Deep Within The Shadows (The Superstition Series Book 1) (13 page)

Caleb stuffed the debris from their meal back into the bag while Julia put their plates in the dishwasher.

When he settled again in his chair he leaned forward and laced his fingers. Just the shift in his posture and expression alerted her.

“I checked the car over before I drove it here. I found something in the trunk, slipped between the liner and the wall.”

A sinking feeling settled in the pit of Miranda’s stomach. “What is it?”

“It’s a rolled-up piece of paper with some writing on it. I didn’t want to bring it into the house. Who besides me has access to your vehicle, Mandy?”

“No one. I don’t loan my car out.”

“But someone at the library might have access to your keys. Where do you keep your purse?”

“In my office, in my desk.”

“Do you keep either locked?”

“No. But I’m in and out of the room all day, as are all the other people who work there.”

“So anyone who works there could slip into your office, get your keys, fuck with your vehicle, then put the keys back. They might even have managed to get keys to your office and your house and make copies of them.”

She and Juliet glanced at each other. Both rose at the same time and went into the living room. Miranda shook everything out of her purse onto the coffee table and looked through each object, but found nothing.

Miranda glanced up and froze when she saw the gun in Juliet’s hand. Her heart skipped a beat. “What are you doing with that?”

“Protecting myself. Abbott and Porter were running around free until yesterday. I’ve been expecting them to come after me.” She ejected the clip and cleared the chamber. She handed the gun off to Caleb.

Seeing her sister with a gun in her hand had shaken her. After everything Juliet been through, she didn’t doubt she could pull the trigger. But could she live with herself after taking a life?

Caleb held the unloaded weapon like an extension of his hand as he checked it over. “Do you have a license to carry, Juliet?”

“Yes.”

“You really need a holster. You don’t want lint and shit getting into the barrel or working its way around the trigger or firing pin.

Miranda brushed a hand across her forehead. What strange kind of world had she been teleported into? She’d never even touched a gun. There’d never been any in their house growing up.

The reason Juliet had kept her distance for so long became clear. Her sister’s life had been threatened, and she’d played it down to keep from worrying her. And stayed away to protect her.

“Do you think bullets will affect the shadows?” Miranda asked.

Caleb frowned. “I doubt it.”

“Why don’t we put the gun away then?” She pulled a drawer open in the end table and he placed it inside.

Juliet pulled a tampon out of the blend of articles on the couch. “This isn’t mine. It isn’t the brand I use and I always carry mine in a small cosmetic case.”

“Way too much info, Juliet,” Caleb exclaimed, a slight flush coloring his cheeks.

She grinned, then laughed. “We’re being attacked by shadow creatures and you’re big bad Marine sensitivities are bothered by a tampon?” She ripped it open and pushed the device free of the small plastic applicator that held it. Instead of a tampon, a narrow piece of paper rolled up into a scroll dropped onto the floor.

She bent to pick it up and unrolled it. “Oh, shit! It’s written in Latin. I recognize some of the words, but not all. Look in your things Miranda, there has to be something there.”

Miranda looked through the contents on the coffee table again. The normal flotsam of change purse, checkbook, and ink pens spilled out. She searched one of the zippered pockets and pulled out a tampon. She didn’t use them. It wasn’t hers.

Instead of ripping it open immediately as Juliet had done, she studied the wrapper. The end closest to the bottom of the applicator didn’t have the same machine crimping as the other. It had been carefully trimmed and resealed.

As she ripped it open Caleb said, “It’s a woman. A man wouldn’t think of using…something like that.”

The small scroll of paper resting in her palm curdled her stomach. For a long beat of time she and Juliet looked at each other.

Karma had just risen up to bite them on the ass.

“We both work with a lot of women,” Juliet said. “But I can’t think of any reason why one would come after me. I’ve been keeping a low profile for a while now. Even before Tanner was killed.” She swallowed. “And I haven’t poached anyone else’s boyfriend, or slept with their husband. All I’ve done is work, mind my own business, and try to live my life.” Her smile was forced. “What have you been up to, sis?”

Miranda laid the roll of paper in an ashtray and wiped her hand on her slacks. She controlled the urge to go scrub it with soap. “Nothing that could draw this kind of attention.”

“Since we can’t figure out who, then we have to figure out what they are and how we can get rid of them,” Juliet said.

Miranda straightened her shoulders. They’d faced bad things before. She and Juliet could do this. She dealt in knowledge, and she knew just where they needed to go. “The library’s our best bet.”

*     *     *

Juliet slipped free
of her seat at the computer and stretched. She’d been at it for two hours, and the only information her searches had kicked out was about shadow spirits.

The creatures they were dealing with weren’t spirits. They interacted too aggressively with the living. Could they be demons?

Even the thought had chill bumps tiptoeing up and down her arms and her chest felt tight. They had done some amazing things in high school with Sherry and Aubrey, but nothing like this. She’d have never believed any of this shit was possible if she hadn’t come face-to-face with one last night.

The translation she’d done of the words written on those small pieces of paper had sent her off in a different direction, though. She needed confirmation of what she’d discovered, and she could only find it in two places she hadn’t visited in a very long time.

She wandered over to the second floor railing and studied the activity on the ground floor. Three women were working the desk, checking in, checking out, and shelving books. In light of what Caleb had said, Juliet studied each woman. One seemed familiar, but none looked like a psycho-bitch, but then appearances were deceiving. She was living proof of that.

Every few seconds the scanner beeped. How did Miranda stand it? The sound alone would drive her insane. But then her sister had always been more tolerant than she.

Juliet glanced in her direction. Miranda rose from her chair behind her desk and wandered out of her office to stand next to her at the railing. “Caleb texted me. He has an alarm system installed in my car. Anyone tries to mess with it again, the alarm will go off.”

“Good.” She glanced at Miranda. “He’s afraid for you.”

“I know. I couldn’t have him hanging around like a bodyguard all day, and he needed to work.”

“What’s that?” Juliet nodded toward the paper Miranda gripped.

She handed it to Juliet. “A thank-you note from a very pissed off student because I interrupted his conquest of another student in the upstairs bathroom. Or at least I think it is.”

Juliet’s brows rose at the word Bitch written across the paper in bright red ink. “It might not hurt to hand it over to the police. With all this other stuff going on, you never know.” She handed the paper back to Miranda. “How’s the employee search going?”

“So far, no one’s standing out as suspicious, and their work histories are all coming back clean. There are three I suspect may be practicing the Craft. I’ve earmarked them for further study. I still have several more to look through.” She cleared her throat. “We’ve got about six hours of daylight left. We need to stick with this and find some way to protect ourselves.”

“Just the usual we already know. Salt, holy water, religious artifacts like crosses and Bibles, and prayer. That’s all I’ve found. Or we could set wards to protect us, Caleb, and the house. Or we could wear protective jewelry.”

Miranda’s brows rose. “You learned all that in two hours?”

And she hadn’t found anything she believed would really work, outside of fighting witchcraft with witchcraft. “Yeah. I think instead of doing more research, we need to get to a church and ask for some holy water and for a priest’s help.”

“We’re not Catholic,” Miranda said on a sigh.

Juliet glanced at her. “But priests and pastors are supposed to help people whether they’re Catholic, Protestant, or whatever, aren’t they?”

Miranda eyed her. “What makes you think one would even believe us?”

“He will if he’s around after dark when those things start popping out of the sidewalk.”

Miranda put a hand over her mouth and looked away, her shoulders shaking.

Ah shit, she’d made her cry. Juliet placed a hand on her shoulder in a demonstration of comfort. It took a moment to register it wasn’t tears making her tremble, but stifled laughter. When Miranda finally looked up she was still smiling.

“What’s so funny?” Juliet asked.

“You’re so…I’m just glad to see you haven’t changed the way you face off against things.”

If only they’d both been able to manage that when they were younger. Juliet shrugged. “Necessity makes even the timid brave. I read that quote somewhere. After you’ve faced off against a belligerent drunk or two, you learn to be assertive.”

She changed the subject. “I think we should divide our resources. You stay here and research, and I’ll go down to the Catholic church and see if I can stir up some reinforcements for the cause. Then we’ll both hit Aubrey’s place on the way home. She may have some answers.”

Miranda bit her bottom lip. “She was here last night. She warned me trouble was coming.”

Juliet straightened from leaning on the railing. “You don’t think she…”

“No.” Miranda shook her head. “Never. She’s adamant about her beliefs, especially about harming none.’” She rubbed at her shoulder. “If we have to take matters into our own hands and protect ourselves the hard way, do you think things will come back to us? I mean it’s been a long time.”

“I think it’s like sex. Once you know how, it doesn’t just—disappear.” In the end she had used magic to end things with Clay. So she knew her magic was still intact.

And she’d been going off by herself, up in the mountains, to practice by herself. The pressure inside her had built up to the point where she had to let it erupt. But it had been different by herself. As lonely as the rest of her life. “It probably wouldn’t hurt if you did some meditation and a few…” She quirked a brow. “Exercises.”

“It’s been so long.” Miranda’s throat worked as she swallowed. “I’ve missed it, Juls.”

“I know. It’s like losing your sense of taste or smell. Everything is bland and less…”

“Yes. That’s exactly how it is.” Miranda gripped the chrome railing one handed. “I’m nervous about you going outside. What if those things decide to start crawling out from whatever lair they’re hiding in? Last night was…”

She’d only dealt with one. Miranda had witnessed at least two creatures coming out of the lights. Or had it been the same one? They had to do something to stop them. “I’ll be careful. Besides, what better place to hide from them than a church?”

Miranda shoved her hair back from her face with the one hand still in good working order. “You have a point. We’ll have to keep that in mind for later. Just in case. Please be careful.”

Juliet grabbed her purse hanging on the corner of her seat. “I translated the message on the slips of paper.”

“What did it say?”

“In pools of man-made light,

Shadows cast their fright,

To wreak havoc and violence,

And seal Juliet’s silence,

Death and destruction,

Will end her corruption.

Abide by my will, Let no man see,

As I will, so mote it be.”

Miranda’s eyes widened in surprise. “Have you heard of any witches besides Aubrey, Sherry, and us, living in Superstition?”

“Yeah, some. I’ve dealt with more than a few witches at the club. But I can only think of one who’d wish us dead.

Miranda frowned at the reference to their mother. “She wouldn’t really wish us dead, Juliet. And besides, she doesn’t have the power.”

Noticing movement over Miranda’s shoulder, she said, “One of the students just went into your office. You locked your purse up in your desk, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but I still don’t want her in there.”

“What’s her name? She looks a little familiar. Maybe she’s come to the club. One of the women working the counter downstairs may have come in too.”

“Her name’s Vivian Ward. She’s a very good worker.”

“But?” Juliet urged.

“She’s still proving herself, and is a little overeager.”

“Did you look over her records?”

“She was one of the first. She’s working on a degree in education and taking some classes in library science as a second major. I didn’t find anything suspicious in her background.”

Miranda was too trusting. Or was she? If she didn’t trust Caleb enough to let him close, why would she let anyone else? Juliet nodded. “I’d get in there if I were you. I’m going to take off and do some errands to help us prepare for tonight.”

Vivian exited the office and headed in their direction. The woman shot her a smile. “You two really are identical. If you weren’t dressed differently, I’d never be able to tell you apart.”

Not something they hadn’t heard before.

“I was just wondering which of these books you’d like for me to use Saturday with the children. I’m still doing the history of fairy tales. Last week we did something more targeted to the boys, and this week I thought I’d do something for the girls.”

The stack of books she held were all classic fairytales. Miranda tilted her head to read the titles. “
Rumpelstiltskin
might work, since it has a darker turn that will appeal to the boys.”

“I suppose
Sleeping Beauty
would be too much like chick lit.”

“Probably so.” Vivian nodded, then smiled. “Especially since the prince has to kiss her to wake her. I can hear the eeews from all the boys myself. I’ll write up the lesson plan and gather some other things to go with it.”