Hereafter (Shadowlands 2)

“I don’t know,” Joaquin replied. “No one really knows exactly when it started, but it’s definitely been recent. They think that it might be because the balance of good and evil around here has been thrown off somehow. That maybe a Lifer has—”

“Gone bad,” I breathed. My gut twisted as I thought of Jessica. “Joaquin, the other night Nadia accused me of being responsible for all this strange stuff that’s been going on around here. Does that mean she thinks I’m the reason things are dying?” I demanded. “Does she think I’m pure evil or something?”

J

oaquin just stared at me. I felt like I was going to throw up. What if Nadia took her suspicions to the mayor? What if the mayor believed her?

“She’s going to get me sent to Oblivion,” I said under my breath, my vision blurring.

“No,” Joaquin said. “Rory, she’s not. No one thinks she’s right about you.”

“Dorn does!” I insisted. “And maybe Grantz, too. What if she starts convincing other people? What if she convinces everyone?”

Joaquin reached for my shoulders and held on tight. “That’s not going to happen,” he said, looking me in the eye. “I won’t let it. Tristan won’t let it. Nadia is just grasping at straws. Now, take a deep breath.”

I did, and blew it out slowly through pursed lips. I felt slightly better. But only slightly.

“Okay?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.” He released me. “Look, I know you’re not the cause of all this, but there’s definitely something up. And now, on top of everything, good people are going to the Shadowlands. Whatever it is, it’s not good.”

I cleared my throat. “So what do we do?”

“There’s only one person to talk to around here when something’s wrong,” Joaquin said, starting for town. “And whatever Saint Tristan thinks, something is clearly wrong.”

“We’re going to the mayor?” I asked tremulously.

Joaquin nodded, his fists now tightly clenched. “We’re going to the mayor.”

Joaquin walked right into Tristan’s house without knocking. Somewhere nearby I heard voices whispering urgently, but they fell silent when I closed the door. Joaquin was already striding toward the mayor’s office.

“Just go,” I heard Tristan’s voice hiss.

A female voice answered. “But, Tristan, you have to understand—”

“I don’t want to hear it! Go!”

I was still trying to figure out who the girl’s voice belonged to when Tristan and Krista appeared from around the corner in the living room.

“J.,” Tristan said, his eyes smoldering. “We need to talk.”

I hesitated in the center of the entryway. Krista fidgeted with her bracelet. A door near the back of the house banged shut.

“Not now, man,” Joaquin replied. He walked right over to the mayor’s office and rapped loudly on the door.

“What the hell are you doing?” Tristan demanded, following him.

“Reporting a problem to the mayor,” Joaquin replied.

Tristan got between him and the door, pushing him backward. “You can’t just storm in here like that.”

“Get off of me!” Joaquin yelled, windmilling his arms to throw Tristan off.

“This is my house!” Tristan yelled.

Joaquin laughed in a sarcastic way. “Don’t even start with that shit, Tristan.”