Free Shadows of the Past by Brandy L Rivers

Jamie.
    Yup, he was a class “A” prick. Preston shrugged off his conflicted desires and stepped into the apartment. Magic he had never felt before pricked his senses, and pressed in on him as he moved further into the room. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something much darker was there.
    Preston stopped in the middle of the room and closed his eyes as he reached out with his other senses. He could feel the chaos bleeding through a shield that the first Council team had missed.
    “Fuck,” Preston muttered as he held out his hands and started to draw energy into his palms.
    “What is it?” Robert asked. His tone was definitely more serious.
    He shook his head and started chanting, infusing his magic into the energy before he threw it at the shield.
    Preston opened his eyes just in time to watch the golden glow of his energy slam into nothing. A black web of shadows materialized as the threads caught fire and disintegrated.
    “What the… ,” Robert trailed off.
    Preston was too busy staring to say a word. There was blood everywhere but it was tainted with a black oily substance. He crouched down to run his fingers through the mess . The black inky shit moved as if trying to reach for him. As soon as it made contact it pulled away but the cold sting of foreign magic shot across his arm before fading.
    “That’s not right,” Robert said from beside him.
    “No shit, brainiac.” He took a look around and found a parchment with fae symbols on it. “Damn it. That slimy little prick was playing way out in the deep end when he should have been in the fucking kiddie pool.”
    Preston whispered a spell to protect his shoes before moving to pick up the scroll. That black slimy shit tried to reach for him again and he dropped the parchment. “That’s some freaky shit right there. Do the Fae have some goo like Venom?”
    Robert’s brow arched. “What?”
    Rolling his eyes, he muttered, “Forget it.” He marched into the kitchen and found some cheap-ass salad prongs that he warded as he walked back. He picked the parchment up and stared at it. The black ooze sort of slid around the paper, as if it were looking for someone or something to cling to.
    “Got any idea what that is?” Preston pointed at the stuff, then at the symbols . “Or how to read this?”
    “ I’m sorry, I don’t. Maybe archives would have a clue.”
    “Perfect, a bunch of scholarly assholes who always snub us.”
    “Snub you, my friend, snub you.” Robert took a step toward the door. “Unless you have something else you want to look for, we should go. This place is giving me the creeps.”
    “Yeah, tell me about it. ”
     
    * * * *
     
    Hayden sat at his desk, going over case files. Simons walked in, and down across from him without a sound.
    “I thought I told you to take a couple days off ,” Hayden said as he looked up at the big werewolf. At least he was still in his street clothes.
    Simons nodded. “You did, but that’s not why I’m here. You were right to give me time to cool off.”
    Hayden sat back and rested his hands on the arms of the chair. “So why are you here?”
    Simons cleared his throat and dropped his gaze. “I was hoping you knew where I could find her. I owe the girl an apology. Amethyst, right? I scared her, I didn’t mean to, but I saw her hair and piercings, and it reminded me of Zack. I thought that maybe they were related, and then I lost it, which wasn’t fair.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Look at Dacia and Dane. They couldn’t be more different and they’re related. Not that Amethyst is related to that scum Zack, but that’s what I assumed.”
    Hayden nodded. That he could almost understand. “You’ll behave? Because I assure you, she is not related to that little weasel. I know Amethyst’s brother.”
    “She isn’t human. When I took the time to think about it, I figured it out.” Simons met his gaze, and there was real regret in his expression. “I was in the wrong.