Devon Monk - Magic in the Shadows

“Give me the phone, Boy. I’ve got a kid dying in my car.”

Mama stormed out of the kitchen, five feet not much of street and attitude. She stopped, obviously surprised to see me.

“Allie, girl?”

“I need your phone,” I said.

And that, I knew, was very familiar. I’d told her the same thing just a few months ago when I was still Hounding for her and trying to get her to call 911 for her youngest, Boy, who had been hit by an Offload from my father. Well, not my father, but at the time I’d thought it was his spell.

Instead of arguing with me, she handed me the phone from where it hung on the wall next to the kitchen. That was new.

“Is it bad?” she asked as I dialed.

“I think so.”

She nodded and waited, watching me.

I dialed Detective Stotts. He would be the one they’d call in on the case anyway, because there was no way that was a run-of-the-mill magical crime.

After one ring, he answered. “Stotts.”

“This is Allie Beckstrom,” I said. “You need to get to Cathedral Park as soon as you can. There’s a woman hurt there. Tomi Nowlan. Magic is involved.”

I noted Mama tensed at that, and I was not about to give him any more details with her listening. “I’m on my way to the hospital with Davy Silvers. If you need me, you can find me there.”

I hung up before he had a chance to ask me anything.

“Police are on their way,” I said to Mama. “Detective Stotts. He’ll know what to do. Lock the doors and keep Boy, your youngest, off the street for a while, okay?”

She bit her bottom lip and nodded. Her hands were laced together in front of her, her body language saying she was trying hard to hold something back. I didn’t know what she wanted to say to me, or do to me, and sure as hell didn’t have time to find out.

I straight-armed the door open. Just before it closed behind me, I heard her say, “Good luck.”

And I hoped she meant it in an innocent sort of way, and not in a she-knew-more-about-what-was-going-on-than-I-did kind of way.

The whole thing in Mama’s had taken a minute, tops.

I jumped back in the car and tore off toward the hospital as fast as I could, hoping I hadn’t taken one minute too long to save Davy.

Iwas amazed I didn’t get pulled over by the police on my way to the hospital. It all went by so fast, and yet every pause, every second I had to brake or work my way around someone in traffic, felt like a lifetime. I raced up to emergency, and ran inside to get help.

Two people rushed out to the car with me, and between the three of us we got Davy moved onto a gurney that was wheeled into the ER.

My heart pounded so hard, I was breathing as if I’d run the entire way.

I followed Davy, but was stopped by a petite nurse.

“Are you a relative?”

“No. Friend.”

“Do you know family we should contact? Insurance information?”

I didn’t. I had no idea at all. I wasn’t even sure how old he was. “No. We’ve just started working together. He’s a Hound.”

She nodded and motioned for me to follow her to a desk. “We found his wallet. Do you know if he’s allergic to anything?”

“No.” I should have taken medical information from the Hounds at the meeting today. How stupid could I be?

“That’s all right,” she said. “We’ll see what we can pull up on him. If he’s been in a hospital in the last ten years, we’ll have something on record. Why don’t you have a seat? I have a few more questions.”

I sat across from her, but didn’t have any more answers.

Note to self: start a Hound medical information data bank.

She finished entering my lack of information into her computer, then gave me a sympathetic smile. “You can wait right out there. There’s coffee at the far wall if you’d like some.”

I mumbled my thanks and walked over to the coffee station, pouring myself a cup and then walking woodenly back to one of the banks of lima-bean green chairs in the waiting room. There were several people in the waiting room whom I hadn’t even noticed until now.

I paced for a little while, held the coffee between my hands until it was cold, then finally took a seat near the door. I wasn’t sure whether I was sitting there for a quick escape or whether I was keeping an eye out for monsters.

Either way, it took some time for the adrenaline to wear off, and when it did I realized I was really tired.

My thoughts were jagged and random.

Somewhere out there monsters roamed the street.

Zayvion said he Closed Cody.

Where was Nola?

I was late for class.

Tomi was using dark magic.

She might be dead.

Was Davy going to be okay?

Had taking the time to make that phone call killed him?

What did Jingo Jingo have to do with this?

And what the hell was that spell anyway?

Did Tomi have a disk?

I don’t know how much time passed before Detective Stotts came walking in, wearing a trench, a maroon scarf, and a frown. But he brought two cups of coffee with him.

“Allie.” He sat down next to me and offered me one of the cups.

This was the good coffee from the mom-and-pop shop close to the police station, not the overcooked canned coffee the emergency room provided.

I put down my cold Styrofoam cup and held the larger, warmer cup in my palms. Was it strange that I couldn’t feel the heat against my skin?

“How’s Davy?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head. “They haven’t told me.”

He took a drink, and so did I. The coffee was black, hot, and rich. It felt like heaven going down. And it somehow made the world feel real again.

“Did you go to the park?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Tomi?”

“We couldn’t find her.”

I lowered my head and pressed the coffee cup against my forehead.

“What happened?” he asked.

A sick feeling rolled in my stomach and I put the coffee down because the smell, the heat, was suddenly too much. “Was there anyone. . else?”

“No. The circle was still there.”

“Did you get rid of it?”

“Not yet.”

I stared at him, confused. Then my brain kicked in. Right. Procedure. He’d have someone Hound it, get photos, take samples, all that before they cleaned it up. It could take days.

I stood. I needed to talk to Zayvion. Or Shamus. Or maybe Maeve. Find out if any of them knew anything about Tomi. Find out if she was hurt, dead. Find out if I needed to get her to the hospital too. “I have to go.”

Stotts stood slowly. He put his hand on my elbow.

“Where?”

“Out. Away. Find out if anyone else, if people, if Hounds know anything.” Wow. I was not thinking straight. Really, all I wanted to do was sit down in a quite room for maybe a century. The idea of losing Davy, when I’d promised Pike I’d take care of him, and that Tomi was probably hurt, maybe dead, made me crazy.

So I did what I usually do when I’m afraid, or worried. I got angry.

“I have people to take care of, okay?” I said.

“I understand that. One of them is in there.” He pointed at the double doors that led to the emergency room.

“And the rest are out there.” I pointed at the door, and turned to storm off.

But the door had already slid aside. And through it walked the Hounds Jack and Bea and Sid.

“We heard about Davy,” Bea said, her normally smiling face worried.

“Davy wasn’t working for you, was he, Stotts?” Sid looked like the sort of guy you’d expect to program computers, not Hound. He was dressed in his usual tan slacks, button-down shirt, sensible loafers, and wire-rimmed glasses.

He was smart too. I hadn’t even thought about Stotts using Davy. Stotts was cursed. More Hounds died working for him than for anyone else in the city.