Page 41 of Shadow Dreaming

Maya perked up. “Really? That would be lovely,” she said. “I don’t get my nails done often—I work with my hands so much, so it’s usually ridiculous for me to do much to them. But I thought for the trip I would, and then I hit my hand on the door this morning and chipped it.”

“Let me call Ami.” I turned to Hecate. “Do you mind?”

Hecate gave me a gracious smile and nodded for me to go ahead.

I pulled out my phone and called downstairs. “Ami, do you have time to take in a friend? My treat.”

Ami laughed. “Sure. I have half an hour. I can do something for her in that time. Send her down.”

“Will do. Her name is Maya.” I hung up and turned. “Maya, go down to the first floor. Ami’s salon is there. Give her your name and she’ll take you right in. We’ll see you back here in about half an hour.”

Maya waved and Carson showed her out, then returned. “Okay,” he said, when he returned. “I’m sorry for the interruption.”

“Not a problem,” I said. “But Hecate has something to ask you.”

“Will you promise to do something for me, if I help you rescue my priestess?”

Carson stiffened. “Of course.”

I had the feeling that if Hecate said shave your heads and give me a blood offering Carson would have instantly agreed. But whatever the reasons, it was his choice to make.

Hecate fastened her gaze on us. “You give of yourselves freely for Penelope.”

“We love her,” I said. “She’s my best friend—well, Penn and Dante here. She means so much to me.”

“Penn is one of us. We’re ride or die with her,” Dante said.

“Then you have made your choice. I will help you. In return, you will become aligned with me, as well as a small group of gods. We have groups strategically placed around the world, in different countries, keeping watch.”

“Watch over…what?” Orik asked.

“You know about the portals. There are more that are controlled by the Crystal Court. And those are at risk.”

“Are you talking about the Fae portals?” I asked.

“No, these were created thousands of years ago, some by the gods, others by Demonkin, still others forged by creatures from other realms. In time, they’ve faded, forgotten by most. But Brim Fire remembers.”

“I got the impression they’re a modern day group. How did—” I stared to ask, but Hecate was a step ahead.

“Brim Fire is merely a modern name for an ancient group of demonic magicians looking to bring down the world. They’re a shadow of what they once were, but they’re strengthening again, and we’ve been watching them. We don’t fully know their end goal, but in the meantime, they’re looking to push open the gates to the Demonkin realms. We believe they want to harness the demon’s power for themselves.” Hecate leaned forward. “And that…is something none of us wants. Because Demonkin won’t stand for it, and it’s just going to bring about chaos and havoc.”

“So…what do you want us to do?” I asked.

“Be ready to investigate when we call on you. Drop everything if a crisis goes down. We may have other tasks for you, if the need arises. Otherwise, continue your lives as normal.” Hecate scanned our faces. “Agreed?”

We all nodded. “We agree. Now what?”

“Now, I help you retrieve Penelope.” She glanced over at the counter. “May I have a cup of coffee and one of your pastries?”

Sophia scrambled out of her chair to bring Hecate the coffee and doughnut. Once again, the bizarre nature of the scene made me want to laugh, out of sheer nervous energy.

“Do you know where Penelope is being held? I’ve tried to reach her, but I get conflicting information. Her energy is extremely foggy right now.” Hecate sounded worried. The look on her face remained neutral, but I sensed concern in her voice.

“We need to figure that out.” I turned to Carson. “Can you do a search to find out what restaurant Jiles Smithson owns?”

He nodded. “Let me get my laptop.”

Carson returned a moment later, computer in hand. He opened it, then logged in, Hecate watched him and as he tapped away, she walked around behind him, peering over his shoulder.

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