Page 112 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“How am I supposed to do that?” I looked around but found nothing but more darkness. “I can’t be here without you.”
Raymond turned my hand over in his and rubbed my palm with his thumb. When he did, another path opened, branching off from the one we stood on.
“Looks like you can walk the shadows now.” He pointed. “Keep straight until you reach the light, and I’ll see you on the other side.”
I almost panicked until I noticed the green webbing in my path. Seeing that and feeling the familiar pulses of the power that had existed in me all my life, I felt comfortable. When I stepped on it, it felt like walking into my garden. “Okay, yeah. I can do this.”
“I know you can,” he said confidently.
“Be careful.” I kissed his cheek then turned and ran down my path. I couldn’t watch him walk away first.
I reached the light, the doorway to exit the shadows quickly. When I stepped through, I was back in the building with the shadow walkers, surrounded by chaos. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Cufio still in the cage with Olian, but then he vanished from sight, and I could only hope that was because Raymond made it to him.
I turned my attention to the front of the building, where Metice was the last time I saw him. He stood back-to-back with Noville, both surrounded by demons and losing ground. The creatures encircled them, and while they fought, I could tell Metice was injured and Noville just wasn’t as strong as the others.
“No more fighting like a human.” I rolled up my sleeves to see the new tattoo moving. It shifted around and more pink petals formed, moving together into blossoming flowers, a visual cue that my new power had activated.
The vines moved from my arms, breaking through the stone surface beneath my feet and reaching into the ground. Soon, I could feel every plant and tree rooted for miles around us. They felt different from anything on Earth, and they made noises, sounds like coos and clicks, as they communicated with me. It was strange, but I quickly understood they would do what I needed.
The ground rumbled—this time, not because of the poisoned spikes, but for the answer of this strange nature as it responded to me. I ran to Metice, and, as I did, roots shot up from the ground and arrested the creatures that attacked them. One by one, they were wrapped up and pulled to the ground. Noville noticed what I was doing and instantly worked to secure the trapped demons.
He picked up the broken stone and threw it at them. The stone transformed mid-toss into traps that snapped down around them and blended into the roots.
It worked until one demon caught on and attacked Noville when he wasn’t looking. A massive hammer landed against Noville’s temple, and he fell out next to Metice just as I reached them.
“Shit!” I dropped to Noville’s side.
“He’ll be alright. Just taking a nap,” Metice reassured me. “Going to need more backup, though.”
Then, Metice whistled, and after the sharp sound cut through the air, Piko’s massive, mutated form exploded into the area, knocking two demons over with his entrance.
“That’ll do.” I nodded at Piko, who wagged his tail like he was having the time of his life.
“Yeah, it will.” Metice patted the dog’s back. “Now, go to Raymond.”
“He told me to help you,” I rejected what he said. “I can’t leave you alone.”
“And he can’t finish this thing without you,” he insisted.
I looked over to where the cage sat, now empty. Olian had escaped, and Cufio was still nowhere to be seen.
“Get to the doorway.” Metice said just as another demon targeted him, this one landing a blow before Metice responded by breaking his arm in half. “Go!”
“You need help!” I responded while shooting another branch to strangle the demon out on theground. “I—”
BOOM!
An explosion sounded, and two demons splattered across the floor.
“Holy shit!” I screamed out.
“Oh damn, I forgot to adjust the strength of that.” A woman with long, two-strand twists appeared behind Metice. She flexed her fingers and balled her hands into fists. “I love this shit!”
“Who are you?” I turned, ready to call the roots into action, but I paused when I realized the woman looked human.
“Jericha,” Metice said, “this is Rayna.”
“Oh,yourRayna?” I eased.
