Shadow Silence (16 page)

I glanced at him, confused. His goggle-glasses gave me the impression he wouldn't be able to see an inch in front of his face without them. Peggin must have caught my look because she laughed.

“Deev needs his glasses, yes, but he modified them—they're enhanced. He has a microscope, a telescope, and a built-in computer in those things to aid his vision. He can see better than we can, by far.”

Bryan laughed. “Leave it to the inventors and the creators of the world. It makes sense. You can't see very well? Do what you can to improve it.”

Deev took the joking with good humor. “All in fun, my friends. All in good fun. But yes, pet. I'll see what I can find out. Why don't you go upstairs and get ready to leave for lunch. I'll be up in a few moments. I just need to adjust the settings on these.” He reached up to the side of his goggles and I realized there were tiny knobs along the straps that held them on.

I slid my arm through Peggin's. “Come on. Let's get upstairs. It's chilly down here. Oh, did you guys even bother to check out the furnace? I think it's in that small room where the laundry used to be.”

“Yes, we found it and got it started up. But this house is so drafty that it's going to take a couple hours to warm up the place. By the way, the thermostat is in the kitchen, to the left against the wall as you enter the room. I went hunting to find it.” Deev shooed us out then, and we headed up the stairs.

Once we reached the living room, I noticed the heat
filtering through the vents. Deev was right—the furnace was good to go. At least one thing was working right. I made sure Peggin was comfortably ensconced in her rocking chair and moved to the side, where I put a call in to Ellia.

“We need to talk. Can you call Oriel and Ivy and meet us at the Mossy Rock Steakhouse in half an hour? Something happened this morning and we desperately need your advice.”

Ellia read the tone of my voice loud and clear. “I'll be there, and I'll do my best to get the others to come.”

I signed off and called the steakhouse to make reservations. As I put my phone away, Deev came bounding back up the stairs.

“Got it. One of the groupings says MS-1915 and the other . . . J. Jacobs. My guess is that's the date the ship was built, and the name of the builder.”

“Well, we have something to go on. I made reservations for twenty minutes from now. Ellia will meet us, and with a little luck, Oriel and Ivy, too.”

“Let me get my jacket and hat.” Deev disappeared into the kitchen and when he returned, he was wearing his duster and his top hat.

“Not taking your gun to the restaurant?” It still tickled me, in an odd way, that he carried around that antique blunderbuss.

He gave me a long look and I swear, if I could have seen his eyes better, I would have probably melted under the scrutiny. “Not quite.” But he chuckled, then held his arm out to Peggin. “Come on, my girl. Let's head out for food.”

Bryan swung in behind us, and as we walked to the car, I felt a shiver of relief running through me. I was glad to leave the house behind us, if only for a while.

*   *   *

T
he Mossy Rock Steakhouse was fairly empty since most of the lunch crowd had thinned out, and the dinner crowd wasn't even thinking about food yet. Nadia had
reserved a good table for us. I had made the reservation for seven people, in hopes that all three of the Matriarchs could make it. As we were settling in around the curved booth, Ellia and Ivy joined us.

“Oriel can't make it, she's got a meeting this afternoon, but we'll fill her in as soon as we leave.” Ellia glanced at me, then over at Peggin. She stopped short, her eyes widening. “Great Mother, what happened to you, child?”

Ivy turned as Ellia said that, and gasped. “The Lady.”

Peggin began to shiver, and she pulled her sweater tighter around her.

“The Lady tried to drag Peggin under about ninety minutes ago. Deev, Bryan, and I were able to save her. But . . . Peggin, show them your wrist.” I motioned for her to uncover the mark.

As Peggin held out her arm, Ellia let out a soft curse and Ivy blanched.

“She's got the mark,” Ivy said.

“What is that? Have you seen it before? She didn't have it on her this morning.” I leaned back as the waitress appeared with a couple baskets of bread. We put in our drink orders and once she was gone, I nodded to Peggin's arm. “That appeared after the Lady dragged her under.”

“How far did she get you? Into the water itself?” Ivy asked.

Peggin cleared her throat, looking all too frightened. “She took me under. I lost consciousness. When we got back to the house, as I was undressing to take a bath, I saw the mark on me. What does it mean? Do you know? Is it a bruise?”

Ellia motioned to Ivy, who reached for Peggin's arm. She held it tight, so the mark showed clearly, and gently pressed her hand against the black streak. Ellia watched dispassionately. She made no move toward them, but her gaze was fastened on the stippled line that crossed Peggin's skin. Ivy closed her eyes and softly let out a slow breath. A moment later, she shivered and abruptly let go.

“It's as I thought. The Lady has marked you. You're a target, Peggin, and she will come for you however she can. She can follow you through water; though she may not be able to directly attack you, she can use the force of water—in all its forms—to come at you.” Ivy frowned, leaning back. “She's angry—so angry that you got away.”

“So I was right not to leave her alone in the bathtub, then?” I wanted to know that my instincts were on point.

Ivy shuddered. “Correct. It would be easy for the Lady to reach out, lure you into sleep, then you sink below the surface of the tub while the water held you down till you drowned. Watch showers—stepping on a bar of soap is all too easy to arrange. Rain, as well. A puddle of water, a power line coming down near it . . . too many possibilities.”

“Can we get rid of this mark? Is there a way to destroy or erase it?” Deev paused as the waitress brought our drinks and took our food order.

Ivy stared at Peggin as though she was trying to read what was going through her mind. After a moment, she turned to Ellia. “Would an exorcism work, do you think?”

“I don't know. Oriel might have a better idea. She understands the Lady better than any of us. We'll have to ask her. Meanwhile, is there a protection spell you can cast on her that will give her some added safety?” Ellia frowned, cocking her head to one side. “We have to do something to keep the girl safe.”

Ivy took a long sip of her coffee, then grimaced and added another packet of sugar and more cream. “Bitter stuff. I never understood why Nadia insists on using such a pungent blend. The rest of her food is incredible, but her coffee-making skills could use some work.” After a moment, she let out soft sigh. “I think Oriel knows a spell that might help, but it's a strong one, and will require assistance. We'll need Starlight's help—she works some incredibly powerful guardianship magic.”

I jerked my head up. “Starlight Williams?” Starlight
Williams, the leader of the Crescent Moon Society, whom I had taken an instant dislike to and was polite to only because there was no choice—we had to work together.

“
Yes
, Starlight. I wish you wouldn't write her off. I know you two got off to a rocky start, but Starlight is good for this town, and she's done a remarkable job of bringing in prosperity for Whisper Hollow. She's like a beacon for those who want to spend money and attract it. And she doesn't begrudge helping out when need be.”

Ivy's rebuke caught me up short. She wasn't joking, either. I might be full grown, and she might look my age, but she was still my grandmother and ever since I had returned to Whisper Hollow and met her, she had eagerly adapted to that role.

“I'm sorry. I just . . . there's something about the woman that grates on me. I don't know what it is, but she irritates the hell out of me.”

Peggin finally broke her silence. “I know what it is. She reminds you of the A-list in high school.” With a faint grin, she added, “In fact, if I remember right, she was on the A-list and barely even knew we were alive.”

Starlight Williams was our age—in her early thirties—and she was married to Kyle Williams, a lawyer. They had two children, fourteen-year-old fraternal twins. Rachel was the teenaged queen of mean girls, and Zach was a brilliant computer student who was racking up points as a budding sociopath, according to the rumor mill.

I snorted. “Oh, she was head of the A-list. We never stood a chance around her and her hive, not that we even wanted to be part of that group.”

Bryan laughed. “Ten bucks says you would have jumped at the chance. Everybody wants to be part of the A-list, even if they hate the members of it. It's human nature to want to be popular and admired. Unfortunately, at that age, a lot of the admiration is misplaced.”

Peggin stuck out her tongue at him. “Oh, shut up. We did
not want to be part of their inner circle. We were in our own world. I'll have you know, I was a trendsetter back then.”

“She was, I can vouch for it.” I gave her a wide grin. “She started retro before retro was a thing. Well, before pinup retro was a thing. And Starlight was always jealous of Peggin because the jocks flocked around her. Men always have loved you, woman.”

“You're just saying that. But say it some more.” Peggin laughed and everything felt like it was almost normal. Unfortunately, Ellia brought us back to reality.

“I hate to squash the good memories, but I'm going to tell you something, Peggin, and you need to pay attention to me and not fight me on it.” Ellia leaned closer. “You can't stay in that house. I don't care how much you paid, or what you think, or how independent you want to be. You stay there and the Lady's going to be on your doorstep. With that mark, the closer you are to the shore, the easier it's going to be for her to lure you in.”

Peggin ducked her head. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” Her gaze flickered over toward Deev, and I knew she didn't want to ask him if she could stay at his place, after all. I was about to offer my home, but Bryan spoke up first.

“You can stay at my place. It's huge, I've got a ton of space, and you can bring your ferrets.” He glanced at me. “I know you were about to offer her your place, but her ferrets and your cats may not mix too well—if they do, great, but if you think that would be a problem, then take one of the empty rooms in my house.”

“That's a good idea except that I don't want her alone at night. And she'll need somebody with her when she takes a bath, if what Ivy says is true. I dunno . . . what do you think, Peggin? Will Frith and Folly mind being around the cats? They're huge, but mellow, and they've been around dogs and rabbits before. I doubt they'll mind the ferrets, and we can keep your guys in the office while we're gone.”

She snorted. “I think we'd be better off locking them in
the guest room or you may come home to a mass of shredded documents.” She smiled at Bryan. “I really appreciate the offer but Kerris is right; if I need supervision when I'm taking a bath, I think she's better cut out for the job.”

Bryan blushed. “I wasn't suggesting—” Flustered, his voice trailed away.

“I do believe that's the first time I've seen you fall all over your words,” I said, laughing. “Don't sweat it. Peggin knows you weren't trying to sneak a peek. It's settled, then. We'll stop back at the house, you can pack a suitcase, and we'll head over to my place. I'm happy to have the company and we can have a slumber party, only better. With booze.”

“All right, and can we pick up Frith and Folly on the way? I miss them already.”

I nodded, leaning back as Nadia escorted the waitress over. The waitress was carrying a huge tray, and Nadia placed a folding rack next to the table for her to set it on. The food smelled delicious. Ivy, Ellia, Bryan, and Peggin had ordered burgers and fries. Deev and I had ordered fish and chips. The servings were generous, and as we fell to eating, I snuck a peek at Peggin. She might have been trying to make the best of the situation, but I knew that she was both terrified and unhappy. What had been such a hopeful beginning had turned into a nightmare.

A sudden thought crossed my mind. “Tell Ivy and Ellia about the ship beams!”

Deev explained what we had found.

“There's a lot of painful energy attached to those beams, too. I really didn't like touching them. I think that, after we get back to my place, we might start looking up ships in the area to see if we can figure out how those beams got in your basement,” I said to Peggin, figuring that at least it would give us something to take her mind off the Lady.

Bryan cleared his throat. “There's also another matter. Shouldn't you tell them about your trip out to Veronica's?”

I blinked. In the excitement and fear of rescuing Peggin,
it had entirely slipped my mind. “Bryan's right. You know that I went out to meet Veronica last night. It was quite the experience. But long story short, she told me that there are fifteen witch bottles out in the woods on Timber Peak. Magda created them to summon the rogue Ankou that are gathering there. We need to find them, and then you, Oriel, and Ellia are to destroy them.” I paused. “Won't breaking them do the trick, though?”

Ivy shook her head. “No. It takes a witch to destroy a witch bottle, especially one made by a woman as powerful as Magda. So, I guess it's another trip back to the Peak.”

“Yeah, but not today.” I leaned back, the food suddenly making me tired. The adrenaline of the morning was starting to wear off, and I wanted nothing so much as to go home and take a nap. The others seemed to feel the same way. We lingered at the table, ordering dessert though I doubted any of us were terribly hungry, and only after more coffee and cheesecake did we reluctantly exit the restaurant.