Shadow Hunted

by L. A. Johnson

  Kaylee narrowed her eyes at Lydia. “That’s not true, though. You’re lying.” She was getting agitated and pointed a finger at Lydia.

  Lydia raised her hands. “No, really. I’m a dud fae. You can ask Kade, the head of the Mage Order. He kicked me right out of the academy when I couldn’t do their magic.”

  Kaylee relaxed and laughed again. “Their magic,” she said. Then she stopped laughing. “Their magic,” she muttered the phrase again and again until it got on Lydia’s nerves. Then she got an old coffee cup and scooped out some of the contents of the cauldron into it. She handed Lydia the mug. “Drink, Lydia, and heal.”

  Lydia was glad that the potion was ready. She planned to take a polite sip and then get out of there. The mug was warm in her hand and the liquid smelled delicious, like some kind of wildflower tea. She took a sip. Then another. The next thing she knew, it was all gone. She looked up at Kaylee. “Thank you, that was delicious.” Then she stood up and steadied herself for the pain. There was none. She checked her right arm. It had stopped bleeding. There was a very clean scar where the gash had been. “Kaylee, this is incredible! How did you heal me so fast?”

  “How, indeed,” Kaylee answered. “I suspect there’s more to you than you’re willing to tell me. But that’s your business, not mine. When you leave my cottage, take a right and walk five minutes, you will find your car in the parking lot. Oh yeah, hang on.” She pointed to Lydia’s car keys that were lying on a nearby table. “I found your keys. And I gave you a gift. I put it on your key chain. It’s a very special talisman. I have a feeling that you’re going to need it.”

  “Thank you, that was very sweet of you.” Lydia picked up her keys. On her key chain along with an adorable sea turtle and several restaurant rewards nibs was now an odd-looking clay figure. She stared at it, forcing a smile. “Thank you so much. For everything. I mean it. How can I repay you? Cash?” Please don’t pick cash, she thought. “Or is there an odd job I could do for you? How about I grab you some Voodoo Donuts next time I’m on my way out here? Those things are delicious.”

  Kaylee laughed again. “You’re welcome, Lydia. And if I ever need anything, I’ll let you know.”

  Four

  Lydia made it back to her car. She sped out of the parking lot and back toward the city. It would take a little while to get back to her apartment, which sucked because the last thing she wanted right then was time to think. It had been a very strange day. All she wanted was to get some drive-through food somewhere, take a hot shower, go to bed, and forget that this day ever happened. That’s when she remembered Kade. And the Satchel. Shit, she’d have to drop it off at the mage mansion on her way home.

  A few minutes later, after wolfing down a burger and fries, she pulled into a parking spot several blocks away from the mages. A moment of fear swept over her. She never checked on the satchel in her jacket pocket after she left Kaylee. She would hope that she wouldn’t have stolen the magical satchel, but she had just met her, and you never know with the supernatural community. It was still there, thank goodness.

  She pulled out the satchel and looked it over. Then she shook it slightly. It made intriguing clinking noises. Kade had said to retrieve it, he never said she couldn’t look inside of it first.

  She glanced around to make sure nobody was looking, then she loosened the string and opened the bag which unfortunately still smelled like the worst combination of troll and werewolf.

  “What’d I miss?” The shrill voice was way too loud and way too close.

  Lydia jumped.

  “Drat!” she screamed at the gnome who had appeared in her passenger seat. “You scared the crap out of me. Please, please, please stop doing that. How many times do I have to ask you to stop sneaking up on me?”

  Drat, as usual, ignored her request. “Oh, what have you got there?” he continued at the same annoying volume level. “And where’s the troll?”

  “He’s on his way back home, no thanks to you,” Lydia said, closing her eyes to try to calm her breathing. Being startled was the worst and Drat was better at it than anyone she had ever met. She had survived a hangry troll and being attacked by something awful at the edge of the forest just to be scared to death by her sidekick?

  “What’s in the bag?” he asked.

  “Where were you when I needed you?” Lydia countered, trying to turn the tables on him. “I had to go to the forest, Drat. Alone.”

  “I told you you’d never make it to the bluffs. And I told you where I went. I followed the police sirens. You were dealing with a troll in the middle of downtown. When the police went past you, I figured something was up. So, I checked it out.”

  “And?” Lydia asked.

  “And now I want to see what’s in the bag.” He tried to grab it from her.

  “No,” she said, pulling the bag away from him. “What did you find when you followed the police?”

  “Oh, as I figured, it was bad. No wonder they drove right past you and Earth troll.”

  “Earthshaker,” Lydia corrected. She rubbed her face with her hand in frustration. “What was it, Drat? What was the police emergency that was more important than the troll?”

  “Oh, it was a murder. Right there in the mayor’s office. In fact, it was the mayor’s aide who was killed. Had them all in a tizzy, it did.”

  “Huh. Why was that more important than a full-sized troll?” she asked dubiously.

  He leaned over to whisper. “It’s more important than a troll because the mayor’s aide was slaughtered by a vampire.”

  Lydia couldn’t believe it. It was unheard of. “A vampire? No way.”

  “Way. Now let me see inside the bag.”

  She opened the bag and the two of them looked inside. There were half a dozen small vials of liquid. Well, there were several vials of liquid, and a bunch of smashed up glass. The other vials had been broken or presumably used up. Not a surprising turn of events, since they had been around the neck of a rampaging troll and then a smelly werewolf.

  “Boring,” Drat said. “I have to say, that’s the most disappointing secret magic bag I’ve ever looked into. And it smells bad too.”

  Drat was right. Lydia went through the bag again to see if there was anything she missed, careful not to cut her fingers on the broken glass. In the end, there was still nothing but a few partially used vials and a bunch of glass shards in a leather satchel that still smelled like troll.

  That made the situation all the more unusual. The Mage Council, her chief employer, made it a point to never overpay her. Taking care of a troll was risky business, for sure. But considering the amount of money they had thrown at her and the fact that the number one priority was recovering the worthless looking satchel, something wasn’t adding up.

  “You’ve got that stick-up-your-ass look again,” Drat said.

  Lydia looked up at him. “Huh?”

  “I was insulting you,” he said. “You have that very unattractive deep-in-thought-look again. It always leads to trouble.”

  She shook her head. “Trouble is going to find me anyway, no matter what face I make. You know that.”

  “You need to get better at hiding from it. Like me,” he said.

  “Well, I have to go into the mage mansion and give them their bag full of broken glass, trouble or no. You can come with me or you can get lost.”

  He disappeared.

  Five

  By the time Lydia got back to her apartment, she was even more suspicious of the mages. Maybe it was the way that Kade threw more money at her and pushed her out the door without answering any of her questions. Or maybe it was the way that he had grabbed the satchel full of magical vials out of her hand like it was a dead rat she had found in the street. He hadn’t even brought up the fact that she had hung up on him during the troll confrontation.

  She shook her head as she finished climbing the stairs and pulled out her key. He had said that the retrieval of the magical items was of utmost importance. She remembered his words on the phone. He h
adn’t even checked the contents when he grabbed it from her. Something was definitely up with him, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. Eventually. But not tonight.

  All she wanted now was a shower to wash off the dirt and troll smell, a gallon of water to drink, and a good night’s sleep.

  Once inside her apartment, she stripped off her dusty clothes and took a wonderful hot shower. Then she threw on a tank top and boxer shorts. After some cleansing deep breaths out on the balcony and a quick cup of tea, she hopped into bed.

  It wasn’t a restful sleep, though. She tossed and turned before finally waking up to an eerie silence that filled the room. Every hair stood up on her body. She felt a presence. Holding her breath, she looked around but saw nothing. That didn’t stop her fight or flight instinct from kicking in.

  Her hand reached instinctively to the sword on her nightstand. Oh, how she had missed that sword earlier today. Upon being unsheathed, it burst into flame. The sword only did that in the presence of a supernatural creature. She was right, something was up.

  The flaming sword illuminated the darkness. Something she could only imagine in a nightmare stood in front of her. It looked like a square-jawed, seven-foot-tall figure with dark eyes. Those dark eyes shimmered as they reflected the flame of her sword.

  “Oh. My. God,” she shrieked. “Back!” She waved the flaming sword at the figure in front of her, but it didn’t back up.

  In fact, it took a step forward and sniffed in her direction. “I’m not afraid of fire,” the figure said.

  “Who are you?” Lydia shrieked. “And why are you here? To kill me?”

  “Kill you?” it asked. Its voice was deep and had a metallic, echoey quality to it that reminded Lydia of liquid at the bottom of a cave. “Your aura feels like fae to me. Aren’t fae immortal?”

  My aura? Lydia thought. Leave it to me to be killed by a new age monster in touch with my aura. “Yeah,” she answered, “About that, I’m like, 1/40th fae on my mom’s side.”

  “But you’ve been alive much longer than any human,” the creature continued.

  Lydia realized she was holding her breath. She tried to breathe again. And maybe even talk herself out of being killed. “Yeah, so far so good, but I’m not really interested in testing the limits of my lifespan.” She waved the flaming sword again, and again the creature didn’t back up. She was officially out of ideas.

  “I’m not afraid of fire,” it repeated. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

  “Well, are you here to kill me or not?” She didn’t want to die, but she didn’t want something this terrifying hanging over her head every night either. She had enough trouble sleeping as it was.

  The creature shook its giant head.

  “Wait,” she said, putting the sword back on her nightstand. It obviously wasn’t going to work on the creature anyway. “You’re not going to kill me? Then why are you here? Right now. In my bedroom. Waking me up?” Maybe she was just having a really weird dream.

  “Oh,” it said. “I thought you should know, there’s a weirdo outside watching you.”

  Lydia swallowed. Her mind raced. Was the creature actually warning her of danger? “You came in here to warn me?”

  “Yes. And now I will go. I have things to do, after all.” It turned to leave.

  “Hang on,” Lydia said, jumping up to hit the light switch. Something about the creature had caught her attention. When the light came on, she knew exactly why it seemed familiar. “You! You’re the thing from the key chain! That Kaylee gave me. You’re real?”

  It slowly turned back toward her. “Yes. I’m a golem.”

  Lydia blinked several times to see if it was all real. Then she decided it probably was. “Um, thank you. For warning me, golem.”

  It disappeared, leaving her hyperventilating until she decided to do some deep breathing under the covers.

  Several loud knocks on her door a few moments later forced her to get out of bed.

  What now? Lydia thought. Then she remembered what the golem had said. Oh yeah, the weirdo. Was she being stalked? Ok, that wasn’t the question, the question was, was she being stalked by something other than a golem.

  “Who is it?” She approached the door with the sword in her hand. The sword was still engulfed in flames. Whoever this weirdo was, he was about to be Sushi. After all, if a terrifying bogeyman/talisman given to her by a mysterious forest sprite found him suspicious, that couldn’t be a good sign. It was turning out to be a really weird night. She took a deep breath and waited for an answer.

  “My name is Detective Stroud,” said the voice behind the door. “I heard screaming. Is everything all right? Can I come in?”

  “Great,” she said. “A cop.” She opened the door a crack to verify that there was, in fact, a human detective standing outside the door. He was holding out a badge so she could see it. He looked scared. What did he have to be scared about?

  “I’m fine, thanks,” she said. “Go away.”

  “Can I please come in?” he asked again. He didn’t look like he would leave, so she stepped aside and let him in.

  He darted inside, and his eyes were wild. “Are you sure you’re okay? Because I heard screaming. And then I thought I saw something. I mean, I did see something. I think.” He wobbled.

  She felt sorry for him. That golem had scared her almost to death, and she was used to supernatural creatures. He obviously wasn’t. She guided him to the couch, and he sat down.

  He looked up at her. “That thing I think I saw. What the hell was it?”

  She sat down in the wicker chair opposite him. “That was none of your business. Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you here? I’ve already had a long day. And if you’re just checking on me then you can be on your way. I’m good.”

  “Fine,” he said. “I am checking on you, but I’m not just checking on you. I was sent here.” Now that he was calming down, he eyed the sword and his hand went reflexively to his holster.

  “Don’t,” she said holding a hand out to him. “I have a license for this, and I was just putting it away. Plus, you’re the one who barged in on me.”

  “You have a license for a flaming sword?” he asked. “Because I have no idea what department you’d even apply to in order to get a permit like that.”

  Lydia looked down at the sword which was in fact, still on fire. Huh, she thought, and wondered if the golem was still nearby. Then she padded into her room to put it away.

  When she came back in the living room, she replayed the situation in her head. “You were staking me out, weren’t you? Just for the sake of asking, what were you going to do if I didn’t scream and give you an excuse to come in here? Sit there all night like a creeper?”

  His face flushed. She had to admit that he was hot, for a human. At least six feet tall with shoulder-length brown hair and muscles showing through his tee shirt. He also had an endearing devil may care five o’clock shadow. Good thing she had a rule against dating humans. She frowned. “A detective in a t-shirt, shaggy hair and beard? What’s the police department coming to?”

  “I was undercover,” he said defensively. “They pulled me back into the precinct because of this murder. They figured it would be a good idea, given the nature of the crime, to have someone asking questions who doesn’t look like a cop.” He glanced at her, smiled for a moment, and then looked away.

  That’s when she realized she was wearing only a tank top and boxer shorts. “Okay, um. I’m going to go throw on a sweater.” She headed back into her room.

  When she came back out with her sweater on, Drat appeared between them, causing her to start again. She nearly tripped over him.

  Detective Stroud drew his weapon and then got a look on his face of extreme doubt. That was probably because he was threatening a living, breathing, three-foot garden gnome with a red cap, black shirt and a long, gray, dirty beard. “What the-“

  Drat glanced at the cop, ignored the weapon and then looked Lydia up and down. “Maybe you’r
e not in practice, Lydia, but you’re doing it wrong. When you get a booty call, you’re supposed to go into the bedroom and take your clothes off, not put more of them on .”

  “Detective Stroud meet Drat. Yes, he’s a gnome.” She gave Drat a severe look. “What are you even doing here? This human is already freaked out.”

  Detective Stroud looked from Lydia to Drat and then back again. Then he blinked a few times. “You have a gnome named Drat?”

  “Oh, no. No, no, no,” Lydia answered. “He’s not mine. In fact, I disavow him and everything he’s ever done whether I know about it or not. There are exactly two things that he’s good at. One is popping in on me at exactly the worst time, and the other is making extremely inappropriate comments.”

  Detective Stroud nodded as if he understood, but he had turned an unattractive shade of greenish-white.

  Drat crossed his arms. “Popping in on you at exactly the worst time, you mean like now?”

  “Yes, Drat, like now. Why couldn’t you show up earlier when I was dragging that stinky troll werewolf into the forest all by myself?”

  Detective Stroud raised an eyebrow.

  “Hypothetically speaking,” she said, “because that would be weird.”

  Drat harrumphed and disappeared, leaving Lydia and Detective Stroud alone again.

  Lydia threw herself back into the wicker chair and sighed. “Look, it’s been a long day, Detective Stroud, what exactly do you want?”

  “Zack.”

  “Fine,” she said, “Zack. Thanks for checking on me but make it quick. I’d like to go back to sleep.” Then she thought about it. “Hold on, let’s get back to the part where you were stalking me. You’re the cause of all of this, aren’t you? That thing came into my room to warn me about a weirdo outside stalking me.” She leaned forward and scowled at him. “What’s your problem, anyway?”

  “I’m sorry. I know how it looks,” he said. “But I was sent here to get your help. On a murder. It’s important.”