Page 50 of Shadow Dreaming

Nobody said anything for a moment. Finally, I said, “You might want to talk to Hecate.”

“Oh, I will.” Penn sat down again, aimlessly biting on an eggroll. “You said Hecate helped you get me back? At least she trusts me.”

I nodded. We told her about Hecate’s visit.

Penn’s eyes shone. “She came here because of me?”

“She did,” I said. Penn needed some validation and what better proof than to know her goddess valued her service so much.

“That helps,” she said. “I still wonder why Brim Fire targeted me.” She yawned, then pushed her plate back. “I’m so tired and sore. I need to lie down.”

“We have a cot in the back,” I said. “What about if I hire a masseuse?—”

“There’s no need to hire one,” Sophia said. “I can work those knots out, if anybody can.”

Penn gave her a tired smile. “Thanks. I’ll happily take you up on it.”

“Come then, let’s get you some rest and then, when you wake up, I’ll try to work out some of those kinks.” She led Penn out of the room.

We kept a daybed in the storage room, cordoned off by screens, for times when one of us might need to pull a night shift. As the pair left the room, I tried to figure out what it was I was missing. Because something had been left unsaid.

When Penn was out of earshot, I said, “There’s part of the equation missing. If they didn’t ask her about the portal, what were they after? Why were they keeping her there?”

“I don’t know. Did you notice that she was pretty vague?”

“Maybe she really doesn’t remember everything,” Carson said.

Dante shook his head. “I don’t trust this. They weren’t keeping her there for decoration, and we received no ransom demands. Terrance says he didn’t know, either.”

“Speaking of Terrance, what do we do with him?” I asked. “We can’t keep him locked away.”

“I don’t know.” Dante said. “Don’t you have an appointment this afternoon?”

I glanced at my phone. It was one-thirty. “I have to be at Seton’s in half an hour. Hold down the fort till I get back,” I said, gathering my things. “Carson, take the rest of the day. Go hang with your sister. We’ll call you if anything else comes up.”

“Thanks boss,” he said, and headed for the door with me.

As I drove to Seton’s office, I wasn’t sure exactly what to say. I let my demon out again and she went postal on a vampire? But then again, said vampire had been about to kill two young boys. Regardless, though, I knew I needed better control than I was managing, and it was time to dive into deeper issues.

Seton Anthony looked younger than Carson, though not as hip. He looked like the geeky nerd cousin or brother, but I had a feeling he was far older. He was one of the most eminent demon-specialists in the world, focusing on both the study of Demonkin, and healing those with demon blood. Our anatomy was different in several substantial ways.

He motioned toward the chair. “So, what’s going on?” He paused, then said, “You let your demon out.”

“Today, yes.” I told him about what had happened.

“Do you think you could have restrained her? Could you have kept her from emerging?”

I thought about it. I wanted to say no, but I wasn’t sure how true that is. “I’m not sure. I want to automatically jump to nope, but the truth is, I have no idea. Maybe. I think the question’s more: did I want to keep her from emerging?”

“How so? Tell me about it,” Seton said.

I thought for a moment before answering. “Those kids—the boys. They were so afraid I think one peed his pants. They probably thought they were going to saunter down, play it cool, maybe prove what bad asses they were. And then these four vampires come along, and boom, they’re facing the end of their short lives.”

“Rogue vamps?”

“Most likely. The majority of vampires don’t log kills now, not if they belong to the Vampire Federation, but these four…I don’t think they would have stopped at drinking from the boys. I think they were out for fun. They would have tortured the boys, then killed them. Or turned them. I saw red.”

“Do you feel you could have solved the problem without turning into your demon?” Seton asked.

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