Page 17 of Shadow's End

The air sparkled briefly as I entered the reading room, a clear indication the thickly layered spells encircling and protecting the room remained active. The warm scent of cinnamon, clove, lemon, and sandalwood—all of which provided either protection or enhanced focus and concentration—filled the air, and it was a scent that would only get stronger in the run-up to Christmas. Belle was one of the strongest spirit talkers around, and it was an ability that was now bringing in customers from far and wide. With Christmas only a few weeks away, it seemed everyone wanted to speak to lost loved ones. It was a good revenue stream, but doing so many each and every day did take a toll on Belle strength wise. I’d suggested she take an additional day off, but so far she was resisting.

“And you know why,” she commented from behind me. “The readings don’t cover the cost of hiring an additional staff member.”

“The café is now running at a profit, Belle.”

“Only just. And please don’t give me that whole ‘we’re both millionaires now’ line, because that money hasn’t yet come through.”

“But it will.” Anthony, the Black Lantern attorney who’d represented me at the mediation meeting with my ex’s other heirs, would ensure it.

I pressed my hand against a panel in the bookcase that covered the entire rear wall—one of thirty-six we’d had installed. Magic crawled across my fingers, then the lock released, revealing an eight-inch hidden compartment. This one held multiple bottles of holy water and a couple of packets of blessed salt. Salt worked as a deterrent for most supernatural beasties, because as a general rule they couldn’t cross an unbroken line of it. Blessed salt was new and totally untested, but the priest we now purchased our holy water from—for a sizeable donation to his church—had said it might strengthen the salt’s deterrent factor and could even work as a cleanser. We had nothing to lose by trying it—nothing other than another large donation to his church, of course.

I tossed the salt across to Belle and then grabbed a nearby box and stacked six bottles of holy water into it. After closing that panel, I moved across to the next and pulled out a bag of sage smudge sticks. We generally dispensed a mix of dried sage and lavender to clients wanting to banish negative energy, but the smudge sticks were useful to cleanse and purify spaces.

This cave, however big it was, would need both if the number of faces I’d seen floating in that bloody pond was anything to go by. That many deaths in one confined area could lead to the formation of a tenebrum cloud—a swirling cloud of darknessimbued with all the fear, the horror, and the pain of those who’d died. It could drown those who entered it unprotected with all its emotional weight, and often resulted in madness.

Of course, sage was also useful for banishing evil spirits, but I very much doubted it would work against the evil currently using the Faelan Reservation as a hunting ground, if only because they weren’t spirits but rather flesh and blood.

I tucked the bag and a box of matches into my pack and then handed Belle a silk bag to place the ring in once we were back in the car. I really didn’t want to touch it with bare fingers, given the images that might lie in wait. The silk wouldn’t kill my ability to track the pulse of Roger’s presence, but it would at least mute those images.

I scooped up the box of holy water and followed Belle out into the main café area. Monty was behind the counter, helping himself to cake.

“You were a hobbit in a previous life, weren’t you?” I said, amused.

“Hey, I haven’t had first breakfast yet, let alone second.” He waved the serving knife toward the carrot cake he’d taken out of the cake fridge. “You want some? I can highly recommend it. The cream-cheese icing really sets it off perfectly.”

“Says the biased man who sleeps with the woman who made said carrot cake and cream-cheese icing,” I said dryly. “And it’s probably better if I don’t, given the unsteady nature of my stomach of late and what we’re about to head into.”

“Ah, yeah, sorry.” Monty bagged three more pieces, then scooped them up and followed me out the back door. After collecting and bagging the ring, we walked around to the front to wait for Aiden.

Gentle hues of pink and gold began to stain the horizon even though shadows still hugged the ground. The dawning day remained hot and still, and there was very little in the way ofbirdsong to be heard. Even the magpies had apparently decided it took too much energy to warble in this heat.

Aiden’s truck came around the corner a few seconds later. He pulled up in front of us, then leaned across to open the passenger door for me. Monty ushered Belle into the rear seat, then scooted in beside her and offered Aiden one of the bags.

“Nothing nicer than a crumbly cake when you’re driving,” he said wryly. “But thanks for the thought.”

“Quite happy to eat it if you don’t,” Monty replied.

“Which was no doubt your plan all along.”

“Oh, no doubt about it,” Belle said.

Aiden laughed, then checked his mirrors and pulled out. “I take it we’re picking up Ashworth on the way through?”

I nodded and tried to ignore the delicious scent of cake invading the cabin. As much as my stomach was rumbling, it would appreciate my forbearance later.

It didn’t take us long to get across to Ashworth’s. He and Eli lived in a pretty miners’ cottage with a white picket fence and a path lined with flowers and roses. The backyard was even prettier, which was why I’d asked if we could use it to get married in.

Ashworth was waiting at the front for us. He was a short, squat, and powerfully built bald man with a heavily lined face and muddy silver eyes. Today he was wearing oil-stained jeans and his favorite Black Sabbath T-shirt, which Eli had long ago declared should have been binned. He was at least wearing decent leather boots, rather than his usual threadbare sneakers. Anyone who didn’t know him would probably write him off as some kind of hobo, but any witch would know better—the power that rolled off him when he wasn’t tamping it down was breathtaking.

Monty moved across to make room for him. Ashworth threw his pack into the back of Aiden’s truck, then climbed in beside Monty and did up the belt.

“Morning all,” he said, sounding altogether too cheerful for such an early hour. “I brought along some white ash shavings. Thought they might come in handy.”

“White ash shavings?” I looked around. “That wouldn’t kill them, would it?”

“No, but it does prevent vampire entry if appropriately placed. They can’t cross it. They can’t even touch it.”

“Couldn’t they just jump over it?” Belle asked. “Or just blow it away?”

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