After Sundown: Illumination

by Eden Robins

  He wanted to get back to Rebecca as soon as possible but knew he needed to talk with Digby first.

  “I understand,” Jason said, staring after Daniel as he walked away. “I have just the person.”

  Hanging up with Christian, he quickly caught up with the elf and explained the situation.

  “No problem, bro. My case is in a bit of a stall right now so I’ll be glad to take care of your woman until you get back. Just one word of warning. Human women tend to fall head over heels for me. Not sure why but they do. Rebecca may do the same.”

  Jason glared at the elf. He conveyed the warning silently but by the look of surprise on Daniel’s face he knew he got the message.

  “Not this woman,” he growled. “Just watch her until I get back, elf. I won’t be long.”

  Daniel nodded, all lightheartedness gone from his demeanor.

  “I understand.”

  As the elf walked off Jason scanned the room. Although the room was dimly lit, his gargoyle eyesight served him well. As creatures of the night, his kind had exceptionally good vision in the dark. Even without it Digby wouldn’t have been hard to find.

  The guy was like something out of a cartoon, or nightmare. His clothes were in glaringly bright fluorescent shades of green. This only highlighted his bright red hair and grayish skin. His face was made up of large, droopy eyes whose color almost exactly matched the green hue of his screamingly loud outfit, and seemed to constantly well up with tears that spilled down his face, a bulbous nose that was red and running, two of the largest ears he had ever seen with pointy ends sticking out from between his frizzy locks and a wide mouth with thick, bluish-purple clownlike lips. His mouth was the only part of his face that didn’t seem runny. In fact, his lips looked dry and chapped and he was constantly licking them with his large, gray, slimy-looking tongue, revealing brownish-yellow, sharp, pointy teeth. Jason guessed without getting too close to the guy that his breath would probably reek.

  Maria had described him perfectly.

  Digby Riggins was a goblin.

  And goblins couldn’t be trusted. In fact they were some of the least trustworthy creatures around. They switched alliances at the drop of a hat, holding their loyalty to one individual or group lightly. The fact that Digby was a snitch was no surprise. What did surprise him, however, was that he was a reliable snitch. From what Maria and Daniel had said the goblin could be absolutely trusted in one area. He knew everything that was going on in the preternatural community with just the kind of accuracy Jason needed.

  As he approached the goblin he noticed several attractive ladies surrounding him. This surprised Jason. The guy didn’t strike him as the type to attract that kind of attention, but he wasn’t a female and their tastes were beyond his comprehension. Still, the whole green skin, slimy tongue, running eyes and nose couldn’t be appealing to them, could it?

  Jason dismissed the thought as unimportant as he stopped directly in front Digby’s table.

  He was whispering in the ear of a female and she was giggling in a way that told him exactly the nature of their conversation. The whispering stopped instantly the minute the goblin noticed him. Looking up, he gave Jason a quick perusal. His face changed as he did so, going from almost jovial to stone-cold serious.

  He nodded abruptly at the women around him and they instantly got up and left.

  “Have a seat, gargoyle,” he said, waving to a chair next to his.

  “Thanks,” Jason said, sitting down, not surprised the guy knew his true form. What else did the goblin know?

  “Can I get you a drink?”

  “No, I’m here on business.”

  “I figured that,” Digby said with a wry smile. “Your kind and mine don’t usually socialize, gargoyle.”

  Jason nodded. “My name’s Jason,” he said, holding out his hand to shake the goblin’s.

  Digby looked surprised by the gesture, as if it hadn’t occurred to him that they would introduce themselves, but then reached out and shook Jason’s hand.

  “I’d introduce myself but I’m assuming you already know my name or you wouldn’t be here talking to me right now.”

  Jason released the goblin’s hand and sat back. “I heard you were a very reliable source of information.”

  Digby leaned back in his chair, narrowed his eyes and studied Jason. “You heard right,” he said warily.

  “I need your help.”

  “What do you need to know?” Digby asked as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began wiping at his watery eyes and runny nose.

  “Have you heard of Xander Davis?”

  Digby stopped wiping. Surprise flashed momentarily in his eyes before he could hide it. Jason wondered about that. Why would the goblin be surprised by the question?

  He would hold that thought for later.

  “Xander Davis? Yeah, I know the guy. Powerful dark wizard. Kind of nuts. A little out there if you know what I mean. What about him?”

  “What do you know about his recent activity?”

  Digby didn’t answer right away. “Do you know what you’re getting into?” the goblin asked instead, eyes narrowing warily.

  “What do you mean?”

  Digby glanced around carefully, as if trying to decide if anyone was close enough to hear him. He leaned forward, and this time when he spoke his voice was low.

  “I’m going to do you a favor, gargoyle,” he said, quickly glancing around him again before continuing. “I’m going to give you advice, free of charge, because you seem like a decent guy.”

  Jason waited, already guessing what the goblin was going to say.

  “Stay away from Xander Davis. What he’s involved with is bigger than you can imagine. You don’t want to mess with that. Especially as a gargoyle, you want to leave that situation alone.”

  “As a gargoyle? What are you talking about?” Jason asked, running his hand through his hair in frustration. “Listen, goblin, I was told you could give me the information I needed. Everyone talks you up like the guy who knows everything. Is that true or not?”

  The goblin looked torn for a minute, as if he wanted to talk but was trying to hold back for some unknown reason.

  “It’s true,” he answered shortly.

  “Then tell me what I need to know.”

  “I don’t think you’re ready to handle it.”

  “Listen, bud,” Jason ground out, getting to his feet. “This isn’t about me being ready for anything. I’m not your student and you’re not my master. I’m willing to give you something for that information, make it worth your while. But let me tell you something else right now. You’re going to tell me what I need to know one way or another.”

  Jason leaned forward over the table, glaring at the goblin. He was tired of the game. He was tired of the innuendo. It was a waste of time and his time was limited. He needed to get back to Rebecca and he needed to find his mother.

  “Are we clear?”

  The goblin nodded his head. “Yeah, gargoyle, we’re clear. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Jason sat back down. After that, they discussed the terms. The goblin named a hefty price for the information, one that Jason wasn’t sure he could fulfill, but he agreed to it, knowing he had to know what Digby knew. What the goblin told him floored him. It was bigger and much worse than he thought. And the amount of people involved was unbelievable.

  “If this many are involved, how come no one knows anything?” he had asked after the goblin finished explaining the situation.

  Digby shrugged. “That’s just a testament to Xander’s power. He has ways of keeping everyone quiet.”

  “So how did you find out?”

  Digby’s expression had become shuttered. Jason knew he wouldn’t get much more out of him. He may be a snitch but the goblin decided exactly what and to whom he snitched.

  “I have my ways,” was all he would say.

  And that was that.

  Jason accepted the goblin’s answer. He had found out enough i
nformation to steer him in the right direction anyway. It was a start.

  “Don’t forget your debt, gargoyle,” Digby snarled as Jason turned to leave.

  Jason stiffened and turned back around. “You have my word of honor. Don’t ever question that again, goblin.”

  Digby nodded.

  And Jason left without another word, determined to get back to Rebecca before she woke up.

  The next time Rebecca woke up it was to the low murmur of voices. Slowly opening her eyes, she looked around for the source. Scanning her surroundings, she realized two things. The first was that she was in her favorite bedroom at her grandparents’ estate and the second was that the people talking were just outside her room, standing in the hallway. Her open bedroom door allowed her to hear them somewhat but their voices were slightly muted. Both of them were men.

  “Just make sure no one gets in, Daniel. That’s all Vlad is asking. Jason will be back soon. It’s almost sundown. No one but the people on that list can see her, got it?”

  “I got it the first ten times you told me, vamp. What’s with you, Christian? Do I look stupid? No, wait, don’t answer that.”

  Christian chuckled. “I know you’re not stupid, elf. I just want to make sure the cookie crumbs in your head have cleared away enough for you to understand me.”

  Daniel smirked, shaking his head. “Cookie crumbs, ha ha. Little elves making cookies. You’re sharp, vamp. I’ve never heard that one before,” he said, sarcasm lacing his voice. “Well, I figure it this way. I’m not the one who’s dealing with newborn twin babies every night, am I? If anyone needed their head cleared, bro, it would be you.”

  “A truer statement couldn’t have been said, my friend. That little girl and boy have turned Alyssa’s and my world upside down.”

  “You don’t look too upset about it.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Christian replied proudly.

  “So what’s it like to be a daddy after living the single life for over two hundred years?” Daniel asked.

  “Enlightening,” he responded with a dry laugh. “I would recommend the lesson to many I know, including you, elf boy.”

  “No thanks, vamp. A wife and kids just aren’t on my horizon. I’m having too much fun.”

  “We’ll see,” Christian replied, his voice serious once again. “Just take care of the girl until Jason gets here.”

  “No problem.”

  Rebecca didn’t have time to feign sleep as one of the men walked into her bedroom.

  Her eyes widened as one and only one thought entered her mind.

  He is gorgeous!

  That didn’t even begin to describe how good-looking this guy was. His hair was streaked with sun-bleached blond strands, the color you only see on natural blonds or surfers. With that hair, tan complexion and a tall, lean yet muscular build, he looked like he rode the waves of California on a regular basis. Approaching the bed, he walked with the kind of proud bearing that marked a man confident with himself and who he was. He immediately saw that she was awake and smiled. And it wasn’t just any smile. It was one of the sexiest smiles she had ever seen. Maybe not as sexy as Jason’s but enough to make her toes curl slightly.

  “Evening, sunshine.”

  His voice. It was deep and husky. The sound of it made her think of sex. And not making-love-by-candlelight romantic sex either. More like the raw and hard sex one had with the lights either completely on or pitch-dark-off.

  As he drew closer Rebecca corrected herself. The man wasn’t beautiful. His features were too male, those of a Greek god, to call him beautiful. But he was absolutely gorgeous. His Adonis-like features, strong nose, square jaw and sensual lips, were topped by the bluest eyes she had ever seen. So blue they would make the sky on a sunny day look dim. And the blond lashes surrounding them were so thick, lush and curled that any woman would envy them.

  All in all this man left her, well, speechless.

  He frowned as he drew closer and she still didn’t speak. “Is everything okay, Rebecca? Do you need anything?”

  Rebecca shook her head slightly, trying to clear her thoughts.

  “I’m, um, I’m fine,” she managed to croak out in a voice that was rough and raspy. “But who are you and what am I doing here? The last thing I remember was being at the hospital with Jason.”

  The hunk nodded his head.

  “I’m Daniel, a coworker of Jason’s, another security specialist geek from Sundown Security,” he said with a wry grin. “You fainted at some point last night and were given a sedative. Jason thought it might help while the mess at the hospital was cleaned up and you were transported here. You slept the rest of the night and most of today.”

  So she had been sedated? Probably a good move. She hadn’t been in shape to deal with much more after last night’s events and the sudden, shocking return of her memory.

  “I don’t understand. If Jason took care of those two goons why do I still need you around to protect me?”

  “Because those dudes who attacked you last night were working for someone. And until that guy is caught you still need to be protected.”

  “Okay. But why isn’t Jason here? I thought he was the one who was watching over me.”

  “He is, but, uh, he’s investigating a couple of leads at the moment. Don’t worry,” he said with a gentle and kind smile that made Rebecca like him right away. “He’ll be back by the time the sun goes down.”

  “I see. May I speak with my grandfather?”

  “You remember your grandfather?” Daniel asked in surprise.

  “Yes. Last night, when those men attacked me, my memory returned. I recall everything and I really need to talk with grandfather about something. It’s urgent.”

  “Of course. Let me call someone to find him,” Daniel said, turning to the house-wide intercom system by her bedroom door.

  “You do that,” Rebecca murmured under her breath.

  Now was her only chance. With the return of her memory came the knowledge of something else, something that had been a part of her since her childhood and present in a precious few of her family members for generations. Something that had always been a well-kept secret. The power grew in her until she felt it vibrating up and down her spine in small, shocking waves.

  Before Daniel reached the intercom she spoke the words. She said them quietly but he must have sensed something, maybe the magic energy that filled the air. Just as the last words were leaving her lips he swung around, eyes wide with surprise then shock. But he was too late. Her words disabled him, as she had planned. His expression relaxed, his eyes slowly fluttered closed and he slipped to the floor unconscious.

  He wasn’t hurt. Rebecca didn’t use her powers in that way, except if she had to in self-defense. She practiced the white art, as her family had for generations. Plus, Daniel seemed like a very nice man, someone she could maybe call a friend one day. He was merely sleeping, albeit very deeply. And he would continue to do so for at least the next six hours. Plenty of time for her to do what she needed to do. But she needed to leave before Jason got back.

  Hurrying, she quickly showered and dressed in some of the extra clothes she left at her grandparents’ home. Their house and estate was a retreat she often went to to relax, spend time with family and ground herself. Despite the huge size of the place and extensive grounds it sat on she loved it here and always had. It was located in the old, historic Encanto District of Phoenix. Its green, lush, grass-blanketed yard, mature trees and incredibly colorful gardens were a testament to the area, which housed many an old movie star or retired sports figure who enjoyed the beauty of such things. Her parents had let her putter in her grandparents’ garden from the time she was little and she did so whenever she had the opportunity.

  Rebecca and her grandmother, who also loved gardening, often worked side by side keeping the place beautiful. Recalling her work in the hospital garden, she now completely understood why she had been so desperate to build that garden. Not only did she enjoy
creating beauty and peace, she also found incredible peace and a connection to her power when she gardened. That was what had happened that first day in the hospital garden. She hadn’t realized that it was her Wiccan power that was humming through her as she worked. It all made sense.

  After dressing, she opened her bedroom door, peeking her head out. Looking left then right, she was relieved to find no one, and headed down the hallway. Her grandfather’s private library would serve her purpose just fine. Slipping into the room, she immediately went to the bookshelf on the far wall, found her grandfather’s favorite book, The Everyday Life of Witches and Wizards, and pulled it out about two inches. Her actions caused half of the bookshelf to swing open, revealing a small door.

  This door led to a secret passageway she had often used as a child. Every member of her family had used it on one occasion or another but no one outside their family knew of it. Though Rebecca wasn’t sure, she assumed her grandparents, thinking she still had amnesia, wouldn’t keep the entrance guarded.

  She was wrong.

  “Going somewhere, sweet pea?”

  Rebecca swung around at the sound of her grandfather’s voice.

  She cringed.

  He was standing in the doorway, looking disapprovingly at her. And he wasn’t alone. Jason stood next to him, a forbidding frown on his face.

  “Hi, Grandpa,” she said, giving him her most charming smile.

  He wasn’t impressed.

  “So Jason’s right,” he said, not returning her smile. “Your memory is back.”

  Despite his serious expression, Rebecca could almost see a little twinkle in his eyes. As if he was trying to be stern but found it difficult.

  “Yes, it is,” she said with a nod, still grinning brightly.

  “And from what I just saw back in your bedroom I see that’s not the only thing back,” he returned.

  “Yes,” she said simply. What more could she say? Jason was standing right there. Her grandfather always insisted they keep their craft to themselves.

  “Jason already knows, Rebecca,” he reassured her, immediately sensing the reason behind her hesitation.

  “I see.”