7
Unfortunately, Hunter and I both agreed that we had absolutely no idea how to get the portal back. It seemed like I saw it at the most random times and, between the two events, we hadn’t managed to put together a pattern of any sort.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go home?’ Hunter asked worriedly as he geared the truck back up to continue our mission to find Aaron.
“Absolutely,” I nodded. “It’s not going to do any good.”
“Marcella might have answers.”
As fair a point as that was, I didn’t think I was ready to hear those answers just yet. I needed to take a moment to unpack everything in my own mind.
And the first thing I needed to unpack was whether or not I thought this strange portal was showing me the prison that Laslow had been in when I’d had my one and only vision of him. Not for the first time, I found myself wishing that my vision had some sort of rewind and replay button where I could go back to a specific moment and play it back over and over until I had analyzed it to my lawyer's heart’s content.
Alas, though magic had the ability to do a myriad of seemingly miraculous things, replaying visions was not yet on that list.
I made a mental note to ask Lemon Drop about that the next time I saw her, just in case I was missing something.
“This is it, right?” Hunter asked as he pulled up in front of the address I gave him.
I sucked in a big breath and looked up at the house that, up until this morning, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see again.
“Yep,” I nodded. “This is it.”
I’d always admired Aaron’s mom’s house. She’d purchased it with the life insurance she’d received from the Army when he was killed in a combat accident, and the place had been her pride and joy. She used to wander around the house, staring at the ground as she went, just so she could pick up tiny little specks of dirt and dust. Most of the time they were so small that no other human on earth could have seen them. I think it was her way of honoring her dead husband.
It wasn’t the biggest house on the block, but over the years, it had most certainly become the most beautiful. The front yard was forest-like, covered in all sorts of bushes, vines, and flowers, with a cobblestone path that led up to the tiny, blue front door. A massive bay window sat just to the right of the entry, complete with a bench. Aaron and I used to curl up there after school, doing our homework and playing footsie as we did.
“Gosh,” I breathed as a wave of nostalgia came over me. It was so strong that I had to stop for just a moment, staring up at the house and allowing myself to get caught up in my memories.
“You really liked this guy, huh?” Hunter asked.
The question was totally devoid of judgment and was merely filled with curiosity.
“Didn’t you have a first love?” I asked him sincerely.
Hunter tilted his head to examine me, and his gray eyes clouded over with an expression that looked scarily akin to grief.
“No,” he finally sighed. “I wasn’t exactly given that luxury.”
His voice hit an extraordinarily low decibel, filled with a lifetime of grief and sorrow. We hadn’t talked all that much about our childhoods just yet, but I had to wonder if Hunter had even gotten one.
Heck, I had to wonder when he had even gotten one.
I stepped forward to give him a comforting hug but, before I could even touch him, the front door swung open angrily.
“Can I help y- Shannon? Shannon McCarthy?”
I gave Hunter one last look, one that was meant to be reassuring, before I swung around and put on my most favorite investigative scowl.
“Hi Aaron,” I said, giving a small wave to the man I’d only known as a boy.
He looked different. But not even in the sense that he’d grown up and grown old. There was a hardness in his eyes that hadn’t existed before, a kind of shield for the sorrow that only comes with living a rather hard life.
What’s happened to him? I wondered.
“I never thought I’d see you again.” It’s safe to say that those were not the words I expected to hear out of Aaron’s mouth.
“I never thought I’d be back in Portland again,” I told him honestly, taking note of the hints of anger in his voice and doing my best to defuse it. “I was wondering if we could talk for a moment if you have some time?”
I wanted to be as casual as possible, just in case, Aaron did have something to do with Magda’s disappearance. I wanted him to be clean, of course, but the Aaron I remembered, well, he had a bit of a temper.
Aaron looked at me for a long moment, making it clear that he wanted to take his sweet time to decide before he finally shrugged.
“Come in.” He turned on his heel and waved us forward.
“What, exactly, happened between you two?” Hunter asked lowly in my ear, picking up on the notes of clear venom in Aaron’s voice.
“It’s a long story,” I replied, remembering the night we’d broken up.
It certainly didn’t fall into the category of pleasant memories and wasn’t something I wanted to rehash to Hunter just then.
Truthfully, I still felt a little guilty. Okay, a lot guilty. I’d left Aaron behind just the same as I’d left the rest of Portland, only his heart had been broken when I walked out the door. I couldn’t have helped it, though. I wanted to build a new life for myself in Boston, and he wanted to stay in Portland, where his friends and family were.
We were living two different stories, as Kenneth would have put it. But it appeared Aaron still wasn’t over how different our stories were.
Once we were inside, Aaron plopped down at the dining room table just off the entryway, indicating that Hunter and I should take seats as well. We shared a glance, but then decided sitting was the best option, especially since we had some questions for Aaron, and the whole thing would go a lot more smoothly if he happily answered them.
“What are you doing here?” Aaron asked the minute my tush hit the older wicker chair.
He hadn’t made many changed to the house, I noticed. The furniture was all the same and even though appliances had been updated and it seemed like the hardwood floors had been restored, the layout and color scheme was the same one I’d seen nearly every day of my high school career.
Nostalgia was clearly Aaron’s strong suit, which didn’t exactly bode well for me.
“You’re getting right down to business, I see,” I chuckled jokingly, making a poor attempt to lighten the mood.
Hunter knocked his knee against mine under the table, making it clear he thought any attempts at jokes should probably be out of the question right then. If Aaron noticed the chemistry between Hunter and me, he said nothing. Instead, he just danced between the two of us as he waited for some sort of explanation.
“Shannon’s just here as my… assistant,” Hunter explained.
I, on the other hand, pretended not to notice the way he relished referring to me as his assistant. Aaron would probably be more susceptible to speaking with Hunter if he thought I was a lesser player in all of this, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.
“Yes, Hunter doesn’t always think of everything, so I’m here to remind him,” I added, looking directly at Aaron while I watched Hunter out of my peripherals. He bit down his lip to hide a slight smile, rolling his icy gray eyes just a bit.
“I’m a P.I.,” he explained, pulling out a business card I didn’t even know he owned. “We’re looking for a woman named Magda, and we have it on good authority that you two were involved romantically.”
I really hope he doesn’t question just what that good authority is, I thought, watching Aaron’s expression.
It turned out that I didn’t even have to worry, because the moment Hunter mentioned Magda’s name, Aaron’s mouth fell open and he sprang from his chair, leaning across the table to get in Hunter’s face.
“Do you know where she is?” He demanded aggressively.
“Wait, you haven’t seen her, either?” I asked, suddenly
confused. I was sure Aaron would have at least had some information for us, based on what I’d seen in my vision. Maybe he’d point us in the direction of a hotel, or say it was none of our business where his girlfriend was.
But the look that entered his clear blue eyes was one of utter fear.
“No,” Aaron replied softly, turning to look at me, his expression finally devoid of anger. “I saw her three days ago, down at the hotel where we always meet. And then she called me the next night, freaking out over something her husband had done or said, but she wouldn’t tell me what. We had a meeting scheduled for the next day, and when she didn’t show up, I got worried, and now you’re here…”
Aaron’s voice trailed off, and he did that thing men always do when they’re attempting to seem all macho and strong. He pressed a fist to his forehead and turned away from us, peering out the window as if he was watching the most intense drama in the world.
“She said nothing to you, nothing out of the ordinary?” Hunter pressed, hardly giving Aaron a moment to process. He had his case face on, and I could tell he wouldn’t stop pressing Aaron until he felt like we’d gotten somewhere.
“She’s been acting strange the last few weeks,” Aaron admitted. “You don’t think her husband had something to do with this, do you?”
“We’re not making any assumptions right now,” Hunter answered diplomatically. “But Bruce did hire me to search for his wife, so I find it hard to believe this was his doing.”
“Right, right,” Aaron nodded.
Admittedly, I was a bit surprised at his reaction. There was no animosity in his tone, the way the old Aaron would have had. He was taking in the information with a calm, albeit emotional, mind.
“You were in love with her.” Though the words surprised me, I didn’t let it show, and instead just stared at Aaron inquisitively, waiting for his reaction. This would be the moment when I knew whether he was just a fantastic liar, or whether he was telling the truth.
Aaron looked at me, finally making eye contact in a way that didn’t make me feel as if I was the devil, and gave a single nod.
“I am,” he replied. “Which is why I promise you, Shannon, I had nothing to do with this.”
“So do you have any idea where she could have gone?” I asked, much more gently than before.
“No,” he sighed, dropping his head into his hands and rubbing his scalp like he thought he could bring out memories that way. “She’d been acting a little strange over the last two weeks or so, but I just thought she was getting ready to finally leave him. Bruce, I mean.”
“Strange how?” Hunter demanded.
“I’d find her staring at the walls sometimes, deep in thought, and when I asked her about it, she’d just brush me off,” he replied. “Which was strange for us. We didn’t do that to each other, you know? And she started talking in her sleep. She actually woke me up a couple of times, muttering something about a veil, or the veil. I don’t know. She said she had to find it, whatever that means. When I mentioned it to her she had no idea what I was talking about. But Magda wasn’t the kind to talk in her sleep.”
I was just about to ask Aaron how much time he’d spent sleeping next to her when Hunter stood abruptly, knocking his chair back with so much force it actually fell over.
“Light chairs,” he grunted as he righted it quickly. “I’ve got enough. We should go, Shannon.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. I had a few more questions I would have liked to ask Aaron, but the look on Hunter’s face scared me enough that I didn’t want to press the issue.
The man looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Can you let me know if you find her?” Aaron asked as Hunter stomped toward the door. “I know I didn’t hire you, but… I’d just really like to know.”
I paused for a moment, looking over Aaron’s face and trying not to feel the well of pity that wanted to rise up and overtake me. He looked broken. I’d seen that expression on his face before when he’d broken it off with me once I’d decided to move to Boston.
He truly loved Magda.
“Of course we will,” I assured him. Quickly, I followed Hunter out the door, practically running to catch up with him. “What the heck was that about?”
“Hmm?” He replied absently, clearly thinking nothing of the abrupt way he’d left.
“You just stormed out of there like you’d solved the case already,” I replied. “I know you didn’t. So—”
“We should get in the car first,” Hunter interrupted me, glancing around the street carefully as if someone might be following us.
That was enough to send a shiver up and down my spine, and I turned to check the street, too, before hopping up in the truck.
“Magda wasn’t human,” Hunter informed me the moment both of our doors had slammed shut.
“What?” I replied, shocked. “Bruce said she was.”
“She must be damn good at hiding who she is, especially from a witch,” Hunter murmured. “Aaron said she was muttering about needing to find the veil, right?”
“And he also said she had no idea what she was talking about,” I pointed out. “People talk in their sleep all the time. Trust me, if someone put a recording device in my room when I was sleeping, you’d have no idea what I’m talking about.”
“You talk in your sleep?” Hunter chuckled.
“Yes,” I replied, narrowing my eyes and biting back a smile. “But not about important stuff, alright? So don’t get any ideas.”
“Well, you may not talk about important things, but Magda was,” Hunter growled. “The veil isn’t random. You should know.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well you’ve been seeing it all over town,” Hunter replied. “And it appears you’re not the only one interested in finding it.”
8
“Hold on,” I gasped as I started to put two and two together. “You’re saying the veil and the portal are the same thing?”
“Yes and no,” he replied. “I’m not totally sure what you’re seeing since you seem to be the only one aware of it. But the veil is the border between the fae world and our world. And it can only be accessed if you know exactly where to look.”
“Which Magda obviously doesn’t,” I muttered. “Or else she wouldn’t be looking for it. She’d know exactly where to find it.”
“Pretty much.” Hunter glanced out of all the windows again, setting my teeth on edge for the millionth time that day.
“Do you think we’re being followed?” I demanded, surreptitiously looking around myself.
But there was nothing out of the ordinary on the street. An old lady was walking her fluffy white dog a half a block away, and a couple of kids were playing basketball in their driveway across the street. That was it.
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” he sighed. “Everything’s blown up over the last two months. Nothing seems concrete anymore. Damn!”
Hunter slammed his open palm against the steering wheel in a flash of anger, and then instantly recoiled, turning to look at me with eyes that were full of apology.
“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “Trust me when I say that I know exactly how you feel.”
“This case was supposed to be normal,” he sighed. “The missing wife of a witch. Okay. She’s having an affair. Also okay. And then, BAM! She’s got some kind of connection with the fae. What’s that connection? Who knows!”
I could tell that Hunter was spiraling down into the same dark and insane place I always went to when I was too stressed out, so I reached out and rubbed his shoulder, then turned his face so he looked at me.
“Guess the world isn’t so cut and dried, huh?” I chuckled humorlessly.
“No, it is not.”
“Why don’t you let me drive home,” I requested. “Give you some time to think.”
“Good idea,” he replied. “Just don’t catch my truck. This thing is my baby.”
“Men and cars,” I rolled my eyes, glad that I’d manag
ed to lift his mood at least a little bit. We switched seats, and Hunter went back to hunching with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed, trying to piece everything together.
“Do you think you could have another vision?” He asked suddenly.
“You know they don’t work like that,” I replied. “Trust me, if I could pull one up out of the blue, we’d all be in a very different place right now.”
“Right, sorry,” he grimaced, rubbing his face and slapping his cheeks a little bit like he needed a wake-up call. “I’m even more stumped than when I was a hunter. This whole no magic thing is a bit of a drag.”
“Tell me about it,” I laughed. “Try living forty years and working on hundreds of cases like this.”
“I couldn’t stand it.”
I thought about the fact that I had lived for so long without magic to aid me, especially on some of my most difficult cases. Granted, they didn’t involve magical beings either, but it would have been nice to cast a spell and put the bad guy behind bars, easy peasy.
Come to think of it, maybe I should do that anyway.
“Why don’t we use magic?” I asked, breaking the moment of silence that had fallen. “I’m sure there’s a tracking spell somewhere that could help us out.”
“Bruce said he tried to track her already,” Hunter reminded me. “And, well, I mean, he has known about his powers for a little bit longer than you have, so I’m sure he’s had more time to practice and whatnot, and, uh, well, you know.”
I’m going to be honest, watching Hunter scramble to find a way to call me an amateur witch without offending me was both cute and hilarious all at once. The way he was so cautious of my feelings was endearing, but there was no need for him to be cautious. He had a good point.
But then again…
“Yeah, Bruce may be more practiced,” I allowed. “But I’ve got something he doesn’t.”
I wiggled my fingers, and that was all it took for understanding to dawn on Hunter’s face.
“You think you can call it up, just like that?”
“It’s worth a shot,” I shrugged. “And I’ve been getting a lot better at it.”
Paranoia, Pixies and Prophecies Page 6