When Darkness Hungers: A Shadow Keepers Novel (Shadow Keepers 5) by J.K. Beck Read Free Book Online Page A

where the monsters live.” Those sharp eyes narrowed, becoming almost lost in the creases of the woman’s face. “That’s what you’re looking for. A monster.”
    “Damn straight. Can you help me?”
    “Not me. The girl. Maybe. If you ask nice. Sugar and spice, not snails and tails.”
    The sharp eyes were starting to dull; whatever dementia had brought this woman down into the subways was setting back in. “Wait,” Alexis said, clutching the woman’s wrist, then squeezing until the old lady looked her in the eye. “Who’s the girl? Where can I find her?”
    “Can’t,” the woman said. “She finds you. In here.” She tapped her temple. “That’s where she lives. Squeezesinside and looks around. Looks inside your head for the monsters. Now, go on with you. Bedtime now. Gotta tuck in Mr. Padgett.” She slipped her hand in her pocket and Alexis saw the pocket move. A rat’s pointed nose and beady black eyes emerged, staring her down and daring her to stay.
    She thought about taking Mr. Padgett up on that dare, but she’d gotten as much out of the woman as she was going to get. The old lady was fading fast, cooing to her rat and swaying softly like a mother with an infant.
    Alexis got the hell out of the subway, her mind on the girl. A girl who got into people’s heads. A girl who found monsters. That was a girl Alexis wanted to meet. But how the hell was she supposed to find her?

 
    In the end, she didn’t find the girl. The girl found her.
    For two days, she’d continued to canvas the subway tunnels near Battery Park. She still asked about Tori, but now she was also asking about the mysterious girl. She’d wanted to pull more information from the old woman—she’d gone so far as to bring a sandwich from a nearby deli—but the woman and her rat were gone, lost to the tunnels like so many others.
    It happened at dusk on the second day. Alexis was tired. Dirty. And getting damn discouraged, too. She’d just about decided that Gutierrez was right—she needed to go home and get her head out of this. Watch mindless television. Drink wine. And try to find some semblance of a center, because her life was spiraling down into obsession. She knew that—could feel the tug of the drain spinning her round and round. But dammit, she wasn’t quite ready to give up.
    For the night, though …
    She’d been pushing so hard, she could feel the exhaustion in her bones. For just one night, she’d go home. Take a bath, drink some wine. Then hit it hard again in the morning.
    She dragged herself up the steps, letting the flow of Friday-night revelers push her along, like flotsam in a never-ending stream. As she reached street level, she saw a woman step away from a railing. She’d been leaningthere, long blond hair fluttering in the evening breeze, the yellow lamplight giving her a fairy-princess glow. Alexis slowed, remembering. She’d seen that same woman when she’d descended the steps two hours before. She’d noticed the dress—a fifties-style sundress with a cinched waist, the kind of retro outfit that was all the rage lately. The dress was white with tiny pink dots, and the girl had paired it with pink flats, making her look both sophisticated and innocent, the kind of look that Alexis liked, but never tried because she was afraid it would make her too Marilyn Monroe, and that didn’t fit her image of a badass FBI agent.
    This time it wasn’t the dress that interested Alexis; it was the girl. Why the hell was she still there two hours later? More important, why was she now walking toward Alexis, her gait uneven as she favored one leg?
    “I think maybe you’re looking for me,” the girl said. “I’m Leena.” She stuck out her hand to shake, but Alexis only frowned.
    “You?” She’d been searching for a girl, yes. But she’d expected someone older. Rougher around the edges. The kind of girl who prowled sewers and would be noticed by the vagrants who lived down in the dark. But Leena? She