Dead Ground (Harbinger P.I. Book 4)

by Adam J. Wright

  “So let’s find a mirror,” Leon said, following me.

  “I remember seeing some photos of the house when the massacre hit the news,” I said. “There was a full-length mirror in one of the bedrooms.” I went to the foot of the stairs and shone my light up to the second floor. “I’m guessing it’s somewhere up there.”

  The beam of the Maglite showed peeling wallpaper with a rose design and more smoky shadows of dead bodies on the stairs.

  We went up, stepping over the bodies even though they were no more than smoke. At the top of the stairs, a corridor led to the left and right. There were doors in each direction—some closed, some open—and another staircase leading up to the next floor.

  “Let’s check this floor first,” I suggested. “If we don’t find what we’re looking for, we’ll go up to the next level.” I turned right and went to the first open door. It opened onto a bedroom, although the bed and other furniture were insubstantial shadows like the bodies on the floor. There was no mirror.

  “It’s here,” Leon said from behind me. He was looking through the door on the opposite side of the corridor. “There’s a mirror.”

  I turned and went into the room. The large window looked out at the street and let in a dim glow of moonlight. On the wall was a full-length mirror. Unlike everything else we’d seen in the house, the mirror was real. The Maglite beam reflected off the glass.

  “Look,” Leon said, pointing to a red smear in the top right corner.

  I moved closer and inspected it. “It’s a bloody handprint.”

  “You think one of the murdered kids touched the mirror before they died?”

  “No, it’s in this side, in the Shadow Land. The victims aren’t much more than shadows here. They wouldn’t leave a handprint like this. It’s as real as the mirror it’s on.”

  “So someone else put it there.”

  I considered this new development. From what Gloria had said, it sounded as if bad places in our realm cast a shadow into the Shadow Land after the bad thing had happened at that location. So I wouldn’t have thought this shadow version of Blackthorn House would exist until after the Bloody Summer Night Massacre.

  But what if I was looking at it the wrong way, at least as far as Mister Scary was concerned? What if he’d created the shadow version in this realm and used it to get into the real version of the house? It would explain how he disappeared after Mallory shot him and it would account for him seemingly appearing out of nowhere on the night of the murder.

  The police had theorized that he must have already been hiding in the house when the kids had shown up for the party but what if he’d used this mirror to step from the Shadow Land version of the house into the real one?

  But how could he have created a Shadow Land version before the night of the massacre?

  “He’s dreaming the murders,” I said.

  “What?” Leon had been examining the mirror. Now, he looked at me with questioning eyes.

  “Mister Scary. He dreams about the murders before he carries them out. Gloria said parts of the Shadow Land are formed by dreams or nightmares, so his dreams create the shadow versions of the houses. Then he uses the portals in the shadow versions to get into the actual houses and commit the murders he’s been dreaming about.”

  Leon thought about it. “That’s why the police never catch him at the scene of the crime. He comes back here, into the shadow version, and escapes.”

  “Yeah, this explains it.” I pointed at the mirror. “If there’s more than one mirror in the house, it might even explain how he moves from room to room unseen.”

  “What about the bloody handprint?”

  “I assume that’s how the portal is charged. Most magical portals require some kind of sacrifice to activate them and shedding your own blood is one of the most powerful sacrifices of all.”

  “So all we have to do is cut ourselves, touch the mirror, and we’re out of here?”

  I nodded. “It probably is that simple.”

  He fished a pocket knife out of his jeans. “You want to go first?”

  “Wait,” I said, “we need to think about this. If we rush through this portal, we might be missing an opportunity to get even closer to the torc.”

  “Are you sure we can’t just leave?’ Leon said, moving to the window and looking out at the street below. “I don’t want to hang around here a second longer than I have to.”

  “Blackthorn House is in New York State,” I told him. “If we go through the portal and end up there, we’ll still need to get to England where the torc is hidden. Maybe we could find a portal in this realm that takes us to England.”

  “You mean think of a bad place in England like we did to get here?”

  I nodded. “It’ll save us time, something we don’t have a lot of if we’re going to beat the vampires to the torc.”

  Leon nodded, still looking out of the window. “Okay, but I don’t know of any creepy houses in England where murders took place.”

  I racked my brain. I wasn’t sure I knew of any either. I’d spent years in London while I was studying at the Academy of Shadows but I hadn’t exactly sought out murder houses. There were countless “Ripper Tours” in the city that visited the places where Jack the Ripper had committed his crimes but I’d never been on any of them. I tried to remember the other places I’d visited and if any of them cold be described as a “bad place.”

  “The only place I can think of is the Tower of London,” I told Leon. “Two young princes were murdered there in the fifteenth century but I don’t know if that’s enough to create a portal to the Shadow Land, or if it was so long ago that the shadow version of the tower might have faded away.”

  “Alec, we don’t have time for this,” Leon said. “We’ve got company.”

  I went to the window and looked down at the street. At the end of the street, in the fog, stood a man. He was in silhouette and I couldn’t make out any details of his face but I could see that he held an ax. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. When the man turned his face to the window where we stood, Leon and I instinctively took a step back.

  “Is that him?” Leon whispered.

  “Yeah, I think so.” My own voice had also dropped to whisper. “We need to get out of here. Now.”

  We went to the mirror quickly and Leon handed me his pocket knife.

  I took it from him and opened the blade before drawing it across my palm. When the cut turned bright red with blood, I placed my hand on the mirror.

  The activation of the portal manifested itself as a slight darkening of the reflection. I reached forward with my hand and, instead of meeting the glass, my fingers went through, disappearing into the mirror.

  I stepped forward and found myself in a room just like the one in the Shadow Land except there was daylight beyond the window and the furniture here was the real thing and not a smoky shadow.

  Leon stepped into the room and the reflection in the mirror behind him became normal.

  He went to the window and looked out. “I think we’re home.”

  “Yeah. Well, we’re in New York State, anyway. Not too far from home. We can get a flight back to Maine. Then we need to get to England and find that torc.”

  “Without passports?” Leon asked. “I don’t know about you but I left mine in my luggage at Jim’s house.”

  “I think I know a way around that. We can get back to Maine using our drivers licenses and then I’ll sort out the passport situation. We just have to hope we get to the torc before Gloria cracks. I’d imagine that after three thousand years, those vampires know some effective ways of getting information out of someone.”

  “And I don’t think Gloria is going to keep her mouth shut for long,” Leon said as we left the bedroom and descended the stairs.

  “You never know,” I said, “she might be more resilient than we think. She’s a faerie queen, after all. Sure, she’s ditzy when she’s playing a human but maybe she has an inner strength we haven’t seen yet.”


  “I sure hope so.”

  The double doors that led outside were locked so we found a window in the living room and went out that way. When we finally stood beneath the sun in the grounds of the house, I took in a deep breath of air, glad to be home.

  The sight of Mister Scary had unnerved me in such a way that I felt it even more important to reach Mallory and stop her going after him alone. He was more than just a man; he seemed to have the ability to manipulate the Shadow Land to help him carry out his murders. Mallory was underestimating him, believing him to be nothing more than a regular psychopathic killer, and that was dangerous.

  “Let’s never go back there again,” Leon said.

  I nodded in agreement. If it were up to me, I’d never go to Faerie again either but I knew that once we had the torc, we were going to have to go back and rescue our friends.

  And this time, we would be armed with weapons to destroy vampires. I didn’t take kindly to having my friends taken.

  Ancient vampire or not, I was ready to make Davos pay.

  Chapter 21

  Felicity sat in the Fresh Grounds coffee shop waiting for Hans Lieben to appear. She’d been here an hour already, having left her parents house immediately after breakfast. Her father had been happy enough to lend her the Volvo and had seemed glad that Felicity was taking some time away from the house. The drive to Exeter had gone smoothly and she’d arrived with time to spare. After finding a parking space, she’d decided to go straight to the coffee shop and wait.

  Now, it was time for Lieben to put in an appearance and Felicity felt a growing anxiety. Was she making the right decision by coming here? Was Lieben really who he said he was or was he a member of the Midnight Cabal posing as a Society member? Yesterday, his phone call had taken Felicity off guard and she had agreed to this meeting perhaps a little too hastily. Now, she felt anxious and wary and wondered if she should have come here at all.

  On the table in front of her sat her third latte. It was untouched because Felicity didn’t think that more caffeine would be good for her already-frayed nerves. A couple of times, she’d been tempted to leave the coffee shop and not look back but if Lieben was genuine and had some information that was important to Alec, she would never forgive herself if she missed out on it just because of her paranoia.

  Flesh Grounds was bustling with patrons. Judging by the amount of suits and smart attire, most were here to grab a coffee during their lunch break before returning to work. At a table near the door, five smartly-dressed women were holding some sort of meeting, their table covered with papers containing graphs and figures. The air was filled with the sound of chatter and the hiss of the coffee machine.

  Felicity had chosen a table near the window that looked out on the busy street. Through the slightly-misted glass, she saw a tall, thin man in a tan raincoat approach the shop. He had close-cropped blonde hair and wore wire-rimmed glasses. Under one arm, he carried a newspaper. When he entered Fresh Grounds, Felicity was sure he was Hans Lieben.

  He saw her and gave her a slight wave, as if he knew her. Of course he knows me, Felicity thought. He’s probably seen my picture in the Society’s personnel records.

  While Lieben was at the counter ordering coffee, she removed her hands from the table and placed them on her lap so he wouldn’t see them shaking. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, making her tremble.

  Lieben came over and took the seat opposite her. He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Miss Lake, what a charming place you have chosen for our meeting.”

  Felicity shot him a smile that was every bit as fake as his own. “You said you had some information for Alec.”

  “Yes, I have some information for him,” he said. “Also, I was hoping he might have some for me.”

  “Information for you?” Felicity asked.

  Lieben took a sip of his coffee, nodded to himself in appreciation, and set the cup down gently on the table. “Yes, I was hoping for an exchange of information. When I tell him what I know about his father’s disappearance, I was hoping he could enlighten me further.”

  “Alec doesn’t know anything about his father’s disappearance,” Felicity said. “He can’t help you with that.”

  “Perhaps he can once he knows what his father was working on just before he disappeared,” Lieben said.

  “What do you mean?” Felicity asked.

  Lieben took another sip of coffee. “I’ve been investigating the disappearance of Thomas Harbinger and I’ve come to the conclusion that he was not kidnapped or taken against his will. He engineered his own disappearance.”

  “How can you possibly know that?” Felicity said.

  “There were a number of people in Hyde Park that day,” Lieben said. “Many of them were taking pictures and videos on their phones. Some inadvertently caught Thomas Harbinger’s disappearance. “I have seen enough footage to convince me that Thomas cast some sort of spell that made him vanish from the park. He cast it himself. There was no one else around.”

  “And how do you think Alec can give you any more information on that?” Felicity asked. “Thomas may have disappeared on purpose but he hasn’t visited Alec as far as I know.”

  Lieben nodded. “Perhaps he has not put Alec may be able to throw some light on what Thomas was researching just before he disappeared and if that had anything to do with him going underground as you say.”

  “What do you mean? What was he researching?”

  Lieben finished his coffee and said, “This was quite delicious. I most remember this place if I’m ever in Exeter again.”

  “Thomas’s research?” Felicity prompted.

  “Yes,” Lieben said, “his research. It is most strange and it has is all baffled. Before he disappeared, Thomas was researching the death of his wife. That is strange is it not?”

  “Perhaps,” Felicity said. “But why do you think Alec could help you with that?”

  “Alec was with his mother in the car, wasn’t he? At the time of the accident I mean. Alec survived but his mother did not. He is the only witness of her death. Perhaps there is more surrounding that event than we know.”

  “I don’t see how that could be,” Felicity said. “And Alec was just a child at the time so I don’t know how you think he can help you.”

  “He may remember more than he realizes,” Lieben said. “After all, he has had problems with his memory before. The Paris incident for example.”

  “That’s different,” Felicity said. “His memories of Paris was stolen from him.” She didn’t mention that Alec now has those memories back; she wasn’t sure how much Lieben knew about that.

  “Yes, apparently they were,” he said, “but the memories of his mother’s death might simply be repressed in his mind. We have ways of helping him recover those memories.”

  Felicity had heard about their ways; Alec had told her that after Paris, he had been interrogated while being forced to wear a magical collar from the Spanish Inquisition that made him tell the truth. Was this what Lieben had in mind?

  “I’m not sure why you think the circumstances surrounding Alec’s mother’s death are important now, after all this time,” she said.

  “Frankly, neither am I,” he told her. “But the fact that Thomas Harbinger had a renewed interest in those events seems to indicate that they are important.”

  “Well, I can pass this information on to Alec,” Felicity said, “but I’m not sure how much he’ll be able to help you regarding the details of his mother’s death. I was under the impression that the car crash was an accident.”

  “According to the Oregon police, it was,” Lieben said, “but they were looking at the event from a mundane perspective. You and I both know that things are not always as they seem.”

  “So, do you have any of your own theories?” she asked.

  He gave her an enigmatic smile. “Perhaps,” was all he said.

  “Well, I’ll be sure to pass this on to Alec,” Felicity said, giving her voice a touch of finality that she
hoped would end this conversation.

  She’d gotten the information she wanted out of Lieben, which wasn’t much other than the fact that Thomas Harbinger had engineered his own disappearance. The fact that he’d been looking into his wife’s death was interesting but Felicity couldn’t see how it was relevant to anything.

  “Thank you, Miss Lake, and be sure to tell Alec to contact me at his convenience. Also, I would like to be informed if Thomas tries to make contact with Alec, although I have a feeling I won’t be, since Thomas seems determined to hide from the Society for some reason. And I’m sure Alec’s loyalty to his father is stronger than his loyalty to the Society.”

  He pushed back his chair and stood. “I would ask you to inform me if Thomas makes contact, but I’m sure your loyalty to Alec is stronger than your loyalty to anyone.”

  Felicity didn’t answer.

  “Good day, Miss Lake,” Lieben said before turning on his heels and leaving the coffee shop.

  Felicity watched him through the window. A black Bentley pulled up to the curb and Lieben got in. The car pulled into the busy afternoon traffic and disappeared from view.

  Felicity got up from the table and went to the bathroom at the back of the shop. When she got in there, she locked the door and rifled through her handbag until she found a waterproof eyeliner pencil. She lifted her sweater, exposing the skin of her stomach, and, using the pencil, drew a magical symbol of protection on herself. She might not have the tattoos that Alec sported, but this should keep her hidden from magical detection or scrying.

  She still wasn’t sure if she could trust Lieben or not but she’d decided she wasn’t taking any chances.

  Chapter 22

  Four hours after stepping through the portal in Blackthorn House, I was climbing out of a Ford Taurus that Leon had rented at Bangor International. The drive back to Dearmont had been quiet. I’d been mulling over how I was going to get my friends back from the clutches of the ancient vampires and I assumed Leon’s thoughts ran along similar lines.