The Shadow's Touch Read online

  Spring, please! I needed to work on my tan so my blushing wouldn’t be so obvious.

  “Do you have David’s number?” asked the detective.

  Grateful for something else to do, I looked it up on my speed dial. She called Dave, and from her questions, I could tell he was backing me up. I resolved, then and there, to give Dave a big, wet kiss when I saw him again. Not only did he take the damning gun, he provided my alibi.

  By the time Victoria left, I was a wreck. My mom closed the door and frowned at me.

  “Mom, I’m going to go take a nap.”

  “Finn, what is going on with you? You’ve been skittish and flushed ever since I got home.” She lowered her face and sized me up from under her brows. “Ian Finn Morgenstern, what is going on? What are you hiding?”

  Like, you are so totally busted, boyfriend. God, I hated it when she asked me a direct question it was not in my best interest to answer truthfully.

  “N-no-nothing, Mom. I’ve just been feeling, like, totally tired since pumping up dad this morning.” After hearing what came out of my mouth, I wanted to bite my tongue off.

  The message concerned Mom more than the delivery. Her eyes widened, and her eyebrows went up. “Oh, Finn, you should have said something! Is this thing you’re doing with your father hurting you? We could have told the detective to come back later.”

  The horror on her face broke my heart. I waved down her concern. “No, Mom. Nothing like that. I’m just tired. I’ll be fine. I just need to go lie down for a while.”

  Her pinched expression didn’t change, but she said, “Well, okay, Finn. I’ll come up and check on you later.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I turned and trudged up the stairs.

  Dude, like, I can’t believe you totally lied to your mom like that. Like, aren’t you going to hell or something bogus like that?

  Please, Spring. Stop with the valley speak. And you don’t need to be my guilty conscience. Mine is already big enough to supply us both for the rest of our lives.

  Okay, but it’s, like, totally hard to stop talking like this, ya know?

  I nodded as I reached the top of the stairs. “Totally.”

  “What was that, Finn?”

  “Nothing, Mom.”

  I threw myself down on my bed in the spare room trying not to notice the chaos of stuff around me.

  I thought without enthusiasm about grabbing the dreamstone when the sound of an arrow hitting a target and vibrating followed by a strained “Message for you sir!” notified me of a message on my phone. I pulled it out to check.

  Dave > Hey ask Spring if any of those new oaks in your yard have dryads in them.

  Spring volunteered, I don’t know, never checked.

  Me> Every last one but none of them are interested in you. I already asked. They thought Jeff was pretty cute though.

  Dave> Har Har.

  Me> What can I say? They’re all technically my daughters and they have my good taste. Besides, they can’t date till they are one hundred and eighty years old.

  Dave> Some friend you are. I’d let you sleep with my daughter.

  Me> You’d have to have sex first. I’ll be eighty by then.

  Dave> Come over tonight, you can have your choice of my sisters.

  Me> G’nite Dave.

  Dave> Selfish bastard.

  The Rock Shop

  The otherwise unfortunate evening turned out to have an upside: Uncle Mark called and told me the artifacts we had taken from the burial mound were generating a lot of traffic at his store. He wanted me to work for him at the shop again. I agreed enthusiastically. Anything beat the Grease Burger where I currently worked, or would be working if I weren’t in and out of the hospital so much. He asked me to come in the next morning.

  “I’d really like to, Uncle Mark, but I have to go see my dad tomorrow. Can I come in Wednesday?”

  “Come in when you can, Finn. I know this whole thing has to be hard on you and I know he values your visits. He told me he didn’t know what he would do if you didn’t stop by and see him. I’m sure this whole Shady Oaks visit will get him rested up and back on his feet in no time.”

  “I really hope so, Uncle Mark.”

  His knowledge of Shady Oaks surprised me but shouldn’t have. He and Dad went way back. As high school and college buds, they did a lot of traveling together in pursuit of the world’s most interesting geological formations. I’m sure they talked a lot. I wondered just how much my dad had told him.

  ***

  With my extended senses, I flowed throughout my father’s body, giving him strength, fanning the flames of life that guttered and threatened to go out. His body should be able to do this itself, but something I did to him during the battle to save Spring destroyed his ability to support his own life force. Or something.

  Okay, Finn, time to stop.

  I withdrew my awareness from Dad and the now-familiar exhaustion kicked in. My heart beat fast and my muscles quivered and ached. I sat next to him on the hospital bed and panted, trying to catch my breath while sweat dripped down my face. Whatever I did for him sure took the stuffing out of me. Where moments before he had been wan and dull-eyed, he was now sitting straight and alert. The blush of health flowed through his face, and his eyes were keen behind his Harry Potter glasses. Whatever the price, it was worth it.

  I had banished the ill health, but he still looked at me with sad eyes and a drawn mouth.

  “Dad—”

  “I worry about you, Finn. I worry that whatever you’re doing to me is hurting you.”

  My stomach groaned. I reddened a bit. “It just makes me hungry, Dad. Nothing else. Once I have another breakfast, I’ll be good as new. Besides, it gives me an excuse to eat a half-dozen candy bars.”

  My attempt at levity didn’t impact his sad face. “Finn…”

  “Dad, I’ll be fine. It’s not hurting me, and if I have to do this for you every day for the rest of my life, it’s worth it.”

  He gave me a weak smile. He sat next to me in his street clothes, ready to be released and taken to Shady Oaks. Mom was watching us with concern from one of the visitor chairs in his hospital room.

  “Finn, listen. I know you were planning to stay here all day, but I need some more time alone with your mother. You said Mark wanted your help today. Go spend the day at the shop and get out of this hospital.”

  “But, Dad!”

  “Please, Finn. You can come see me tomorrow, okay?”

  I pouted. His rejection hurt. I wanted to be with him. “Yes, sir.”

  He ruffled my hair and smiled without losing his melancholy. “Thanks. I need to know that life goes on. Go have fun. I know how much you like working there.”

  That made me feel a little better. “Okay, I will.”

  My mother dug in her purse and handed me the keys. “Here, take the car. That boy Erik is out there somewhere. I don’t want you walking anywhere.”

  I wished I could tell her that she didn’t have to worry about it anymore. I got up and hugged my parents. “I’ll be fine, Mom. Don’t worry about me.”

  Her smile was as tired as my dad’s. “You’d better be!”

  I said my goodbyes and headed down to the cafeteria for my second breakfast and a serious sugar infusion.

  ***

  I walked through the shop to find Mark working behind the glass counter and display case at the back of the store.

  “Hey, kiddo! Glad to see you made it in one piece!”

  I grimaced. “My parents called you, didn’t they?”

  “Hey, don’t look so grouchy. Be happy to have someone who loves you so much. Someday, you may wake up and find yourself without anyone backing you. It’s not a good feeling.”

  “You sound like you’re talking from experience.”

  “Yep, but I like traveling light, and I have you and your family to keep me from getting too lonely.” He slapped his book closed. “You came just in time. I’ve got to go out for the day and now I don’t have to close the store.
”

  “Don’t worry, Unc, I got you covered.”

  “I know you do, kiddo.” He stepped from around the counter and handed me the keys. “Here you go. Now, if Erik comes in with a gun, do you remember what I taught you?”

  He had been giving me lessons in Krav Maga, the martial arts of the Israeli Army. Another grimace twisted my face.

  “Yeah, duck and run away.” That hadn’t worked out so well last time. Where did my uncle get his information? How did he know I accused Erik of taking Kramer’s gun?

  “You got it in one. I knew you’d be a quick study.” He reached out a hand to tousle my hair. I don’t know what it was about my hair that everyone felt the need to fluff it up. I ducked and blocked his hand with my forearm.

  Mark shifted and threw a lightning fast punch at my stomach with his other hand. I barely had time to cringe and brace for the impact, but it never landed. His fist had stopped a quarter inch over my solar plexus.

  “Remember, unless you’re fighting a slot machine, there is always another arm.”

  “Got it.” I weakly returned his cocky grin.

  “Good.” He headed out without trying to mess with my hair this time. I considered that a minor victory. He didn’t say where he was going, and I didn’t ask. I had learned long before that if my uncle wanted me to know his plans, he would tell me. Asking him rarely-to-never got me a straight answer.

  It was good being back in the shop. It was a low volume store, so many of the items on the shelves were like old friends. I recognized several new pieces on display from our excavation of the mound. Even though we lost nearly an entire day’s work to the local sheriff at the site of the dig, we still had many fine artifacts from it. As I went through the displays, I lingered over each arrowhead, geode, or crystal and ruminated on its origin and significance. It was only after a while that I realized that Spring’s curiosity had added impetus to my extended browsing.

  Pretty cool stuff, isn’t it, Spring?

  Totally. I mean, yes. Your world is far bigger than mine ever was.

  It’s your world now, too.

  I could feel her doubt at that statement and didn’t have an answer for it, so I continued my cleaning.

  At the center of the front room, in a locked case, was the rattlesnake effigy whistle. I stopped to study it. The artist had constructed the whistle from smooth dark-red pipestone. The simply, but boldly, carved snake effigy coiled on top of the tube and faced the whistle-blower. It made me faintly queasy to think about bringing its fangs that close to my face.

  There were no customers, so I unlocked the case and took out the priceless artifact. It felt like the first time that I had picked up the bear totem. Warm and vibrant in my hands, it somehow embodied snakiness like nothing I had ever felt before—more so than actual snakes. Its power moved up my arm in a warm, pulsing beat different from, but similar to, my bear whistle. Also like my bear, it clashed with the beat of the heart hanging against my chest.

  I cringed at the mental cacophony and set the snake back in its display. I wondered when I might get my bear back. Just because I couldn’t wear it on a string when I had my stick didn’t mean I wasn’t anxious to hold it again.

  A couple of kids coming through the door cut my perusal short. I locked the display case and greeted them. Then, I returned to the counter and kept my eyes on the kids. I didn’t even try to be subtle about it. Everything here was so cool that younger visitors often found their fingers inexplicably sticky.

  After they left, I kept myself busy arranging shelves and undoing the damage wrought on my displays by the odd non-buying customer wandering through the store. The whole time, I tried to ignore the itching in my brain that seemed to emanate from the back stores. I knew the feeling came from the misshapen and malevolent giant’s skull that Mark had brought back from the dig. Wendigota.

  When everything was as organized as it could be, I retreated to the stool behind the counter. While surveying the store from my perch, my phone vibrated.

  Dave> Hey Finn! I’ve got it. U R a superhero! U been granted special powers to fight evil! I claim sidekick!

  Me> Hah, U one funny guy.

  Dave> No seriously!

  I laughed and spent some time texting Dave and my friends, answering questions and speculating with them about what was going on.

  The last text I received was from my mom.

  Mom > Hi, Sweetheart. Your dad is in his new room and doing fine. Will probably be late. I’ll catch a cab. Have some friends over. Be safe and call me if you need anything.

  As I rogered the message, my mood turned melancholy. If Mom was staying late, it meant that Dad wasn’t taking to his new surroundings well.

  I suddenly didn’t want to be at the store. The interest Mark had told me to expect certainly wasn’t showing itself to me. Mark gave me a lot of autonomy with the store, so I closed up the shop an hour early.

  I locked up the front, flipped the sign, and headed to the back to make sure everything there was locked up tight. Even if no one had gone through the room all day, Mark insisted it be checked.

  I hesitated before the door to the back stores. The thought of encountering the skull again set off a dozen alarm bells in my brain. I felt like I was ten years old, afraid to open the basement door.

  Spring, who’d never seen the skull, urged me forward. Go on in, Finn. I want to see it.

  I still hesitated.

  Come on, it’s dead already, and if it hasn’t gotten up and eaten anybody yet, it probably isn’t going to. The heart sat five feet away from it for nearly a thousand years. If it were going to free this hypothetical spirit, it would be long gone by now.

  She had hit each of my fears one-by-one. It was weird to lose an argument without actually having one.

  Spring, how did you go from pidgin English to using words like ‘hypothetical’ so fast?

  I’ve been digging through your brain. I’m learning a lot. Now quit stalling and get in there.

  I took a deep breath, pushed through the door, and went in.

  Immediately, my eyes locked onto the misshapen, blackened skull sitting on Mark’s desk. It was every bit as hideous as I remembered. Spikes and growths covered the massive bony face in random patterns. The worst was the one that poked out of its left eye socket. I shuddered when my brain unhelpfully provided me with a memory of the monster towering over me, covered in weeping sores with dried blood and gore flowing from its left eye socket.

  Somehow, the skull was even more horrendous than its appearance would call for. A dark malevolence lurked about it, oozed from it. It projected its cold and hunger right into my brain and rooted my feet to the floor with fear.

  I took a deep breath, readying myself for what I was about to do. I brought up my second sight—a housewarming gift from Spring when she moved in— and Looked at it.

  Immediately, I wished I hadn’t. A death-black shroud pulsed around the bones. The unholy hunger and dull anger I felt radiating from it inspired panic in my inner caveman. I sprang for the back door while Spring urged me to run faster. I hit the bar on the door, raced through, and let it slam shut. With the door between us, I tried to slow down my thumping heart and shallow breaths.

  I mentally pinged Spring. Did you see that thing in the skull?

  She shivered in my mind and said, Thatis a bad thing. You should not go near it any more.

  I agreed and checked that the back door was locked and the small back windows were closed before heading around to the front of the store. I’d parked up front so I wouldn’t have to walk by the skull when I came in that morning.

  “Ah, crap.” Mom’s car sat on two flat tires. When I went to inspect them, I found each of them punctured. The other two had been similarly treated. I cursed and looked around carefully.

  Sure enough, I caught a glimpse of someone ducking back into an alley, a short way down the little merchant block. I didn’t get a long look at the short, wide form, but my imagination filled in all the details—Erik.

>   Emboldened by my recent conquest and angered by his constant stalking, I ran down to the alley.

  Uh, Finn, what if he has another gun?

  I’m going to make him eat it!

  Unless he shoots us first, dude. I don’t think this is a good idea, Finn.

  She had a good point. I stopped at the edge of the alley, knelt down, and poked my head around the corner. I took in a littered alley sporting a distinct lack of two-legged creeps. Why the hell had he fixated his insanity on me?

  “Can I help you find something, young man?”

  I yelped and jumped to my feet. An older man stood behind me, eying me curiously.

  “Uh, no. Thanks, I, uh, already found it.”

  He just nodded, smiled pleasantly, and headed on by.

  I stomped back to the car and glared at the tires on the off chance that they would repair themselves if properly intimidated. It didn’t work. Happily, my mom had a Triple-A membership. One call and they came out and got me towed to the tire shop. Unhappily, the tire shop told me that they couldn’t repair the damage, and I had to buy four new tires with my card. That seriously pissed me off, but there was no other choice. I slumped in one of their uncomfortable chairs in their grimy little waiting room for an hour.

  By the time I’d gotten home, exhaustion had added to my thoroughly foul mood. Not even the left over pizza from Dave and company put a spring in my step. I told my mom what had happened and plopped myself down in front of the tube. I still couldn’t bring myself to pick up the Dreamstone, so once again, I fell asleep watching television.

  ***

  I ran through dark woods again, fleeing down a poorly marked path. Erik Parmely, bat in hand, chased me through the darkness. I kept running, but I couldn’t get away. While I glanced over my shoulder, my feet hit soft sand, and I fell onto a beach. I scrambled back up and slogged forward, trying to run. The sand dragged at my feet, slowed me down, and tripped me up.

  Erik, unaffected by the sand, was right on my heels. I fell again and rolled onto my back to see him looming over me, now with a butcher knife in hand. A roaring noise sounded behind me, and his triumphant smile of victory turned to open-mouthed disbelief. A vast black wave began rising from the ocean. It swelled until it blocked the night sky, a portent of oblivion. We both watched, paralyzed, as the wave crested over us. At the last minute, Erik turned to escape it. It terrified me, but somehow, I knew it wasn’t coming for me, so I watched Erik run.