Page 59 of Shadow Dreaming

Penn nodded, looking too flustered to speak.

“Who was that man?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Hecate said. “But I can surmise that he’s ultimately the one responsible for destroying your files, and for kidnapping Penn. He’s aiming for your agency, Kyann, and every one of you. I’d do my best to figure out who he is, because enemies that ruthless don’t drop their obsessions.”

I nodded. “Do you think he’s part of Brim Fire?”

“As I said before, I think he’s using Brim Fire for his own ends. They’re too arrogant to realize they’re being played. And that makes them even more dangerous.” Hecate handed Penn a garnet pendant. It was a beautiful crescent moon, with woven strands of silver around it. “When you need to talk to me, hold this tight and call my name. I’ll hear you and get back to you. Don’t abuse the privilege.”

Penn nodded, stuttering out a thank-you.

To the rest of us, Hecate said, “Remember, I expect you to watch over Brim Fire’s activities. I have the feeling they’re about to get so active that nobody will be able to ignore them. But also…this shadow figure…keep alert, and if you think you see him, let me know. We must find out who we’re dealing with, and what he wants.”

She stood. “Penelope, your energy is clear once more. You are to steer clear of the Crystal Court. They’re not all they appear to be. You can’t afford for your allegiances to be split, and I come first.”

“Yes, Lady,” Penn said.

“Second, the young man who worked on the portal with you—he can be useful. It might be a good thing to take him on,” she said to me, adding, “He’s not pledged to any one god, but he serves the spirit of magic.”

“I see…” I didn’t, but I was so overwhelmed that I figured I could ask later.

Turning back to Penn, Hecate said, “Ward your entire house and lawn tomorrow. I’ll cast a protective spell for tonight, and I’ll visit you in your dreams to give you instructions on the best way to protect the house.”

And with that, she gave everyone a nod, and vanished, taking the crystal with her.

As we gathered in the breakroom, I was at a loss for words. The entire experience had left me shaken.

Seton joined us. He sat beside me. “What happened? You triggered one of your latent powers and we need to figure out what it is, so we can train you on it as soon as possible.”

I told him about the storm, and taking control of it. “It was going to kill Penn,” I said.

“I’ll research it and figure out what we’re looking at. And, Kyann, I can feel demonic energy around the shadow figure you saw. Be cautious.”

I hesitated, then said, “Seton, I can’t be sure, but it felt familiar to me. Like déjà vu from a fever dream. Whoever that is, I’ve met him before. I didn’t tell Hecate yet, because I could be wrong.”

He sighed. “We’ll get it all sorted out”

“By the way,” I said. “What did she mean, calling you Old One?”

He gave me a sliver of a smile. “Never mind that. At least for now. I’m going. I have a lot to research,” he said, standing. As he turned, he put a hand on my shoulder. “Just be cautious, and call me any time of the day or night. I mean it.”

As he left, I turned back to the others.

Sophia was making sandwiches, and Penn was eating a bag of chips. Dante and Orik were talking to Carson, who was staring hopelessly at his laptop.

“So, fallout,” I said. “How bad is the system?”

Carson shook his head. “We’re going to require at least a month to be up and running. I kept a back up on a separate server, but Penn got to that as well. And we’re going to have to buy all new equipment because the corruption was so bad.”

“Oh gods,” I said. “New equipment? Ouch.”

“Not only that, we need to install all new software. Then we’ll have to scan in hard copies of whatever we have from past cases. I’m glad you insist on hardcopies, or we wouldn’t have anything left. I back up our servers once a week, so I suppose I’d better change that to once a day, and I need to locate those where they can’t be sabotaged.”

“More bad news,” Dante said.

“There’s one other thing. My laptop? Penn—” he gave her an apologetic look. “Whoever cursed Penn gave her orders to also hijack my laptop. All my access points to the dark web are gone, and all info I backed up on my laptop about Brim Fire’s gone. Lazenti can help me rebuild it because he still has access, but it’s going to take time.”

“So, we’re back to square one,” I said. “We’re going to have to walk carefully through the next few months until we can find out what we’re dealing with. Everybody, make sure you have security codes at your homes, and go with a different company than—oh crap, what do we do about Terrance?”

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