Page 84 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
She took it, opening it to peer inside. “What is it?”
“You asked for a way to keep in contact with her.” He walked over to me and lifted another pouch. I held my hand out, expecting him to give it to me, but he didn’t. He opened the bag and pulled out a necklace he then placed around my neck. I stilled. “It wasn’t easy to get these, but you threatened to kill me, so I made it happen.”
“How does it work?” Jackie held up the matching necklace.
“Hold the pendant in your palm and close your eyes.” His eyes dropped to my face as he spoke. “You do the same.”
I watched as Jackie did what he said. As soon as her eyes closed, her face relaxed, as if she’d immediately fallen into a deep sleep. After another glance at him, I did the same. When I closed my eyes, the sound of my own heartbeat transported me to a space made of fuzz. My skin tingled and my eyes itched, and then, it cleared away.
Jackie appeared right in front of me. It was just her head and shoulders floating there like a weird balloon, slightly distorted.
“Oh, shit!” She swiveled her head, and when she spoke, it sounded like static. It reminded me of old radio recordings, where the audio had strange pops and fizzles. “This is pretty cool.”
“It is.” I smiled, and relief washed over me. I was going away, but I would still be connected to her.
“Do you think they can hear us?” Jackie asked. “How secure is this thing?”
“I don’t know.” I chuckled; she always surprised me. There I was, my head full of sentimental thoughts, and she was analyzing the connection. It was what I should have been doing, what Iwouldhave been doing before he entered my life. Raymond. That man had changed me. In just a short while, I was becomingsomeone else.
Jackie’s face suddenly vanished. I felt something warm on my shoulder and looked down, but there was nothing there. I relaxed my hand, releasing the cool stone, and the fuzzy space pulled back, leaving me looking at Raymond’s hand on my shoulder.
“So you didn’t hear me at all?” Jackie spoke to Miguel.
“No,” Miguel said. “Just looked like you dozed off. Might want to be sitting down the next time you use that thing.”
“Perfect.” She examined the stone again. “I don’t need you eavesdropping.”
“As if I would do something like that.” He frowned. “Wait, do you have something you don’t want me to know?”
While they bickered, I looked at Raymond. Our eyes met, and it was like Miguel’s question belonged to Raymond. Was there something I didn’t want him to know?
“Hey, shadow man,” Jackie snapped, her fingers drawing his attention away from me. “Explain how these work. I need more information. Is it a secure connection? How long do the calls last? Can anyone use them or just us?”
“Um, yeah.” Raymond dropped his hand from my shoulder. “The connection will last up to ten minutes, but it might be shorter once she gets to the Bane. I haven’t been able to test that out. It will work, though. The connection is secure. No one can hear what you say to each other while you’re in there, and it’s coded to both of you, but anyone can use it if they have something of yours, like hair.”
“Hair?” Jackie touched the short cut on top of her head. “Seriously?”
“It could be anything you own, but a part of your physical being works best,” Raymond said.
“Right.” Jackie glanced at me with frantic eyes as Raymond continued talking.
“Hold it for more than fifteen seconds, and the other will pulse, letting them know you want to talk.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Miguel spoke as Jackie wrapped her stone in her hand. Fifteen seconds later, I felt the pulse against my chest.
“It works.” I looked down at it.
“You also must promise not to share this with anyone.” Raymond looked at Miguel when he spoke. “No picking it apart or trying to study it. The device will disintegrate if you do.”
“That’s some advanced fail-safe.” Miguel frowned. “Would have been cool if I could see the inner workings of it.”
“This world is not ready for the magic of my home.” Raymond warned. “Trust me.”
“Got it,” Jackie blurted out. “I’ll keep this to myself.”
“Are you ready?” Raymond asked me.
“Y-yes,” I said after some hesitation.
