by Kimbra Swain
I burst into laughter. “He threatened you?” I continued to laugh.
“I find it disturbing that my entrails coming out of my nostrils is a comedic topic to you, Abby.” He wasn’t mad.
“He scared the shit out of you, didn’t he?”
“Almost, literally.” I died laughing again. My side started to hurt.
“Did he make you sit in the chair?” I asked because I knew my grandfather’s tactics. They were tried and true.
“Fucking chair.” This time I lost it for a good minute, and he just shook his head at me.
“You survived it. Well done,” I managed to say between giggles. I put my hand up for a hive five. He half-heartedly obliged.
“Thanks, I think. Sunday probably ranks as one of the craziest, weirdest, scariest days of my entire life.”
“Then I want to hear all about it. But I need to get up, go take a shower and eat real food.”
“George has spaghetti. The carbs will be good for you.” He stood up and helped me up. He walked with me all the way to my room.
“I’m fine now. I promise,” I said. “I really didn’t realize I slept all day. I’m not the kind of person to do harm to myself over such things. I might smash a mug or two, but nothing really harmful.”
“You smashed the mug.”
“Yeah.”
“Good. I hated it.” I started giggling again.
“I blame George. He brought it to me. He knew you were still here.” I pointed back down to the sitting room where we left him. He laughed too. “I won’t be but just a few minutes.”
“Abby, please leave the door open or the wards down. Just in case.”
I nodded. Even though he joined my laughter, I could tell the prophecy affected him, and he was still concerned for my well-being. I hoped he didn’t make a spur of the moment decision because he had a slip of the tongue, but he did look confident for a change. If I had known all it would take was to threaten to rip his insides out, I would have sent him to Grandfather before I did anything else. One of Grandfather’s brilliant ideas for recruiting Tadeas included him forcing him to work with me or face death. He could go a tad bit overboard from time to time. I left the door open. He turned and walked back down the hallway to his room.
I went in the closet and pulled off my dress. It was covered in dirt. Most of my body must have hit the ground before he caught me. However, no dirt in my hair indicated that at the very least he stopped my head from hitting the ground. I stepped into the shower and turned the water up. I stood under the warm spray for a bit. It felt good to wash off the storm. It washed my giggles away, too. I suppose the last few days had taken a higher toll on me than I thought. I needed to regain the fortitude I once had. I wasn’t sure how much time we had to counteract this problem. I didn’t exactly know what the problem was outside of global disaster and chaos. I would assemble the team. We needed to start yesterday, tracking everything down that we could.
I washed off, and got out far faster than I wanted to, but the last thing I needed to do was faint in this shower and have them both come in here to fish me out. I grabbed a towel, and wrapped myself in it. I stepped back into the closet. I could feel his presence leaning against the wall outside my door.
“You can come in the room, Tadeas. Stop hovering. Just don’t come back here.” He didn’t answer me, but I felt him move into the room and sit in the chair opposite the end of my bed.
Jeans, tee shirt, hair back and slip-on shoes. I looked at myself in the mirror. I finally saw why they were staring at me. My face glowed with a strange iridescence. I moved my face back and forth and watched the spectrum of colors shift back and forth.
“Um, how long has my face looked like this?” I asked as I stepped into the bedroom. He looked over at me from the chair.
“Since the church,” he answered.
“No wonder you both were staring at me. It’s weird.”
“It’s faded since I first saw you.”
“I guess you get a face full of glitter if you lock eyes with an angel. You thinking about the prophecy?” I asked.
“Yes. I guess you could say I’m disturbed. I just know we have to stop it. I hope you have a plan.” Now it was time to be me.
“I do have a plan. It’s not a complete one, but I know where to start.” He smiled a little. He would have a role in it, too. I looked forward to saving those that we could together. Sometimes these things didn’t turn out the way I expected or hoped, but Lincoln and I always did our best. We had lost good people along the way. I lost Lincoln. Then I lost myself. Part of the plan included doing just that, finding myself and my place again in this rapidly changing and dangerous world.
“Does it start with spaghetti?”
“It can. It’s a flexible plan,” I joked.
“Good. I’m starving.”
“You seem to always be starving,” I observed.
“Well, I burned a lot of energy shifting,” he said.
“I’d like to know more about how you do it. I’d like to watch you do it in the magical spectrum. It would be something new for me to learn. I didn’t know shifters could change and not rip their clothing to shreds.” He stood up, and headed toward the door.
“You were disappointed then. It’s okay. It’s not every day that you get to see a body like this,” and he put up his right arm and flexed.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” I smirked.
“Your loss. Let’s go eat, and I’ll try to explain what it feels like. What I do when I make it happen.” I joined him, and we headed to the kitchen.
We decided to eat on the small table in the kitchen. No need for formality now. It was like having an old friend over and getting caught up on stories. We talked all through dinner, and it was nice to be able to have a conversation with him now that we’d removed the tension between us. He told me about how he shifts. The way he does it is quite remarkable. He explained, “It’s like I can concentrate, and I can feel the edge of the spirit world near me. I can move myself or even myself and someone else across that edge. I can pull my jaguar form into this world to replace my human form. I can cross over and change as well.”
“What happens to your human body when you shift? Can you feel it?” I was enthralled with the magic discussion.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s like it’s there on the edge of my fingertips or claws, and I just pull it back if I want to shift back.”
“Remarkable. Do you mind me watching you do it? Through the spectrum, I mean,” I prodded. I hoped not too much.
“If you would like, sure. I’m sure it’s not impressive,” he dismissed it.
“Tadeas, I live and breathe magic. Something I don’t know about is fascinating to me, and I want to learn as much as I can,” I explained.
He looked at me, and looked at my plate. I’d barely touched the food. I took the hint and began to eat again. “I need to tell you about your car,” he said just as I put a large bite in my mouth. I’m pretty sure he did it on purpose just so I couldn’t respond. My eyes widened, and I began to chew faster. “I’ll have it detailed. It’s just a little bit dirty on the inside.”
I put my hand in front of my still half full mouth and mumbled, “What did you do to my car?”
“I went out to eat last night, wait was that last night? No, it was Sunday night. The last couple of days have been a blur. It isn’t like my life could get any more complicated or strange.”
I had finished my bite and swirled pasta around my fork for another, “Sorry.”
“I don’t blame you. Well, maybe a little,” he grinned. “But with the things going on here, Meredith and Travis, your Aunt Lianne, Gregory and other things, I decided to go grab a drink and by the end of the night I was half-conscious on the side of the road with a shadow man trying to take me. I think an angel intervened, but I got your car a little dirty on the inside. I’ll pay to have it cleaned up.”
I dropped my fork. “It’s going to be a long night, I see.”
“Yeah.”
&n
bsp; “A shadow man?” I focused on the part that concerned me the most. “You look worried. Don’t worry. I’m fine. It was stupid for me to go out, and just assume everything was safe. But a wave of exhaustion overtook me, and I felt bound up when he showed up to take me.”
I felt sick at my stomach. “Sounds like a lethargy spell. People connected to me get hurt. It’s why I don’t have many friends. To think that just after a couple of days of contact, they already know about you and me. It makes me sick to think of it. Shadow magic is always dark. I can do it myself, but I don’t. The elements and life forces you draw on for shadow magic corrupt you. It rips your whole being apart until you are nothing but shadow. What happened? Tell me everything, please.”
“I will, but you chose me, remember? I have to think that part of that is because you know I can take these kinds of things. I’m not helpless. I did lose focus, but no more,” he assured me. I did choose him, because I was sure he could handle himself in any situation. He told me the whole story from the Bourbon tavern, an old guy named Milt, Samantha which threw me for a loop and finally the car ride home. I listened and watched him tell it. He grimaced in frustration with himself for not being more careful. When he finished, he looked at me and waited for me to process it all.
“I think you promised to take me on a date,” I half-heartedly smiled at him. This business rarely warranted smiles. I endeavored to get them where I could.
He half smiled back, “I suppose so.”
“But I want to go on a day that isn’t Sunday. I want to see who else goes in and out of there. Perhaps a hub for nefarious creatures. And with Milt distracting you there very well could have been a witch or other wielder there. A shadow man could have even just stood next to you and blended in. Milt, of course, is the obvious choice. I’ve found it’s rarely the obvious, and almost never simple. It’s too close to the compound not to investigate. We would be crippled in the United States if the compound was compromised.” I drifted off into dark thoughts. Perhaps I’m making my moves too late. If they already had a solid hold on Boulder, it was too close to HQ for comfort. Whatever they were trying to do that would cause the continents to break apart, they would have to take us out. I needed to make some phone calls. Gabriel had warned me. Surely, I had time. What if I didn’t? While spending my solitude working on things that didn’t really matter, the darkness was winning.
“Hey, come back,” Tadeas said. He leaned back in the chair and patted his belly. “You were off in some dark place.”
“I drifted in thought. Sorry. You full?” I asked, “You look it.”
“You saying I’m fat?”
“I didn’t say it, you did,” I got up and grabbed the plates and went to the sink and started the water. He pulled open a drawer like he lived here and pulled out a towel. I started washing, and he dried. I heard George pass by the door several times. “What do you want, old man?”
“I was just making sure the two of you weren’t making a mess in my kitchen,” he said from out of sight.
“Your kitchen!” I feigned anger.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied flatly.
“Well, your kitchen is in good hands,” I replied smiling at Tadeas. I gave him credit. He paid attention the last time we washed dishes. He knew where each item belonged. I wondered if he didn’t have an eidetic memory. It isn’t abnormal for a shifter to possess some form of higher brain function. Over the years I’ve seen all sorts of rare talents pass through the Agency. In my team, I have a man who has always been labeled autistic, but he has the uncanny ability to tell if someone is lying or not. He’s a human lie detector. The first time I met him, I was sure there was a type of magic involved, but looking through the spectrum there was nothing abnormal other than his shift abilities. He does not shift, but the ability is there. He’s a giant golden eagle. Lincoln and his people hold the golden eagle in high regard. Lincoln could see his animal when I could not. He taught me the skill over the years. Most shifters never know their abilities, which is probably a good thing. If they actually shift for the first time, a traumatic event usually triggers it. Otherwise it just lies within them as a dormant ability. There is just no way to control or anticipate such a thing. I thought of Tadeas, and how his shift created a tragedy that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He let me ponder, but he did not speak. He watched me closely which also made me wonder if he could read my thoughts or at the very least empathic abilities, too. Animals know when someone is afraid, bad or good. My mind twisted in ten different directions, and offered no solutions. No answers. I sighed because I felt the darkness creeping into me. Part of fighting it is knowing it's there, and refusing to give in to it. Darkness is a place without hope, and I felt myself losing hope.
“That’s enough. Come back,” he said softly nudging me on the side with his elbow.
“There’s just too much to consider. I’ve got to get organized, or I am going to go crazy,” I said.
“You already are crazy,” he said, then added, “But you can’t wallow in doubt. I see it in your face.” He leaned with his back against the counter drying off his hands and offering me the towel. I faced the small window above the sink looking out into the vineyard. It was late afternoon, and all was still. Part of me wanted to crawl up in one of the big recliners with a drink. No time for that anymore. Well, maybe later on this evening.
“Right.” I tossed the towel across the sink faucet, and headed to the downstairs office, lab, exercise room and vault. I’d show him all of it, and give him full access.
Following her to the door to the basement office, I wondered if part of my role here would just to keep her grounded. She no doubt had a brilliant mind, but sometimes it seemed the longer her thoughts were left uninterrupted, the darker she got. The brilliance in her eyes weakened. Her confidence seemed to decay. My words pushed her into mission mode. She took my hand and pressed it against the wall where the door should be. Disguised by magic, it looked like an ordinary wall.
“Clavem,” she muttered. Having felt her power in the corridor, it was easier for me to recognize it again. Each wielder I’ve ever met had a signature much like their individual smells. Her power was warm like the sun shining down on a cool spring day. Darker wielders are cold. It had a steady strength to it. It was the same word she used to allow me through the portal.
“At this rate Abby, I’ll have access to all your hidden rooms.”
“Honey, you are pretty, but not that pretty,” she said with a touch of the devil in her eyes. Sharp tongue indeed.
“I knew that one would haunt me,” I laughed.
“Come on, no counter retort? You’ve got to work on your banter,” she said and allowed me to open the door. She followed me down the steps, and the whole place lit up the moment her foot touched the last step. Monitors and computers came to life. “Ready to work?”
I nodded. She walked up to the screens and tapped a few things on the main keyboard, and the whole panel went black. She walked over to the corner and pushed up a comfortable chair and plopped down in it. I stood and looked at her, “Where’s mine?”
She nodded back to the corner where she got hers.
“Shoddy hospitality in this place,” I muttered.
“Welcome home,” she said. Home. I stopped in my tracks. Was this home? I’ve washed dishes. I’ve got access to every room in the house except her room. We ate in the kitchen instead of the dining room. Maybe it was home. It felt good. I pushed up a chair next to her and sat down.
“Did you bring popcorn?” I asked.
“No. Did you?”
“No.”
“Bummer.” She pointed a remote at the wall of screens and the individual images formed one big one. “Time for a crash course. Hold on.”
“To you?” She turned her head and glared at me, “Okay, okay I’m done, but you did say more banter.” The glare relented. She flicked to series of slides that completely defined the Agency and all the different departments. The whole operation consumed every asp
ect related to power in the world: money, politics, weaponry, research, and people. She emphasized the people. All the other things were merely the tools we used to get things done. After the history lesson ended, she flipped through slides of contacts for various purposes within the Agency. She told me where to find all of this later on. When I entered my employment at the Agency, we went through a cursory orientation. The information Abby gave me was far more in depth. Apparently, none of her computers here at the house had passwords, and she welcomed me to use them anytime. After going through the slides, she motioned me to her office chair at the table. I sat down, and she clicked through files showing me, where they all were, and the things that I should look at when I had time. She let me look for a minute while she looked over her emails.
“Aunt Lianne emailed me again about that paperwork,” I said.
“Yes, please tell her I told you about it, therefore I have fulfilled my end of the bargain,” he pleaded.
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t have you under her thumb. Or under her anything for that matter,” I said lifting my eyebrows.
“Yes, I would like to avoid further entanglements with her.”
“We will do some magic exercises tomorrow. Teach you a few useful things.” This information shocked me.
“Abby, I’m not a wielder.”
“Shifting is its own kind of magic. You have it in you, and if you will let me, I’ll show you how.”
“What’s next?”
“Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the basement.”
“So, we are superheroes with a secret underground lair? It’s not very original,” I pointed out.
“At least it’s not in the Arctic,” she replied. We walked to a set of double doors that was to the left of the computer displays. She opened the door, and held it for me. I walked through and she switched on the lights. We were standing in a huge multi-use practice room. The soft mats covered most of the floor, but the far-right side of the room was hardwood flooring and a floor to ceiling mirror. Speakers hung on the walls in the corners. There were various punching bags and striking dummies. The left wall was lined with practice weapons in sets of twos. If she knew how to use all of them, she was far more impressive than I realized.