Shadow Running (Shadow Blade #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

“What did you do now?” I stared down at Jangles and Murdoch, shaking my finger. “You know you’re not allowed to terrorize Mr. Crumbles.”

I’d walked into the living room to find the two cats on either end of the bird cage, batting the bars, as Mr. Crumbles shrieked at them both.

If he’d been out, he’d teach them a quick lesson in respect, but the Catalina macaw was sitting on the middle perch in his four-foot-tall cage, scolding them.

The cage was on a table, allowing Mr. Crumbles a better view.

That the cats were working together was good—they were getting along like they had been raised together.

However, that they were working together to scare Penn’s macaw wasn’t exemplary behavior.

“Go away!” Mr. Crumbles shrieked. Then he broke into song with, “ Bad cats, bad cats, whatchya gonna do? ”

I snickered. Bad cats , indeed. Penn had taught him to sing that.

“Move along, you two.” I shooed them away from the cage.

They bounced into the kitchen for a bite to eat. I glanced at the clock. Time to start dinner. Penn was at a business seminar, and she’d be home in thirty minutes, so I decided to give her a break this evening. She loved to cook, but I made a mean mac ‘n cheese, and we had it at least once a week.

I headed for the kitchen, but stopped as my phone started playing Mad About Mad About Me .

The cantina song from Star Wars was my ring tone for Benny the goblin, mostly because he never failed to remind me of a much rougher and dumber version of Yoda.

If pressed, I’d grudgingly admit that he was a friend, and I had grown to care about the doofus.

“Hey, Benny.” I answered the phone with one hand, as I opened the cupboard with the other. I pulled out the elbow noodles and bread crumbs. “Let me put you on speaker phone.” I set my phone on top of the toaster. “Okay, what’s up?”

“Hey Legs, can I come in tomorrow morning to talk to you?” Benny sounded unusually subdued. Given Benny was seldom subdued, I set down the food and leaned against the counter.

“What’s going on, Benny? You sound worried.”

“I am,” he said. “I want you to investigate something for me. I’ll pay you what I can.”

I usually doled out the jobs to Benny. For him to offer to pay me, something must be wrong. “Sure, Benny. Of course you can. Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “But…I’d rather wait till we can talk in person.”

There was no guilt in his voice, so I figured he hadn’t screwed the pooch again. I also detected real concern, and that worried me. Benny usually saved his concern for himself.

“Be at the office at eight-thirty tomorrow morning and we’ll talk.”

“Thanks, Legs. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important,” he said. “Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sure thing.” As he hung up, I shoved my phone back in my pocket, wondering what could have worried Benny so much.

* * *

Penn arrived home forty-five minutes later. By then, the casserole was done, hot in the oven. She dropped her bookbag on the sofa, then wandered into the kitchen, looking tired.

“That smells wonderful,” she said. “I’m starved.”

“Sit, I’ll bring over our plates.” I dished up the casserole, added a side of asparagus, and set the plates on the table. “Wine?”

She nodded. “Please.”

I poured white zinfandel for us, then settled down in my chair. “How was the seminar?”

“Good. I’ve got more of a head for business than I thought.” She tossed a piece of paper on the table. “My mother emailed me this. I printed it out so you could read it.”

I picked it up and glanced at it. “This is from your mother?”

“Right. I don’t know what the fuck is happening.”

I read the letter.

Dear Penelope, I just received a formal dismissal from the Crystal Court. I have no idea what I did, and I tried calling but they’ve blocked my number. It appears I’ve been excommunicated. I thought you could find out what happened. This has to be a mistake. I haven’t done anything wrong. –Eileen

I glanced at Penn. “Does she know you were kicked out of the Crystal Court?”

Penn blushed. “No. I didn’t tell her, because I didn’t want her flinging a million questions my way.

My mother seldom talks to the court, so I thought I’d have more time before she found out.

By then, I’d be ready to tell her what happened.

But it looks like they’re doing a purge on the rolls.

I got a call from Duran this afternoon. At least three prominent witches have been expelled from the Court, so this isn’t an isolated thing and I’m not their only target. I don’t know what to tell her.”

“Is there a way you can find out more before you approach her? Anybody high up in the court you can talk to?” I asked.

Penn was a witch, and she was also half Fae, which is one reason the Crystal Court had decided to kick her out.

She’d been kidnapped by Brim Fire, an organization determined to hand over the world to the Demonkin.

We had barely scraped the surface of what was going on behind the scenes, but Penn had been cast out before we could investigate fully.

They left her to fend for herself. And, since the Fae Courts wouldn’t acknowledge her existence—because of her half-blood heritage—she was basically adrift without a compass.

“I know a few people, but I’ve been hesitant to approach them. I don’t want the Court punishing them for talking to me. I swear, Queen Elsabetha’s lost her marbles. Who knows what she’s capable of,” Penn said with a grimace. “Gee, I don’t sound bitter, do I?”

“Only a little,” I said. “Okay, well, why don’t you email her back that you’ll investigate matters? Don’t tell her anything else right now. That will buy you some time.”

“Good idea,” Penn said, helping herself to more mac ‘n cheese. “Meanwhile, I’ll look after myself. Because it’s obvious that nobody else is going to back me up.”

“You know that I will, and our friends,” I said.

She gave a tired shrug. “Yes, yes, I do. I just feel alone. I belonged when I was part of the Crystal Court. I had rights, I had a magical community. That’s all gone, now.”

“I get it,” I said. After a moment, I added, “Speaking of messages, Benny called me tonight. He wants help.”

“He need money?” Penn asked.

I shook my head. “Something seems to be wrong. And I’m not talking Benny-wrong, but really wrong. I’ve never heard him sound this concerned.”

“Well, you’ll find out tomorrow,” Penn said. “For now, what do you want to watch tonight?” She carried our dishes over to the sink. “And what do we want for dessert?”

“Ice cream?” I finished my glass of wine and brought in the goblets.

“I’ll feed the cats while you rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

” I pulled out two cans of cat food and spooned the food into two clean dishes.

with Jangles and Murdoch racing into the kitchen when they heard the sounds of the cans opening.

“There’s a new show on. It’s about a real estate agent who sells haunted houses.

Sort of a cross between House Hunters and Ghost Hunters— Ghost House Hunters . ”

Penn snorted. “Okay, that sounds like it might be worth a watch.”

As we finished cleaning the kitchen and dished out our ice cream—apple pie flavor—I wondered how I’d managed before Penn moved in.

We got along so well that it felt like we’d always been roommates.

Taking our dessert, we headed into the living room while I told her about the cats trying to terrorize Mr. Crumbles.

* * *

So, I’m Kyann Sarasan, and I’m half-demon. Until recently, I didn’t even know what kind of demon I was. My father was never in the picture and my mother refused to tell me about him.

It wasn’t easy, growing up on the wrong side of the tracks.

Oh, my mother tried. She really did, but we were always poor, always scraping by, until she was brutally murdered when I was fourteen.

I ended up on the streets, trying to make my way in the world, until someone decided to get handsy with me and my inner demon exploded.

Dante—a wolf shifter—witnessed the attack.

He saved my ass by hustling me away from the body.

After that, he gave me a place to stay, and enrolled me back into school, and basically played big brother until I grew up.

When I opened my business, he joined me, and he’s been one of my best friends ever since.

Together with Penelope—my other best friend, Orik—another one of our investigators and a Viking priest, Sophia—our receptionist and an oracle who was kicked out of Olympus for refusing Zeus’s attentions, and Carson—who is human and as tech savvy as they come—we form Shadow Blade Investigations.

We investigate anything our clients need investigating. Along the way, we’ve created our own little misfit family, as we face danger and adventure together.

And we always have each others’ backs.

* * *

Next morning, the day hearkened bright and sunny.

It was early May and we were having a warm front come through.

While the month of May ushered in an average temperature of around 63 degrees, and there was still a decent amount of rain, most of the month was relatively nice.

Sunny days, even if cool, were considered shirt-sleeve weather, and the flowers and trees blossomed out in full beauty.

The dissonance between the sunlight and the lack of warmth never failed to startle visitors to the city, though those of us who were local were used to it.

It was fifty-eight when I climbed into my car, yet because of the sunshine, it seemed like it should be in the upper sixties or low seventies.

I opened the window a crack for fresh air and headed to work.

Sophia waved as I entered the office. She held out a stack of mail. “Want me to gather everybody for the meeting?”

We always had a morning meeting to set the day’s schedule.

“Not till after Benny gets here.”

Sophia wrinkled her nose. “Goblin funk was not on my bingo card for the morning.”