Page 43 of Shadow Dreaming

“Of course I was. I’d be happy to help. I just…”

She laughed as he stumbled over his words. “Even the gods have much to learn, and in this modern era, we must learn new ways, if we’re to remain relevant. More of the gods have been talking about this…and most of us agree.” Then, she walked over to the door and said, “Close your eyes or you’ll have a splitting headache for days.”

We obeyed, though part of me wanted to find out what she meant, but then—even with my eyes closed—came a flash so bright it punched me in the face. When I opened my eyes again, she was gone.

I turned to the others. “We know where Penn is. Let’s gear up and go get her before they decided to move her on out.”

“Onward,” Orik said.

“I’m coming,” Carson said.

“What about your sister?” I asked.

“I’ll go down and tell her this is an emergency. I’ll give her the keys to my car so she can go exploring on her own for awhile. She’ll be fine,” he said, heading toward the foyer.

Dante and Orik were debating what we should take, as I made sure the rope Hecate had given me was tucked inside my jacket. Every time I touched it, it felt like the energy of the goddess. I was holding a priceless gift.

Carson returned, and as we went about arming ourselves, we spoke softly, all of us deep in our own thoughts about the meeting with Hecate.

CHAPTER TWELVE

We decided to take two cars. Orik would drive the van and take Dante with him. I would drive my Jeep and Carson would ride with me. We left Duran with Sophia, because we were heading into a dangerous situation and he wasn’t trained for fighting.

On the way, Carson said, “Did you really believe in the gods before meeting Hecate?”

“I’ve thought a lot about it, and you know, I think did,” I said. “But it was more theoretical. I know Penn’s a priestess, and I know that Sophia knows Zeus—and pissed him off—but until you stand face-to-face with one…it seems more of an archetype-thing. You know what I mean?”

He thought for a moment. “I realized that until this morning, I thought the gods might be part of…well…like a split personality. That sounds stupid, but my brain works with numbers and figures, not energy. I believe in magic, but I’ve seen it done. Now, my whole world view has taken a huge shift and I’m going to have to process everything differently now.”

I paused. “You know that Penn truly cares about you, right? She didn’t turn you down because she doesn’t like you. In fact, she turned you down so she wouldn’t break your heart. The Fae usually aren’t comfortable settling down with one partner.” I wasn’t sure if Penn had ever explained why she had turned down Carson’s advance.

He let out a long sigh. “I know. She did tell me. That doesn’t mean I still don’t have a crush on her, but I understand. And I appreciate that she took the time to explain, instead of blowing me off.”

“You do know she’s old enough to be your grandma? She’s?—”

“I know that, but age doesn’t mean much when we’re talking about the Supe Community. She looks in her thirties. You look in your twenties. So, who cares at that point? If I were dating a vampire, she might be several hundred years old,” Carson added.

On one hand, he was right. On the other, experience counted for a lot in a relationship. But chemistry was chemistry, and Carson responded to Penn. I felt bad for him, but Carson would find someone else eventually. He was young and had time.

We drove along Aurora Avenue, turning right on North 50th Street, then making a left onto East Green Lake Way. From there it was a straight shot to Second Avenue, where a left turn would bring us to the restaurant.

“Why do you think they took her?” Carson asked.

“I don’t know. At first I thought it was because she’s one…was one…of the portal keepers. But given what Terrance told us, I’m not so sure now. They had to have some reason.” Even as I said it, I was thinking that Brim Fire was chaotic enough to pull off stunts that might be meaningless to us. Who knew what was going on in those wacked-out minds of theirs?

“Well, whatever they’re up to, I hope it backfires on them. After we have Penn back, that is,” Carson said, scowling. “You just can’t go breaking into people’s homes and kidnapping them.”

“Speaking of…I think I need to find a new security system,” I said. “Do you have any recommendations?”

He snorted. “I can barely afford a run-down apartment. My security system consists of a bunch of iron bars on the windows with garlic attached to them, in case any vampire decides to drop by. Except Lazenti, of course. He came over last night to meet my sister. She’s offered to do a painting of him. In fact, Maya’s moving up here. She’s getting tired of California.”

“I like her,” I said. “She’s sweet and incredibly talented.” When I first met Carson, he’d been so introverted it was hard for him to make any social chit-chat. He’d blossomed out, and though I suspected he was on the spectrum, he seemed in his element when he was at work. I seldom asked him to go out on investigations with us—he wasn’t a people-person—but he was a whiz where we needed him to be.

“She’s lonely down there. Grandma died a year ago, and Grandpa sits in that big old house all by himself. Maya’s going to move in with him and take care of him in exchange for rent. I don’t think I could move home again, but I told Maya that I’ll help out as much as I can.”

“Maya and Grandpa better show at our annual Thanksgiving,” I said. We celebrated together every year at Orik and Hilda’s. We all chipped in and helped, and I charged the food to the business. Carson had always shown up a little late after spending the early afternoon with his grandparents.

“I’m sure they’d love it,” he said, giving me a broad smile. “How much further?”

---