Beacon's Hope (Potomac Shadows Book 2)

by Jim Johnson

  He shifted his awareness down the street until he reached the first corner, which was at the intersection of Fourth and D Street. He tapped another ley thread into his long-term memory and pulled up a map of the area. He overlaid his current location onto the etheric map. He was just north and east of the Capitol building, which meant that he had to be close to Stanton Park. And that park had a little convenience store right next to it.

  He focused his attention in that direction and spooled out his guiding ley thread farther, so that he could extend his consciousness farther from the rift in the Veil. If someone with the Sight had been around, they would have seen his bright white life-thread stretching out along the road, sticking out of the alleyway and the rift within it.

  But, no one called out to him or tried to stop him. He was essentially invisible to the blind mundanes walking in both directions on the sidewalk. He caught, peripherally, several people take a sudden chill as his consciousness passed by, a common occurrence whenever he crossed paths with a mortal.

  He didn’t care what impact his passing had on others, so he rushed forward toward the convenience store. He darted into it, through the automatic glass double doors, and floated over to where the newspaper rack stood near the rows of impulse purchases and boxes of candy and gum.

  He glanced at the date on the topmost paper and mentally cursed. He’d been out of action for nearly a month.

  Unacceptable, and hard to believe. That girl had acted on instinct and had surprised him with a powerful blast from the ley grid itself, not to mention the combined will and strength from those handful of souls he had enticed away from the nursing home. The combination of those, plus the damage that young man, Malcolm, and his strange poltergeist had inflicted had served to knock him out of action for far too long.

  A knot of rage formed and simmered deep within his core, anger and resentment flickering deep within him like embers in a hot fire.

  He took hold of his guiding thread again and shot his consciousness back along it, streaking along the DC roads, into the hidden rift within the alley, and back into the safe confines of the woven world.

  There, he found a place to sit on a facsimile of park grass, a shadowed version of Stanton Park itself. He settled onto the virtual grass and pondered the problems laid out before him. First, he was starving. Not his mortal body, but his soul, his very essence, hungered for the taste of another living being’s energy.

  He sought out and found a ley thread and then made a simple adjustment to it. He then flung it out through the nearby rift, using it much as a fisherman would bait a hook and then cast the line out into the water.

  He soon had a nibble, an older woman who thought she had heard someone in the alley call out her name. The Spinner waited until she was fully within the alley, then reached out with all his strength and dug his etheric claws into her soul. He pulled hard, separating most of her etheric essence from her mortal body and pulling it in through the Veil and into the woven world with him. Once she was in his grasp, he leaned down and feasted on her dying soul.

  There was nothing quite like consuming a fresh soul, though he remembered it was a highly addictive taste, one that he had to be careful to not grow to fond of again. Occasional deaths and apparent homicides here and there were one thing; if he went on a binge, he might well draw the wrong attention. And then they would come for him in force.

  And that was something he wasn’t ready for, not yet. He still had preparations to make, pieces to put into place. That bitch and her allies had thrown a wrench into his plans.

  A month’s delay wasn’t insurmountable, of course. He licked his virtual fingers clean of the remnants of the soul he had just consumed.

  He would feed again, and would regain his strength, and then he would get back to his plans. Even now he could sense some of his pieces working as he had intended, and even a cursory scan of the Veil around him gave him encouragement.

  There were many breaks in the Veil, more than he had ever seen. However Rachel had managed it, her desperate ploy to destroy him had shredded the Veil throughout the DC metro area and ultimately had done more harm than good. The damage was significant, so much so that the Weavers and other ley practitioners in the area would be busy for months or perhaps years trying to repair or minimize the damage.

  They’d take their precious time focusing on the Veil; time he would use to press his own agenda. Their distraction was his gain.

  He had a lot of work to do once he was back to full strength, but he was looking forward to getting started. That girl had no idea what was about to come raining down on her.

  Chapter Five

  ABBIE GOT OUT OF BED BEFORE I did, and even though I was still fuzzy from lack of sleep, I could tell she was not in a good mood. Whether it was the sighs she made getting her toiletries together, or the more energetic manner of opening and closing dresser drawers, I knew her well enough to know when she had a good solid mad going.

  I stared at the faded ivory paint on the ceiling while she took a shower, starting and stopping a hundred possible conversation topics with her, knowing none of them would work. I doubted there was anything I could do or say to make up for the fact that I had gotten home really late last night and hadn’t thought to call or text her to let her know just how late I’d be.

  We were at the point in our relationship where we didn’t have to ask permission of each other—we were girlfriends, lovers, not siblings or some mother-daughter relationship. She trusted me and I trusted her, but we still kept in touch to let each other know if we were going to be home late.

  And I’d been working late with Miss Chin a lot over the last couple weeks, working hard to cram in as much learning and guided practice as possible to help Miss Chin with the tears in the Veil I had accidentally created, not to mention the endless stream of lost souls needing guidance toward the Holding.

  My hunger for knowledge drove me in a way I hadn’t been excited for learning in a long time. If UPenn had been half as interesting as the stuff Miss Chin was teaching me, I’d still be there now, a junior maybe, moving toward the end of a degree and my career as a student.

  But, I was excited to be Miss Chin’s student and I liked to think that for the first time in a long time, I was fulfilling some purpose that had real meaning. Those lost souls out there needed a guide, a beacon, to show them the way home, and I was filling that service.

  The work didn’t pay for crap, but the emotional high I got from it was just too rich to ignore. If I could ever figure out how to monetize this gig, I’d be set for life. Talk about job security—if there’s one thing the world doesn’t lack for, it’s souls in need of finding their way home. I mean, everyone dies eventually, and there are more souls on this earth than any one Beacon could hope to shepherd.

  I stared at a gray splotch in the ceiling paint and tried to figure out how I could explain all of my feelings to Abbie without her flipping out or rolling her eyes. Nothing came to mind by the time her shower water shut off. Knowing she’d return in moments, I laid back in the bed and scrunched up the covers underneath my chin.

  Abbie walked into our bedroom with one towel wrapped around her body and another wrapped around her short dreadlocks. She shot an unpleasant glance toward me as she closed the bedroom door. “I see you’re awake.”

  I nodded and pushed myself up to a sitting position, leaning back against the pile of pillows. “I am, yeah. Didn’t sleep well last night, though.”

  She started to dry her hair, focusing on me all the while. “I’m surprised you got any sleep. What time did you get home last night? Had to be after one.”

  I nodded, and then the words came streaming out, unbidden. “I’m sorry I didn’t call or text you, Abbie. Really I am. I just…” I shook my head and then dropped my hands to either side, flapping the bedspread. “I just got caught up working with Miss Chin and the stuff she’s teaching me.”

  Abbie tossed the wet towel onto the foot of the bed. “I get it, Rachel, I really do. Whateve
r it is you’re doing, what you’re learning…” She gestured vaguely toward my little side table that had several candles and pieces of chalk organized on it. “What you’re doing is important to you.”

  I nodded, not quite sure where she was going, but offered the most open and hopeful look I could muster. I know she’d see through any bullshit.

  She pulled off the other towel and wiped down her body. I made a point of focusing on her face. She wouldn’t appreciate being eyed up and down just now.

  “But, what you have to remember, is that I’m important to you too. You’re important to me.”

  I nodded, confused. “I am…I mean, you are…”

  She raised a hand to cut me off. “Let me finish. I know you think I’m important. It’s one of the things I love about our relationship—that we both respect, like, and even love each other and the things we do.”

  She fished a pair of panties out of a drawer and a bra out of another and dressed quickly. “And I love that we trust each other enough that we don’t always have to check in to do something, like if I want to hit a happy hour after work or if you want to run to Branchwood to visit your grandpa. I get it.”

  I nodded. “I love that too, Abbie…”

  She stepped into the closet to dig for some work clothes. “I know this work with Miss Chin is important to you, and I can see how much you love it.” She produced a gray business suit from the depths of the closet and stepped into the skirt.

  “But, I don’t know, Rachel.” She glanced at me as she zipped up the skirt, the hurt in her eyes plain. “We’ve been together for close to a year and this is the first time I’ve seen you really focused on something since…since we started dating, really. And you were super-focused on me and our relationship and making sure everything was working just right.”

  I folded my hands into my lap, feeling cautious for some reason. “And it is working, isn’t it?”

  “Of course it is. You don’t have to ask that, honey. I’m here, you’re here; overall, we’re happy.”

  I frowned. “Are you happy, Abbie?”

  She slipped on a blouse and started buttoning it up. “Don’t change this around to be about me.” She offered a little smile that took most of the sting out of the comment. “I just…I’m not mad, Rachel. I’m just…” She sighed. “Honestly, I think I’m jealous.”

  I stared at her, my eyebrows creeping up toward my hairline. I felt a surge of emotions I hadn’t expected to feel. Guilt, surprise, a touch of anger, all laced with love and appreciation.

  I processed it all in a couple heartbeats, then offered a smile and held out my hand. “Do you have time to sit on the bed with me?”

  She glanced at me and my outstretched hand and then glanced at the clock. “Just a couple minutes, or I’ll be late for my bus.”

  She fished a pair of shoes out of the bottom of the closet and perched on the side of the bed.

  I focused on her as she slipped on her shoes. “All right. I hear you loud and clear, Abbie. I’m sorry I didn’t get hold of you and I’m sorry to hear that all the time I’ve been spending with Miss Chin is making you feel jealous.”

  I pondered it for a moment, then added, “I’ll talk with her at our next session and ask to scale back my training a little bit. Maybe plan for regular training sessions that don’t run so late at night.”

  Abbie smiled, and then leaned over to kiss me. “We can talk more about it later, honey, but I appreciate what you said. Don’t go through a lot of gyrations to change your schedule, though. Just…you know.”

  She offered another little smile. “I know my work has been crazy too. Maybe we both need a little time off to get away and reconnect. It’s not fun for either of us to go to bed alone.”

  I looked into her beautiful eyes and nodded. “Girl Scouts’ honor. Not so many late nights.”

  She snorted. “I didn’t know you’d been a Girl Scout.”

  I grinned. “For a little while.”

  She patted my thigh through the comforter and then stood up. “All right. I’ll see you tonight for dinner, Girl Scout.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  She tossed a wave and kiss over her shoulder as she left, and then closed the bedroom door behind her.

  I stared at the off-white door as I listened to her footsteps fall down the stairs and then down the hall and into the kitchen. I just sat in bed and breathed. That could have played out way worse. I was so fortunate to have Abbie in my life.

  But… I frowned and looked down at my hands, clasped in my lap. I’d have to step carefully over the next couple of weeks. I loved her dearly, but I knew her bad habits just as she knew mine, and one of her doozies was that when we had a little talk like this, it was her way of putting me on notice that if things didn’t change, and some sort of balance was restored, things would be grim for a while.

  How was I going to explain all this to Miss Chin? She was single for all I knew, and didn’t have someone in her life, other than maybe her behemoth of a cat, Mister Parkour.

  I sighed as I grabbed my phone off my side table and checked my calendar for the day. I had a brunch meeting with my brother about money, and those never went well. And then a meet-up with Malcolm to help him with some training this afternoon.

  But in between the two dates, I had some free time. And given all that was going on, I knew what I wanted to do with that chunk of time.

  I needed a Bonita intervention.

  I pushed myself out of bed and then texted Bonita that I’d be coming by her shop later this morning armed with coffee and snacks. She confirmed readily enough.

  But, before that, I had to get dressed and then meet up with my brother to talk finances. Yuck.

  Chapter Six

  MEETING WITH MY BROTHER ROBERT TO talk about money and family issues was never fun, and it was even worse when we did it on a day that wasn’t a Wednesday. Normally Wednesdays were reserved for visiting my grandpa at Branchwood, his nursing home, but Robert was going to be out of town starting tonight and so I’d be going to see Grandpa alone tomorrow.

  Robert had picked a deli in Del Rey in which to meet, which was something of a kindness on his part. He normally preferred to meet in the city, the turd. I didn’t know where today’s change of heart came from, but in spite of my feelings for him, I was grateful because it meant I could walk and not have to spend my last few dollars on bus fare, a cab, or the Metro.

  I don’t have a car, but I do have a driver’s license, and, if I really needed wheels, I could borrow Abbie’s beater. Given the tender nature of our relationship at the moment, though, I’m glad I didn’t have to push the issue and ask to borrow it.

  All that being said, I walked to the main drag in Del Rey, Mount Vernon Avenue. It was a bright and chilly morning, but the birds were chirping and many of the buds on the trees were at least thinking about wanting to bloom. I suspected we were going to have an early spring, even if that little groundhog up in Pennsylvania had already seen his shadow.

  Since it was after ten on a regular work day for most people, the deli wasn’t as packed as it normally was at the morning rush or the afternoon let-down. The only customers in the place were a gaggle of breathless moms with their babies and baby gear, and Robert.

  I’d seen his black Mercedes parked on the street as I walked up, but studiously avoided staring at it. I didn’t even want to think about how he could be tooling around in a Mercedes while I could barely get my family to hand over a few hundred a month. Sucks to be the black sheep of the family. And I wasn’t even sure what I had done to deserve it.

  Other than drop out of UPenn and tell off my mother with some creative forms of language…

  Robert glanced up from his smartphone as I walked over to his table. He was dressed in dark jeans and a salmon-colored polo, a significant departure from his usual power suit and tie.

  I caught the eyes of the server, and sat down across from him. I gave the girl my order, caramel latte on ice, and then settled in for what I was sure w
ould be another in a long line of unhappy discussions.

  Robert rummaged in his briefcase and pulled out a business-sized envelope and passed it across the table.

  I rolled my eyes. “You always have to play it as if it’s some secret mission, don’t you?”

  “We used to play secret agent when we were kids. Don’t you remember the coded messages we’d pass back and forth under the dinner table?”

  I nodded. “Not money, though I guess they could have been.” After a moment of staring at it, I reached over and picked up the envelope, gauging its thickness with thumb and forefinger before tucking it into my satchel. “The usual?”

  He nodded. Crap. That meant just another five hundred to get me by this month. Sure, it was a decent chunk of free change for someone who doesn’t have a real job yet, but I was trying to help Abbie pay our share of the rent and utilities and groceries, and public transit around here wasn’t cheap.

  Basically, my family was doling out my inheritance a drip at a time, keeping me at pretty much minimum wage or below.

  I stared at Robert, frustrated all over again. “Why are you doing this? Is this some sort of test? Like, give me five hundred a month for a year and see if I come back to you all begging for forgiveness and a handout?”

  Robert glanced at his smartphone and then back at me. He took a sip of his coffee and then shook his head. “Mom’s not punishing you. She just has a lot going on right now. She’s working with the lawyers to figure out how best to make the money work for everyone in the family, not just you.”

  The server brought my drink over and I slugged down a third of it in one go, and immediately regretted it when brain freeze took hold. Out of recent habit, I reached out for a ley thread and wove its energies into my own and sent a little warmth into my palate, trying to fend off the sudden chill in my mouth and nerves. Seemed to help. The brain freeze didn’t last as long as it normally does.