Page 1 of Shadow Mark

CHAPTER ONE

LENORE

Two Years Ago

“Just look.” Brad waved the phone in her face.

Lenore stepped back, holding out her hands to fend off the phone. Being cornered by her ex-husband was not how she wanted to spend one of her precious few breaks. Fifteen minutes was barely enough time to gobble down something resembling nutrition and chug a coffee, but there was Brad, blathering on about wanting to bury the hatchet.

She desperately wanted to tell him where to bury his hatchet, but they were drawing an audience. She couldn’t afford word to get back to the Chief of Medicine that she caused a scene outside the hospital cafeteria, not if she wanted to finish her residency and become an attending. Working at the same hospital as her ex was a bad idea, but the divorce had been two years ago, and they were adults.

Mostly.

“Fine, but you’re buying me a sandwich. And not turkey.” Lenore grabbed the phone. The happy faces of a pair of golden Labradors filled the screen. “What am I looking at?”

“Lenny and Nevermore. Our puppies. We named Lenny after you.” Brad beamed with satisfaction.

Lenore glitched. That was the only way to describe it because this trifling man did not just tell her that he named his puppies Lenore and Nevermore.

“I’m sorry—Nevermore? For a golden lab?” she asked, because this was a professional setting, even if Brad was testing her.

“Cute, right?” He crowded next to her, reaching over to flick through the endless puppy photos. A notification popped up about a system update. He swiped the message away.

He was fucking with her. Had to be. She could think of a few names better than what he’d picked. Peanut Butter and Jelly. Frick and Frack. Gumbo and Jambalaya. Zeppole and Beignet.

She was hungry, and this fool was wasting her break, just like he wasted her twenties.

“What happened to being too busy for the responsibility of a pet?” She had lobbied for years for them to adopt a cat, but he wouldn’t budge on his no-pet stance. They were too busy between school and his residency. It wouldn’t be fair on the animal, especially two labor-intensive puppies.

“Marie is a big dog lover, and this pair won me over.”

Marie. The second wife who apparently had a regular schedule, and now puppies.

It was too much. The universe asked too much of Lenore.

“I’m sorry. Do you think I’m an idiot?” she asked, clutching his phone. “I suppose you must, but then again, I don’t think you care about anyone other than yourself enough to notice when you’re being insensitive. Lenore and Nevermore? Who names their dog after their ex? That’s weird and mean, Brad, even for you.”

His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to add what would be, no doubt, an incredibly biting retort, but Lenore never got to hear it. That was the moment the phone buzzed and the lights in the corridor flickered off.

A portal opened in front of her, rainbow colors swirling around a void. The wind picked up, sweeping loose paper toward the portal like a black hole. Flyers on the bulletin board flapped. Empty plastic bags got caught in the whirlpool. Her hair whipped around her face. The lanyard holding her staff badge lifted from her chest, drawn to the portal.

This was totally not covered in the hospital handbook. She felt like her brain wasn’t processing events correctly because nothing about this scenario was plausible. Was she having a stroke? Sleep-deprived delusions?

Lenore released the phone. It flew into the void.

There was no light, only the swirling rainbow of the void, splashing light haphazardly like a bad trip to the chocolate factory.

The wind grew stronger, increasing from a what-in-tarnation breeze to a what-the-fuck gale. She stumbled forward, pulled against her will.

Brad grabbed her hand, halting her progress. Lenore reached for him with her free hand, but the corridor currently felt like standing in a hurricane. Her hand flailed wildly, fighting the wind. Finally, just as she snagged the white coat sleeve, the wind picked her up off her feet.

“Hang on!” Brad’s eyes went wide in panic even as his grip held tight. He had both hands on her now. Green, yellow, and blue light flickered over his face. Lenore was completely off her feet at this point, nearly horizontal. The void was a vortex at this point, pulling everything into it that it could, including Brad.

His feet skidded across the floor, pulled forward by the void.

Green, yellow, and blue flashed again.

Brad appeared sad, like he had reached a difficult decision.

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