Torn From the Shadows (37 page)

Both of them flashed me rueful smiles that appeared to be practiced. We shook hands, and I tried not to study them too closely. Judging by the dark circles under their eyes, neither had gotten much sleep for a while. The woman’s eyes were also puffy and red, as if she hadn’t stopped crying since the shadows took her child. I’d dealt with parents who looked just like them a few years back. I’d managed to save their little girl before she was taken, and could only hope I could do the same now.

This was different, though. I was going into the monsters’ lair, and I had to make sure this desperate couple understood the risks. “Are you sure you want to go through with this? Using one child to find the other isn’t going to be easy. To get in, this little guy needs to be taken.” I ruffled the kid’s hair and he grinned.

Tears slid down Amy’s face but she nodded. The man’s grip on her shoulders tightened as he said, “We know the dangers. Lavie explained everything.”

“I wanted to make sure they understood what they were getting into,” Lavie said with a nod. “There are no guarantees.”

“We’d never forgive ourselves if we didn’t try,” Amy said.

Brian nodded his agreement.

“Oh, good, we’re all set and ready to go,” Burr called, waddling up the path from a spot I was sure had been vacant a second ago. He looked more like a circus-ring announcer tonight than ever, because he was wearing a top hat. “What a lovely family we have here.” He bowed, slipping the hat off as he did. A dove flew out of it, soaring into the night sky.

The little boy’s face lit up as he watched the bird flee. Burr smiled at him, handing over the hat. Chubby hands wrapped around the broad brim as the boy peered inside, no doubt looking for another animal.

“You’re going to a dark and scary place,” Burr said in a gentle tone. “But if you get scared, just put the hat on and you’ll feel a lot better. It will keep you safe.”

The boy—Charlie—was now shoving his arm inside the hat.

“Lavie, dear, would you please take this lovely family to the crossroads,” Burr whispered. “I need a word with Sierra Fox.”

She nodded and led the family away.

“Do you have the Hand?” was the first thing the oddly constructed man asked when we stood apart from the others. His face was paler than usual, the makeup around his eyes smudged.

I pointed at the wrinkly thing now dangling from the loop on my belt.

“Good,” he said, frowning.

“What?”

He took my left hand in his pudgy one, which felt like rubber. His eyes narrowed as he stared at both my palm and the back of my hand. “Your Strophalos symbol has revealed itself. Interesting.”

“The what symbol?”
 

Burr tightened his grip, looking into my eyes. “I suppose you now know what this place is?”

“Are you talking about the power grid connecting all the ley lines in Sydney?”

“Not just Sydney, my dear, any—and every—ley line traversing this Great Southern Land crosses through here, and continues onto other lands.” Burr continued to glare at the back of my hand. “And you’re connected to it. In fact, you’ve saved me the trouble of doing this myself.”

“You were going to feed my blood to it?”

“Of course. It’s the only way to ensure you return to this spot after you cross over.”

“What about Lavie?”

“We’ll take care of her before you leave,” he said. “The boy, however, will not be connected. Otherwise the shadows will detect it.”

“Won’t they suspect something when they find him in the middle of a road?”

Burr shook his head. “No, crossroads are my specialties.” He rubbed a thumb over the back of my hand and I felt a zing go through me. “Ah, that should stabilize the seal.”

“I thought you said it was a symbol.”

Burr’s dark eyes sparkled. “Symbol, seal, sigil…it’s all the same.”

I tried to pull my hand away but he held tight.

“Sierra Fox, don’t be afraid of what you’re about to become. You’re the key to so much, and if you don’t embrace it you will not be able to defeat the shadow monsters and help your grandparents.” He blew out a breath. “Be safe, trust your instincts and save those children.”

I nodded, still trying to pull my hand away.

“And one more thing,” he said, finally releasing his grip. “If you have any questions about the seal, you will get the chance to ask your grandmother.”

“So you know about the ritual?” My heart was pounding and my left hand felt heavy, numb.

“I’m a Tailor. It’s my job to be aware of what happens between the patches,” he said with a shrug. “I know what she had to do. It’s my business to know. It’s also what the children of Hecate do best.”

What was he talking about? I opened my mouth to ask, but nothing came out.

“Let’s not keep these poor people waiting a moment longer.” He wobbled towards the crossroads and I hesitated. “Let’s go.”

I nodded, willing my legs to move. By the time I reached the family, Lavie was already squeezing her hand over the middle of the road. Drops of her blood spilled onto the asphalt.

“How do we do this?” I asked.

Burr stepped into the middle of the circle our small group had inadvertently created. He raised both hands above his head and his black suit wavered as his pudgy fingers swayed in front of him. He moved like a maestro conducting a crazy symphony, but it wasn’t music he was composing—he was causing a room to manifest. Blue walls emerged around us, boxing us into the crossroads. A single bed appeared against one of the walls, an array of discarded toys scattered the plush carpet and a small bookshelf shaped like a train was suddenly there, filled with books and more toys. A matching wardrobe and dresser followed, as well as an open window with curtains flowing in the cold wind.

“Oh my God,” Brian whispered.

The final details were a closed dark blue door and a white ceiling above our heads.

When the room was fully constructed and appeared solid, sweat ran down Burr’s pallid face like wax melting away his features. Everything seemed to have drooped, but his smile hadn’t faded.

“There,” he said, triumphant. “We have a child’s bedroom. I hope I made it good enough for a boy.”

“This is amazing,” Lavie said, making her way towards the window. “Check this out, Sierra.”

I strolled over and pulled the curtains aside. The deserted streets surrounded us. He’d literally created a bedroom out of nothing and in the middle of nowhere. The spookiest thing of all was that everything seemed solid, more than illusion.

“You wield some very powerful magic,” I said, turning to face him. Just like Oren’s protective magic around my property, I could feel this room weigh on my skin.

Burr shrugged as he wiped a huge hanky over his face. “It’s what I do.”

Yeah, he was a man of many talents.

“What happens now?” Amy asked, running a fingertip over the furniture.

“Now, you have to tuck your child into bed and leave the room,” the Tailor said.

For the first time since I’d met the couple, they looked like they might be having second thoughts. I could see everything ticking over inside their brains as the reality of what they’d agreed to do with a bunch of strangers—one who could make something out of nothing—hit them.

We held our collective breaths.

Brian sighed, wandered over to the bed and tucked his son under the train-patterned covers, before leaning over to kiss his forehead. Amy took even longer to say goodnight—goodbye—to her child.
 

I was determined to make this work and return this kid safe and sound.

Burr rounded up the parents, encouraging Brian and Amy to leave the room. They waved to their son and called out they loved him until the Tailor pushed them out the door. Burr turned to us and said, “Ladies, it’s now up to you.”

“How do you know they’ll come?” What if the shadows decided not to show?

“They always come.” Burr frowned. “Shadows can’t resist the power hidden inside children. Make sure you cloak yourselves until the portal has been completely opened. And remember, I can only keep it open after the child and the shadow have both gone through.”

“How will you know?”

“I’ll know.” He closed the door behind him and appeared at the window. “Oh, and don’t forget, you only have a few hours to get in and out.”

“This is kinda creepy,” Lavie whispered, stepping up beside me.

“Creepier than everything we’ve seen the last few days?”

“Oh, okay, just as creepy.” She smiled before entwining her fingers around mine. “Cover us, something’s coming.”

I chanted the spell I was becoming so dependent on nowadays, trying not to fumble like I’d done with the werewolves. I closed my eyes for a second, allowing the words to solidify inside my mind and automatically slip between my lips.

When Lavie’s fingers tightened around mine, my eyes snapped open. I could feel a change in the air, and my left hand hummed.

I wasn’t sure if the kid was asleep or pretending but he looked comfortable. He’d kicked off the covers and was cradling the top hat Burr had given him like it was a teddy bear. The wall the bed was pressed against shimmered like water rippling along the surface of a pond. A shadowed hand appeared, followed by a long arm and thin shoulders. The head was oval, featureless and hovered over the sleeping child.

The shadow wrapped both arms around the kid’s body and yanked him off the bed.

My free hand balled into a fist, fingers twitching. I put all of my anger into the spell, fortifying each word until I thought we might remain invisible forever.

The shadow monster cradled Charlie and opened his palm over the kid’s face. When the shadow removed the hand, the boy hung limp in its arms. The shadow’s eyes flashed crimson and, as it stepped into the wall, the hat fell on the bed.

“Now,” Burr called, levitating in front of the wall.

“Where the hell did he come from?” I whispered.

“Don’t ask,” Lavie said, pulling me forward. “Let’s go.”

I stopped chanting long enough to leap onto the springy bed until we stood in front of the split between the patches. I couldn’t see anything beyond but I could feel frigid air slipping through.

Burr now floated behind us, cross-legged like a yogi seeking the ultimate enlightenment.

Lavie stepped into the opening first. Our hands were still joined so she dragged me halfway into the wall.

“Don’t forget to use the Hand,” Burr said, looking at me. “And don’t get distracted by the will-o’ wisps.”

“The what—” I didn’t get a chance to finish my question because Lavie hauled me the rest of the way, and into an even more desolate landscape than the abandoned street we’d just left.

She dropped my hand. “What a strange place.”

Although I knew she was talking in her normal voice, she sounded different.

“Where do we go?” she asked.

I had no idea. We might have come in from a fabricated bedroom but we were now standing in an open area filled with ominous tree stumps and roots. They seemed to be sprouting from below but formed above the surface. Everything was a shade of gray—the sky looked gun-metal, and the trees like charcoal. Other than that, there was nothing else.

“Can you see any shadows?”
 

“No.” Lavie’s skin looked washed out.

I imagined mine did too, except for the pink neon line extending from my palm and into the wall. Well, on this side it wasn’t a wall—just an opening in midair.

“Let’s go that way,” I said, pointing ahead. With every step I took, the line seemed to extend like yarn, which meant we should be able to find our way back.

Lavie and I stepped as carefully as we could over the inverted roots, which was a lot harder to do than I expected. My boot heels kept snagging on them as much as Lavie’s baggy jeans. We’d walked for what felt like miles of the same landscape when I heard movement. I instinctively grabbed Lavie by the arm and pulled her down with me, hiding behind a trunk wide and tall enough to conceal us. I wasn’t sure if it worked in this patch, but I chanted the cloaking spell for extra cover.

A large shadow hovered above, covering us like a sheet being swept by the wind. It glided past as smoothly as a stingray floating in the dull sky, but passed without detecting us.

“What the hell was that?” Lavie whispered near my ear.

“Another shadow creature, I suppose.” Funny how I’d never considered there would be a variation of anything in here. In our patch, I’d only encountered the tall, lanky things that stole kids from their human parents.

We waited for a while before getting to our feet and continuing. I was starting to wonder if we would need to use the Hand of Glory when Lavie pulled me to a stop.

“Look.”

I had to squint to make out what she was pointing at. Everything inside this patch was so colorless it blended into the monochrome terrain. I concentrated hard, trying to fight a headache, and thanked my good eyesight when the structure up ahead took shape. It wasn’t an average building with walls, doors and windows—looked more like a giant cage with smaller ones inside.