The chains slithered across the wrought iron, clanging as they went. Not that I was trying to be quiet. I let myself in, then shut the gate and slid the chain back into place, dummy locking it, so I’d be able to get out. Adjusting my bag on my shoulder, I started down the hardpacked dirt path. There were stones here and there that said it had been cobblestone at some point, but most of those rocks were gone.

Eammon hadn’t said to bring a flashlight, but I’d snagged one from the entryway of the place I was staying until I could get a place of my own. My current living situation was not ideal, but at least I had a place to sleep and hadn’t ended up on the street. A definite possibility after I’d been evicted from my home in Seattle.

Even if my temporary roommate was Himself’s black sheep of a cousin, Corb. Again, a bit of a story how it all happened. This one involved an elevator, an airplane, and an unintentional friend request. Joke was on him, though—I’d taken him up on his offer of giving me a place to live while I got back on my feet. Through him I’d met Eammon.

I flicked the flashlight on and swept the beam around. There was no obvious person waiting for me. I tucked my résumé into my bag and pulled out the card Eammon had given me.

On one side was the name of the company “Hollows Group” and the address. On the other side was Eammon’s scrawl.

Be bold. Show what you’ve got. We like brains.

Brains, I had those, and one of Himself’s major complaints was that I was too loud and brassy. Bold was an easy step to the left of that, and surely my lock picking qualified. I lengthened my stride as the sun dropped and the evening cooled, scaling back the humidity that never quite died this far south. My mind whirred through the events of the last twenty minutes.

The locked gate, the absence of anyone waiting to greet me. Maybe this was some sort of test.

As soon as I thought the question, I knew I was right. Which meant I needed to figure out just what it was they wanted me to figure out.

How long had it been since I’d even thought about the shadow world? Too long, and I was going to be as rusty as that lock out front if I didn’t pull myself together.

A slow circle with the flashlight and something danced off to my left, just out of sight, ducking behind one of the few gravestones that hadn’t given in to gravity.

I froze, my gut clenching with that fear of the unknown that my grandmother had instilled in me. All the Irish in me reared its very superstitious head.