Me and My Shadow - Katie MacAlister [8]
“How could she see signs that we can’t?” Maata asked.
“Things look different in the shadow world,” I said, glancing around.
She frowned.“I’m confused.You just said that shadow walking meant we couldn’t see you. Why would something look different? Oh, wait—are you talking about going into the Dreaming?”
“The beyond, the Dreaming, the shadow world . . . different words for the same thing. It’s just an alternate reality, but only a few people can access it, and yes, that’s what I’m talking about. When I’m in the shadow world, I can see signs that aren’t visible in our world. Gabriel?”
The sun was out, shining brightly on the front of the house. Although there weren’t a lot of people out, I didn’t particularly want one of the noontime passersby to see me disappear into nothing. Gabriel and Maata moved immediately to block my view of the street, allowing me to slip into the shadow world unnoticed.
The street where we lived looked more or less the same in the shadow world, although angles were slightly off, giving the buildings a somewhat skewed appearance. Other than that obvious difference, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary . . . until I glanced down. “Oh, we are in so much trouble.”
“What is it?” Gabriel asked when I bent to touch a spot on the sidewalk, his shadowy image standing next to me.
I smiled as I stood up and showed him my hand. “I’m so glad your mother taught you how to access the shadow world, even if you’re incorporeal here. It’s arcane residue.”
“Arcane? From a mage?”
“Possibly. Dragons shed dragon scales, elemental beings leave traces of their primary element, demons leave little splotches of demon smoke, and theurgists leave arcane residue.” I glanced around a wider area, my eyes searching for any other signs.
“Which means it could be anyone who uses arcane power. A mage?”
“It could be a mage, yes. Other theurgists use arcane power, too—oracles and diviners, for instance. Goetists like necromancers and summoners can tap into arcane power, as well. It could be any of them.”
“And dragon scales?” Gabriel asked as I followed the arcane residue down the street.
“Lots of them, but they’re a few hours old, so I assume they’re from the silver dragons. I don’t see any fresh ones, if that’s what you’re asking. Damn.” I stood up from the crouch I’d adopted to follow the fading residue trail. “It’s gone already. Elementals and theurgists are the hardest beings to track because their traces fade so quickly. I’m sorry, Gabriel. I can’t tell you anything other than—”
“May, come back to me.”
I glanced over to where Gabriel stood next to me. His voice, although somewhat muffled by the projection of himself into the shadow world, held a distinct note of command, a circumstance that was unusual enough for me to take notice. “What?”
“Come back to me.” His eyes glittered like mercury against black velvet. “Come back to where my body is.”
“We’re just a couple of blocks from home, and I’d like to look around some more.” I waved toward the sidewalk. “There’s a slight chance that not all of the residue has disappeared.”
His image faded before my eyes, his voice an echo on the air. “There is another dragon in the Dreaming.”
I spun around, instantly reaching for the dagger I wore strapped to my ankle, even though I knew the weapon would do nothing against the only dragon known to be able to enter and exit the shadow world at will. “Baltic?”
A distant voice, tinged with amusement, drifted over to me. Judging by the somewhat ethereal nature of the sound, I gathered the very dangerous former wyvern, once thought dead, but evidently very much alive, was at some distance from me. “Ah, it is the silver mate who speaks. A doppelganger, my assistant tells me, which explains how your wyvern got around the curse. How very clever of Gabriel to think of mating himself to a woman who was not technically born.”
“Annoyed that you hadn’t thought of that eventuality when you cursed the silver dragons never to have a mate born to them?”
I felt a familiar presence next to me, but separated by realities.