as well, if you’re willing.” I’d been hoping to get a feel for his character before offering him the opportunity to work with me, especially since I wouldn’t be able to pay him very much. But the words popped out of my mouth before I could stop them. Stupid mouth.
“All right, but first, we discuss what I need you to do for me. Lizzie . . .” He paused, his expression warming as he looked into my eyes. He blinked a few times, then cleared his throat, refocusing. “I’m just going to cut right to it. I need assistance with a task I’ve been hired to complete, which I can’t do without your help. I want you to join me in hunting hounds.”
My mind
went blank for several moments, then all at once, a hundred thoughts started twirling around inside me. “Hounds?” I asked. “Dogs?” Maybe we weren’t thinking about the same creatures.
He nodded, then hesitated. “Well, not really dogs. More like immortal creatures who devour anything they come across and who take the shape of both dogs and humans.”
Okay, definitely the same ones. “You’re hunting them? That’s a huge coincidence because I was planning on asking you to help me with them.”
Abel nodded as if he’d expected it. How, though? What did he know about me?
“In what way am I going to be helping?” I asked, wanting to figure out just what he knew.
“Well, I’m assuming you understand enough about them to know they are dangerous and need to be destroyed. And you have a special ability as a Fire Impeder that I don’t, which is instrumental in destroying them.”
The waitress brought our food, and we dug in. I immediately ate one of the gyoza, then a stick of chicken satay. So tasty.
“So why are you hunting them?” I asked.
He didn’t meet my gaze. “I don’t ask questions. I do the jobs I’m hired to do.”
Good to know, though it wasn’t exactly an answer.
“So, awkward question, but you haven’t Restarted yet, have you?” I asked. I’d already noticed the huge amount of magical pressure that was around him, begging to be released. It was the same type that had surrounded Nicole before she Restarted. Back then, I hadn’t recognized it nearly as easily as I noticed Abel’s, partly because I wasn’t as powerful back then, but mostly because Abel had to be nearing thirty. Many Aretes didn’t Restart right before they hit eighteen, but the vast majority Restart well before they hit their twenties.
“No, I haven’t.” His face darkened, and he clenched his fist around his fork.
Hoping it wasn’t rude, I asked, “How old are you?”
“Thirty-three.”
Abel stared out the window, obviously not wanting to discuss the topic anymore, but I really struggled with letting it rest. I couldn’t help worrying. If he hadn’t Restarted yet, what would happen when he did? His hair was already gray, for crying out loud! People with gray hair controlled all of the elements.
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