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I’d never even heard about the Gatekeepers, though I knew about the different forms of the dead. “All right, so I assume Magda was pissed about that.”

“That’s an understatement. Anyway, so the Hounds would love to take out the Gatekeeper, because that would help them spread their mayhem. I don’t know why they haven’t struck before, but something has changed.”

“What do you think changed?” Killian asked.

Kerris narrowed her eyes. “I heard through the grapevine that they’re working with the Covenant of Chaos here in Moonshadow Bay.

Somehow, between the two groups, they’ve managed to kidnap Penelope and from what I understand, they’re holding her here.

I have no idea why, but I need your help to rescue her.

Also, if this means the two groups are merging, we all have a new problem to deal with.

Between the Covenant and the Hounds, they wield a lot of power. ”

I caught my breath. “What if there are other groups like them? What if they decide to all band together?”

“Then we’re all screwed,” Bryan said. He leaned forward. “We have a council—the Crescent Moon Society. They suggested we come to you.”

I nodded. “They’re similar to our Crystal Cauldron, though I think things work a little differently in Whisper Hollow. But the Crescent Moon Society is still part of the Order of the Moon, correct?”

Kerris nodded. “We don’t talk about it much, but yes.

There are specific towns among the shadow towns that are run differently than most of the others.

Whisper Hollow is one. Usually, shadow towns like Whisper Hollow have darker spirits in them.

Some of the spirit beings are practically alien in nature.

Whisper Hollow is far less inviting than Moonshadow Bay. ”

I thought about it. There wasn’t even a question as to whether I’d help Kerris, but I didn’t know if I could do it by myself. As I was sitting there, a voice echoed in my ear and I looked up to see Esmara standing beside me.

You need Rowan’s help in this, she said.

I was thinking that, I projected back. Esmara was one of the Ladies, the women of my family line who watched over us, and who gave us advice. She’d first come to me when I returned to Moonshadow Bay, and she was always nearby. Can I trust Kerris? What do you think?

She and her guardian are safe, but be cautious, January. Spirit shamans are laden with a lot of baggage and they always walk in the shadow of death. Kerris can’t escape her destiny, any more than you can escape yours. Esmara glanced over at her and said, Hello. I know you can see me.

Wait, she can hear you? I didn’t want Kerris to think we’d been talking behind her back.

Only what I choose to let her hear, Esmara said. No worries.

But Kerris laughed. “I wondered who was hanging around,” she said aloud. “Introduce me?”

I sucked in a deep breath. Both Killian and Bryan were looking confused. “Esmara is my guardian. In my family, we call them the Ladies . They come to guide those of us who need their help. She was my mother’s aunt.”

“How do you do?” Kerris said, smiling. “It’s not often I have pleasant dealings with the dead.”

It’s not often I choose to allow the living to hear me, Esmara countered, winking. She turned to me. Call Rowan. You’ll need her help on this. And then, without even a goodbye, she vanished.

“Let me call my grandmother,” I said. “She’s the high priestess of the Crystal Cauldron, the local coven. She’s been around a lot longer and she’s much more knowledgeable about these things than I am. She’ll help us.” I knew, in my heart, that Rowan would come through.

“What’s her name? I may have heard of her,” Kerris asked.

“Rowan Firesong.”

Kerris nodded. “Right. I know that name. My grandmother, who was the spirit shaman before me, mentioned her once or twice.”

“Can they destroy Penelope?” Killian asked.

Kerris thought about it. “I don’t know. I doubt it—she’s already dead. But without her presence, the ghosts walk too easily. And I don’t have the time to be running after every spirit that decides to step out of the grave. We already have a host of the Unliving over in Whisper Hollow.”

“I always wondered,” Killian said. “What’s the difference between the Unliving and a vampire? We have a lot of vampires here, but I’ve almost never heard of the Unliving.”

Kerris smiled. “It all depends on where you live, which you’ll find the most. I don’t know if we have any vampires in Whisper Hollow.

I never really thought about them.” She picked up her mug and took a sip.

“So,” she said, wiping her lips with her napkin.

“The main difference is that the Unliving are still dead, but they create form out of the spirit’s will to live. ”

“Like a zombie?” I asked.

“No, zombies are empty vessels with a primal hunger drive. The Unliving are so driven to keep their connection with the physical world that their spirit creates their bodies. The queens of the Unliving are actually fallen spirit shamans who have displeased the Morrígan. Vampires are turned by blood, so they’re a different creation altogether, and nobody knows exactly how they came to be.

They’re trapped in their bodies, rather than creating their bodies. ”

Kerris stopped as the waitress returned, carrying a huge tray with our dinners on it. As she handed around our plates, the waitress seemed to sense our mood and she kept a silent smile on her face. Then, with a soft “Just ask if you need anything else,” she left.

We took a few minutes to eat in silence. I was deep in my thoughts about both Walter and the Gatekeeper. Kerris seemed like a nice woman, but intense, and I realized that the job she had—spirit shaman—probably kept her cloaked in shadows constantly.

“What do you do ? I’ve never been quite clear on what the function of a spirit shaman is,” I asked, after that first mad dash at the food. We all seemed hungry, from what I could tell.

Kerris cleared her throat and set her fork down. “Spirit shamans keep the dead from wandering. We’re more than what you’d call a ghost buster. We literally guard the cemeteries and watch for the dead who do not want to go through the Veil.”

“And are there a lot of them in Whisper Hollow?” Killian asked.

“Too many. Given some of the spirit beings we have there, including the Lady of the Lake, we lose more people on an annual average than just about anywhere else in the United States,” she said. “And a number of them don’t want to go. So they fight to stay once they’re in spirit form.”

“You said your grandmother was a spirit shaman?” I asked.

“She was. My mother should have been, but she was murdered when I was young and she never had the chance to take up her post. It’s a complicated and tangled story, and I only found out who killed her and why when I returned to Whisper Hollow.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “My parents are both dead, and it was hard enough as an adult to lose them.”

“Yeah, it’s never easy,” Kerris said with a shrug.

“If Bryan and I have a daughter, she’ll become a spirit shaman.

If not, then when I pass on, they’ll have to bring in someone new from a different place.

We’ve been trying to get pregnant—I’m not getting any younger—but so far no luck.

The doctor said there’s no physical reason for me not getting pregnant, so I’ll have to trust him and hope that nature takes its course. ”

Nodding, I pulled out my phone and texted Rowan. we need to talk to you. can you see us tonight? i’m with kerris, the spirit shaman of whisper hollow, and she needs our help. it’s urgent.

I started to tell them that I had texted my grandmother when my phone alerted me to an incoming text. “Hold on,” I said.

come over as soon as you can, Rowan texted back.

“Okay, my grandmother wants to see us tonight. I’ll tell her we’ll be there after dinner.” I replied to Rowan, then set my phone down. “My grandmother’s pretty incredible, though she can be more than a little intimidating.” I added, “Just so you aren’t too surprised, she lives with a demon.”

“A demon?” Kerris coughed on her salad. She took a sip of water, then added, “Your grandmother is involved with a demon? Do I understand that correctly?”

I laughed. “Yeah, but he’s not evil.” I told them about Tarvish and how he had come to be here.

“So, you see, if he went back into the computer system, he’d vanish—cease to exist. And he’s just too nice to do that to.

Then he and my grandmother hit it off and…

Well, I don’t expect to be calling him ‘Grandpa’ any time soon, but I could do worse. ”

“Yeah, you could,” Kerris said. “My grandfather—the man I thought was my grandfather—was an absolute monster. I’m grateful I met my real grandpa, but I’d rather have a demon for a grandfather than the one I grew up with.”

Kerris sounded like she’d had a rough life, but I didn’t want to pry.

Instead, I shifted the subject to my work, which brought Walter back to mind, but I sidestepped his death and focused on explaining Conjure Ink and the work we were doing, until we were finished with dinner and ready to head over to Rowan’s.