Shadow Redeemed by Megan Blackwood

Author:Megan Blackwood [Blackwood, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-07T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-one: Twisting Paths

It didn't feel right getting on the bike with Mr. Pips. I felt like I should have some sort of extra protection for him, like a kitty vest or a carrier or something, but the cat seemed calm enough as I revved the engine and tore out into the street. He was doing a pretty good job of staying in place as I leaned through turns, racing us toward the park at speeds too fast for any human to handle safely.

Come on, I willed the cat or Seamus or the universe at large, my stomach twisting itself into knots as I craned my head forward, hoping for a sniff of DeShawn on the air but all I could scent out was the generic, sun-warm scent of mortal blood mixed with the rot of the ghouls who lived in the park.

I skirted around the edge of the park, where grand houses tucked in neat rows faced the infested woodland. I didn't see how a cave system could be hidden here, and every second that ticked by my heart sped up with anxiety.

"Mrow," Mr. Pips said from inside the jacket.

I slowed the bike. Cutting into the woods was a narrow access lane—a thin ribbon of packed dirt—that I'd nearly missed in my haste.

"Good kitty."

I turned down the lane, easing back on the speed though it pained me to do so. Winter-bare trees reached their branches overhead like they were trying to gather me, and the whole road, into their arms. The dirt was scuffed by other tire tracks, and on the left I could just make out the back fender of DeShawn's official vehicle. Either his team had walked into the park, or it was only large enough to fit inside that car, because I didn't see a single other vehicle. I hoped they'd walked in, and that he had a practical army down beneath my feet.

I parked next to his car and swung off, searching the brush until I found an old steel access door left ajar. Yellow light from salt lamps tinted the ground gold, the subtle hum of electricity in the air. Somewhere, a generator chugged away.

"Stay with the car," I told Mr. Pips and reached into my jacket to pull him out.

He hissed and dug his claws into my abdomen, clinging.

I winced. "All right then, you furry little monster. But you stay in the jacket, understood?"

"Mrow."

I didn't trust him any more than I'd trusted Lenora. Which was... a strange thing for me to think. I was going as mad as Maeve. I tugged off my helmet and drew the mortuary blade I kept strapped to the side of my bike like a cavalry weapon of old.

"Seamus?" I said into the earpiece I'd put back in.

"Here," he said.

"Found him. Park, west access road. I'm going in."

"I've had a team tracking you since you left the garage. They'll be with you in two minutes."

"Good man," I said.

Maybe, if we were very lucky, we'd get ahead of Lenora this time.

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