CHAPTER 16

I jumped away, but Degoba was quick. He managed to grab my arm but luckily for me, and unluckily for the forest wight, I was a dragon and my strength was enough to break free. I backed away toward the wall, grateful that he was still holding the flashlight.

“Degoba, the wight is influencing you. Listen to me—you have to resist it!” I didn’t want to attack him. Even with the wight’s influence, I was still stronger than he was, and I could hurt him badly.

But Degoba was firmly in the grip of the forest wight’s possession, because he raced forward, ramming me back against the wall. I pushed against him but, to my surprise, I wasn’t able to shove him away. He let out a low rumble of laughter, his eyes flashing a dangerous green.

“I’ll teach you to interfere with me.” Degoba cupped my chin and thrust upward, slamming my head against the wall. Dizzy from the blow, I struggled to get out of his grasp, but the force of the wight gave him strength. He dropped the flashlight near us and raised his other hand, using his knees and body to keep me pinned.

I glanced at his fingers and in the faint periphery of the flashlight, I could see that he was holding something—it looked like the hilt to a knife. He flicked it open to reveal a nasty, sharp edge. He brought the blade toward my throat. If I didn’t do something—anything—in the next moment, he would slit my throat. And dragon or not, when I was in human form that meant a very bloody death.

I did the only thing I could think of. My right hand was able to reach the sheath holding my dagger and I quickly whipped the blade out, stabbing directly into his thigh. The blade slid into his flesh with a horrible sound. Degoba shouted, pulling back to yank himself away from my blade.

Roaring, he swooped toward me, his knife aimed at my heart. I brought my dagger up to meet him as I jumped to the side. He passed three inches too far to my left, but this time, my blade clipped him in the side and—my mind clouded with fear and confusion—I shoved it deep, letting go as I backed away toward the door. Degoba gasped, then fell to the floor.

At that moment, the door slammed open and Alex ran in, Ralph behind him in human form, carrying a flashlight. He trained it on Degoba. As he saw the blood pooling around the spiritwalker, the werewolf let out a single squeak and fell to the floor in a dead faint, the flashlight rolling away.

“What happened?” Alex stared at Degoba in horror. “Blood—oh hell. Chai! Get the hell in here.”

Chai and Tonya entered the room and Tonya screamed, dropping by Degoba’s side. Alex hurried out and I could hear him telling Patrick to go outside where he could get cell reception and call an ambulance. Chai struck up a light between his hands so we could see.

Tonya pressed hard on the wound. “I don’t dare pull out the dagger—it would bleed too heavily and he’d die. I need something to stanch the flow of blood—give me your shirt!” She motioned frantically to Chai, who stripped off his shirt and pushed it into her hands. Within seconds, she had pressed it against the wound and was holding it tight. “It looks like you missed the artery in his thigh, but this side wound is a nasty one.”

A noise from the other room alerted us as we heard voices echoing. Chai’s ball of light vanished, as did he. The next moment, the police burst into the room. We didn’t recognize either officer and I realized we could be in deep trouble. I could be . . .

“Call for help—” one of the officers started to say, but Alex chimed in.

“We’ve already phoned for an ambulance.”

“Who stabbed him? What happened?” The cops glanced around, their guns still drawn.

I began to cry, unable to register just what was going on. I stammered out the only thing I could think of that might make sense. “I did—I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. I thought he was going to attack me.” I started forward, but they motioned to me to stay still.

“Don’t move. Put your hands in the air where we can see them—all of you.” He glanced down at Tonya. “Except for you—continue to hold pressure on the wound. You’d better pray for your friend here that he doesn’t die.”

There was a whir of sirens from outside and then, amid harsh, brilliant flashlights, the medics came running in with a stretcher. They eased Tonya out of the way and took over, working on Degoba.

I wanted to go to him, but I realized that it wouldn’t be a good idea for me to move right now, given the mood of the police. One of them stepped forward and motioned for me to turn around.

“What’s your name?”

“Shimmer.”

“Last name?”

“Just Shimmer—I’m from Otherworld.” A cold sweat broke over me as I realized what they were doing. One of them was pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

“Shimmer, you are under arrest for assault. Put your hands behind your back.” As the cuffs snapped on, he continued. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?”

Now I was scared.

Alex moved in. “She was defending herself—”

“And who are you? Did you see the stabbing?” The cop swung around, glaring at Alex.

Alex’s gaze shifted to mine and I knew that he had to answer truthfully. He could lose his license to practice, and incriminate me even worse if he lied. “No, I didn’t see her stab him. But I heard her screaming from outside the door. I’m Alex Radcliffe, owner of the Fly by Night Magical Investigations Agency. And Shimmer is one of my employees.”

The cops stared at him for a moment. One said, “Vampire. Okay, then, we’ll all take a ride to the station to sort out what happened. Everybody out.”

As the medics gently hoisted Degoba onto a stretcher and wheeled him out, the officers pushed me forward. As we exited the building, I thought I could hear the wight laugh and I realized that, for tonight at least, it had won the battle.

•   •   •

Across town from Fort Worden, the police station was nothing like the FH-CSI, the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation Unit down in Seattle. For one thing, none of the cops appeared to be Supes. For another, I had the distinct feeling they weren’t sure what the hell to do with me. They checked me over, searching me thoroughly. Even when I’d been chained in the Dragon Reaches, I hadn’t been strip-searched in human form, and that was a humiliation I could easily go without ever experiencing again.

I grimaced as the matron told me to get undressed, and then to “Bend over and spread your legs.” Blushing, feeling once again the lack of any control over my situation, I did as she bade, while all the while wanting to smash in her smug and haughty face. That over, she handed me an orange jumpsuit that barely fit over my boobs and was about three inches too short in the legs. I put on the slippers they gave me in place of my shoes and followed her to a cell where she handed me a blanket and a pillow and pointed to the bunk.

“Park it and don’t cause trouble. No television at this time of night.”

Feeling terribly alone, I sat on the edge of the bunk, clutching the pillow. The room was small, probably six feet wide by eight feet long, and contained a TV fastened to the wall, a bunk, a toilet, and a pedestal sink. My thoughts kept running to Degoba and I wondered if he was alive. The memory of my dagger hitting his side kept replaying through my thoughts and I winced, hanging my head. I’d had no choice, and yet—and yet—if he died, it would be my fault.

Wondering what the hell was going to happen next, I stayed right where I was. I got my answer soon enough, when someone popped into the bunk behind me. Startled, I turned to see Chai, trying to scrunch up as inconspicuously as possible.

“Don’t look at me, and don’t stand up,” he whispered. “Alex wanted me to check on you.”

“You can make it into the cells?”

“Here I can—this is a human holding tank, not built for Supes of any nature, apparently.” He poked me in the side. “Scoot forward just a little, I need to rearrange my arm.”

I did, thinking that I should just ask him to get me out of here, but then I realized there was a problem on two levels with that. One, the cops would freak when I vanished, and that would leave us open to more questions than we needed or wanted. And two, that would be asking Chai for a favor and he’d be forced to fuck it up as much as he could. Sometimes having a djinn as a friend could be complicated.

“Is Degoba still alive?” I wanted him to be alive, and not just because I wanted to get out of this as unscathed as possible. Though, if he died, I’d be up the creek without a paddle. Without even the damned canoe.

“He was the last time I checked. I peeked in on him at the hospital before coming here. The minute the cops showed up, I vanished before they could see me, so they don’t know about me.” He paused. “What did you tell them you were on the intake form?”

“Fae. Works well enough and most of the humans can’t tell one Supe from another.” A thought occurred to me. Maybe, if this lasted too long, they would contact Chase Johnson down at the FH-CSI and he could oversee things. He would understand; he was used to freaky shit happening.

Noises in the hallway alerted us and Chai vanished. I quickly stood and spread out my blanket and pillow, turning as the matron appeared outside my cell. She crooked her finger.

“Captain wants to talk to you.”

I meekly followed her as she unlocked the cell and led me to a room. A large window looked into the room from the hallway, and she gestured toward one of the chairs. “Sit. He’ll be in shortly.”

I did as she said, waiting. She struck up guard duty outside the door.

About five minutes later, a man hustled into the room. He was carrying a file folder, and he wore a black suit that was about a size too large for him. He looked tired and grumpy. Great, just what I needed. A pissed-off cop.

He tossed the file on the table and sat down opposite me. “Degoba Jones is conscious. He’s hurt, but he’ll recover. He says it was an accident.”

I breathed out a long sigh of relief. “I was so worried. I’m so glad he’s going to be all right.” I stared at the officer. He was examining my face, and now he quirked one side of his face, as if thinking.

“He refuses to press charges, so we’re going to let you go.” Another pause. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to antagonize him anymore than he already seemed. “You realize that we’ve been paying a lot of visits to you and your friends since you arrived in town. You’ve discovered a skeleton of someone who was murdered, a fire breaks out in Strand’s house, and now one of his friends gets himself stabbed, and you’re the one who stabs him. Tell me, Shimmer, what were you doing in the battery in the middle of the night? “

I decided to opt for a version of the truth. “We were ghost hunting and something went horribly wrong. I thought . . . I thought Degoba was someone else, trying to attack me.” I prayed that Degoba would have had the foresight to think of that—at least he’d said it was an accident.

For once, luck was on my side. The cop tapped one finger on the table, then cleared his throat. “That’s what he said. He said he didn’t mean to sneak up on you, that it was his fault for playing a practical joke. He said he was trying to scare you.”

Not knowing if he was trying to lead me into a trap, I just gave a little shrug and kept my mouth shut.

“I imagine he won’t make such a stupid mistake again.” After another uncomfortable silence, he pushed back his chair. “You’ll be released and given back your clothes now. I’d advise you and your friends to stop mucking around in abandoned buildings during the middle of the night. Next time, things might end up far worse.” Still looking unsatisfied, he turned and strode out of the room.

Shaking, I waited until the matron returned. She led me to another room where I was given back my clothes and property and allowed to change. I had to sign off on a ledger when I left the jail, and I walked outside to find Alex waiting for me. I ran over to him and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He leaned forward, kissing me gently, then led me down the steps and out of the glaring lights shining down on the entrance.

The parking lot was nearly empty and I spotted the Range Rover easily. Alex hustled me into it, shutting the door for me, and then he climbed in the driver’s seat. I glanced at the clock. It was nearly five in the morning. I’d only been locked up several hours but I still felt traumatized, and now I leaned forward, resting my head on my hands.

“Put on your seat belt, love.” Alex tapped me on the shoulder. “There’s a good girl. Do as I say.” I blindly obeyed and he put the car in gear and pulled out of the lot, easing onto the street. “Are you okay? Did they do anything to you in there?”

I mutely shook my head. The fact was, they’d been relatively nice—far nicer than my captors in the Dragon Reaches. No, the real trauma had been in the feeling of being locked up—of being out of control of my life and my body, and subject to the whims of somebody else.

“I’m okay,” was all I said, though. “Degoba, he’s really going to be all right?”

“He’ll be fine, love. He’s healing up. There’s more to that man than meets the eye. You gave him a pretty nasty jab with the pointy stick. Anybody else would have been in surgery a lot longer, if not dead. Degoba, he’s a tough bird, all right.” Alex paused, then added, “I’m sorry I ran off from the group. I just wanted to corral Ralph before he got himself in trouble. I didn’t realize that the forest wight would jump Degoba.”

“Yeah, well, he did a good job of it. He was . . . the thing gave Degoba strength, Alex. It gave him power.” Managing to pull myself together, I finally asked, “How’s Ralph? Did he hurt himself when he fainted?”

“No, he’s a tough lad. He’s fine.” Another pause, and then Alex pulled over to the curb. He put the car in park and turned to me. “We can leave. We can go home tomorrow—well, tonight, after I wake up if you want to. This may be too hot for us to handle. I think Patrick needs a spot-on team of ghost hunters instead of us.” He reached out and took my hand, gently rubbing my skin with his thumb and forefinger. “It’s okay, Shimmer. I don’t want you in danger. Or Ralph.”

I stared at my hand, at his hand covering it, and lifted it to my face, feeling the comfort of his cool skin against my cheek. It was tempting. I wasn’t used to spirits and ghosts. I wasn’t used to stabbing people I liked. Biting my lip, I wavered for a moment, then softly kissed his fingers.

“No. You promised we’d help, and I won’t make you go back on your word. And now it’s personal. That thing is just going to spread its evil through the town if we leave it be. We’ll think of something. But thank you, Alex. For the offer.” I forced a smile and shook my hair back out of my face as I straightened my shoulders.

He nodded. “I’m glad you want to stick it out. Patrick needs us, though I’m not sure how much we can help him.” He kissed me for a long moment, and then we headed back to Tonya’s house.

•   •   •

The table was covered with pizza and sodas when we arrived. Ralph jumped up, a worried look on his face, and he hurried forward.

“Shimmer, are you okay?” He helped me off with my coat before I could say a word as Tonya pressed a plate into my hands and motioned to the pizza.

“Eat. We have cookies if you want, and we also have coffee if you need it.” She looked exhausted, and her eyes were rimmed with red as if she’d been crying. I remembered how much she cared about Degoba, and the guilt slammed back double-fold.

I set the plate aside and gave her a long hug. “I’m so glad he’s going to be okay. I’m sorry, Tonya—I’m so sorry. I hope he knows that I didn’t mean to—”

She shook her head. “He knows. He understands what happened. If you hadn’t stabbed him, he would have slit your throat. He knew exactly what was going on but he couldn’t stop himself. He said at that moment, everything seemed colored and the only thing he could think about was killing you. He asked me to tell you he’s sorry. I think he feels worse than you do.”

“I should say so. I’m not the one with a wound in my belly!” I was shaking and smiling and wanting to cry all at the same time. Delayed shock can be traumatic on the body and soul, and I was deep in the midst of a deferred response to everything that had gone on that night.

“That’s not what I meant!” She pushed me over to the armchair and made me sit down. “Ralph, get her some food. I think she’s in shock.” She turned back to me. “Degoba wanted me to ask you to forgive him. He thought he was prepared, he thought he would be immune to the wight’s charm, but apparently it’s stronger than we thought. But the good news is that he was able to tell me more about it, because it had touched his mind.”

I jerked my head up. “Really? Well, that’s the one saving grace out of this evening, then.” If he could give us more input on what we were fighting, the whole night might have been worth it.

I paused as Ralph brought me a plate stacked with four slices of pepperoni pizza with extra cheese dripping off them. The smell made my stomach growl and I realized that I was starving. Another lovely side effect from shock: adrenaline rushes and the accompanying energy burn.

Ralph dropped into the chair opposite me, draping his arm over the back. “What guarantee do we have that the wight isn’t still working through him and feeding us false information?” He sounded buzzed and I saw the three empty cans of Flying Horse sitting on the table. Somebody needed to take away that werewolf’s caffeine fix.

“That’s a good question.” Alex pulled a chair closer. “Ralph makes a valid point. How do we know the wight has lost his influence over Degoba? Is there a test we can do?”

Patrick, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, rubbed his head. “I’m about ready to just torch the damned house and be done with it.”

“Oh gods, no. Then the insurance agency will be breathing down your back and they’ll think you tried to commit fraud the first time.” Chai let out a snort as he emerged from the wall next to the vampire. We all jumped. No matter how often I’d seen the djinn enter a room, it always seemed to be in a new and different way, and I never knew what to expect.

“He’s right,” I said. “For the rest of the night, let it be. We’ll start sorting out stuff when we get up. I think we’re all exhausted.” Frowning at Ralph, I added, “Except maybe caffeine-boy here.”

He stuck his tongue out at me, then motioned to my plate. “Eat your pizza. Then we’ll get some shut-eye.”

“We’ve still got about an hour before we have to be in the basement. While you eat, I think we’ll scout around the neighborhood to make sure nothing is lurking near the house.” Alex clapped Patrick on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s take a walk around the block.”

As they headed out the door, I bit into my pizza, realizing how hungry I really was. Tonya’s cell phone rang and she went into the kitchen to answer it. Ralph glanced over at Chai, then looked back at me.

“How are you, really?” The note of concern in the werewolf’s voice touched me.

I felt bad, knowing that being friend-zoned wasn’t easy. And now . . . now Alex and I were . . . well, we were something, that was for certain.

“I know about you and Alex, Shimmer. I just want you to know, I hope it works out.” He held my gaze and I realized that he was begging me not to say anything more—not to apologize or even admit I knew how he had felt.

“Thanks, Ralph. I guess we’ll see what happens. As to how I am . . .” I considered his question rather than waving it off with an I’m okay. How was I? Hungry, that I knew. Freaked, still. Wanting to go home but knowing that we needed to do the right thing. “I’m worn out. Tonight was so fucked up . . . it was beyond screwed. I really, really want to destroy that thing. And I still can’t get the memory of stabbing Degoba out of my mind. I could have killed him. I almost did.” Biting my lip, I worried the flesh until Chai noticed and tapped me on the shoulder.

“Neither one of you is to blame. He was possessed and you were defending yourself. There’s nothing anybody can do about the situation. Once we arrived, the domino effect took over and tumbled us one by one. The wight set up the perfect storm, but he didn’t expect you to be so strong. I honestly don’t think he recognizes you for what you really are, even though Degoba knew.”

I nodded, finishing the last slice. “Another, please? I’m still hungry.”

While Chai took my plate over to the table, Ralph leaned forward. “We need to find out if that thing is stronger during the daytime or night. If it’s stronger during the night, maybe it would be better to attack it by daylight?”

I frowned. “We’d be down Patrick and Alex, then. But you’re right—it would be good to know. And if it’s a lot more vulnerable during the day, maybe there’s some way we can attack it that won’t require putting ourselves in as much danger. I just hope the one in Patrick’s house isn’t as strong.”

Tonya entered the living room, looking drawn. “I was talking to Degoba. He managed to sneak a phone in his room even though they wanted him to rest.”

I caught my breath, hoping the news was good. “How is he? He didn’t relapse, did he?”

She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. In fact, he sounds like he’s just got a minor cold. I’m pretty surprised by how resilient he is. But he is insistent that he has information on the wight for us. I’ll grab my cards and do a reading to see if he’s still under its control.”

She headed over to the desk while Chai brought me back a couple more slices of pizza. I dug in, plowing my way through them. I wanted a shower and sleep, not to strategize, but better we get this out of the way now and know what we were going to do when we woke up. Otherwise, sleep would come hard. I knew my mind. I overthought things a lot and could lie in bed tossing and turning half the night when I was trying to sort out a problem.

Tonya shifted stuff off the coffee table, with Ralph helping her. As she shuffled the cards, the energy in the room begin to spiral. Humans’ magic was different than that of the Fae or of dragons or of any other species. It wasn’t flashy, and it didn’t usually bring a bunch of special effects with it, but nonetheless, it worked and it had its own special flair.

She laid out five cards. “The situation—eight of Cups. Degoba’s part—the Hierophant. The wight’s part—ten of Wands. Is the wight still influencing Degoba—ace of Swords. And lastly, can we trust what Degoba tells us—three of Wands.”

Setting aside the rest of the deck, she ran her hands over the cards, skimming the air above them as if she were testing their aura. After a moment, she looked up, smiling. “The situation was one of leeching—the wight possessing Degoba. The eight of Cups indicates slimy energy, often codependence or addiction. In this case, it tells me that the wight did have hold of him—it was piggybacking him. But Degoba’s card is the Hierophant, he’s the master, the teacher in this situation, and he was ultimately stronger than the wight. The wight’s energy is the ten of wands—oppression, violence, anger. The ace of swords tells me that Degoba’s energy is clear again. He managed to shake it off. Lastly, can we trust what Degoba tells us? The three of Wands is virtue, walking the truth of one’s heart. So yes, we can trust him again.”

Relief washed over me. I’d been worried that the wight had done permanent damage to him in some way, but it sounded like he was well clear of it. “Good. So what did he tell you, then?”

She folded up the cards. “Degoba said that while the wight was in control of him, it couldn’t shut him out from peeking into its nature. Sort of like, when you’re in the belly of the beast, you get to see its innards.”

Ralph grimaced. “Delightful visual, there.”

“But apt,” Chai said. “Go on, Tonya.”

Tonya cleared her throat. “There is a lot he’s not clear on, but he found out one thing for certain . . . the wight that’s at the battery? He is the king, controlling the other wights in town.”

“There’s more than the one at Patrick’s?” There was so much about that statement that we really didn’t need to hear.

“Yes, but we knew there would be.”

“How many wights are we talking about?” Just the thought of having to face more than the king and his buddy at Patrick’s gave me the willies. I had no desire to go tramping around Port Townsend, knocking on doors, asking to come in and fix their wight problem.

Ralph groaned. “Please, don’t get into the double digits.”

“No, actually, we’re pretty lucky. It’s not nearly as bad as it could be. At least, not yet. If we leave the king alone, it will get worse, though. In fact, Degoba told me that if we don’t weed them out, then the violence in the town will increase and tourism will drop—because apparently forest wights siphon off good fortune, as well.”

Chai edged onto the arm of my chair, his hand draped around my shoulder in a companionable way. I leaned my head against him. He made me feel safe, and I was grateful he’d stuck around to help us.

“So how many?” I set my plate on the coffee table.

“Three, including the king. While the king’s been around for some time, the hive is still fairly new and hasn’t had time to build up yet. They breed slowly and it can take centuries to build up a thriving colony. There’s the king, the one at Patrick’s, and then there is another somewhere around town. The good news is that we were right. Once the king is dead, the others will be easy pickings. The hive needs its king in order to be strong—kill him, and they won’t know what to do.”

I shook my head. That might be good news of a sort, but the fact that we were facing three wights made me want to dive for cover. “What happens if we kill the king but don’t get the rest?”

“Then, as time goes on, there will be a skirmish for power. One of them will take control and become the new king and then start adding to the hive again. So you see, we have to go after all of them, because if we don’t, the problem will be right back to where it’s at right now. There will be a new king.” She leaned back, rubbing her head. “As to whether they’re stronger in the night or day? Degoba told me the night makes them strong. He said they are far weaker during the day. So I think, when we wake up, we’d better head out and take care of the suckers.”

I stared at the carpet for a moment, following the patterns with my mind. Then, as we heard Patrick and Alex coming through the kitchen door, I lowered my voice. “Don’t tell them. We do not want them to know because they’d insist we wait till they wake up. If the wights are a lot weaker during the day, then that’s when we have to attack them.”

The others nodded as the vampires entered the room. We all said good night, not telling Alex and Patrick what we’d found out, and headed to bed to get some rest before going out on wight patrol once more.