Page 5 of Shadow Dreaming

“I think we can do both, but we should wait until spring, when it’s warmer.”

“I’ll start looking for plans on the net, to see if we can do it ourselves.” She paused. “We could pay Orik—he’s handy.”

“That he is. All right, let’s plan for a build date by the end of Maya.” I finished my breakfast—Mr. Crumbles hadn’t been far off, we had eggs and sausages for breakfast, and English muffins—and grabbed my travel mug. Penn had made me a quad latte, and I headed out, backpack over my shoulder, hoping that Dante had made it through the night without incident.

I rented the top floor in a three-story building on Tenth Avenue for Shadow Blade Investigations. The building was positioned next to the Southwest Queen Anne Greenbelt. The park overlooked the water. It began at the top of a steep ravine, with a labyrinth of hiking trails that led down to Elliot Way.

The first floor belonged to Ami’s Salon, where I got my nails done. The second floor housed a martial arts studio, and we had the top floor. The building was big enough to afford us a spacious array of rooms for our office, and we’d locked in a ten-year lease with the landlord.

As far as our employees, we had a super tight crew and we had all learned to trust and rely on one another.

Beyond Dante and myself, we employed Orik Valhom, a six-foot-eight priest of Odin. He had long red hair, and a matching beard and moustache, and wore a 25-millimeter lapis lazuli gauge in his left ear that was blessed to connect him to Odin. Orik was married to Hilda, and they had two sets of twins—both girls—and another pair of twins on the way, again—girls. He was a happy, content man with his personal set of Valkyries, and he provided the brawn for the group, as well as a top-tier brain for electronics.

Carson Dreyfus was our 29-year-old computer geek, with rich brown skin, long box braids that were as neat and tidy as he was, and a brain so advanced that nobody could keep up with him when we were talking computers. He had graduated with a master’s when he was fourteen, and unfortunately, was as socially awkward as he was brilliant. He had a crush on Penn, but she did her best to gently dissuade him. Penn wasn’t the monogamous type, given her Fae blood, and she didn’t want to break his heart.

The other two members of our little group were Sophia Pagonis, an oracle kicked out of her order by Zeus, and Lazenti—a vampire who was originally a PI before he’d been turned back in 1972. Lazenti was gorgeous, in that gothic vampire manner, with ice blue eyes ringed with crimson and wavy black hair. Sophia was a part time investigator as well as our receptionist, and she was sixty-eight, but as fit and active as most people half her age. Lazenti was also an investigator, although he could only work at night.

I loved our little family we’d created, and when one of us was hurting, we all hurt. Even Lazenti, our newest member, had smoothly been fitting in. Penn was also part of our group, though in an auxiliary manner.

I didn’t have a family, other than Dante. As the agency had come together over the years, each person had become a part of my life, brothers and sisters from different mothers—a group of misfits, pulling together to create a tight knit unit.

As I entered the building, I waved at Ami, who was already with a client. A selkie, she was precise with her work, and was the only one I trusted with my nails or my hair. I had ass-length silver hair with black highlights that cascaded in waves, but it needed layering. Ami knew how to work with the flow of curls.

She waved back as I headed toward the stairs. I routinely took the stairs, because it gave me a little bit more exercise. I worked with a trainer, Devon, who was helping me learn to utilize the physical and magical aspects of my Arosien heritage. I had only recently learned which Demonkin clan I came from, and what their powers were.

As I entered the office, Sophia waved from the reception desk.

“Morning,” she said.

“Who’s here so far? Has Dante come in?”

“He’s in his office,” she said. “He looked worried.”

“He should be. When the others get here, send them into the break room, please.” I shrugged out of my leather jacket and tossed it in my office, along with my backpack, then headed in to talk to Dante.

He was staring at the top of his desk. As I entered the room, he jerked, looking startled.

“Did I scare you?” I asked.

He nodded. “I was so focused on the mess with Rowan that I didn’t hear you.”

“Come on in the breakroom We’re going to make sure everybody knows what’s going on because we can’t afford Rowan trying to worm her way in through somebody else. We all need to be on guard.” I turned.

It wasn’t long before everyone arrived, except for Lazenti, and we all gathered around the table. I motioned to Dante.

“Tell them what’s going on. Sophia, make sure that Lazenti gets a rundown.”

Dante spelled it all out. “So, yeah, I’m worried now that Kyann’s on her radar. I guess she thinks because we’re good friends that we’re also friends with benefits.”

“What do we do?” Orik asked. “She could muck up things for all of us. But if she blames Kyann for interfering between Dante and her imagined relationship with him, then she’s dangerous. Stalking laws still aren’t very tight.”

“No, they aren’t,” Dante said. “I checked with Destiny already. I called her last night after I got to the hotel. She wants me to make a report, but there’s nothing they can do about it until Rowan does something that endangers me or somebody else.”

“Sophia, send everybody her picture. I want us all to recognize her on sight.” I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe it’s time we utilize Lazenti’s PI skills in a more direct manner. I think I’ll have him stake out her house at night. In the day, Orik, I’m putting you on the case.”

“Will do. I’ll need her address,” he said.

“I’ll get it for you,” Sophia said.

---