Page 15 of Shadow's End

“Which may not matter if they’re able to use this shadow plane as some sort of supernatural highway to get about.”

“I can’t imagine it would be easy to enter or use,” Belle said. “All magic has its costs, but the darker the spell, the greater the price paid.”

“Except the dark plane isn’t reached via a spell,” Monty replied.

I glanced at him, eyebrows rising. “You’ve heard about it before?”

“It was mentioned in one of the classes about dark mages and darker magics at uni, though they called it a path rather than a plane.” He grimaced. “Like most classes related to anything involving either subject, it was high on theory and low on fact.”

“Maybe because those teaching the class don’t know all that much on the subject,” Belle said.

“The Heretic Investigations Center exists, remember, and they have a pretty extensive library about dark magic and its uses, given their specialty is hunting down dark witches and mages.”

“Did these classes ever mention how the plane is reached, if not by a spell?” I asked.

He grimaced. “As I said, it was theory more than fact. They believe there’re numerous entry points into the plane that only those who deal with darkness and death can see. Regular witches can’t see them, apparently, and most of those who can are rarely given the chance to answer questions about them.”

“Because the HIC’s ‘most wanted’ list is also a kill list,” I commented.

He nodded. “Did you get anything specific that might pin down the search area?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe—I’ll need to talk to Aiden first.”

“I think it might also be worth giving Ashworth and Eli a heads-up,” Monty said. “If that cave is charnel in nature, it’s likely to be well protected. It wouldn’t hurt to have additional magical help.”

Ira Ashworth worked for the Regional Witch Association—the government body charged with dealing with any situation witch-related within regional communities. Eli, his husband, had also worked for them, but was now retired. Both men had basically become substitute grandfathers to me over the course of the last year. I’d even asked Ashworth if he would walk me down the aisle.

“You ring them; I’ll ring Aiden.” I’d promised to update him anyway, though this wasn’t the sort of update I wanted to be doing.

As Monty nodded and pulled out his phone, I leaned against the SUV’s bullet hole-ridden rear door and made my call.

The phone barely had time to ring before Aiden answered. “You obviously survived the wrath of our resident vampire.”

I smiled. “I will admit it was touch-and-go for a little while there. She’s one scary mother, I can tell you that.”

“All mothers are scary when their young are threatened. Roger may not be her bloodline, but he is of her flesh.”

Which was very true, but her fierceness was more a result of the damage his death could do to her than any sort of maternal instinct. Hell, I wasn’t even sure her demand we leave Jaqueline alive was maternal in nature, despite her protestations and the fact that her daughter was one of the few who’d survived her destroying their coven.

“Did you manage to persuade her to let you use psychometry to find him?”

“I did, and I did.”

“And you’re ringing to get my help with the location?”

I smiled. “That, and because I was missing your dulcet tones.”

He snorted. “Yeah. Likely.”

I laughed. “In the vision, I saw two golden wattles, red boulders, and a cavern shaped like a mouth. Does that ring any location bells?”

“Wrong time of year for the wattles to be out?—”

“They weren’t in flower, but I recognized the leaves.”

“Ah. Well, the red boulders suggest it could be situated around the Eureka Reef area.”

“I take it there are plenty of old caves there?”

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