Page 48 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“Maybe give it one more try before you rip up my yard?” I offered when Raymond reappeared carrying a garden hoe.
“I—” Hepaused. “Okay, fine.”
I was already ready to laugh as he marched over to the weeds because I knew exactly what was about to happen. And it did! With one powerful pull, the big, strong man went flying backwards onto his nice, firm ass. But that time, he held the weeds up, a hard-fought trophy.
“I told you I’d get it done.” He flexed as if he’d won an Olympic gold.
“I'm glad you figured it out without tearing up my yard.” I laughed and pointed at his pants, where there was a big hole in the inner thigh. “Too bad we can’t say the same about your pants.”
“A casualty of war.” He pointed to the sky, where the sun had already dropped closer to the horizon. “And I did it before the sun set.”
I clapped slowly. “Very proud of you. Now you can leave.”
“You mean to tell me I did all that work and you still won’t be real with me?” He stood.
“Is that why you did this?” I rolled my eyes at him. “To try to get something out of me? You should have told me that, and I could have stopped you from wasting the effort.”
“This is about last night, isn’t it?” He pressed.
No, I wasn’t ready for it.
“What?” I took a step back from him. Did he know what I saw? Was he about to snatch me up and drag me into the shadows to protect his secret? Was I being a little dramatic? Yes to the last question.
“You’re having regrets.” He took a deep breath. “That’s what it is, isn’t it? You took it there, and now you’re wishing you hadn’t.”
“I’m…” That was not at all what I expected from him. Was Raymond feeling insecure?
“Don’t say you aren’t. You’re acting like a totally different person now. It’s the same way you did after what happened in the gym. Look, I know I said thereis no going back, but I’m not going to force you to be with me. I just don’t want to play games. If you don’t want this, don’t chicken out and ghost me. Open your mouth and say so.”
“Are you looking for an actual relationship here?” I didn’t know what else to say. Yeah, I knew he wanted to fool around, but I didn’t think the man was trying to build something serious, though that’s what it sounded like. “I thought this was just something fun until you leave. You are still leaving, right? That’s still the plan?”
“Yes, that is the plan, but—”
“But what?” I scoffed. “Look, I really don’t want to sound like a bitch right now, but what exactly do you expect to happen here? Did you think I would be falling all over you after a hookup with no promise of anything more? What happened to all that talk about you not being like the guys I dealt with before? Because this is exactly how they sound.”
“It’s not like that. I just want to make sure we aren’t about to go back to you awkwardly avoiding me.”
“I didn’t answer you for half a day, and you found my information and popped up on my step. That’s weird as fuck, not something a man who is so secure would do. I’m starting to think that was all an act.”
“Wow.” He took a step back, bobbing his head like he was sorting through what I said.
“Wow, what? Am I wrong?” I narrowed my gaze. “Or is there something else you aren’t telling me that would make this make sense?”
His jaw clenched, and just as his lips parted, the energy around the yard shifted. The sun dipped further into the horizon, and I felt it. The surrounding plants cowered. It wasn’t their usual recoil at the end of the day. This was something more. Theyfelt fear. Why?
“Shit.” Raymond moved, pushing me behind him as he faced the fence where the trees stood, spreading their canopy and giving the yard a blanket of privacy from nosy neighbors.
“What are you doing?”
“Stay back,” he ordered.
I could have tried to debate him, but it didn't seem like the right time to do so, especially as I peered around him to the area beneath the trees. The shadowed space grew darker, the air growing heavy and still, like an unseen presence was filling the void. Suddenly, it felt suffocatingly hard to breathe, despite the fact that we were standing outside. Panic tightened my chest, shallow breaths catching in my throat, each one a struggle. Raymond tensed, his muscles bunching in silent anticipation.
A static itch started in my ear, and the sound of energy sizzling filled the air. The sensation of running my fingers across the surface of an old television that had been left on idly started in my palms. Though that fuzzy sensation reminded me of a more innocent time, I knew it wasn’t a good sign. Danger was coming.
Two heartbeats later, that shadowed space beneath the trees parted. It was hard to tell that it opened, but through squinted eyes, I could see layers of darkness folding back like a flower opening to the sun. At first, I couldn’t see much, but then, there was movement. Outlined in gray smoke, bodies formed like sharks breaking the ocean waves.
Their forms looked mutated, large, off center. There were sharp edges and humps in places there shouldn’t be. I expected them to look like Raymond, like a human, but they were nothing like him. There were no golden ratios used in the creation of these monsters.
