Magic in the Shadows

Chapter Fifteen

It didn’t take me long to decide my dreams sucked. I dreamed Zayvion and Chase were yelling at each other, angry about me, about Greyson, about Tomi. I was a little fuzzy on the details, but it sounded like Chase wanted to Close me or maybe kill me, and Zayvion was having none of it.

My hero.

A third voice spoke up. Shamus. Told them to shut the hell up. Told Chase to take care of Tomi. Told Zayvion to figure out how to move the rock. Told them he would handle Greyson. There were a lot of moving-around sounds. Some silence, during which I drifted. Then more noise.

They were talking about Tomi. About the glyphs cut into her to bind her with Blood and Death magic. Talked about whether Greyson had done this to her, or if someone was working with him. Greyson had been a Closer before he’d been changed. And they could tell he had closed Tomi’s mind over and over to keep her from knowing what she was doing, how she was being used.

None of them seemed to know why he picked her, of all people, though they did begin to question why she had mentioned Jingo Jingo, and whether he or someone else in the Authority was part of this.

I heard Chase say she’d take Tomi to someone, see if her mind could be mended, her body healed.

Then someone dragged fingers across my forehead. It was nice, warm. Plus, I was awake again.

Shamus sat crossed-legged next to me. He gave me a small smile.

“Trouble.”

I swallowed to say something, but could not find my voice.

“We’re going to take care of Tomi. Get her some help, then take her home to heal if that’s the best way to go. She won’t remember any of this.

“Greyson is a bit of a problem.”

I raised my eyebrows-because that was as much sarcasm as I could manage.

“We’re taking him in. Have ways we can make sure he doesn’t wake up for a while. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get into his head and find out who he’s working with. Find out who did that. .” He swallowed, shook his head. “Did this to him. Don’t know that there’s a cure, but if there is, we’ll find it. Fix him.” He took a deep breath. I didn’t think he’d been saying most of that stuff for me.

He patted his pocket, found his cigarettes, and lit up. He inhaled and pulled the cigarette away.

“But the gargoyle? Damn, girl. I’d love to know how you did that. The only Animation I’ve ever seen done that well was on a much, much smaller scale. It’s sentient, or at least free-willed, isn’t it?”

Since I couldn’t talk, I just stared at him.

“Right. Sorry. We’re taking it along with us. With you. Next time you wake up, you’ll be at my mum’s, okay?”

Somewhere behind me, I could hear Zayvion take a breath, hold it, then begin singing softly, casting a spell.

Shamus glanced up, away from me, toward where I thought Zayvion must be. He shook his head. “Beauty.”

Then he looked back down at me. “Hell of a day, love. Not bad for your first day in the field. Took care of all the Hungers, in case you wanted to know. Now get some sleep. You’ll need it.”

He brushed his fingers over my forehead again, and, really, I did the only thing I could. I slept.