by Casey Wyatt
We went around the back of the building, past smelly dumpsters and heaps of garbage. Clearly no one had been by to empty the trash in a week. Luca used his Alkhari mojo to spring the lock. I guess it didn’t only work in the spirit world.
“Should I be worried about you?” I whispered to him once he shut the metal security door.
“If the soul-catching thing doesn’t work out, I can use my skills to break into banks.”
I snickered behind my hand. “Was that a joke? Am I rubbing off on you?”
“Not enough if you ask me. Now hush.”
We prowled through the kitchen and the dining room, careful to avoid the windows. Once we were sure the place was vacant, I entered Allen’s office. Luca remained outside the door, keeping watch.
I clicked on a flashlight and chose a corner to start examining objects. One by one, I picked up everything and sensed. Most of the items were either vibeless or uninformative. Not willing to miss a thing, I ran my fingers over the walls, the rugs, and the shelving.
Front half of the room completed, I prepared to tackle the back half, where the desk occupied most of the space. A small hiccup froze me in place. I swung the flashlight around, the beam cutting through the darkness like a knife.
The floor creaked when I took a tentative step forward. Rapid breaths puffed from under the desk, the sound muffled as if a hand was covering a mouth. I rounded the corner, flashlight blazing under the desk.
Luca banged into to the room, fists poised for combat.
I clicked on the desk lamp, and motioned for him to stop. “Why search for clues when we can ask Allen instead?”
“Please! Keep her away from me.” Allen cowered under the desk. Dark circles edged his red-rimmed eyes. His clothes were rumpled and stained. At least three days’ worth of beard shadowed his sallow cheeks. The scent of fear and old sweat oozed from his pores.
I knelt down on my haunches and tried to catch his gaze. “We’re here to help Allen. When was the last time you ate?”
Turns out, Allen’s last meal had been at the museum’s food court. He’d pretty much been on the run ever since Tien’s death. He survived on water from hoses in backyards and puddles. I tried not to run screaming from the room after I heard that.
“I was too scared to go home or anywhere near my family,” he said between noisy swallows of food.
We’d taken him to Soul Kitchen. After the Jiang Shi’s rampage, the Hereafter quadrupled the kitchen’s security, and for the short term, the area was crawling with security. I couldn’t see anyone or sense anything out of the ordinary. Luca assured me that they were there.
Gabriel, who’d fully recovered, was none too happy about the break-in let alone the added presence. He’d grumbled about how it kept the souls away. Come to think of it, there were hardly any patrons. Just the one soldier drinking his coffee in his usual spot, ghostly cigarette perched on the table’s edge.
Allen took it all in stride. Or he was so hungry and pre-occupied he wouldn’t have noticed a unicorn in the room. Gabriel’s chef had made him a smorgasbord: meatloaf, fried chicken, and chili. A steaming slice of mile-high apple pie waited for dessert.
“Why don’t you tell us how you found the Jiang Shi?” Luca prompted, muscles all tensed, ready to spring.
I felt the same sense of urgency, yet I knew if we pressed Allen too hard, too fast, he’d clam up. Or probably go catatonic. The guy was amazingly lucid for someone who hadn’t slept or eaten in days.
“I found the jar in my grandmother’s belongings. She’d died a few months ago and left a house full of clutter. I discovered her extensive collection of Asian art stashed in an old family property. She’d wanted me to keep everything in the family and she’d left a binder full of instructions on the care and ritual around the objects.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want all that stuff. And I didn’t buy into the old superstitions.”
I could relate to not wanting to inherit someone else’s mess. “So it all went to the museum?”
“Most of it. I had an appraiser catalog everything. Some of the really valuable pieces went to auction. I needed the money for my campaign.” He gave a small shoulder shrug. “The only piece I didn’t give away was that jade jar. It kind of spoke to me.”
Yeah, I bet. Like a demented genie in a bottle.
“How did you figure out there was a spirit trapped inside?” Luca asked.
“The notebook. Grandmother left me detailed directions on the proper rites to keep the spirits happy. At first, I didn’t believe.” Allen pushed the plate away and reached for the pie.
Luca’s neck muscles tightened while he watched Allen eat. “And?” he snapped.
Allen flinched and dropped his fork. His eyes widened Gabriel scowled at Luca, then picked the utensil off the floor while handing him a clean one.
I gave Luca’s knee a gentle squeeze. “Don’t mind him, Allen. We’ve had a long few days, too. I’d like to hear more, if you don’t mind.” I smiled sweetly, hoping it would calm him down.
He cleared his throat, fingering the new fork. “I know this will sound crazy, but the jar whispered to me. At night while I slept, I could hear it. At first I assumed it was a dream. I had a lot on my mind. The demands of the campaign, running a business, and settling the estate, not to mention my wife’s constant demand for more attention. You can’t blame me for hearing voices.”
“Not at all,” Gabriel agreed.
“Over time, he told me what to do. How to free him and what he could do for me. I figured why not do as he asked. The worst that could happen was nothing.” Allen shuddered. “I was wrong. So wrong.”
Yes. The old adage, Be careful what you wish for, was tragically true.
“At first, he did help me. I don’t know how he did it, but he increased the restaurant’s prosperity three fold. And, in the election campaign, I started climbing in the polls.”
A dark shadow seemed to pass over the table. We all knew what was coming next.
“I could only make it so far. To win, I needed backing from wealthy patrons to open doors for me.” He poked at the pie with his fork, flicking bits of crust onto the table.
“We know how that turned out. Did you ever have control of the Jiang Shi?” Luca plucked the fork away and placed it on the table.
“I don’t know. Maybe in the beginning.”
“Hold on.” Gabriel leaned forward. “Who’s been controlling the Jiang Shi since then?”
“I don’t know about Zihou, but his sister, I think she’s been independent since the beginning.” I turned to Allen. “Where is the notebook?”
“It’s in my desk. Top right hand drawer. White binder.”
Luca vanished. Allen jumped when Luca re-appeared a moment later. The white binder slammed into the center of the table.
I gave Luca the stink eye. Was all the flashy drama really necessary? “Can you show me what the jar looks like? I think I saw it in Tien’s office.”
Sadness melded onto Allen’s face at the mention of his friend’s name. “Yes. Here it is.”
One glance told me what I needed to know. “That’s not the same jar.”
Luca swore under his breath. “He took the wrong one?”
“It’s my fault. I assumed that was the Jiang Shi’s jar because I felt a spirit in there,” I said. Too bad it was the wrong one. “However, I know exactly where the right jar is.”
I had to hand it to Tien. He’d hidden the jar in the cleverest way possible. Right underneath our noses. Now all we had to do was retrieve it without Reg or Lillian catching us. The sooner we recovered it, the better. I didn’t want more innocent blood spilled.
Allen would stay in Gabriel’s capable hands. He would be safe and he knew the restaurant business, even if he couldn’t quite grasp the concept of pay what you can afford.
When we left, I could hear him quizzing Gabriel. “Why would you not charge a fixed price? How can you make a profit? What about—”
The door closed behind us, cutting off the conversation.
“Are you sure about this?” Luca said. “They may not welcome my kind.”
“They’ll love you. You’ll see.” I held his hand. The world shifted. The sidewalk we’d been standing on reformed into another similar cement surface that was much cleaner. The street was well swept and litter free. At my request, Luca had transported us into the alley across the street.
“Come on. We need to hurry. The sun sets in a few hours,” Luca said.
The monks’ temple stood out among a street of sameness. The red tile roof peaked in sharp contrast to the all of its flat-roofed neighbors. The building glowed with a peaceful blue aura, and oozed with tranquility. We rang the clunky bell at the gated doorway.
A young initiate answered the door and led us inside. Chants echoed in the corridors, the tone low and somber. We skirted the main hall and entered a secluded courtyard. Orange-robed monks toiled over plants arranged in neat rows. Weeds were pulled, dead stems were clipped, and plants were watered with silent precision.
Bo, stooped over a row of curling string beans, waved to us. “Good afternoon. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
I shaded my eyes from the bright sun. “Could we go somewhere more private?”
Bo gradually made his way toward us while offering admiration and praise for the work his brothers performed. When he reached us, he bowed low to Luca. “Welcome, Guardian.”
Luca hid his surprise well and returned the greeting. “My honor, Gatekeeper.”
Pleasantries dispensed, we moved indoors. I blinked a few times to adjust my vision to the dimmer light. Luca placed his palm lightly on my back.
“Did Tien leave you anything, Bo?” I asked once we were inside his cozy office.
“No, not directly. But his wife dropped off boxes of books and other items for us to sell.”
Hoped surged. “Do you still have the boxes?”
“No. We donated all the items to needy families.”
Shit. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else? A jade vessel?”
Bo’s face lit up. “Oh yes. We have it in the main dining room.”
My jaw almost hit the floor when we entered the mess hall and found it high atop a sturdy wooden shelf. Similar to the vessel in Tien’s office, this jar was twice as big and large enough to hold the ashes of two adults.
“How soon can we start the purification ritual?” I asked. Hard to believe a jar had caused so much misery.
“As soon as—”
My cell phone rang, the shrill noise startling a few of the nearby monks. “Sorry. This is my sister.”
I moved into the hall, a smile on my lips, happy with the knowledge that Lillian would be re-interred before the day ended.
“Radiance!” Selene wailed. “I went into her room to wake her from her nap. And she was gone!”
Shock tore through me. No. I crumpled to the floor, but kept the phone steady against my ear. “Who’s gone, Selene?” I knew the answer. I didn’t want to believe it.
“Grace. She’s been taken.”
Chapter 18
Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.
Grace. My darling niece. How dare they? Red-hot pokers of hate pierced me.
In a controlled rage, I promised Selene every resource would be used to find Grace. And that she should call me if anyone made contact. Under no circumstances was she to involve the FBI or police. The matter would be handled by the family. She didn’t argue. Good thing, because I knew who took her.
“Radiance?” Luca’s hand rested on my shoulder.
I pocketed my phone, hands shaking with rage. “That bastard took Grace. Bo, how quickly can you perform the purification ritual?”
The monk wrung his hands. “I would love to do that, except I can’t perform the ritual until sunrise.”
My phone rang again. I snarled when I saw the phone number. “Where is she? If you’ve harmed her . . .”
“That’s up to you, cousin. I didn’t take her. Lillian did. Bring her the jar and sweet, little Grace goes free.” Reg muttered something too muffled for me to hear to someone else in the room.
Pain lanced my jawbone because it was clenched hard enough to chew glass.
Luca paced in front of me. The shadow of his wings grew more pronounced with each revolution.
“You have two hours to bring the jar. I’ll text the address when the deadline nears. Tick tock. Better hurry.” He laughed then hung up.
“That son of a bitch!” I raised my arm to launch the phone against the wall.
Luca’s hand shot out and captured my wrist. “Do not lose your cool. If you smash the phone, how will we get the address?”
True. I leaned against the wall and counted to twenty. “He doesn’t know we have the jar.” My thoughts returned to the hedge maze. Reg never played fair. It was time to use that against him.
“Bo, may I see the vessel?”
“Of course.” He left and returned moments later. “Here it is.”
I took it in my hands, the weight straining my muscles. I faced Luca and Bo. “What is special about this jar? Why is this so important to Lillian?”
Bo rubbed his chin. “Jade is believed to have magical properties.”
Luca took the jar and studied it. “There is nothing magical about the jar itself.”
I placed my palm on the side. “Okay, I see various monks wiping the jar with a soft rag. Someone’s thinking about the evening’s meal. Oh, this guy is thinking about gardening.” I dropped my hands. “Maybe it’s not the jar that will set her and her brother free.”
“She would believe in the power of the vessel,” Bo said.
“I’m not following. Because she believes it has power, it does?” I rubbed my temples. We didn’t have time for this.
“No. It won’t have actual power because she wills it. But it does hold their remains.”
“And those have value,” Luca said.
“The question is, does Reg know that?” I asked. “They want the jar. They never specified that they wanted the contents.”
Luca touched my shoulder. “Are you sure you want to bet Grace’s life on that?”
“Absolutely not. And I don’t plan to. You’ll have to trust me on this, okay?”
He nodded and kissed my cheek. “Then let’s prepare.”
“I will need a living ancestor for the ritual,” Bo said.
“Not a problem.” Luca took out his phone. “We know exactly where a relative is.” He stepped away to call Gabriel leaving me and Bo alone.
“You do not believe your cousin will honor his word,” Bo stated.
“No. And I sure don’t trust the Jiang Shi.” I wrapped my arms in a tight hug around my chest to steady myself.
“Don’t be too quick to judge the honor of the spirits. They can be made to remember their human selves as they were in life. What did your power tell you about Lillian?”
I sifted through my memories, forgetting her behavior as a pissed-off ghost. “She was honorable in life. Both of them were.”
“I do not mean to suggest you should ignore or excuse the deaths they have caused, but they are also slaves to the whims of the living. Since your last encounter, has she killed anyone?”
“As far as I know, she hasn’t killed anyone. That was all her brother’s doing. The slaughter ended with his capture.” The facts made me think about the timeline of events. Other than trashing Soul Kitchen and fighting us, she had not hurt any innocent people. Joanna had confirmed the remains were animal and not human. It galled me to admit it, but her s
ituation had scary similarities to mine. Forced to serve at the will of another. “Shit.”
Bo nodded. “Now what will you do, Redeemer?”
“Offer her the peaceful rest she deserves.” As to Reg, he wouldn’t escape my wrath or judgment. His ass was grass.
“Allen is on his way,” Luca rejoined us. “Bo, do you have a place where we can . . .?”
I stopped paying attention. Again, that nagging feeling tore at me. I was missing something obvious. The hedge maze popped into my head. Then, it struck me. Bo had given me the final clue. The spirits will cling to the familiar parts of their former lives. With every retrieval mission, the soul always returned to some place they knew: their house, their school, a business.
“Guys.”
They stopped talking and looked at me.
“I know where Lillian is hiding. And Reg is not going to give us two hours. Luca, we need to go there, right now.”
Allen had mentioned an old property. We’d seen the property before when Joanna first gave us the case notes and the stone.
“As you wish, cariad. Give us five minutes to prepare the jar.”
I left them to their planning. After I contacted Meadows and instructed him where to leave my new equipment, I reached into my pocket for the fortune cookie. The clear wrapper crinkled as I turned it over and over.
I was taking Grace back. Reg wasn’t the only one knew how to break rules.
Allen handed me a slip of paper with a street address.
As I suspected, it was the same place he’d found his grandmother’s collection.
“Are you sure this will work?” he asked.
No, I wasn’t sure. Not that I’d tell him that. I was nervous enough. “Allen, please work with Bo. I need everyone to do their part if we’re going to end this nightmare.”
