Chapter 26
STILL SUNDAY
IN WHICH DESSA JUMPS AT SHADOWS
Dessa wasn’t sure what to think of Jamison’s mother, but he seemed distracted for the rest of the morning as they did thorough background checks on each and every member of the Hexxer commune.
In the process, she looked up his dad as well, just to be sure he too wasn’t hiding a paranormal affiliation.
He and Grandfather Kane were listed as Cogs, but more surprisingly, Noah had also been listed as a Cog for years too.
Either the Barsten Park office had mislabeled him, or they hadn’t bothered to actually fill him in on the workings of the PC.
But if it was true, that meant Jamison really was the only Kane who’d been left in the dark. Weird.
As Dessa worked through her background checks in relative quiet, she tried to imagine her parents purposely keeping her ignorant.
Brad had sensed the latent magic in her early on, and with plenty of Magickers on both sides of the family, her Cog parents had rejoiced in the ability.
They’d considered her gift an important boon to their community.
But even if she hadn’t been an Uncanny, she was sure her parents would’ve also raised her as a Cog. After all, they were a part of the paranormal world, so of course they wanted her to be a part of it too. Apparently, for whatever reason, the Kanes hadn’t felt the same way.
Dessa rose and poured two mugs of decaf, adding the ridiculous amount of cream she and Jamison both liked before setting it on his desk. Daylight was already fading in the window as the clock ticked toward quitting time. After this was over, they were taking some mandated days off.
Jamison looked up at her with a smile, running a hand through his once-styled hair that was on the brink of a late-afternoon disaster. “Thanks, Blue.”
She perched on one side of his desk, and the forever nosy budgie jumped on the other, blinking at both with an innocent cheep. “You okay?”
He chuckled. “You mean with the new unsolved murder, my family’s horde of secrets, or the fact that someone has been leaving you threats?” He raised a brow at her and sipped his coffee. “You know, I don’t think that I am.”
But even as he said it, there was a smile curving his lips and a dancing gleam in his green eyes.
Dessa grinned in return. It was everything she liked so much about Jamison.
Despite the danger and the unpredictability of their work, he took it all in stride, never losing that irreverent lightness to him.
Even being near him made her feel warmer, buoyant—like she was filling up with sunshine.
Like no matter what, everything would turn out okay.
He clinked his mug gently against hers. “What about you?”
“Just tired I guess.” She shrugged, sipping her own coffee, the taste of hazelnut tingling on her tongue.
“So, I know AzRIO isn’t technically involved in cracking these cases, but since we see so many of them, how many would you say usually get solved?” Jamison asked.
Before Dessa could respond, Arthur answered from the back. “We’re currently at ninety-one percent for Azalea Springs.”
Jamison frowned in his direction and raised his voice. “You’re saying one in ten never gets a resolution? That seems kind of high.”
Melba poked her head out from behind her screen, her braids styled high in a crown for the day.
“Magic has so many possibilities, it can be hard to nail down. But that stat doesn’t take into account the number of cases that are resolved successfully at the clan or pack level, which explains why it’s high. We only get the real problem children.”
“And the responsibility doesn’t fall on us to handle the case anyway,” Arthur said, his dark eyes flashing. “We are just supposed to collect information and disseminate for the enforcement office to solve their case.”
“But we don’t mind stepping in when they need help,” Dessa added.
“I mind!” Arthur said, his fuzzy brows knitting over his blue-light glasses. “The two of you should not be running around risking your lives. You’re not trained for that. It’s going to give the rest of us a heart attack, and then we’ll be even more short-handed.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet that you worry about us, Arthur.” Jamison chuckled with a glance at Dessa.
“I didn’t say I was worried.” Arthur ducked his head with what looked like a blush collecting on his cheeks. “It just creates more paperwork for the rest of us.”
The ring of Dessa’s desk phone cut through their conversation, and she strode over to pick it up.
“Dessa McKinney, Azalea Springs Records and Intermediary Office.”
“It’s Brynn at the hospital. Carly’s awake and she’s asking for you.”
The sun had well set by the time Dessa ran into the hospital, out of breath and her nerves jangling.
Carly could be the key to everything, but why would she be asking for Dessa?
She’d only just managed to force Jamison to go to dinner with his mother, like he promised, instead of coming with her, but inwardly, she wished he was here to lean on.
Her hands were shaking as a Magicker nurse showed her to Carly’s room, though Dessa could’ve found it herself with the two Werewolves standing outside the door in their burly beast forms. One red and one blond, their top halves looked like wolves on steroids, while their bottom half was still human-shaped and dressed in black pants and boots.
Dessa wanted to be reassured by their intimidating presence, especially when she recognized Brynn as one of them, but apparently their protection hadn’t helped Jean Marc.
Inside, Carly was propped up on pillows, staring out the window at the dark front lawn when Dessa entered.
The youngest Jowett slowly turned toward Dessa, her face drawn as a slow, almost pained smile crossed her face.
Her brown pixie cut had grown shaggy in the last few weeks, and even though Dessa knew she was only twenty-one, the lines on her face and silver in her hair made her look far older.
“Dessa, it’s so good to see you.” Her voice came out hoarse, and she raised a trembling finger to gesture to the seat beside her. “Fair warning, I don’t quite have my energy back yet, but I had to talk to you right away.”
“I’m so sorry about what happened to you.” Dessa slowly lowered herself into her seat even as her heart raced. “But I don’t understand; how’d you know I was back?”
Carly’s dark gaze focused on her. “Because I saw you, Dessa.”
“Another prophecy?” Dessa froze, her stomach sinking. “But I thought your parents discouraged you from using your gift.”
Carly’s chin dipped in a barely perceptible nod.
“When my parents started over on the other side of the country, I decided to embrace our magic. I thought it might help people. They warned me that it was dangerous, but of course I thought I was invincible.” She swallowed, her eyelids lowering and rising in a slow blink.
“I barely remember when he took me, just sharp pain, and the rest of the three weeks is blurry—all shadows like my eyes were never really open. They asked me for prophecies over and over until I couldn’t distinguish reality from potential futures.
And then, I saw something clearly. I saw you and Jean Marc.
He was in so much pain, and I knew you could end it for him. ”
Dessa let out a constricted breath. “That had to be the tragedy then, I guess. I could help Jean Marc but not save him.”
“Maybe,” Carly whispered, her voice fading so far that Dessa had to lean in to hear her. “There was something else too though. A darkness that follows you. It falls over everything you touch.” Her bloodshot gaze held Dessa’s again. “I don’t know what it is, but you must be careful.”
Dessa nodded, her eyes filling as memories flooded her. “The last prophecy I heard was from Alana before…” She shook her head, remembering how they’d laughed over the words:
You’ll find the one you seek in fields of green,
In exchange for three of whom you’re most keen.
“We thought it was all gibberish,” Dessa said, her voice thick. “That Alana must’ve messed it up…”
Carly reached out and gave Dessa’s fingers a weak squeeze. “It’s not your fault, Dessa. What happened to Peter and Alana. They made their own choices.”
Dessa squeezed Carly’s fingers back, but guilt was not so easily assuaged.
It would be her burden to carry for the rest of her life—scenes that would replay until her hair turned white.
Well, if she was lucky enough to live that long.
Current trends weren’t reassuring. “I’m just glad you’re okay, Carly. ”
“Thanks for coming back for me.” Carly’s eyes closed, her head settling into her mountain of pillows. “You should go talk to Peter though. He’s waiting for you.”
Dessa tried to remember what the last thing she’d said to Peter was before they’d run into that field, but it wouldn’t come to her. “I…I don’t know if I can,” she whispered.
“It’s all right,” Carly murmured. “One day you will, and a warning he will spill.”
Before Dessa could find a response, Carly’s head lolled to one side, sleep taking her once again.
Was that…had Carly just given her the scrap of a prophecy?
Surely not. She couldn’t handle another bad end on top of the one she was already trying to wrap her head around.
Dessa rose on shaky legs, rolling the conversation over and over.
If Peter was going to warn her, did that mean he was keeping a prophecy from the grave?
Mercy, but these prophecies were going to be the death of her.
She needed to talk to Brad before she decided what to do about Peter.
Of course, she desperately wanted to talk to him.
But seeing Peter again was liable to break her—in more ways than one—and she had to hold it together until she figured out who killed Jean Marc.
She tried to think of who would be in the business of making a mint from prophecies. Usually one ominous foretelling was enough to sate someone, and she’d definitely had her fair share. Why would someone want many?
As she stepped out of the room, she turned to Brynn’s giant wolf head, her muscled arms crossed over her furred torso. Though she was now two heads taller than Dessa, her magic still smelled the same. Like sharp, fresh-cut grass.
“Hey, Brynn, your little sister—the one that Jean Marc chased—did she ever have a run-in with a Hexxer that you know of?”
Brynn cocked her head, her voice coming out an octave deeper than normal.
“The only time I can remember is when we came into AzRIO to get her ID updated after her first Were change. It was really busy, and there was a group of Hexxers being, well, themselves. You know, mostly trying to sell us their stuff.”
Dessa nodded her thanks and wandered out to her car, lost in thought.
She and Jamison had been looking through Hexxer background checks all day, but they could find no connection to Jean Marc.
Was it possible they could be looking at an illicit Magicker ring instead?
If Brynn’s sister had come into a busy AzRIO, she could’ve sparked the attention of all kinds of people.
Paranormal children were quite rare, after all.
Dessa parked her car in the alley behind AzRIO and strolled toward the park to clear her thoughts.
The budgie alighted on her shoulder as if she were walking expressly for his benefit, and Dessa absently scratched his tiny head.
Someone had controlled Jean Marc to kidnap a Vampire and a Magicker to use them in their illicit business.
Was it possible Jean Marc’s handler was a Cog she wasn’t tracking yet?
If Carly was more familiar in the Cog and Magicker communities, it would make the most sense.
She called Brad, but he didn’t pick up—again—and she left a tense message.
Kiwi-Fred hopped on her shoulder, his feathers fluffing up with an irritable squawk.
“What do you see?” Dessa asked, suddenly noticing the late hour and their stark solitude in the park.
Spanish moss dripped in curtains from the lush trees, the first yellowed leaves of Florida fall drifting down from the huge boughs arching over the path.
She scanned the shadows and noted a silhouette leaning against the tree behind her. Watching them.
A chill prickled up her spine. Weird. “C’mon, let’s go, Kiwi.” Dessa picked up her pace, her hand finding the pop-stake in her pocket. Of course she was being ridiculous. It was probably just someone out for a late stroll too.
But after five minutes of walking with three different turns, Kiwi-Fred was still looking over his shoulder.
Dessa followed his lead, and to her consternation, there was, indeed, someone following her.
She stopped, her grip tightening on the pop-stake.
She could wait for him to pass and then go on her way.
Except, he’d stopped moving when she had.
Suddenly, the threatening notes seemed a lot more valid.
Time to go. Dessa broke into a run, determined to lose him, and Kiwi-Fred fluttered from her shoulder. She twisted through the familiar park, her legs burning with the exercise until she popped up on the well-lit street in front of the office.
She spun in a quick circle, confirming there were no watching eyes before letting out a breath of relief. Kiwi-Fred landed on a bike stand next to her with a reproachful chirp, and Dessa grinned. Looked like she really did have herself a pet bird. Too bad he couldn’t—
She stopped as the silhouette appeared directly in front of her, and this time, anger sparked in her gut. “Hey! Who are you?” She ran toward the shadow, but just when she thought she would crash into him, the shadow melted into the night.
Her lips pursed, and her stomach turned.
Was it real? A ghost? Or just a trick of her mind?
The shadow reappeared at the corner of her vision, and Kiwi-Fred squawked at it.
A cold laugh rippled through the night, and only then did fear pump through her in earnest. She took off running for the office, cold adrenaline lending her speed.
Feet pounded the pavement behind her, and a soft voice curled through the shadows.
“Warned you, didn’t I?”
Dessa rounded the corner toward AzRIO in certifiable panic mode and full body slammed into the shadow waiting for her right in front of the office doors.