Kissed by the Dark

by Donna Augustine

  Kane knew it too, as he continued to stand there, a billboard of doubt.

  His suspicions weighed me down like a boulder on top of me. When I walked away from him, he didn’t try and stop me.

  Vincent stepped up beside me. “You need a ride back?”

  With all the commotion, I hadn’t even noticed him in the background.

  I glanced over at Kane where he waited. Something told me if I said yes, Kane would let me go. Something also told me it was probably another test. I didn’t care. I failed all of his tests anyway.

  “Yes. Thanks.”

  Vincent pulled up to the Underground and threw the car in park.

  I touched his arm when he went to shut it off. “I’m good.”

  He glanced at the metal door twenty feet away and his hand went back to the ignition. “Let me walk you to the door.”

  “I really appreciate it, but I think it’s best if you don’t.”

  He looked as if he were going to argue when Jerry swung the door open and stood right inside it.

  Vincent’s finger finally dropped from the ignition. “If you need anything, a ride, someone to talk to, anything at all…”

  “Thanks.” I nodded.

  I got out of the car and headed toward Jerry, who was now back to his smiling self and not looking so much like an enforcer.

  “Heard things got a little hairy.” Jerry stepped outside the door, his hand on the knob as I passed him.

  “Just a hair.”

  The blond vampire Jerry was messing around with was making her way over, evaporating any interest he had in further conversation with me.

  “See you tomorrow,” I said, getting a half-assed wave from him as I walked away.

  The Underground was in full swing, maybe even a bit swingier than normal. The shouts and drinks seemed to be flying a little looser, and the smell of skunk hung in the air so heavily that I wondered if Pepé Le Pew had moved in. Glad to know everyone was in such a good mood while we escorted more monsters into the world.

  As I made my way to the hall, Kane’s office door opened, the light shining in the dim room. He stood there, looking down at me. I didn’t know what he wanted, but if he had something else to say, he’d have to come track me down. I was in no mood for more insults tonight.

  Chapter Nineteen

  By the next morning, things were getting funny, and not in a belly-laugh kind of way. This was more the my milk smells kind of bad. And as I sipped my coffee at the bar, fixed with plenty of milk, I wished a different analogy had popped to mind.

  I called into the air for a refill as I watched Butch and Leon with their clipboards hogging our booth. One by one, people slid into the booth while Butch and Leon made marks on their boards. It looked like a job interview, except I couldn’t imagine what position they’d be applying for, or who’d want the current applicants.

  Flip walked across the room, her eyes shooting to the interview booth as she passed before hopping onto the stool beside me. “Crazy shit, right?” she asked, looking at the big screen.

  “Huh?” I turned my attention to the TV, which showed a big caravan of military trucks driving toward Boston. The reporter talked about the National Guard setting up a perimeter around the city.

  “Did you hear that some soldiers on the east end spotted one in the middle of the night?” Flip asked. “They opened fire on it but nothing happened. The thing just vanished in front of them and then reappeared a few feet away.”

  “No. I hadn’t heard.” Wasn’t really surprised, either. There’d be a lot more sightings if we kept letting them in. “What did they do?”

  “What any sane person would do.” She leaned over slightly as she said, “Ran. For their fucking lives. Then called in backup. Heard they’re setting up a perimeter around the city and preparing to do a mandatory evacuation.”

  I nodded. Getting people out of town was a solid idea, but then what? If this progressed, if we had to keep letting the crawlers in for a while, it wasn’t going to be a localized problem. They’d spread. I was surprised it hadn’t happened already. Why was it only in Boston? And did I even want to know, when I was the only Shadow Walker I knew of that happened to live in Boston?

  I turned my attention back to the trucks, but that wasn’t where my interest really was. I nudged Flip and nodded to Butch and Leon, who were sitting with Jerry’s blond vampire now. “What are they doing?”

  She leaned in a little closer. “Getting ready for shit to go sideways.”

  “How is that getting ready? They look like they’re interviewing for jobs.”

  She pulled her fluffy blond hair and twisted it into a knot on top of her head, as if she were preparing to get down to work. “According to my conversation with Casio, who talked to Maria, who—”

  “Who’s Maria?” I asked, and sipped some more coffee.

  “Leggy blond vamp that was diddling Jerry before he moved on to the new one. Doesn’t really matter other than the credibility of my sources.”

  A face flashed through my mind, and a swaying pair of hips. I nodded. I did remember the previous blond vamp. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to sneak out to check the site of the explosion.

  Flip continued, “So Maria overheard Jerry talking to Butch when she was, let us say conveniently, outside his apartment door in the middle of the night just happening to listen in. She repeated it to Casio.

  “They’re narrowing the herd. You’re either pledging support or you’re out. Kane’s cutting the fat.”

  Flip kept her eye on the booth. “My guess is there won’t be too much fat to cut. If shit gets worse, this will be the safest place in the city. There isn’t one person here that’s going to leave willingly. Kane tells them they’ve got to dig shit holes in the alley, and they’ll be digging shit holes all night long.” She let out a laugh that sounded like it was fueled by nerves. “Thank God I don’t have any brawn.”

  I glanced up at Kane’s empty office, wondering where the man who had ordered this had disappeared to. I took another sip of coffee when I should’ve been guzzling potions to try and get fixed. He’d been in the wrong to accuse me yesterday, but it looked like I’d be the one who had to track him down. Man, that grated on the nerves.

  I swallowed the last of my coffee and my pride in the same gulp, then put my mug down and stood with conviction. I was getting myself fixed, no matter what I had to swallow. “Have you seen Kane?”

  “In the basement pissing off the gargoyles.”

  “You sure? I didn’t see him pass by all morning.”

  “Why would he pass by? The basement door is in the hall.” She pointed to the same hall where the elevators were. “When you find him, make sure you tell him I’m too small to dig ditches. You know, just in case.”

  I gave her a thumbs-up, not bothering to explain that my opinion counted less than a single snowflake in a blizzard right now. The hallway was empty as I examined it for a door I’d somehow missed. I ran my hands along the walls, trying to find a secret entrance. I looked around for a good ten minutes before I called Zee.

  She popped up immediately. “Why aren’t you with Kane trying to get fixed? We’re never going to get back to work if you’re slacking.”

  “I’m trying to find Kane to do exactly that. Flip said he’s in the basement, but I can’t find it.”

  Her chin snapped back at the same time her hip shot forward. “He’s putting more shit down there? We’re already crowded.” There was some elaborate huffing and puffing before she said, “Come on. I’ll bring you.”

  She reached toward the wall and a door appeared. A plume of smoke flooded the hall with its opening. All of a sudden, I saw gargoyles coming and going everywhere.

  “How did I miss this?” I asked.

  “Because you were supposed to.”

  “Are they always here?” I watched as they passed.

  “Usually.”

  “So all those times I thought I was in the hall alone…?” I ran through the moments, wondering ho
w many things I’d done that were cringe-worthy.

  That was how Kane knew I’d dragged a witch into the stairwell so quick.

  “You may have been or may not. Us gargoyles like privacy. We spent years on display. It was too much.” Zee waited for a gap in the flow of traffic heading up the stairs. “Come on.”

  The place was massive and filled with gargoyles, some of whom were staring at the supplies being loaded along the side wall with dirty looks. It looked as if Kane’s supplies were taking up about a tenth of the space, with gargoyles stacking more boxes and crates as I watched. There was no Kane, though.

  But wow, the rest of the place was jaw-dropping. I’d had no idea of the hustle and bustle going on down here. I hadn’t realized gargoyles existed in these numbers. Quite a few liked to smoke cigars, so the place had a strange fog.

  “Don’t you guys have air filters down here?” I asked, a strong stream of smoke hitting me.

  “Too drafty. This is much nicer, don’t you think?”

  “Sure. I can see that.” If you had a vendetta against lungs, it all made perfect sense.

  As I moved farther into the room, my eyes streamed tears from the stinging. I got a better sense of what was going on. There were tables all over the place. The basement was divided into different districts. One corner had four or five tables with gargoyles bent over hand-rolling cigars. Another area had sewing machines running, and the brown monogrammed leather they were working on looked quite familiar. I was fairly certain this wasn’t an authorized manufacturing center. And it didn’t matter what area they were in, they all had a drink in their hand.

  I grabbed Zee’s arm. “What goes on down here, exactly?”

  “You know, a little of this, a little of that. It’s work hours, so it’s a bit more uptight than normal. If I were you, though, I wouldn’t come down at night. Might be too much considering…” She waved a hand at my head, as if I was too delicate, since I was broken.

  It was a bit much now.

  The strangest part of it was this seemed to be right under the Underground, the spot where Kane’s dungeon/mad-scientist lab was.

  “Thanks for showing me the place,” I said. “Going to go find Kane.”

  As I turned, the man himself was on his way down the stairs.

  I walked toward him, and we ended up meeting beside all the supplies. “What’s going on? Why the stockpiles?” I asked, testing the waters with the only thing that popped to mind, even though I already knew.

  “Getting prepared.” Short and clipped—that was the best he was giving.

  My pride told me to walk away, but then I remembered I’d swallowed that because I needed him.

  “That’s a good idea.” There. I’d even flattered him a little.

  He crossed his arms. “Did you need something else?”

  The bastard knew I did. He’d insulted me and I was supposed to grovel? Right now, the idea seemed as tempting as chugging sand. “So I’m at fault?”

  “Did you have a nice ride with Vincent?”

  So this wasn’t even about his false accusation? “You mean as opposed to walking or riding back with you as you stared at me like I was a traitor? Oh, dandy. Thanks.”

  I said “thanks” the way most people said “fuck you,” then walked away. I’d figure out something else, somehow. Maybe I could negotiate with Harg? He had magic and we were bartering with him anyway. Anything was better than dealing with that asshole.

  I walked up the stairs and toward the elevators, but an arm turned me in the opposite direction. I’d been so mad that I hadn’t realized Kane had followed.

  “What?” I snapped as he propelled me toward the Underground. Then I dug in my heels, making it clear he’d have to carry me if he wanted me to move one more inch.

  “You want to drink potions and throw up or do you have better plans?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  That was it? I was supposed to just skip into the basement with him? “Not unless you admit you’re an ass.”

  He tilted his head forward, both eyebrows raised. “I’m offering to help you.”

  “Why? You don’t believe my mind has a spell on it. You think I’m blowing things up for shits and giggles.” I gave him a hard stare, “You. Don’t. Trust. Me.”

  I turned toward the elevators again, and he grabbed my arm, stopping me. I looked at his hand with disdain. “You want to help so badly? Admit you’re an ass.”

  His jaw shifted. “If you admit you’re stubborn and occasionally delusional.”

  That one bit a little. Not like a shark bite, but a small dog? “Fine.”

  “Then fine. Now can I please make you sick?”

  I shrugged, feeling a little better. Or enough to take his help, anyway. “Fine.”

  Chapter Twenty

  This was the second day in a row we were back at potions. Kane had looked for me this morning and I knew it had been his way of apologizing. He had to do it somehow, since he wasn’t so good at verbalizing them.

  “Do you need a break?” he asked, watching me from the comfortable armchair he’d had moved to the basement.

  I’d decided to call it a basement, instead of a dungeon. Dungeon made me think he was torturing me with concoctions that didn’t work, instead of helping. I liked to think of the couch I was sitting on as another apology for the other day. Otherwise, he’d only moved it here because his sitting in the armchair while I had nothing would’ve definitely marked him as the ass I’d called him.

  The coffee table was a nice touch as well. I’d like it more if it didn’t have all the concoctions lined up on it.

  And there were a whole lot of glasses at this point. We’d branched into fairy spells, some strange stuff the dwarves had suggested, and some gargoyle concoctions Zee had brought over. I couldn’t remember where the thick black one on the end had come from, but it smelled like a decomposing body. I was saving that goody for last.

  I’d made it through four already and had only thrown up three times, so I was considering the fourth a win.

  “How can I possibly take a break with everything happening? There might be something in my head right now that could fix my memory and I can’t get at it.” I leaned forward, wrapping my hands around a glass filled with a yellow slime that was topped with a mold-green foam. “Maybe I should go back into the Shadowlands. That’s where I was shadow kissed. Maybe I can find that crawler again?”

  “You won’t even recognize it if you do.”

  I flopped back in the couch. That wasn’t why he didn’t want me to go back. He didn’t trust me. Walking into the Shadowlands for someone such as me was akin to dipping your soul into pure power. From what I knew, I’d have access to endless amounts of spells.

  Tough pill to swallow when Kane didn’t trust me. Or maybe he thought, injured as I was, I might get hurt or stuck? Might as well continue with a streak of optimism, since I wasn’t willing to disturb the newly found peace.

  He leaned an elbow on his armchair, staring at the glass in my hand before his eyes slowly made their way to my face. “You quitting for the day?”

  I thought I heard a challenge in that question, as if he wanted me to admit he was right. It was the fastest way to get me to keep going.

  “Nope.” I tilted the glass and the slime ran into my mouth. I placed it back on the table and then leaned my head back. This one wanted out immediately, but I locked down my throat, breathing through my nose.

  It wasn’t until good five minutes later, and after a cold sweat, that I felt confident I’d won. I opened my mouth, taking in a deep breath.

  “Why is it that everything you have has the same side effect?” I asked.

  “It’s not what I’m giving you. It’s you. As a Shadow Walker, you’re repelling foreign magic.”

  “How is that possible? What about the spells the witches did? I heard my clothes kept falling off.”

  “They spelled the clothes. Your body rejected them. It was your magic that made that work so well.”

  “Wh
at about my memories?”

  “Different magic, and they probably got a strand of your hair. Your hair is dead. It’s not going to repel anything.”

  If I could only repel everything. Unfortunately, I was a magnet for anything from the Shadowlands.

  Oh fuck me…

  Was I a magnet for them, too? Was that why they all stayed in Boston?

  I leaned my head back again, breathing through my nose as another wave of nausea hit. Something was making me sick, but it wasn’t the potions this time.

  “What is it?” Kane asked, as if he could sense I was out of sorts. It was odd to have a stranger be able to read me so well, especially when he’d been checking his phone and shouldn’t have noticed every stupid move I made.

  “So, you’d never ever kill me?” I asked, noticing he’d put his phone on the table, as if he’d found something else more interesting at the moment.

  “We’ve covered this.”

  “Can you say it again?” I’d feel a lot better about this if I got it reconfirmed. I wasn’t sure how many other people would be coming for me if my theory was correct.

  “No. I already promised. There is no renewal process. That’s not how promises work. You keep the ones you make.”

  Had to give it to him. That was a pretty good answer. But still… “And there’s no loopholes, right?”

  He leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. “Ollie.”

  I got it. He wanted me to spit it out. He already thought my hands were covered in blood, and I didn’t think I could fall any further in his esteem. Might as well say it.

  I bent a knee to my chest and hugged it there. “Have you noticed that the crawlers seem to be localized to Boston?” It was one of those non-questions you asked when you didn’t have the balls to come right out and say what it was you wanted.

  “I hope there’s more to this breakthrough of yours, or I greatly overestimated your intelligence,” Kane said.