Chapter 2
HELP! SAVE ME FROM WILLOW LAKE
NELSON
By the time I returned to Willow Lake, the sun had run away for another day. It always went down early this time of year, so it wasn’t late, just dark. I still felt weary, though, both physically and mentally.
When I left town earlier, I was convinced I’d return victorious.
What a fucking joke.
I guided my bike down the road, winding along the lake.
The low purr of the engine was loud along the quiet road and sent the few animals who hadn’t retreated to their dens or warmer climes for the winter scurrying away.
Ahead and to the left, sat the Willow Lake Inn.
Golden light glowed from the windows. I knew most people found that kind of thing welcoming, but I was more drawn to the shadows the light created.
Although technically the Willow Lake Inn, where I lived with my old team, wasn’t an inn anymore, I didn’t know what else to call it.
Home, maybe?
Yeah, no. Probably not that.
But I’d never really had one, so what did I know? My mother might have tried to create one, once upon a time, but she’d disappeared when I was a kid, so the memory might be faulty, overwritten by movies and books and other people’s stories.
Don’t get me wrong, the inn wasn’t all bad, since it was attached to a pub, which was its own blessing on a day like today.
A drink or ten after my discovery—or rather my lack of one—would help.
I didn’t even head to my room first to freshen up.
I went directly through the big wooden doors on the right and straight into the pub.
Thank Magic the pub wasn’t busy, but I made my way to the second darkest corner anyway.
The darkest one had already been claimed by Old Thom.
The troll was an antisocial bastard, and I respected that.
No one cared if his only expression was a scowl.
Everyone left him to nurse his drink alone in peace.
I envied Old Thom.
“Hey, Nelson.” Jake approached, carrying a pint of dark stout. He set it in front of me, even though I hadn’t ordered it. He knew what I liked. “How did it go?”
Of course, he knew where I’d been.
I grunted.
Jake’s mouth twisted in a grimace. “Yeah. I figured it wasn’t good news when I saw you come in alone.”
I dragged the pint glass closer.
“Do you want anything else? The kitchen is open.”
“I’m good with this,” I said, nodding at the drink. My voice was hoarse. How long had it been since I’d spoken to anyone? It might have been yesterday. Or was it the day before?
“Okay. Shout if you change your mind.”
We both knew I wouldn’t shout. Thankfully, he left me to drink away my misery without any other chitchat.
I heaved a sigh and tried to ignore the itch at the back of my neck urging me to do something. But what? I was out of leads for finding Morgan, and I didn’t have fuck all else to do.
Whenever I got this way, it was like I could feel the shadows tugging at me. Luring me in. Promising me the safety and security of anonymity. Restlessness didn’t exist the same way when I took my shadow form.
But if I shifted now, in the mood I was in, I didn’t know when I’d take my human form again.
I knew all too well how risky it was, because I’d done it before.
I’d been lucky then. Gage had found me before my darker side obliterated my humanity, but I couldn’t count on that happening again.
It didn’t matter what Gage had promised when I joined his team all those years ago.
The feeling would pass quickly. I knew it would. But until my dark mood lifted, or I had a new goal to strive for, I needed to resist the temptation to fade into the shadows.
That was one of the reasons I’d liked working for the SC. The continual assignments, even little ones, kept me grounded. As a being connected to air, having an anchor like that was a good thing. It kept me tethered to my human side.
Teague, one of my former teammates, approached with a drink in his hand.
“Can I join you?”
When I nodded, he slipped into the seat beside me. He had a boy-next-door vibe most people found appealing, but he wasn’t my type. Then again, I wasn’t sure what my type was.
It seemed I didn’t know much lately.
“How did it go?” he asked.
Fuck. Did everyone know what I’d been up to today?
“Didn’t find him.”
We sat in silence for a bit. He knew me well enough that he didn’t expect social niceties or inane small talk from me.
“Do you ever think about rejoining the SC?” I asked, surprising even myself with the question.
Teague leaned back in his chair and pushed his hand through his short brown hair. “Sometimes? I used to think about it more.”
“Yeah? Something change?”
He shrugged. “I’m thinking of opening a store.”
Few things could shock me. That did. The idea of chatting with strangers every day sounded like a nightmare to me. “Really? What would you sell?”
“Artifacts? Charms? A few mundane antiques?”
I knew he wouldn’t sell any dangerous magical items, but the fact he’d consider selling anything magical at all? That was baffling. Particularly when there’d been paranormal hunters sniffing around town recently.
He eyed me. “Why? You thinking of going back?”
“I think about it sometimes, yeah.” I stared at my drink.
If I could join another SC team, be on the road again, talk about assignments instead of hanging out at the pub and speculating with the locals about whatever bet they had going… yeah, that sounded wildly appealing about now.
And for the record, I knew one of the most active bets was about me and the elusive unicorn. As if I needed any more eyes on my failure to find Morgan.
“But I don’t know if I could do it,” I continued. “Not without Gage.”
Teague nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know if I would have lasted at the SC if I’d been on a different team.”
“He’s the only demon at the SC, isn’t he?”
“As far as I know, yeah,” Teague said.
Having a demon handpick team members made it a hell of a lot easier for me to accept them. He could see their deepest desires, and if he could trust someone after that, I figured I could too. Unfortunately, I doubted the SC would be impressed if I told them I’d only work with people Gage vetted.
No, if I went back, I’d have to decide to trust my team based on my own intuition. And that felt a lot like guessing. The mere idea of basing my safety on a hunch made me queasy.
As a shadow jumper, I always had a plan. I needed to know where the shadows were going to be. I needed to anticipate how they’d move. I needed to know as much as possible about any place or situation, so I could act accordingly. Not knowing things made me anxious.
But I’d never admit that to anyone, not even Gage. Although I suspected he knew.
Teague leaned closer and dropped his voice. “You not happy here?”
I resisted the urge to squirm. Happy was so fucking arbitrary, wasn’t it? “The people here mean well…”
They sought me out, invited me places, and sat down beside me to talk to me.
It didn’t matter if I scowled. Even when I ignored them, they didn’t take the hint and leave.
They were always just there, stopping me from sinking into the shadows.
Everywhere I went in this damn town, it was the same thing.
It was like living under a spotlight, which was the last place a shadow jumper wanted to be.
“That they do, I guess.” Teague laughed. “It’s a strange place.”
And, as if my words summoned one of those well-meaning people, Jeremy was walking over to our table now.
I groaned. Teague laughed again.
Jeremy had recently discovered magic. He was the worst at observing personal boundaries, but the others weren’t much better. He plopped down at my table without asking, and his little entourage was right at his heels.
Who raised these people? A horde of toddlers? Where were their manners?
Okay, it might be hypocritical for a shadow jumper who specialized in eavesdropping to talk about manners, but come on!
I scowled.
No one noticed. Or if they did, they ignored it. The group included Jeremy’s mate Adrian, his fire mage friend Ash, and Ash’s hellhound mate Dillon. More would be on their way over here any minute now, I just knew it.
I looked around for Paws, the uber powerful, supernatural cat, expecting him to hop on the table and start issuing snarky demands. He was usually right in the middle of groups like this.
“Are you sure there aren’t any history books on supes at the library?” Jeremy asked. He hadn’t been raised as a supe, so he used that as an excuse to ask a lot of impertinent questions. This one at least seemed more reasonable than some of the shit he came up with. “Parker was asking.”
I called bullshit on that. There was no way Parker would ask Jeremy about supes. Parker, a human who’d recently mated the local minotaur, wouldn’t go to another almost-human for answers. He’d go to his mate, Levi.
“Have you tried Supenet? I’m sure there are posts on Wizipedia,” Dillon suggested.
“Wizipedia?” Jeremy repeated slowly. “Are you sure you didn’t mean—”
“It’s the supes’ answer to an online encyclopedia,” Ash explained quickly, before Jeremy could finish asking his question. It made me wonder what Ash knew. He understood better than most of us how Jeremy’s mind worked.
“So, wiz as in wizard? I didn’t think wizards existed.”
“They don’t.” Ash shrugged. “But apparently the other magic-related names the program developer had shortlisted were already taken.”
“Wizipedia. Of all the things they could have come up with, they chose wizipedia?” Jeremy snickered and shook his head. “Okay, can we all agree it’s a hilarious name? What do they have for a logo? Please tell me it’s of Calvin peeing.”
“Huh?” Adrian said, summing up everyone’s reaction.
“You know, like those stickers you see on pickup trucks? It looks like a little kid is pissing on things. Pissing? Whizzing… Get it?”
“Uh… no,” Dillon said. I could tell he wasn’t sure where the conversation had veered off course, but I wasn’t surprised. Things like that happened a lot around Jeremy. “It’s a magic wand.”