Page 12 of Shadow Dreaming

At that moment, my phone chimed. I glanced at it. Penn had texted me.

i’m sorry i didn’t answer but i was talking to portalwatch. i have some things to tell you tonight, so come home as soon as you can. talk later.

“Good, Penn’s talked to PortalWatch. I wonder if Carson’s found out anything.” I told Dante what Benny had said, and that Penn was talking to her superiors.

“Brim Fire’s slowly trying to gain more footing in our world. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have more control that we think, but I don’t know how to find out,” Dante said. “We need to pay more attention to them. I wonder that they’re not on the government’s watch list.”

“The government probably doesn’t want to think about it,” I said. “You know that the Coalition already has enough infighting to deal with, with the representatives from all the different groups. They picked the most conservative members they could get in order to prevent a free for all in charge of the country. And it’s not much better across the world. They don’t want to think about invasion from the outside when they’re paranoid about keeping a balance among all the factions that make up the government now.”

The government was comprised of members from all protected groups—shifters from most shifter groups, witches, even the Fae had members who belonged to the Coalition, though I had the feeling they were token members to appease the Fae Courts and prevent a war. Humans were technically outnumbered by the total populace of Supes, and they were doing their best to keep what control they could. If it meant a façade of working with us, they would. But some of the shifter groups, in particular, could be more conservative than the most uptight human.

“Wait till the vampires gain the right to join the Coalition,” Dante said. “That’s going to cause an uproar.”

“It’s coming—the Vampire Federation has grown strong with most of the vampires coming out of the woodwork to join it, and the United States Coalition can’t ignore their presence much longer. The vamps have already won a number of rights, and the right to be a legal voice in the government is next on the block.” I shook my head.

“There are already protests going on—on both sides,” Dante said. He shrugged. “So, what do we do for the rest of the afternoon?”

“Why don’t you read up on coxigans? That way, Carson can continue investigating the Brim Fire boards.” I wanted to know everything I could about them. Benny had lit a fire under me, and given Penn was guarding the portal they were eyeing, I wanted to make certain that nothing went down that we weren’t prepared for.

As we left the conference room, I decided to take off early. I wanted Penn to show me the portal, so I could scope out the situation for myself. I told Dante I’d be back in a bit, and—with a quick word to Carson that I wanted anything he dug up on Brim Fire’s current activities as soon as he found it—I headed to my car, trying to duck between the rain drops.

CHAPTER FOUR

I pulled into the driveway, relieved to see Penn’s car there. I didn’t want her to know how worried I was about her, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Brim Fire was coming to play, and play hard.

As I opened the door, Jangles raced up to me, crouched down with her front paws, let out a loud meow, then bounced off again. I laughed. She had the zoomies.

“Penn?” I called out.

“Here, in the kitchen,” she called back.

I dropped my backpack on the sofa, along with my jacket, and headed into the kitchen. She was moving cookies off the cookie sheet onto cooling racks, and the entire kitchen smelled like cinnamon and sugar. I reached for one of the cookies and she smacked my hand and pointed to a plate with a batch already on them.

“Eat those, they’re cool. These will fall apart if you try to eat one. At least for the next couple minutes until they’ve cooled down.” She was wearing an apron over her black-cherry dress, and looked every inch a sexy housewife from the fifties.

“You never fail to look great,” I said, laughing. “So, how did it go with PortalWatch?” I slid onto a bar stool and she poured me a glass of milk and set it in front of me. I normally didn’t drink milk without coffee in it, but it fit perfectly with the cookies.

“They’re worried, too. There are other portals around the world that lead to the UnderRealm, and there have been attempts to access them.” She paused. “Kyann…there are stirrings among the gods of the Underworld and the Crossroads that something is happening. Hecate’s been sending me visions to be prepared—that things might get rough for awhile.”

I froze, cookie in hand. “Prepared? How?”

“I don’t know. Just…to be alert, keep my eyes open. I’m so pissed at Solimentary because I went to talk to them, but they refuse to get involved. They’ll open the library to me, but if they know anything, they won’t talk about it.” She frowned. “When you told me what Benny said, I called the librarian that I personally know, and he wouldn’t say a word. He kept telling me that his pledge keeps him silent.”

I let out a grumble. “I don’t understand them at all,” I said.

“They’re pledge-bound to keep neutral, regardless of what’s happening. Their focus is to protect the knowledge they’ve accumulated over the eons. They’ve been around since the beginning of the written word…or pictogram or whatever.” She put the last batch of cookies in the oven and closed the door.

“What do you know about them? I know of them, I know a rudimentary amount about them, but I don’t understand what they fully do.” I had probably had the chance to learn more, but the group had never interested me until now.

“Solimentary is…they’re Lorekeepers. The librarians are absorbed into the group and they keep their occupation a secret. The reason I know Katten is because Hecate prompted the meeting—she threw me into his path, in a way. I probably shouldn’t even talk about him, but I trust you.” She settled on one of the bar stools with me, picking up a cookie.

“How do they exist, though? How do they make money to live?”

“I don’t know,” Penn said. “There’s so much hidden there, so many secrets they keep about both the world, and themselves.”

I shrugged, thinking that one day, I might want to dig into research about the group. Though, if they wouldn’t talk to outsiders much, they might not be all that useful.

“Say, I came home early to ask you if you’d show me the portal? I want to get a feel for it, given we might be facing a Brim Fire attack.” I bit into another cookie.

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