Can unorthodox restaurant reviewer Audrey Sonoma and Officer Damien Lewis find the missing goddess Persephone, face their biggest fears, and work together to stop the waking world from being overrun by creatures from the Collective Unconscious? Or will their nightmares become real – and permanent – when the pathways open for good?
~ EXCERPT ~
From Chapter Two:
Audrey stopped just inside the door and stared. Two girls in diaphanous green dresses and glittery wings stood in front of the pastry case and debated over which treats would make them too heavy to fly. The barista didn't seem to think it was odd, but then, he had horns growing out of his head and wore strange, furry pants under a tailored hipster shirt. Meanwhile, a couple of short, stocky, bearded men in rough work clothes sat and sipped at large coffee mugs that looked more like beer steins. In addition to the barista, there seemed to be another presence behind the counter, a patch of fog that moved as though preparing drinks.
Audrey almost backed out of the café, but she took a deep breath and joined the line. Maybe they're in costume. Is the Decatur Halloween parade today? Is this a side effect of the sleeping pills Kyle gave me? Another thing to ask if he ever comes over again.
Her stomach again twisted with the feeling something was terribly wrong, but ten times stronger than the day before. I've been too much in my head lately. Maybe I need a vacation. She hadn't even noticed the store next door moving, and she'd been here every day except when she'd gone to a Halloween parade in Little 5 Points. She preferred to blend into the background, to watch rather than be observed.
She ordered and paid for a coffee and muffin, and she was so busy gawking at the strange costumes on the way down to the seating area that she almost ran into the one human-looking guy who stood in line — her coffee shop cop. She stepped back to avoid sloshing her coffee, but one of the fairy-looking girls turned, and Audrey lost her balance trying to avoid being poked by a wing. A pair of strong hands reached out and steadied her. She looked up and found herself inches from his gray eyes. Something like electricity jolted through her, and she had to drop her gaze to his metal nametag, which said, "Lewis."
"Thank you," she said and looked back at his face. He had a dimple in one cheek, and the stubble on his face gave him an almost dangerous look. But she had to say something. "I'm such a klutz first thing without my coffee."
"You're welcome," he replied with a smile, and the dimple deepened. "It's last thing for me, and I'm the same way without that final pickup." The pressure of his hands eased, but he didn't release her completely. "You steady now?"
"Yes," she said. She wished she hadn't when he let go of her arms, leaving cold spots where his fingers had been. Her heart beat in her throat, and she couldn't help but notice the dark circles under his eyes, which were striking with his coloring. Damn, even tired looked good on him.
She didn't want their encounter to end, so she offered, "Please let me get you a cup of coffee for saving me from falling down the stairs."
"That's quite all right." He had reached the front of the line, and the horned barista handed him a coffee.
"No charge, sir," the creature said in a squeaky voice. "Thanks for stopping by and for your service."
"Thanks," the police officer said.
"Can I get you a muffin or something?" Audrey persisted. "The chocolate chip ones are quite good."
"I appreciate it, but it's not necessary."
Audrey followed him to the side bar, where he put cream in his coffee. Keep talking, keep talking... "Do you get free pastries, too?"
He shook his head, and Audrey noticed the flush in his cheeks.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean to imply you shouldn't." Her face heated. "I'm sorry, I should let you go protect and serve or whatever it is you do." She bit her tongue. "And that sounded even worse."
He turned back to her, his expression bemused — thank goodness — rather than insulted. "Maybe you should drink some more coffee," he said. "And try to have a nice day."
She watched him leave through the back door to the patio and couldn't help but notice his butt still looked prettyamazing in his uniform pants.
What the hell was that? I don't usually get flustered, and him being a hot guy shouldn't matter since I have a boyfriend.
But I was a lot closer to having breakfast with him than with Kyle. Not that I could ever date a cop.
She pushed the old, sad thoughts away and avoided looking at the other patrons. She held her head high as she left, but one of the winged girls snickered, probably at her.
The crystal and magic store was open when she came out. Needing something to distract her from her self-bashing thoughts — Officer Lewis must think I'm an idiot — she checked her watch: eight-thirty. Early for retail, but maybe they were trying for pre-Halloween business. Maybe they've got something that can calm my dreams. What are those net-looking things with the dangly pieces called? Dream catchers. She took another look at the dragon and pushed through the door.
#
"Man, some guys have all the luck." Lieutenant Charles Allen MacKenzie caught up to Damien later that morning. He'd had to return to the station after leaving his house keys in his locker. Sleep deprivation was a bitch, and coffee could only do so much.
Jolted out of his haze — why couldn't he just be left alone? — Damien rubbed his eyes. He tipped the coffee cup to dislodge that last drop before replying, "Yeah, Charlie, my body doesn't like being on nights, and I managed to not talk too long to a pretty girl at Java Lemur when I stopped by earlier. Some lucky bastard I am."
"C'mon, dude, forget about the coffee shop chick."
"She was kinda cute when she got flustered," Damien murmured. "Really pretty green eyes. She offered to buy me breakfast." I should've been nicer. She must think I'm an idiot or a jerk. But he'd never been good with women. Had never bothered to learn how.
Of course Charlie pounced on the information. "But she was wearing clothes, right? You get to haul three beautiful women to the E.R., one of them buck naked, and then some hot girl wants to buy you food, and you don't consider yourself fortunate?"
"Not really." Damien laced his fingers behind his head and stretched. "But you're jealous, aren't you? You haven't gotten that close to a naked woman since Academy, when you tried to seduce Cindy Lawson for her forensic notes."
"It would've worked, too, if she'd taken any."
Damien snorted at his friend's rueful expression. He couldn't be jealous of Charlie even if they'd graduated from Police Academy in the same class. Charlie had quickly risen through the ranks and been made a detective and a special lieutenant with an office. Damien, on the other hand, was still a uniformed officer who rotated on and off night shift and took whatever computer was available if he had to correct a report.
Yeah, yeah, that's my choice. It keeps me from having to date.
"Your three Jane Does' cases have been given to my team to investigate," Charlie said, "so I've got some questions for you before we try to talk to them."
Damien just wanted to go home and sleep, but he knew he'd feel better with his friend managing their cases, so he said, "There's not much to tell, but go ahead. Everything should be in my reports."
Charlie rubbed his temple with his pen. "That's the problem."
"What is?"
"The reports. All they have filled out are the times they were filed and your name. Nothing else."
"What?" Damien swallowed against the rush of adrenaline. "They were complete when I uploaded them."
"That's what Cherie said. Even saw the sergeant's signature on them. But now they're blank."
“Damn computers." Damien's heart thudded and his face heated. Had he been so tired he’d fallen asleep in his car and only dreamed he saved them? But the clerk had seen the reports. "I don't know what to tell you, Charlie. I'll redo them before I go."
"Nah, don't bother right now, just give me the scoop."
Damien fished the memories from his fatigue-fogged brain. "The first call came in October seventeenth. Some chick in a weird outfit wandering down College Avenue."
Charlie scribbled in his notepad. "Okay. What'd you do?"
“Picked her up. Good thing, too, since she looked like she might try to climb the fence to the tracks. Might have already tried. Her hands were scratched, so I ended up taking her to the DeKalb E.R. after she said she needed help."
"Did she say anything else?"
"Nah, she was mostly incoherent after that. I just got her in the car and to the E.R. and handed her off to Rizzo, the attending."
"And the other two?"
"Same story. October eighteenth and then this morning, the second without the bloody hands, but the third looked like she'd been in a fight with a barbed wire fence. I ended up taking them to DeKalb, and with them being confused, I followed the substance abuse protocol. The only difference was that the one last night was naked. At first people thought it was a convincing Halloween costume, but the poor girl was as out of it as the other two."
"Did Rizzo do drug screens? Are they back yet? And are the girls still there?"
"Yes, and he said they'd be in this morning. I can introduce you on my way home if you like." He looked at the now empty coffee cup, his poor judgment hitting him along with the jitteriness that occurs when too much caffeine meets too little sleep. But if he didn't go to Java Lemur, he wouldn't get to see the cute girl. "It'll be a while before I can sleep, anyway."
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