Page 109 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
I reached him and fell to my knees at his side. With a grunt, Metice held the beast who hit Raymond against the wall, its claws scrabbling uselessly against the stone. He’d grown again and looked even bigger than before.
“What do I do?” I frantically touched Raymond’s bloody face. His breathing was shallow, and his pulse felt weak beneath my fingers when I felt for it. “There has to be a way. There has to.”
I felt a soft tingle around my neck and, through my teary eyes, I looked down to see the scarf I’d tied around my neck glowing. The trim around the edge shined, and as I blinked away the tears, I looked closer to see the threads moving.
That’s why she’d given it to me!
Instinct kicked in. It twirled in my stomach and screamed little alerts in my mind.Touch it! Think of her! Go to her! Take him with you!
Never one to ignore that inner voice, I looked around at the chaos—bodies dropping left and right, Olian and Cufio still trapped, her orange guy trying his best to free them. It felt wrong to leave, but everything in me said it was the only way.
I took the scarf from my neck and pulled Raymond’s limp hand into my right one. With my left, I wrapped the scarf around our laced fingers and thought of the cave with the pool of water and the woman with the pink eyes.
“Please, take us to Likosa,” I whispered.
The surrounding room turned to fuzz, static like the connection to Jackie. I held on to Raymond, and though I wanted to close my eyes, I couldn’t. I watched as the battle faded to nothing, and then, with a loud popping sound, we were in the cave.
Likosa stood in front of us, looking down at Raymond’s body. “Well, I expected you to come back here, but not in such a dire state.” She pointed at Raymond. “He doesn’t look good at all.”
“Can you help him?” I asked frantically. “Please tell me you can do something!”
“No, I can’t,” she spoke, and something moved across her shoulder. I thought it was a shadow at first, but it wasn’t. It was familiar, a little snake-like body with pink flowering.
“Kaa?” I stood. “Why do you have her?”
“She stowed away in your bag. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.” She patted Kaa’s head with her fingertip. “Found her way to me.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t really care what you believe.” She sighed.
“I—” I dropped my eyes to Raymond. “What am I supposed to do? Why am I here if you can’t help him?”
“I saidIcan’t help him, butyoucan.” She sucked her teeth. “Why haven’t you?”
“Well, if I knew how, don’t you think I wouldhave by now?”
“Maybe you don’t like him as much as I thought,” she said. “You did bristle when I suggested marriage.”
“Look, he is hurt, and the others are in danger.” I pointed at Raymond’s body. “Cufio has been poisoned. There isn’t time for this.”
“I’m so tired of you all coming here and rushing me to help.” She faked an exaggerated yawn. “It’s like none of you have any manners.”
“I’ll apologize after everyone survives.” I rolled my neck. “They all said you know what’s coming, which means you knew we would be here needing your help. Please, you gave me the scarf. It brought me to you like you wanted. Tell me how to fix this.”
“Well…” She kneeled, dropping her hand to the ground, and Kaa slithered down her arm. I watched as my pet stretched before planting herself into the soil. There wasn’t time to question it. “Since you said please, I’ll happily help. “
“Thank you.” I glanced at Kaa, but again, I didn’t question what she did. “What do I have to do?”
“The answer should be obvious, but I have to ask: why aren't you using your abilities?” She moved toward me and reached her hand out to touch my chin. “Hmm, interesting.”
“What are you talking about?” I shied away from her touch.
“In the battle, you fought, yes, but you fought like a human. Why is that?” She scanned my face, took a step back, and looked my body over.
“It’s safer that way,” I said. “Besides, I’m not on Earth. My powers won’t work here.”
“Safe? You're fighting demons, honey. Someone's gonna have to die. They're not gonna hold back.” She walked around me, continuing to look me over. “But that’s not it, is it? Your power should work no matter where you are. You should be able to bond with whatever is natural there. No. You’re blocked.”
