Chapter 11 Jackie to the rescue
Jackie to the rescue
The next morning, I ignored two calls and several text messages from Raymond.
It was halfway through the day when he gave up on his attempts.
I didn’t know what he wanted to discuss, but I wasn’t about to talk to him, not until I figured out what the hell I had witnessed the night before.
A man I’d let bend me over on the rooftop had stepped into the shadows and vanished, but what really got under my skin was how he didn’t seem afraid.
It wasn’t like those men dragged him kicking and screaming off to some unknown doom.
He was comfortable with what happened and had walked into the abyss with no need for coercion.
That alone had me ready to block his number.
He not only knew what was happening, but he was part of it.
Despite the desire to give him a swift boot out of my life, I couldn’t.
It wouldn’t make a difference, because even if I ignored him all weekend long, he would show up to the office Monday morning, ready to talk.
I sat in the bay window, looking out at the entrance to the driveway.
Jackie would be there soon, and hopefully, she could tell me what the hell was going on.
I sipped the tea meant to calm my nerves, but even that wasn’t working.
The aroma filled my nose with every sip, and for a moment, I felt at ease, but in the next, my mind would go back to him—the feeling of his touch, the sound of his voice, the memories of that rooftop.
“Damn it!” I had to fight the urge to throw a full-on tantrum.
How ridiculous would I look, kicking my feet and flailing my arms around in panic?
But that’s what I felt like on the inside.
“Why did I let him do that to me? I knew I should have left his ass alone. A few more months, and I would have been free, none of this freaky, shadowy shit to deal with.”
My gut told me by witnessing what happened, I’d opened Pandora’s box, and there was no closing that bitch back up!
I’d spent the night, after talking to Jackie, scouring the internet looking for information, but of course, I only found a list of fictional books about beings who used shadows to bang fae girls.
It had been a while since I'd read anything for pleasure, but some of those titles had me ready to dip my toe into the fantasy world again.
A wave of relief washed over me as the car pulled into the driveway. As I dashed for the door, the surrounding plants perked up. They always did when Jackie came around. Her energy was pure—chaotic but genuine. They loved it.
“I’m here!” she called; she stepped out of the car as I opened the door. She wore a cute pink jogger fit and white sneakers, perfect for comfy travel. “Now we can figure out what the hell is going on here.”
“Please! Because I don’t know. I tried looking it up and came up with nothing.” I waited as she marched up the steps then gave her a big hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I’ve missed you too!” She kissed my cheek. “Let me guess: you used a standard search engine to look up what happened?”
“Of course I did,” I chuckled. “I knew it would be a slim chance of coming up with something real, but I had to try.”
“Girl, you know people like me work to keep all things magical out of sight and off the human internet. You have access to our database, so use it.”
“I also know if I were to log into that thing, there would be people searching for me next.” I tapped my temple with my fingertip. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Okay, so that’s true. There are some people out there looking for your kind.” She winked at me. “We may have spotted a few others, by the way. You know, should you ever want to organize a family reunion.”
“I’ll pass on that.” Did I want to know more about my bloodline? Yes. Did I want to sit in a room full of strangers talking about our abilities over a plate of spaghetti and potato salad? Absolutely not!
“I really thought you would want to build a community.”
“You thought wrong.” I pointed her to the kitchen table, where she sat down and pulled a laptop out of the bag she carried on her shoulder. “Now, you get comfy and do what you need to do so you can tell me what the hell I saw last night.”
“I don’t have to search for it. I brought the laptop for online shopping.” She winked at me. “I already know what you’re dealing with.”
“You do?” I quickly sat down across from her. “Well, what is it?”
“You got shadow walkers in your neighborhood.” She said it as if I was supposed to know what she was talking about.
“Shadow walkers? What the hell is that?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. They are supernatural beings who can use shadows to cross space and time.
But those are the advanced baddies.” Her voice lifted with budding intrigue as she reported her findings.
“Apparently, some of them can do a lot with the shadows, depending on their type and how old they are. The more they age, the stronger they get. As far as I found out, there are twelve known kinds. Most are weak, but some are powerful and can even cross between worlds.”
“This is insane.” I shuddered and immediately thought about the hooded figure known as X. I knew something felt off about them. Were they also a shadow walker? Maybe X was the powerful, realm-crossing kind. But if that were true, what did that mean about Raymond?
“Agreed.” She nodded.
“What am I going to do?” My heart raced, and my mind created a laundry list of problems this could cause me.
“What do you mean? You saw it, they left… Move on with your life?” She paused then pointed her finger at me, drawing quick spirals in front of my face. “Unless you left something out of your little recap last night.”
“Maybe I did.” I chewed my lip. I hadn’t mentioned my relationship with Raymond at all.
“Like what?” She closed the laptop, leaning forward like a dog begging for a treat.
“Like, the guy I saw walk into the shadows works for me.” I started off light, easing her into the full truth.
“Fire him.” She shrugged, always ready to throw a man away. That was why we all loved her! “Problem solved. You know, you could have told me that over the phone.” She narrowed her eyes.
“Maybe.” I nodded.
“Give me more detail. What happened?”
“We just finished a job, and there were four men there. They were a part of the meeting. Afterwards, well, some things happened, and he left his phone in my car. I went to chase him down, and when I made it to him, I saw him with the guys. Things looked tense, and then…”
“Then they walked into the shadows,” she finished my thought. “Wait, you said some things happened… What was it?”
“Um…” I hesitated.
“You’re acting like you banged one.” She laughed, but when I didn’t join her, she looked at me like I was crazy. “Oh, shit! You did, didn’t you?”
“Well—” I continued.
“What?” She gasped. “I knew it. There’s something more!”
“We may have been…intimate.” I dropped my head. I refused to watch the range of shifting emotions in her expression.
“Intimate. Oh my God. Don’t tell me you actually fucked the demon!” She slapped the table and started laughing. “Girl, I was just joking! Oh, this is too damn good! Jericha! How could you?”
“Demon?” I hung onto that word. “What do you mean, demon?”
“Well, I mean, that’s what we have them classified as. They originate from the same place, I think.”
“Okay, no. I’m gonna be sick.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “There is no way.”
“Girl, you’ve had worse. Trust me, I know.”
“Funny, Jackie.” I held my stomach. Each time I thought about the word demon, my insides twisted. “I’m actually starting to feel nauseous now.”
“Don’t be dramatic.” She winked. “Did you wrap it up, or should we expect shadow babies soon?”
“Funny, Jackie.”
“Tell me all about him…and did he do anything special while you were with him?”
“No! I thought he was a normal human,” I assured her. “You know I don’t like to mix it up with magical men.”
“What’s with you?” She tapped on her laptop then sucked her teeth, clearly not pleased with what she found. “Only hooking up with human men. Is that because you can control them better with that plant magic?”
“Sort of.” I chewed my lip. “Explains why he seems so damn resistant to my ability. You know how they used to call me a siren? I could play with men whenever I felt like it, and they would just do what I wanted. Raymond isn’t like that.
He wants me, but he maintains control.” I could use the connection to the plants to do a lot more, like how the perfume I wore was a blend I created.
It was hypnotic to human men and made them my play toys.
“We know how you like to stay in control of everything.” She laughed. “Broke so many hearts because of that.”
“Hush. I don’t need you to get on my case too.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s work.” I waved off the question. “I’m being advised to let Natalie take on more of the workload.”
“She’s competent.” Jackie nodded in agreement. “Why wouldn’t you?”
“We aren’t talking about that. Focus. Shadow walker.”
“Right.” She sighed. “But you brought it up, remember that. Look, if you don’t want to see the man, just walk away—unless you think he will go stalker on you. Is that what you’re worried about?”
“No, honestly, that’s the last thing I worry about when it comes to him.” I didn’t mention I was concerned about him vanishing altogether. That was a new development I had yet to work through in my own head.
“So, what's the problem?”
“The problem is, he doesn’t just work with me.
He’s a business partner—a business partner who is apparently from hell and is clearly tied up with some terrible people.
” I took a deep breath. “And yeah, I’m still contracted to work with him for a few more months.
He talked about dissolving the contract early.
Maybe this was why. He knew this shit was about to pop off. ”
“HA!” Jackie laughed. “That’s fucking funny!”