Cimmerian Shade: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Collection

by Kiki Howell

  Pouring a trickle of water into his palm, Jacob said, “Water. This is water. Wa-ter.”

  Gertruh tilted her head. She took a step closer to him, then when he didn’t move another one, and finally bent toward him to dip the tip of a bony finger in the small pool of water in the palm of his hand. Her nail was long and pointy enough that he felt it press painlessly into his skin. He watched her bring her finger to her nose and sniff, then she stuck her finger in her mouth.

  Jacob had seen demons from this close before, but it had always been in the midst of the battle, or afterward, when they were dead. It felt eerie to watch those features, at the same time so familiar and yet so unnatural, move and express emotions he couldn’t help but try to identify.

  Was it curiosity glinting in her yellow eyes? Wariness crinkling the gray skin of her forehead? Was it understanding that curled her mouth, devoid of lips, into another smile? The second child advanced closer and imitated Gertruh’s actions.

  “Water,” Jacob said again.

  “Wuhter,” Gertruh repeated, then said what Jacob supposed was her word for it. “Mraten.”

  “Meraten?” Jacob could hear right away he’d said it wrong. He tried again. “Mraten.”

  Gertruh’s smile widened.

  Screwing the top back onto the bottle, Jacob stood again, and made a show of looking around him like he was searching for something. “Mraten?” he said, looking back at Gertruh. “Where can I find mraten?”

  Gertruh and her friend looked at each other, sharing a few quick grunting words. Then Gertruh pointed somewhere to her left and spoke directly to Jacob.

  “Mraten?” he pointed the same way she did. “There’s water that way?”

  “Wuhter,” Gertruh said, and it sounded like agreement.

  Jacob peered in that direction, narrowing his eyes as he searched. He could see something glinting faintly, but was it water reflecting the sun? It might as well have been the glint of metal, or of weapons.

  He couldn’t go without Kirsten, that much was obvious to him, and Kirsten was kneeling on the ground, bent over that square of fabric as her fingertips continued to comb through the mix. When she was done, they’d go look for the water. In the meantime...

  He used as little water from the bottle as possible to rinse the residue out of the metal shaker, making sure to scrub the trace of blood on the inside of the rim. The entire time, he was aware that the two demons were observing his every moves. When he was done, he sat on the ground so he wouldn’t tower over them, and resumed his attempts at communicating, pointing at himself, Kirsten and Gertruh in turns, repeating each name, then pointing at the smallest demon.

  Her name was Taleeh. She and Gertruh had apparently been out gathering some large, round stone-like things that Gertruh kept in that satchel hanging from her neck. It was only that evening, after he’d built a fire by the lake and Gertruh had set two of the things right into the flames that he realized what they were: eggs. That first dinner in the demon world was beyond strange.

  NICHOLAS LET THE PHONE ring nine times before he hung up the call. With a quiet growl, he kicked at the car’s tire.

  “No answer,” he told Andrew, ignoring his disapproving look. “And no way for me to leave a message. Maybe they changed their phone number.”

  It wouldn’t have surprised him if that was the case. When Julie and Craig had moved out of town, they’d made it clear they were done with the fight against demons. It had been years since Craig had done more than teach sword-fighting classes; after one last injury received in a fight against demons, Julie had threatened to leave him unless he quit. She had stayed with the agency a few more years, aware that Andrew had trouble recruiting another competent mage, but in the end it was all too much for her.

  “Try again,” Andrew demanded. He crossed his arms and returned his eyes to the stained sword resting on the trunk of the car. “Maybe they’re asleep. It’s late.”

  “And then what?” Nicholas demanded. “She’s across the country. It’s not like she’ll be able to do anything from there.”

  Andrew’s gaze burned with a fiery glow when it met Nicholas’. It might look like anger, but Nicholas knew better. Andrew was scared. He was terrified that something bad had happened to Jacob.

  In truth, so was Nicholas.

  For more than twenty years, Nicholas had been aware that, some day, their son would die while they kept on living. He’d prepared himself for the idea, knowing that Andrew would need all his support when it finally happened—and Nicholas had intended to do everything in his power so that many decades passed before the day came.

  But now that Jacob had disappeared, with nothing left behind but a little blood on the blade of a demon sword, Nicholas realized how foolish he’d been. How could anyone prepare himself for their child’s death?

  “What else do you suggest we do?” Andrew said, each word glittering with shards of ice. “Wait at home and hope for the best?”

  Nicholas dialed Julie’s number again. This time, after the seventh ring, someone picked up the call.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “COME ON, TRY it. It’s just an egg and it’s pretty good.”

  Shifting a little on the hard ground, Kirsten watched Jacob take another bite as though he were trying to convince her. It reminded her of that one time when they’d still been teens and they’d tried an Indian restaurant together, a cuisine neither of them had ever tasted before.

  They’d been adventurous in ordering, but Kirsten had experienced buyer’s remorse as soon as her dish and its unidentifiable ingredients had been placed in front of her. Jacob, on the other hand, had dived in with gusto, and tried to cajole her into eating. Eventually, she had—but he ended up finishing her entree as well as his own, and he took her for ice cream after that.

  There would be no ice cream today. There would be no ice cream at all until she managed to get them back to their own world. And she was beginning to get worried about her ability to do as much.

  So, whether she wanted to try that egg thing or not—and was it really an egg? It was humongous; what kind of animal could possibly lay eggs that size? Did she even want to know?—if she was going to be stuck here she’d have to eat something at some point.

  She picked up the shell in front of her, as large as a cereal bowl and still warm from being placed right into the flames of the fire Jacob had lit for them. Jacob had washed the blade of his sword in the lake before using it to slice the egg in two, the same way the demon children had done with a rudimentary and rather grimy knife with a second egg.

  That odd sun that dispensed such a cold light had set behind the mountains a little while ago. With nothing but the flames to light the night, the white of the egg seemed gray and unappealing; the yolk was a bright orange, closer to red than yellow. Grinding her teeth, Kirsten dug her fingers into the firm white and pulled out a piece, the same way the demons had showed Jacob.

  She kept her eyes half closed as she brought it to her mouth and tried to summon memories of her mother’s mouth-watering deviled eggs. The texture was similar enough when she chewed a small piece. The taste, on the other hand...

  It didn’t taste bad, exactly. It tasted off. Just like the air tasted off as it left a bad taste at the back of her throat. Just like the water of the lake, as limpid as a mountain lake, tasted off. If she hadn’t been so thirsty after trekking to the lake, she’d have been more wary of drinking it. Jacob has asked her to wait until they could see if the water he drank made him sick, and those few minutes had felt like an eternity, both because she was worried for him and because she was so thirsty.

  “So?” Jacob asked when she took another small bite. “Do you like it?”

  In the light cast by the flames of the fire, his eyes seemed full of shadows, his smile a little crooked. He didn’t mind being here anywhere as much as she did. Did he see it as merely an adventure? That thought, too, left a bad taste at the back of her throat.

  “Like is a strong word,” she said wryly,
looking at the egg in her hand. “It’s edible, and hopefully it’s not poisonous, but I can’t say that I enjoy it.”

  Jacob’s expression fell. Without a word, he returned his attention to what remained of his own food before looking in the direction where the two demons had disappeared earlier.

  “Do you think they’ll come back?” Kirsten asked, taking another small bite of the food.

  “I don’t know,” Jacob replied. “If they do, I hope it won’t be with their older brothers in tow.”

  His body shifted minutely, but it was enough to give Kirsten an impression of coiled force and vigilance. He might look relaxed as he ate his dinner, but his sword was within reach, and his focus as intense as ever. If anything happened, she knew he’d protect her. She only wished she hadn’t needed that reassurance to manage to swallow another piece of foreign food.

  Earlier, she’d watched him continue to try to communicate with the demons, and even now, as hard as she thought about it, she still couldn’t figure out what that had been about. She’d always thought demons were to be killed, no ifs, ands or buts; they certainly didn’t give any human they came across a chance to run before they attacked. She’d thought Jacob believed the same thing. It was odd that he, the fighter, was the one trying to communicate.

  “Are you going to try the spell tonight?” Jacob asked after finishing his food.

  Kirsten’s stomach tried to flip over, and it had nothing to do with the egg.

  “Kirsten?” he said softly when she didn’t reply.

  She shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t know how to make it work,” she murmured. “I keep going over it in my mind. It was all about light. Every ingredient, the words for the spell... there was no idea of travel or other world in it all. I don’t know why it did what it did. I’ve only salvaged enough moon stones for one try. What happens if I do it and it doesn’t work? We’ll have wasted our one try.”

  “What if it does work?” Jacob shot back. “If it brought us here, shouldn’t it just take us back?”

  She had a hard time not rolling her eyes. “No. That’s not how magic works. Magic isn’t random. Controlled elements give out controlled results. This was completely random. How can I duplicate a spell if I don’t know how it worked in the first place?”

  Only when Jacob’s eyebrows arched in surprise did she realize she’d raised her voice. In all the years they’d been together, she’d never done that.

  He reached out to her and rested a hand on her knee.

  “Hey,” he said quietly. “It’s gonna be all right. We’re gonna get out of here. Okay?”

  Her first impulse was to argue with him. He couldn’t know they’d get out of that place, because she didn’t know it, and their return was all on her. When she met his eyes, however, words deserted her.

  Ever since she’d returned to town, Jacob had been guarded around her; his eyes, distant. At that moment, and even with the poor light, all she could see was that familiar light in his gaze that she used to know so well. The light that had burned bright with his love.

  Her throat tight, she looked back down at her so-called dinner.

  “Do you want this?” she asked, no louder than a murmur. “I’m not hungry anymore. I’m going to catch some sleep. I’ll try to figure out the spell when I’ve got some light.”

  Jacob took the egg from her. In exchange, he gave her his jacket. She started saying she didn’t need it, but he wouldn’t budge, and in the end she curled up under it, her head resting on her magic satchel.

  The jacket smelled like Jacob. It wasn’t a scent she could have defined, it wasn’t even all that strong, but it was there, it surrounded her, and it made it easier to fall asleep in this strange place.

  JACOB THREW ANOTHER few thin branches into the fire. The wood crackled and flames sparked to life.

  It wasn’t all that cold, and he was actually concerned that the flames might attract the wrong kind of attention, but earlier that night when he’d suggested letting it die out once their improvised dinner was cooked, a burst of bitter fear had taken over Kirsten’s scent.

  She hadn’t said anything, but her scent was enough for Jacob. He’d do anything for her not to be afraid. If that meant making sure the fire burned through the night... well, there were enough bushes around to keep feeding the flames. And if something or someone came to investigate, Jacob’s sword remained at hand.

  A few feet away, close enough that the flames would warm her, Kirsten slept. She looked younger, curled up in a small ball under his jacket. She looked like she had when they had first met, when he’d first fallen in love with her. A strand of hair had escaped her ponytail and laid across her cheek. His fingers itched to push it back.

  Ever since she had come back, he had done all that he could not to see her as the girl he’d once loved—the girl he still loved. He hadn’t been all that successful so far, but at least he’d tried. At that moment, even trying was beyond him.

  Shaking his head, he tried to shove those thoughts away. They were in a different place, a different world, but nothing had changed. They were still ‘friends’ and nothing more than that. She didn’t want them to be more than that.

  Without looking, he reached at his side and closed his hand over the hilt of his sword. He pushed himself up to his feet and stretched his arms, one after the other. After another look at Kirsten, he turned his back on her and started walking toward the lake, twenty yards or so from the fire. The surface lay utterly still, as flat as a mirror, as dark as an abyss. No moon illuminated the sky, and the stars, fewer of them than he was used to and fainter, too, drew unfamiliar constellations above him.

  Turning away from the lake, he faced the direction in which the demons had disappeared. He wasn’t so much worried about them coming back as he was about whom they might bring with them if they did. There had to be more than kids around. He doubted adults would be quite as friendly as Gertruh and Taleeh.

  How was he going to keep Kirsten safe if more than a couple of adult, armed demons showed up? Maybe he ought to find a better place for them to stay, somewhere less open, easier for him to defend.

  Of course, that was assuming she didn’t simply get them back first thing in the morning. She doubted herself, but he had full confidence in her. She’d figure out the spell, she’d get them home.

  He used to dream of spending his life with her, but stranded in the demon world wasn’t part of the dream.

  AS SOON AS ANDREW HEARD that someone had picked up the call, he grabbed the phone right out of Nicholas’ hand. Nicholas started protesting but Andrew shushed him with a gesture.

  “Julie?” he asked, hopeful.

  It was Craig who answered. “Andrew? ‘S that you? Do you have any idea what time it is here?”

  Andrew really couldn’t have cared less. “It’s Jacob.”

  There was a pause at the other end of the line, then Craig said, fully awake now, “I’ll go wake her up. Give me a minute.”

  That minute felt like forever. Nicholas’ hand, tight on Andrew’s shoulder, helped, but not enough.

  At long last, Julie’s voice rose from the other end of the country.

  “Andrew? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Jacob. He disappeared.”

  Just saying the words tore Andrew’s throat to shreds.

  “What do you mean, disappeared?”

  In all the years he’d known Julie, he couldn’t remember her voice ever being so shrill before.

  “He went out tonight with our new mage. We think they came across two demons. We found his blood on a demon blade but there’s no trace of either of them.”

  Nicholas’ grip tightened a little more. Andrew turned his gaze to him and wasn’t surprised to read the same hope he felt—the same fears—etched on Nicholas’ features.

  “Andrew...” Julie said in a softer voice. “I’m sorry to hear that and I pray he’s okay but... what do you expect me to do about it?”

  “A tracking spell,” Andrew replied at once. “If we
know where he is—”

  “Wait, wait,” she interrupted him. “You know how localization spells work. I’d need something of his.”

  But Andrew was ahead of her. “I have the sword of the demon that hurt him. His blood is still on it.”

  “And that’d be helpful if I was in town,” Julie said softly. “It doesn’t do me much good from across the country.”

  Andrew had thought of that, too. “Just tell us what to do.”

  Judging from the flash of surprise in Nicholas’ eyes, he hadn’t expected that; judging from Julie’s silence, neither had she.

  “Do you really think we can do it?” Nicholas asked, sotto voce.

  Andrew’s answer was meant for both of them. “Localization spells are supposed to be pretty basic, aren’t they?”

  “Well, they can be,” Julie grudgingly agreed. “Not the one I usually do, but there are simpler versions. But you’d still need to be able to perform magic and—”

  “I can,” Andrew interrupted her in a whisper.

  “You can?” Julie repeated, echoed by Nicholas.

  “I don’t have much talent,” Andrew said. “But yeah, I am able to perform very basic spells. Will you help me?”

  “You never said...” Her voice trailed off as someone—Craig, Andrew supposed—said something inaudible. “Right. Spell. You’re going to need supplies, and I need to look up a simpler spell for you. I assume the library is still well stocked?”

  By library she meant the office that had been hers for more than fifteen years.

  “It is,” Andrew said. “But we’re not home. How about I call you back when we get there?”

  “All right, let’s do that. Talk to you in a bit. And Andrew? I’m sure he’s fine.”

  As he hung up the call and handed the phone back to Nicholas, Andrew could only hope she was right.

  .

  .

  Chapter Fifteen

  WHEN KIRSTEN WOKE up, she kept her eyes closed and tried to tell herself it was all just a dream. A really weird, really bad dream. The kind of dream that normal people called a nightmare.