Page 42 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“I’ll speak with you tomorrow.” He reached for the handle. “I meant what I said about handing off assets.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
I watched him walk away, admiring his ass in the pants he wore until he rounded the corner and I couldn’t see him anymore. With a heavy sigh, I decided to head home, but just as I reached for the gearshift, I saw the phone between the door and the passenger seat.
“Damnit.” I picked up the phone and realized Raymond had dropped it. I pulled the key from the ignition and hopped from the car. If I was quick, I might have been able to catch him.
I ran in the direction he went. As I turned the corner, prepared to call out his name, I skidded to a halt. Raymond stood just off in the distance with two of the guards who were with X. I stepped back, hoping they didn’t see me, and watched.
What the hell is he doing with them?
I considered stepping forward and calling his name. Then, I wondered if this was some covert act of betrayal. Was Raymond someone I could trust? That thought was followed by a mental face palm for having fucked him without a condom. And as all these thoughts connected and cycled through my mind, I watched him closer than the others.
Raymond’s head and shoulders were straight, lifted, assertive. Whoever these men were, they didn’t intimidate him. Still, I could sense an imbalance in power. They weren’t stronger than he was, but the person they worked for, X, was.
Then, it happened. The darkness moved—it fuckingmoved—like a curtain being opened. Behind the men, a passage appeared that wasn’t there before. Then, the three of them stepped into the shadows and disappeared!
“What the fuck?” I backed away slowly, keeping my eyes locked on the spot where they vanished.
As soon as I made it back to my car, I peeled out of the parking garage and dialed the number of the one person I thought could explain what just happened. I tapped the steering wheel as the phone rang and felt relief wash over me when she answered.
“Hey, beautiful!” her energetic voice came through the speakers. “Long time, no hear! What’s up?”
“Jackie, we need to talk!”
11
Jackie to the rescue
The next morning, I ignored two calls and several text messages from Raymond. It was halfway through the day when he gave up on his attempts. I didn’t know what he wanted to discuss, but I wasn’t about to talk to him, not until I figured out what the hell I had witnessed the night before. A man I’d let bend me over on the rooftop had stepped into the shadows and vanished, but what really got under my skin was how he didn’t seem afraid.
It wasn’t like those men dragged him kicking and screaming off to some unknown doom. He was comfortable with what happened and had walked into the abyss with no need for coercion. That alone had me ready to block his number. He not only knew what was happening, but he was part of it. Despite the desire to give him a swift boot out of my life, I couldn’t. It wouldn’t make a difference, because even if I ignored him all weekend long, he would show up to the office Monday morning, ready to talk.
I sat in the bay window, looking out at the entrance to the driveway. Jackie would be there soon, and hopefully, she could tell me what the hell was going on. I sipped the tea meant to calm my nerves, but even that wasn’t working. Thearoma filled my nose with every sip, and for a moment, I felt at ease, but in the next, my mind would go back to him—the feeling of his touch, the sound of his voice, the memories of that rooftop.
“Damn it!” I had to fight the urge to throw a full-on tantrum. How ridiculous would I look, kicking my feet and flailing my arms around in panic? But that’s what I felt like on the inside. “Why did I let him do that to me? I knew I should have left his ass alone. A few more months, and I would have been free, none of this freaky, shadowy shit to deal with.”
My gut told me by witnessing what happened, I’d opened Pandora’s box, and there was no closing that bitch back up!
I’d spent the night, after talking to Jackie, scouring the internet looking for information, but of course, I only found a list of fictional books about beings who used shadows to bang fae girls. It had been a while since I'd read anything for pleasure, but some of those titles had me ready to dip my toe into the fantasy world again.
A wave of relief washed over me as the car pulled into the driveway. As I dashed for the door, the surrounding plants perked up. They always did when Jackie came around. Her energy was pure—chaotic but genuine. They loved it.
“I’m here!” she called; she stepped out of the car as I opened the door. She wore a cute pink jogger fit and white sneakers, perfect for comfy travel. “Now we can figure out what the hell is going on here.”
“Please! Because I don’t know. I tried looking it up and came up with nothing.” I waited as she marched up the steps then gave her a big hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“I’ve missed you too!” She kissed my cheek. “Let me guess: you used a standard search engine to look up what happened?”
“Of course I did,” I chuckled. “I knew it would be a slim chance of coming up with something real, but I had to try.”
“Girl, you know people like me work to keep all things magical out of sight and off the human internet. You have access to our database, so use it.”
“I also know if I were to log into that thing, there would be people searching formenext.” I tapped my temple with my fingertip. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Okay, so that’s true. There are some people out there looking for your kind.” She winked at me. “We may have spotted a few others, by the way. You know, should you ever want to organize a family reunion.”
“I’ll pass on that.” Did I want to know more about my bloodline? Yes. Did I want to sit in a room full of strangers talking about our abilities over a plate of spaghetti and potato salad? Absolutely not!
