by D. G. Swank
I closed my eyes and focused on the attic playroom I’d created, on the little boy waiting for me there.
“Okay,” I said, opening my eyes and putting my hand over Collin’s hand on my right shoulder.
I took a step, waiting for him to follow. Then we slowly ascended the staircase. I pushed out a sigh of relief when I saw the playroom I’d created for Tommy a few days ago, after he was threatened by a demon in his own home.
“What the fuck…” Collin gasped as he caught his first glimpse.
“Piper!” Tommy threw his arms around my legs, nearly tackling me in his enthusiasm. “I missed you.”
I dropped to a squat so we were at eye level. “I’m sorry I was gone so long. Do you know how long I’ve been gone?”
His nose crinkled as he seemed to think about it. “I don’t know.”
I flashed him a smile and touched his nose with my finger. “Don’t you worry your cute little head about it.”
In fact, I was relieved he still had little sense of time. Most ghosts had no concept of it, thinking years were days, which I supposed was merciful. Many of them were clueless that the homes they haunted were no longer their own. Tommy seemed more self-aware than most. I suspected he’d been awakened by the demons who had tried to use him to get to me.
“Who’s that?” Tommy asked, wrapping his arm around my thigh as he hid behind it.
I turned to Collin, who was staring at Tommy in shock. My breath stuck in my throat as it occurred to me what this meant. Collin was seeing a ghost without touching me.
“This is Collin Dailey,” I said to Tommy, my mind racing at the implications. “He’s a friend of mine. Collin, this is my friend Tommy Whitfield.”
Collin swallowed, keeping his gaze on the boy. “Ellie, why are you hiding a little boy in your attic?” Then horror swam over his face. “Are you doing this for Abel?”
Tommy looked up at me with innocent eyes. “Who’s Abel?”
“Why would I do this for Abel?” I asked.
Collin squirmed in place, then gestured toward Tommy. “A little boy… Abel’s father is a god… you know…” He shot another look at the boy and started to spell. “S-A-C-R-I-F—”
“Oh my God!” I gasped. “You think I’d be a party to sacrificing a five-year-old? Are you out of your mind?”
“No, Piper,” he said in a cold tone. “But I hardly know either of you.”
Tommy tugged on my jeans. “Piper,” he said with his cute lisp. He’d lost his front teeth before death and would never have them. “What’s a sacwifice?”
I shot Collin a glare, then relaxed my face before I turned to the little boy. “Don’t you worry about it. What have you been doing while I was gone?”
“I pwayed with the Wincon Wogs. I made a fort. Wanna see?”
I walked over to the table, still pissed that Collin thought I’d do something so heinous, but then, he had no idea Tommy was a ghost. It would be pretty suspect of me to hide a kindergartner.
Collin started to wander around the room, picking up objects and setting them down, a look of awe in his eyes. “You made this place? How? Why?”
“Tommy needed protection and the safest place was my own house. The ward on the steps keeps demons out. The attic used to be my mother and grandmother’s playroom. I thought about what I’d seen in photos, and when I came up the stairs, it was here. As to how…” Tommy was absorbed in fixing something on his fort, so I walked closer to Collin and lowered my voice. “The other day while I was on a home visit, I walked into a ghost’s dimension.”
His eyes widened. “A ghost?”
“I talk to ghosts, Collin. You knew that. I help them cross over to the other side. Some are too stuck in their past reality to move on.” I leaned into his ear and whispered, “Like Tommy.”
Collin’s face paled and he pointed to Tommy. “He’s a gh—”
I put my hand over his mouth. “Shh… he doesn’t know. He was stuck in his house, but between a demon who used him to draw me out and a bitchy homeowner who hated him, I had to move him somewhere, so I brought him here.”
“Why don’t you help him move on?” he asked, genuinely curious.
“Whenever I bring up his accident, he gets anxious,” I whispered. “I’m worried he’ll be traumatized if I just tell him. But he’s looking for his mother, who’s already crossed over, so he has unfinished business until I can figure out how to fix this.”
He looked surprised by that but took it in stride as he walked over to Tommy’s Lincoln Logs and picked up a log. “Cool fort, dude.”
Tommy glanced up at him with a huge smile. “Thanks.” He paused. “Will you be my fwiend?”
“You bet.”
“Want to see my crayon drawings? I’m not supposed to show Piper.”
My heart skipped a beat, and Collin’s worried gaze lifted to mine as he nonchalantly asked, “Why not?”
“He said I shouldn’t.”
Collin looked alarmed, but I had to give him credit for keeping his voice neutral. “He who?”’
The boy ignored the question and looked up at me. “You can’t look, Piper!”
“Okay,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking, but I pinned my gaze on Collin. He nodded as though assuring me he’d take care of it, then followed the boy to the bookcase.
Tommy saw me staring. “Piper!” he said, his tone verging on a whine.
I realized he didn’t want me to see his hiding place. I gave him an apologetic smile, then walked over to one of the dormer windows. The curtains were drawn. On my last visit, Tommy had shown me an apocalyptic world outside this pocket universe. Asheville before it had been inhabited hundreds of years ago—a valley surrounded by mountains and storm clouds with fire raining down from the sky. Holding my breath, I pulled the curtains open, prepared to see the valley again, but my yard was out there instead. It looked like a bright, sunny day.
Thank God.
“That’s some picture, Tommy,” Collin said behind me, his voice strained. “Who’s the girl with red hair?”
“I don’t know,” Tommy mumbled, “but that guy’s you.”
“That’s me, huh?” Collin asked.
I was dying to look over my shoulder to gauge Collin’s reaction and perhaps catch a glimpse of the drawing, but I didn’t want to upset Tommy.
“And the guy with the dark curly hair?” Collin asked.
“Dunno,” Tommy said. “I think the girl likes him.”
“The one with brown hair?” Collin asked.
“No, the girl with red hair.”
Collin took a couple of seconds before he asked, “Who’s the girl with brown hair?”
“Miss Piper.”
“What’s in her hands?”
“Swwards,” he said. “Have you seen Piper’s swwards? She has pictures on the handles, but they were too hard for me to dwaw.”
“Yeah,” Collin murmured, sounding distracted. “I’ve seen them. They’re really something.”
“She kills monsters.” Tommy’s voice broke. “She killed a monster that wanted to eat me.”
“Piper obviously likes you very much,” Collin said.
“Yeah,” he said, shyly. “She’s wealy bwave. A bad, bad monster wants her. He’s badder than all the other ones.”
Tommy had told me pretty much the same thing before, but I’d presumed the bad monster was the Great One. Was he talking about Okeus?
I was even more certain that I had to kill Okeus. Abel thought it foolhardy, and while I had to agree with him, we weren’t the only pawns for the brothers. We all were—every single god and demon and human on this plane.
When Tsagasi had called me a slayer of demons and gods, I’d presumed it was yet another indication I was fated to kill Abel. Now I wondered if he’d had a bigger target in mind.
“Will you help Piper fight the monster?” Tommy asked.
Collin hesitated, and for a moment, I thought he was going to tell the boy no, but then he said, “Yes. I’ve already promise
d that I will.”
Who had he promised? Ellie? When I glanced over my shoulder, Collin’s dark gaze was pinned on me. It didn’t take a genius to see he wasn’t happy.
“No peeking, Miss Piper!” Tommy shouted.
I held up my hands in surrender and moved to the next dormer window to let more light into the space. I threw the curtains open with more force than I’d intended and prepared myself for a face full of dust, but nothing flew out. One more reminder that this place had sprung from my imagination.
Only, I hadn’t created what was outside the window.
I gasped and took a step backward, face-to-face with a demon.
Chapter Ten
Piper
It stood on the roof outside the window, its sharp claws digging into the shingles. It looked to be about five feet tall, with dark gray skin, long claws, and lots of teeth.
Why did they have to have so many teeth?
When it saw me, its eyes lit up and its mouth dropped open, drool dripping onto the roof. The roof sizzled and steamed. Acid.
I reached for my daggers, ready to go on the attack, then realized I hadn’t put them on. The curse keepers had assured me I was safe in my own house, but then, I wasn’t in my house anymore. I was in a pocket dimension of my own creation, and I’d been arrogant to think it would be safe.
Collin was at my side in an instant, but I knew he hadn’t brought his sword. We were weaponless.
“What the fuck?” he murmured under his breath.
Tommy ran over and wrapped his arms around me, burying his face into my legs.
“Tommy,” I said, trying to pry him off me. “Go hide under the bed.”
“He can’t huwt us,” the little boy said, shaking violently.
Collin urged me and Tommy back several feet, then jerked the curtains shut.
“Have you seen him before?” I asked.
“He likes to watch me thwough the windows. He’s looking for you. You should stay away from him.”
My heart sputtered and I tried to think through my options. Should I take Tommy downstairs to safety?
Collin must have worked out his own plan, because he pulled a piece of charcoal out of his pocket and started drawing on the walls surrounding the dormer window. “Piper, take Tommy downstairs and grab my sword. I’ll mark the windows and hope it doesn’t get in before I finish.”
“It can’t get in,” Tommy said. “It gets mad when it twies to break the window and climb in, but something keeps the monster out.”
Finishing the first mark, Collin glanced back at Tommy. “How many times have you seen him?”
“I can’t count that high.”
Collin’s gaze jerked up to mine. “How long has he been up here?”
“Two days, but time moves much more slowly here.” I sucked in a breath of horror. “Oh shit.” Then I cringed as I realized I’d cursed in front of Tommy. “Ten minutes here is an hour in our time. How long have we been here?”
Collin went back to marking the wall around the window. “Ten…fifteen minutes.”
“Abel’s probably frantic with worry.” Then again, he could put two and two together. He’d know I was here, and with Collin, neither of which would make him happy. A new thought struck me. “We’re late.”
“We weren’t supposed to meet the others until one,” Collin said. “And we came up here about 11:45. If we’re late, it won’t be by much.”
“That’s not the meeting I’m talking about.” I considered asking Collin to stay and finish the markings so I could go to find Deidre with Abel, but I wasn’t sure if he could leave without me, and I didn’t want him to leave them half-finished. Even though Tommy had claimed the monsters couldn’t get in through the windows, I felt reassured that Collin’s markings were added insurance. Especially with the many hours Tommy spent here without me.
“I want to know what other meeting you had planned,” Collin said as he moved to the second window.
“It’s none of your business.”
“After the drawings I just saw over there”—he nodded his head toward the table—“I think it’s very much my business.”
My stomach dropped to the floor. “What did you see?”
He shot me a leer. “You’re not supposed to know.”
“Cut the crap, Collin. Do you treat Ellie like this too?”
He spun around to face me, anger blazing in his eyes. “How I treat Ellie is none of your goddamned concern.”
“Little ears!” I shouted, getting pissed.
“He’s not even real!”
Tommy’s body stiffened, and he looked up at me with tears in his eyes. “Am I weally not weal, Miss Piper?”
I could kill Collin Dailey. Why had I thought I could trust him when I knew full well he’d betrayed my cousin?
I dropped to my knees and put my hands on Tommy’s arms, holding his gaze. “Do you feel my hands?”
He nodded, tears falling down his cheeks.
I wrapped my arms around his back and pulled him close, his face nestling on my right shoulder. “Do you feel me hugging you?”
He nodded, his chin tapping my shoulder.
“If you weren’t real, you wouldn’t be able to feel me, and I wouldn’t be able to feel you. Or smell you.” I sniffed his hair. “You smell like summer. You’d smell like nothing if you weren’t real.”
“Summer has a smell?” he asked, leaning back to stare at me with wide eyes.
Collin leaned over and sniffed Tommy’s head, then squatted next to us, giving the boy an apologetic smile. “It smells like grass and sweat and pool chlorine.”
Tommy wrinkled his nose. “Sweat?”
“The good kind,” I said. “Sweet little boy sweat.” A wave of protectiveness and affection washed through me, catching me off guard.
Collin put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder and held his gaze. “That was a stupid thing I said. You’re real. I guess I was jealous.” He winked at the boy, but he looked strained.
“You were jeawous of me?” Tommy asked in shock.
“Well, yeah…” Collin said. “You keep hugging Piper, and she’s never once hugged me.”
“That’s because she’s not yours,” Tommy said matter-of-factly. “She bewongs to the monster.”
My breath caught in my throat. “I thought you wanted me to stay away from the monster,” I forced out.
He stared at me like I was a simpleton. “There are wots of monsters, Miss Piper.”
Collin’s mouth pinched before he said, “I’m really sorry, little dude. Do you forgive me?”
Tommy nodded with a solemn look.
“I know you said the monsters can’t get in, but I’m going to make extra sure, okay?”
Tommy nodded again.
Standing, I took Tommy’s hand and gently squeezed. “Want me to read you a book before I leave?”
He looked up at me with innocent eyes. “Can you wead me the story about the puppy again?”
“Of course,” I said. “Why don’t you go sit on the bed and I’ll get the book.”
“Okay.”
I had an ulterior motive. I felt horrible for using him, but I really needed to see what was in that drawing he’d shown Collin…only it wasn’t on the table.
Where was it?
As I picked up the book, I cast a glance at Collin, who was halfway through the second window. Had he taken it?
I sat down next to Tommy, and he asked, “What are those things Collin is scwibbling on the wall? Mommy told me I couldn’t color on the walls.”
“I’m not entirely sure myself, but Collin and his friend Ellie say they’ll help keep the monsters away.”
“Okay, Piper. Can we wead the book now?”
“Yeah.” I started reading about the puppy, glancing up every few seconds to keep an eye on Collin. Tommy yawned and lay down on the pillows, and I pulled a blanket up to cover him. By the time I finished the story, Tommy was asleep and Collin was working on the final symbol on the third and last window.
I got up and put the book away, glancing around for the drawing, but there was no sign of it.
Collin sent a quick glance at Tommy and asked, “Is he really asleep?”
“Yeah.”
“You really like him, don’t you?”
I studied the sleeping boy, my heart swelling at the sight of him. “Yeah. I do.”
“What do you make of the demon outside the window? Do you think it’s real?”
“I created this world in the attic, but I didn’t create what’s outside it. The last time I was here, I saw some kind of vision, but this time… that demon…” I took a breath. “I think it’s real.”
Which meant the demons knew I could create worlds and they were trying to get in.
Which meant my secret was officially out.
“I need to tell Abel.” I headed toward the stairs, but Collin slid over and blocked the staircase.
“What’s the mark you’re trying to stop from appearing?”
“That’s none of—”
“Cut the bullshit, Piper. I might let Ellie get away with it, but I’ve got no reason to cut you the same slack.”
If we were laying all our cards on the table, so be it. “Because you love her?”
He worked his jaw, his Adam’s apple bobbing. I was sure he was going to deny it, but he looked me in the eyes. “I know I blew it. I’ve accepted it, but now everything I do is for her.”
“Because you feel guilty?”
“Because I ruined her life. I broke the curse, tricked her into fusing the gate open instead of closing it, then abandoned her.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, but Collin didn’t wait for a response.
“Her father and stepmother both died because Okeus tricked me into breaking the curse. My own bastard of a father killed Ellie’s mother while he was trying to kill her.” Anguish filled his eyes. “Did you get that? My father went to Ellie’s house to kill an eight-year-old girl.” He ran a hand over his head, then dropped it to his side. “How fucking messed up is that?”
“You’re not responsible for your father’s actions.”
He released a bitter laugh. “I’m not telling you all of this for you to absolve me of my sins. I want you to understand what I’ll do to protect her.” He paused and his eyes turned cold. “I won’t let anything or anyone hurt her.”
