The Shadow Guide (Challenging the Fates)

by Victoria Smith

  Della blinked up at Patrick with tear-filled eyes. “I’m not sure I can stay.”

  Damn.

  Patrick dropped down to sit beside her, the rest of the crew taking the cue to go about their business. Alaina nodded, tagging along with Dave and his partner as they went upstairs to live wire Micah’s room. He tried to brush the concern away. Alaina was smart and protected. Turning his attention back to Della, he handed her a tissue and waited for her to calm down.

  “I’m sorry. I know you expect more than this from your crew.” She sniffed, dropping her tissue in a trash can and grabbing another.

  “You can’t do what you’re not comfortable with. But you also have to face your fears. A big part of being a team member is the willingness to sometimes do things that make you uncomfortable. You’re a good investigator. You have a cool head and a logical mind.” He moved the tissue box in front of her. He’d had enough crying females for one day.

  “This is bigger than I ever thought I’d be involved in. I saw Alaina’s arms. They hurt her.” Tears started again.

  “Whatever is going on here is about Alaina and me. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you no one else could get hurt. But I can tell you we’re going to try our best to not let anything happen to anyone. If you feel this strongly maybe you should go home. I can’t and won’t make you stay, but Dave chose you for this case because of the way you’ve handled yourself in the past.” He wasn’t helping. Della continued to shake and go through tissue after tissue.

  “And I don’t want to let you down.” She glanced up at him, struggling with her fear.

  “Listen, the fact you’ve got guilt about how you’re feeling tells me you at least want to try. Am I wrong?” Maybe. He didn’t want her freaking out in the middle of the case either.

  “No. I want to stay.” She took a deep, shaky breath, straightening a little in her chair.

  “Here’s what we’ll do. You stay here with a partner. We’ll do a few passes and see how you feel. If you’re up to it, you can help. If not, you can stay and manage the equipment, or you can go home. No problem.”

  “Okay. I can do that.” She took a deep breath and nodded as she removed a necklace from inside her shirt.

  At first Patrick thought she wore a cross, but he snapped his head back to the black charm around her neck. There was something familiar about the dark metal on the blood-colored ribbon. He knew he’d seen the symbol somewhere before.

  Della laughed, her face twisting into an evil smile. “It’s going to be a long night.”

  Chapter 15

  Alaina tugged Dave’s sleeve. “We have to go back to Patrick now. Right now.”

  “Let me get this camera secured.” Dave turned his back to her.

  “No. Now. Something’s wrong. We have to get down there. Patrick’s in trouble. Either you come with me, or I go alone.” She started for the door as Dave heaved a sigh behind her.

  “We’ve got to get this equipment running.”

  “There won’t be a point if Patrick’s hurt. I’m not joking.” She ran down the stairs, skidding around the corner and into the room they’d designated for the equipment.

  Patrick’s eyes were rolled back in his head as Della stood over him with a large silver knife. She didn’t seem to notice their arrival as she chanted some freaky words. Alaina ran into the room, knocking Della off-balance and sending the knife flying across the room.

  “Don’t touch that.” She pointed at the tip of silver sticking out from under a chair and turned her attention back to Della.

  Dave pushed her out of the way, shoving Della against the wall. “Take care of him. I’ve got this.”

  Alaina touched Patrick’s forehead, worried at the deep coldness that seemed to radiate from inside him. His mouth moved, but no sound came out as his fingers grasped at something she couldn’t see.

  “Patrick. Come on. You’re okay.” She tapped his face, turning his head to check his neck and ears.

  She wished she was better trained. Maybe there would be something more she could do, like a spell or something. Instead, she pressed her thumbs to his temples, opening her mind as she probed his. Confusion, fear, and frustration were her initial impressions. His conversation with Della filtered to her, as well as him seeing some type of symbol around her neck.

  “Get the necklace off her,” she shouted over her shoulder to where Dave continued to restrain a struggling, cursing Della.

  Alaina wanted to make sure Dave didn’t need any help, but Patrick’s seizure-like twitching required her full attention. The sounds of struggling came from behind her. She knew the exact moment Dave ripped the necklace off Della. Patrick sat up, his temperature quickly rising. He blinked rapidly, clutching his head.

  “What the hell?” Patrick turned to where Della was slumped over Dave’s shoulder.

  “Don’t know. I think she’s dead.” Dave stepped back, lowering Della to the floor as gently as he could with her weight against him.

  “Dead? How?” Alaina moved to check for a pulse.

  There was none. And no wounds or reason for the woman to simply die.

  “This is too freaking weird.” Dave paced, looking over at Patrick. “What the hell are we supposed to do now? She’s dead. We have to call the authorities.”

  “I’m not so sure.” Patrick groaned as he stood.

  “Dude, we’ve got a dead body and a house full of freaky-assed shit. We don’t have a choice.” Dave grabbed his cell phone from his belt.

  “Wait.” Patrick held up his hand.

  Alaina moved away from Della’s body, standing next to Patrick and hoping she could at least give him some strength. Della’s body faded away, blipping back into focus once before totally disappearing. At that moment, the doorbell rang.

  “Ten bucks it’s Della,” Patrick said.

  “What the hell happened?” Dave’s face was red.

  “They used her to try to kill me. The real Della probably thinks she overslept or something.”

  Della wrung her hands as she entered the room. “Sorry. I don’t know what happened. I thought I had food poisoning last night. I wasn’t sure so I wasn’t going to call in until I woke, which didn’t happen until a few minutes ago. I had the weirdest dreams.”

  Patrick shook his head and moved so she could enter. He waited until she’d been briefed on the case to tell her what happened. Her eyes were big and furious.

  “Bitches. That is so fucking rude.” She plopped into the chair with enough force to move it backward several inches.

  “I think if whatever that thing was had managed to kill me, you would have taken the fall. The timing would have been perfect with your arrival. The guys all saw you freak out on me. No one would have thought to go deeper than the superficial evidence.” Patrick glanced around the room.

  Alaina could sense his unease. Not only did it seem like he was inside his old house, but the people who lived here apparently very much resembled his previous family. She wondered about the woman’s husband, deciding to find out before Susan left to meet up with Micah at her mother’s.

  She found her in the kitchen. Susan flipped on the coffee pot as Alaina entered, turning to Alaina with a smile. “Thought you might appreciate some coffee during the night.”

  “Excellent. Thank you.” Alaina sat on one of the bar stools lining the tile counter.

  “Cups are here. Creamer’s in the fridge, and sugar is there. One of the guys told me not to worry about food. I hope he’s right.” She smoothed out the dishtowel in her hands.

  “He is. Coffee is more than enough. I wanted to ask about your husband. What does he think about all of this? Will he be home so we can interview him before we get started?”

  Susan sighed, rubbing her hands over her face as she exhaled loudly. “I knew you’d figure it out. There is no hu
sband. Not anymore. He died right before I gave birth to Micah. A car accident. It was all my fault. We were arguing because he didn’t believe I was taking care of myself. My pregnancy was very difficult. I was sick a lot. Anyway. We got into a big fight and he stormed out. There was an accident with a tractor trailer. He died.”

  Sick fear filled Alaina’s stomach. There was no way . . . was there? “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too. Thanks. Micah looks so much like him. Sometimes I have a hard time believing he’s gone even after all this time. I expect him to walk through the door, take me in his arms, and tell me how sorry he is.” She sniffed, but there were no tears. “I sometimes find myself in this fantasy world where he’s not dead.”

  Patrick entered the kitchen. This was some kind of twisted alternate reality with the joke on her. Could Micah and his mother really be Patrick’s long-dead family? Their names were different, but . . .

  Patrick didn’t pay any attention to Susan except to thank her for the coffee. He bumped Alaina’s shoulder, filling her with calm and courage.

  “We’re ready to rock and roll.”

  “I’ll get out of your way then.” Susan picked up her purse and a purple bag beside the back door, thanking them again.

  Patrick locked the back door after Susan, watching her walk down the path to the garage in the back of the property. “Okay. Let’s move. What’s wrong?”

  There was no way she was telling him what she thought. Not right now. “I hope I don’t fall asleep on you.” That was stupid. She sounded like they were going to the drive-in, not dealing with wicked spirits.

  “Yeah. Okay. You’re going to have to tell me what’s bothering you soon.” Patrick touched the small of her back as she turned to leave. Alaina locked down every errant thought in case he tried to find out what was on her mind.

  The house was darker than it should be with the full moon. Patrick kept her close enough that she could reach out and touch him. This place was like a damned funhouse, and a cheesy one at that. Fake screams, fruity-smelling blood, and figures that seemed like they were dressed in sheets traversed the halls and rooms in droves. A chainsaw-wielding disfigured creature chased a pale transparent woman like a scene in a bad horror flick. Alaina sighed, leaning against the wall as the scene became even more ridiculous.

  Patrick chuckled, resting against her briefly before scanning the area with the thermal imaging camera. The freak show continued, clowns joining the macabre display along with blaring circus music to round things out. Except under the superficial guise, darker things scurried only to be seen on the display screen of the camera.

  “I think this is meant to throw us off.” Patrick waved his hand at the line of clowns dancing up and down the stairs.

  “You think?” Alaina laughed, the fear clutching her chest despite how she shoved it away.

  “Very funny. We’ve got a big problem growing in Micah’s room. Dave’s going to be in trouble if we don’t get in there right away.” Patrick grabbed her arm and guided her the rest of the way up the stairs.

  The walkie-talkie at his side hadn’t made a noise. Of course, it would have been hard to hear with all the noise surrounding them. As soon as they entered Micah’s room, the sounds took on a different, darker quality. Ribbons of smoke swirled around the room like little volcanoes. A body of black clouds had gathered on the ceiling, and lightning flashed through the room. Dave shrieked as a large, winged creature flapped by his head, calling his name loudly. Alaina almost didn’t see the hole in the floor as she rushed in to kick at the small feral-looking animal heading for Patrick’s legs. Patrick grabbed her right before she would have fallen through. A stream of vines shot through the hole, thorny branches reaching out to lash around anything in its path, including Alaina.

  She screamed as the thorns dug into her flesh. Patrick grabbed the vine, yanking it off her, but some of the pokey nubs remained in her skin. He chopped at the vines with his knife, howling coming from the severed ends. Demonic laughter joined the howls. From the sounds in the room, the world was coming to an end.

  “Enough,” Patrick shouted, the room falling silent as his voice roared above the noise. “This ends now. Dave, get the rest of the crew out of the house.” He held up his hand when Dave started to argue. “It’s too dangerous. This case is not what I thought it was. I appreciate your willingness to stay and help, but I won’t have your deaths on our heads. Go. Now. And hurry.”

  Dave started out the door, coming back for a stunned Della. He grabbed her arm, giving her no choice but to follow. Alaina wished she could go to safety with them, but she wanted to end this more.

  “Everything about this is wrong. This is not my house anymore. This isn’t my family. Micah is not my son, and that woman is not my wife.” He turned in the room, the blue paint fading into blood red.

  Alaina went to his side, facing him as she grabbed both of his hands. She knew what the pain in her heart meant but had to ignore it for now. This alternate reality business had dredged up all the could-have-beens and should-have-beens for Patrick. No matter how sweetly he’d made love to her, there was no way he was ready for anything other than more mourning.

  He didn’t want her, not really, and she had to accept it. Pushing the pain into a deep place in her heart, she blinked back tears. Before she could wallow in her self-pity and sadness, they had to live through this.

  “Thank you.” He kissed her hard.

  “For what?”

  “For not walking away when things got weird. For not thinking I’m crazy when this place turned into a funhouse from my past.” He kissed her forehead.

  “You’re not crazy. I already knew that.” She leaned into him. “What are we supposed to do now?”

  “You belong to me.” The deep, gravelly voice came from their right.

  They turned, their hands still clasped together and their bodies close. Susan stepped out of the shadows, only Alaina knew she had never been Susan. The woman was Jana. But how?

  She smiled sweetly at Patrick. “My love.”

  “You’re not Jana.” Patrick stiffened.

  “Aren’t I? I carried our child inside me.” She stepped forward.

  “And you died. You’re not my wife.”

  “I made a trade. A good trade. The only downside was losing you, but I’m here to make everything up to you. I can’t go on without you. I’m tired of trying to get you to come to me.” She glanced at Alaina.

  “You killed my grandmother.” Alaina lurched forward, but Patrick held her back.

  “I did not. Okay. I guess in a way I did. If she had simply taken my offer . . . Of course, I’d hoped she hadn’t passed the ring to you. If I have to, I’ll take it from you,” Jana sneered.

  “What offer?”

  Her gaze landed on Alaina’s ring. “All she had to do was bring him to me, but she had to be all noble and sentimental. When I came to finish the deal, I realized you’d willingly taken possession of the ring. With her heart condition, she was dead soon enough. I only eased her passing.”

  “You bitch.” Alaina now realized the significance of Gram putting the ring on her hand and the promise she’d made to take care of the heirloom.

  “I’ll make the similar deal with you. It’s a good one. Give up Patrick and the ring, and I’ll release you from the burden of shepherding lost souls.” Jana smiled.

  “Give up Patrick? You talk about him as if he’s property. I have no hold over him.” Alaina almost laughed, but the sound wouldn’t come out.

  “Oh, but you do. You hold his heart in your hands. And it should be mine.”

  “What did you do, Jana?” The caution in Patrick’s voice worried Alaina.

  “It was a mistake. At first. I regret the death of our child the most. You know how unhappy I was. I searched for a way out of my destiny while trying to hide my true feelings from you.
You were so proud of me for being a guide, but I hated every second of it. I finally found a way out. Only I had to make a few sacrifices—our son and our souls. It’s time for you to join me. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I don’t think so. Our souls?” Patrick shook his head.

  “You don’t understand. I don’t have a choice and neither do you. I was so weak and desperate. I didn’t realize your soul was part of the deal. I fought with you that night because I didn’t want you to be there. So you’d leave and be spared. Unfortunately, things don’t work that way. You have to come with me or I’ll be punished in a terrible way.” She sniffed.

  Patrick lurched forward. Alaina jabbed him in the ribs and forced his head close to hers. “She’s trying to gain your sympathy.”

  He blinked at her and straightened before addressing Jana. “No. Your selfishness killed a beautiful thing.”

  “This stupid guiding curse killed it. Not me,” Jana screamed. “Make the deal. How could you not? Why would you want the burden?”

  Alaina didn’t answer. Too much now made sense. The events of the past few days crowded into her brain.

  “Give me your ring and make the deal.” Jana held her hand out.

  Alaina almost asked her why she wanted the ring. Then she remembered how Patrick had told her Jana never had the desire to learn the history of guides.

  “I don’t think so. Guiding is an honorable legacy. I pass.”

  Jana’s eyes flashed red. A faint green mist seeped inside from the windows and headed for Patrick. The tendrils wound around him, holding him fast. Alaina grabbed his hand and pushed him away from the influence as the substance shifted. The solid cloud broke up, the room filling with various creatures forming from the mist.

  Alaina moved toward the center of the room, taking in their essences. Most of them were trapped by blackmail or debt and were here to hurt her. They wouldn’t wait for her to sort them later. She had to send them where they belonged or die. Raising her hand, she gathered the beings around her. She began to guide them to their destinations, most going to darker realms where they would face punishment for their additional crimes before being given the chance to repent. A few went into the gray area, though Alaina wasn’t sure how it was possible. It wasn’t her place to judge, only to sort and bring peace. Her ability to guide them so quickly shocked her. She sent groups into their respective places while keeping an eye on the activity in the room, and ignoring the outraged shouts from Jana. She was exhausted when she finally cleared the room. Sweat dripped into her eyes. Her knees weakened, but she refused to fall.