“When she’s revived, bring her to my grandmother’s house,” I offered. “Since Doc Andrew’s been based out of there, it’ll make it easier for him to look after all the patients under one roof. Use my room, the second one on the left at the top of the stairs.”
“Thank ye most kindly,” replied the leprechaun before taking his leave.
Left alone, Dash and I rummaged around the room. “Maybe we can find some clue as to where he would go,” I suggested.
The shifter picked up a random paper and sniffed it. “It depends on when he left. If it was after your aunt closed the borders, then he couldn’t escape.”
I stopped my search, alarmed at his revelation. Without knowing it, Aunt Nora may have trapped a criminal and potential killer in with the rest of us.
Dash rapped his knuckles against the wall and repeated the action, moving around the room.
“What are you doing?” I asked, sitting down in the desk chair and pulling open drawers.
He pressed his ear to the wall and listened while he knocked on it. “At home, I have a few things I need to keep secure and away from prying eyes. When I bought my new place, I enclosed part of a room and created a hidden space.”
Catching on, I swiveled in the chair and stared at the bookcases. “Perhaps one of these books acts as a lever?”
Dash snorted. “That’s only in movies. Far too complicated for the real world.” He removed a print of a lotus flower and tested the wall. “Ah, there it is. Come over here and I’ll show you.”
I closed the distance between us, and he took both my shoulders in his hands, directing me to stand right in front of him. With gentle fingers, he pushed my head against the wall.
“Listen and see if you can hear the difference,” he instructed. His knuckles rapped on one part with a dull thud. When he moved to a different place, a hollow echo reverberated in my ear. “See? There’s empty space behind here.”
I backed away, impressed. “So, how do we get in?”
“That’s the easy part.” Dash smirked.
I punched his bicep. “What, are you going to bust through like Lady Eveline did?”
“Why would I need to do that when all I have to do is push like this?” Placing his palm on the wall, he leaned against it, and I heard two distinctive clicks. A door carefully blended in with the wallpaper popped ajar, and Dash tugged it open.
He clicked the cord on the light hanging from the ceiling. “What in the world is all this?”
Curious, I stood on my tiptoes to see past his hulking frame that filled the doorway. “Hate to tell you, but invisibility isn’t one of your superpowers. Either step in or out, but you’re blocking my view.”
He backed out with a grunt and gestured for me to enter. Shelves lined both walls and small jars of varying sizes filled the spaces. Each glass vessel contained substances of all different colors that swirled and floated like a mix between liquid and smoke.
“I wonder what they are,” I said, picking one up and admiring the reaction of the hue to my touch. “It’s like there’s a little lightning storm inside.”
Dash chose one to inspect, but after a short moment, he drew in a quick breath. “Charli, I think you should be really careful and put that back.”
“Why?” My fingertips ran over the surface, creating sparks of light where they touched.
“Because mine has a name on it. And I’ll bet yours does, too.” The shifter reached up and put the jar back. Leaning over me, he pointed at the etching into the glass that I’d missed. “Read that.”
“Henry Balmerlee Jenks. I always wondered what the B stood for,” I mused.
“Don’t focus on your assistant’s name,” Dash growled. “You need to be asking yourself, what’s in the bottle?”
Replacing the bottle marked with Henry’s name, I chose another one with hues of purple and pink floating inside. “Lily Margaret Blackwood. Dash, what are these?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But something about what’s inside them gets my hackles up.”
“Read me some of the other names,” I demanded.
With care, he picked up several bottles and read them one by one. I matched several of the names with those whose behavior had seemed off or even opposite to their normal self.
“Bennet Sheldon Raynor,” the shifter recited.
I snatched Ben’s jar and cradled it next to the vial labeled with Lily’s name. “That’s why he asked her to marry him. Whatever’s inside, it’s made them do things that wouldn’t happen in real life. Or at least, might not happen in the same way.”
“I don’t follow. Are you saying that someone made Ben propose to Lily?” Dash asked.
The idea sounded ridiculous, and yet I’d had the talk with the tall advocate not too long ago about how he wanted to wait for marriage. Did that mean he would never ask her? My gut always assumed they would tie the knot at some point, but seeing them all ooey gooey in love at the town hall felt…wrong.
“One thing’s for sure,” I said, glancing around at all the other ones sitting on the shelves. “We need to find out what’s in all of these jars.”
“Souls,” a deep voice answered from outside the hidden space. Nick Draven leaned against the doorway to the secret space with his tattooed arms crossed as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Dash stood to his full height, blocking me from view. “What do you mean when you say souls?”
Nick pointed at the bottles. “That stuff in there is a piece of a soul.”
I pushed the shifter aside and addressed the spa owner. “How do you know?”
“Because I stole them.”
Chapter Eighteen
Startled by his confession, I almost dropped the two jars I held. Dash placed his hands over mine to steady them.
“Here, you better give those to me. Probably best not to break them and let whatever’s inside out.” The shifter placed each vessel back on its
