A couple walking their dog on the opposite street looks over at us when their little pup yips and barks hello. I ignore her and press Emme for more. “Is the complex called the Garden Center?”
“Yes,” she says.
“Figures,” I say. “That’s where we’re headed. It’s where the weres, the ones I’m guessing went after that thing, are with Ted.”
“I thought you said he was ripped to pieces,” she says slowly.
“Oh, he was,” I assure her. “The weres were nice enough to shove him into some sandwich bags.”
My tidbit of knowledge doesn’t go over well with Emme. “Did I say sandwich bags? I meant freezer size—the ones with the zipper lock,” I add, hoping it makes her feel better. “They store body parts nicely.”
Emme tries to swallow but doesn’t quite make it. “I’ll bet,” she says.
“Tell me more,” I say. “What feel did you get from that presence? Were, witch, ghoul?”
She makes a face. “A touch of evil,” she replies.
“A touch?” I repeat.
She nods as if that’s the best way she can describe it. “There was something very wrong about it. About it existing.”
I give it some thought, edging Emme under a row of canopies when it starts to drizzle. “You thinkin’ demon?”
“Not quite,” she says. She stares down the street as if fighting to remember exactly what she perceived. “It was a mix of sorts. Dark magic for certain, and the dread that accompanies demons, but not quite one thing for sure.”
“That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” I tell her.
“I know. It didn’t for me either. It also didn’t make sense how Ted ignored it.”
She inches her way from under the canopy when the rain eases to a stop, the way she takes me in better than any man deserves.
“There was something else,” she admits. “Something that followed me to the bar.”
It’s all I can do not to lose it. “Let me get this straight. A dark presence tried to kill you at Ted’s…”
“I never said it tried to kill me,” Emme interjects.
“…and when it couldn’t, it followed you to the Hole?”
Emme ignores my escalating growls. “No. This wasn’t the same thing I sensed at Ted’s. That thing was dangerous. What appeared to follow me seemed lost, confused, and maybe a little scared.”
“Are you telling me you felt sorry for the scary thing that followed you?”
Emme rubs her thumb along my skin and I instantly forget I’m supposed to be mad at her for being so naive.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” she replies. “It seemed innocent. I thought it was a wandering spirit with how little energy it carried. I turned around several times when I sensed it approach, I just never saw it.”
“It didn’t try to grab you?” I ask.
“No,” she says. “It wasn’t threatening, at least, I don’t think so. It was just sort of there.”
“And you never saw anything?” She shakes her head and I curse some more. “Emme, this whole thing sounds screwed up. That thing was stalking you, you could’ve been hurt, or worse.”
“I don’t think so,” Emme says. “The vampire serving as bouncer at the door noticed it, too. If it were trying to kill me or was as dangerous as you claim, he would have protected me.”
“Why the hell would you think that?”
Emme regards me like I’m missing something. “Misha is his master and he was told to look out for me.”
Her voice trails as I all but leap out of my skin. “What’s wrong?” she asks.
“That vamp you’re so sure would have saved you?”
“Yes?” she asks.
“He wasn’t at the door when we left, and he should’ve been. My boss did Misha a favor by hiring him.” I look at her, taking in her innocence, and growing oh-so pissed that someone else, in addition to Ted, could have harmed her.
“Something took or lured that vamp from his post,” I add. “I’m guessing it was that same something that followed you to the Hole.”
Emme lets go of my hand and fumbles for her phone. “That’s strange, it’s dead,” she says. “I always keep it charged.”
My pace slows to a crawl. “Did it work earlier?”
She glances from me to the phone and back. “Yes. I spoke to Shayna and texted with Taran and Celia after I left Ted’s.”
I hold out my hand. “May I?”
Emme places the phone in my opened palm. I take a sniff and spit into the next drain we pass. “It’s cursed.” Her eyes widen. “Whatever followed you may not have scared you, Emme, but it should have. It was strong enough to curse your phone.”
“Why?” she asks.
I furrow my brows. “So, you couldn’t call for help.”
“I realize that, Bren,” she says. “What I mean is, why me?”
“Why not? For all you’re the quiet and shy one of the Weird Girls, you’re still a Weird Girl. Anyone with an ounce of magic knows that.”
“Wird,” Emme clarifies, appearing insulted. “Our last name is Wird, and you know it.”
“I’m not trying to offend you,” I say. “But the Weird Girls are what you and your sisters are known as. You’re one of the powerful four who flipped the supernatural world on its ass. Like it or not, you are a threat, and something the bad guys can use as leverage.”
“They really see me as such?”
Emme’s not really asking. She’s just having trouble believing it. It makes sense. She’s never given the credit she’s earned or deserves.
“Yeah,” I say, wishing it wasn’t true. “Things will keep coming after you, Emme. Now, more than ever.” I drag my hand through my hair. “I know you were counting on your meeker personality to keep you in the shadows, and I think for the most part it’s worked. Shayna, with her sword skills and how she skips into danger, Celia with her agility and strength, Taran, well, just being Taran, they were harder to ignore. Everyone pegged you as the weakling and follower. And when
