“The fact that he talked about it with you at all is amazing,” Cormack countered. “He won’t talk to me about it. He needs to talk to Aisling because they were together when it happened. He won’t talk to her, even though he seems to be playing caretaker for her more than usual. They have a new bond, which I don’t know how to take because they’ve always been the first to fight. It’s interesting … and alarming.”
He was babbling, maybe more to himself than to me. I was learning a lot. “Why did they fight?”
“Because they’re the most alike. Aidan may be Aisling’s twin, but Braden and her share more personality traits. Aidan is easier to get along with. Aisling and Braden are my moodiest children.”
“Do they believe that?”
Cormack snorted. “They admit to their faults, if that’s what you’re asking. Since it happened, Braden has been something of an enigma. He participates in family gatherings, spends time at the bar with his brothers, and sits with Aisling when she’s upset or not feeling well. He’s been good ... and yet he’s distant.”
“Maybe you simply need to give him some space.”
“Perhaps.” He nodded once. “Or maybe he needs something else entirely.”
His pointed stare made me uncomfortable, so I quickly changed the subject. “I’ll talk to Aunt Max, tell her what’s going on. I’ll ask if she can help. But I won’t manipulate her. I won’t use her for what I think she can give me. That’s not who I am.”
“I don’t want you to manipulate her. We need help, though. That means tapping Maxine as a resource. You’re in the best position to do that.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“I’m sure you will.”
MAXINE MET ME AT a cute Italian restaurant on Royal Oak’s main drag. I was forced to take an Uber — something that would get expensive if I didn’t get a handle on my vehicle situation — but I had no other options, so I settled in and enjoyed the ride.
Maxine was already seated when I arrived. I greeted her with a hug and kiss on the cheek before sitting across from her.
“Thank you for meeting me.”
My aunt was many things, and intuitive was one of them. “You clearly had something on your mind when you made the call. I’m here for you. I told you that when you mentioned moving back, despite what your grandfather said to the contrary ... in rather vicious words.”
Yes, that was an ugly business. My grandfather, who I adored, wasn’t happy when I informed him I was joining the reaper academy after I graduated high school. Given who my father was, I had a spot waiting. My grandfather wanted me to live a normal life — or as normal as I could being the granddaughter of a powerful sorcerer. He was a former reaper. He was born into it, like my father before me. He changed his mind about the righteousness of the job after my father and mother died. I guess I couldn’t blame him.
When I told him I was considering becoming a reaper he had a meltdown. I joined the academy anyway, aced all my classes and then got a side job as a secretary at the New Orleans home office when I graduated. He wasn’t thrilled with the development, but the fact that I was doing clerical work was a great relief to him. I knew it would be, so I bided my time.
Slowly, I moved to a variety of different positions, each one slightly more active than the previous. When it came time to apply for my position as gatekeeper in Detroit, he barely batted an eyelash ... until I delved into the nitty-gritty of the decision. I still remember the way he howled. He wasn’t happy, and yet there was nothing he could do to change my mind. This had always been the plan. He simply didn’t realize it.
We’d barely talked since, although he’d taken to emailing me weather updates from New Orleans every morning. He didn’t want to talk about anything other than the weather, but it was a start. He would eventually forgive me. He always did.
“I do have something on my mind,” I agreed, sipping my water before continuing. “We have a situation.” I told her about the wraith and the discovery of the body. She knew part of the story, but the death was an added worry that none of us expected. “We have to track it down, but we have no idea where to start looking. I don’t suppose you have any ideas?”
Instead of immediately answering, Maxine leaned back in her seat and stared at her wine glass. “Did Cormack ask you to approach me?” she asked finally.
I refused to lie to one of the few family members I had left. “He did. I thought initially he wanted me to manipulate you, which I was against, but he said that he preferred I was upfront. He seems to be ... troubled ... where you’re concerned. I don’t know how else to phrase it.”
“He’s troubled because of his children and how they perceive me,” Maxine corrected, her lips curving down. “We’ve always been close, shared tea and coffee here and there. He’s been unusually distant since it happened.”
Even though Braden explained what “it” was, I still felt out of the loop. “Braden told me about it, although I’m not sure I understand everything.”
“What did he tell you?”
I related his tale, almost word for word, and when I was done, my aunt heaved a sigh.
“That’s mostly it, but not entirely.” I’d never known Maxine to be fidgety, but she ran her fingers through her hair now, as if she needed something to do with her hands. “I did what I had to do. You must understand that.”
I didn’t understand any of it. “He said a lot of things that made sense to him, but not to me. I’d like to understand, but there are too many holes. I can’t get there.”
“And you’re asking me to get you there.”
“It would be nice,” I confirmed. “If I’m going to be working with these people I’d prefer not sticking my foot in my mouth at every turn.”
Maxine offered a dismissive wave. “Oh, don’t worry about that. All the Grimlocks suffer from Foot-In-Mouth Disease.”
“You know what I mean.”
Because she did, Maxine simply nodded. “Fine. I’ll explain it to you, but I don’t want to hear any lip.”
I mimed zipping my mouth, something she taught me when I was a kid and she shared “secrets” that I wasn’t supposed to tell my parents. They weren’t really secrets, of course. She slid me candy when my mother insisted I’d had enough sugar for the day, promised adventures in the wilderness that my father would have frowned upon, that sort of thing. It was still our special thing and I remembered the afternoons spent in her care.
“Lily Grimlock died years ago, at least for all intents and purposes,” Maxine started. “Genevieve Toth was trying to master soul-walking. She failed.”
“Braden mentioned that name. I don’t recognize it, yet I feel as if I should.”
“She was evil and she sacrificed others for centuries to sustain herself. She’s gone now. Cormack killed her when she attacked Aisling. The damage she left behind sustains.”
“Braden said that in the course of trying to save his mother, Genevieve severed her soul. I don’t understand how that works.”
“It’s more that she shattered her soul,” Maxine corrected. “One piece was big enough to hold together and pass over. That was the real Lily, a woman who loved her children and husband and wanted to protect them at all costs.
“The other portion, a much smaller sliver, remained with her body,” she continued. “That other woman had all of Lily’s memories but none of her emotions. Genevieve Toth concocted a plan to take over Aisling’s body — she thought she needed a female reaper to turn back the soul-walking mistakes — but Aisling fought her off, and the rest of the family wiped out Genevieve’s minions.
“At the time, no one realized Lily was still walking and talking,” she said. “That became evident months later. Aisling discovered it, but had the most trouble accepting it. Braden immediately embraced his mother, trusted her, and tried to wedge her back into the family.”
I tried to the picture the man I’d only recently met acting the way my aunt described and came up empty. “I’m guessing that didn’t go over well.”
“No. At least not with Aisling.”
“Did they fight?”
“They always fight.” Maxine’s lips curved as she shook her head. “That’s how they communicate. The Grimlocks love each other, but they get off messing with one another. Braden and Aisling most of all like to push.”
“At some point it became clear that the woman masquerading as their mother was a fraud,” I noted. “Braden said that himself. He said there was a big fight.”
“There was,” Maxine agreed. “Lily took over Genevieve’s plan and decided to take Aisling so she could anchor herself to this plane with a human body that wasn’t as tattered as the one she was trying to control. I wasn’t completely sure what was happening, but I knew the Grimlocks needed help.”
“And you somehow resurrected Lily Grimlock’s soul,” I mused. “That must have been an interesting bit of magic.”
“I borrowed her soul,” Maxine corrected. “It was a basic transporter spell with a bit of oomph. Lily’s soul was really here, though only reapers could see it. Aisling was the first, but Lily revealed herself to all her children at the end. She helped save them.”
That didn’t sound so bad. “So ... why are they so angry?”
“Because she couldn’t stay.”
“Is that the only reason?” My aunt’s answer didn’t seem to jibe with the vibe I got from Braden. “I think there has to be more to it than that.”
“Nothing in life is ever simple,” Maxine agreed, a hint of a smile playing around the corners of her lips before she sobered. “Basically, the fight went down in an old theater. The half-Lily tried to escape, but Aisling stopped her. The floor gave way and Aisling had a choice of saving the creature pretending to be her mother or Braden.”
My heart skipped a beat. “She obviously chose Braden.”
“She did. Braden still feels guilt for his mother dying, even though he understands that woman wasn’t really his mother. He grapples with it, which means the others struggle, too. They’re a co-dependent lot.”
“I had dinner with them last night. They’re all loyal to a fault. Co-dependency is definitely a thing in that house. They all grouped around Aisling when I tried to ease her foot discomfort as if they were waiting for me to try to hurt her so they would have something to kill.”
“That sounds exactly like them,” Maxine said. “They’re a force to be reckoned with when they want to be.”
“And yet they blame you for what happened, and it wasn’t your fault.” My temper flashed bright and hot. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
“They don’t really blame me,” Maxine countered. “They need someone to blame, and I’m the most convenient target. They’ll get over it.”
“And you’re okay with that? You helped them. You shouldn’t be punished for your good deed.”
“I gave them their real mother for a very brief period of time. She was ripped from their lives again. Do you think that’s easy for them?”
I shook my head as tears pricked the back of my eyes. “I know what it’s like to lose a mother.”
“You do. Still, what happened to them was different,” Maxine stressed. “No one should have to deal with what those children did. Can you imagine getting your mother back only to find out she wasn’t your real mother? Can you imagine being responsible for her death? The Grimlocks are dealing with a lot.”
“That doesn’t make it your fault.”
“They’ll get over it in time. Until then, I will offer help wherever I can. But ... I need to see the gate. I haven’t been in that room since your mother and father were in charge, but I need to see if I can get a reading. If we’re going to find this wraith, I’ll need something to go on.”
“That’s against the rules.”
“I’m well aware.”
I capitulated almost instantly. “You’ll have to be quiet. If I get caught showing you the gate I could get fired.”
“I’ll be quiet as a mouse.” She mimed zipping her lips, causing me to smile. “It will be just like old times. I snuck in there a time or two with you when you were a child, but I don’t suppose you remember that.”
My stomach gave a little flip. “I remember.” In truth, I remembered almost all of it. The only thing I didn’t remember was the most important thing. I hoped that would change.
Fourteen
Maxine didn’t spend much time staring at the filmy gate opening when we reached the aquarium. I found that odd because it’s all I wanted to stare at. Instead, she murmured a spell I didn’t recognize and started pacing the outside boundary of the room, keeping close to the cinder block walls.
“What do you think is on the other side?” I asked, easing a hip onto the table and watching her. “Do you think we go on?”
“Of course we go on.” Maxine seemed so sure of herself it gave me pause. “How can you be a reaper and not believe in the afterlife?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe in it,” I said. “It’s just ... do you think Mom and Dad are over there?”
“Why wouldn’t they be?”
“Because I can’t remember what happened the night they died and I’ve been doing a little research.” It was hard for me to admit but now that I’d started I couldn’t stop. “If something came through the gate, then maybe their souls were destroyed during the fight. I didn’t know that was a thing until I started reading up on the possibilities.”
Maxine stopped whatever she was doing and focused on me. “Are you really worried about that?”
I nodded without hesitation. “Just tonight you told me a story about a body coming back without a soul. If the soul and body get separated, there’s always a chance something bad can happen to the soul.”
“I guess that’s true.” Maxine didn’t look convinced. “You know, you have ready access to reapers who could look that up for you. Cormack would’ve been the one in charge of Belle Isle at the time of their deaths. You could ask him to check his records.”
That hadn’t even occurred to me. “He was in charge even then?”
“He’s been in charge a very long time. His parents retired early and moved to Florida. Cormack took over when he was barely in his twenties. He’s an important figure in this organization.”
I rubbed my cheek, uncertain. “Do you think he would be upset if I asked?”
“No. You’ve met his children. He’s largely unflappable.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Maxine returned to her spell, allowing me to watch. When she was finished, I asked the obvious question.
“What was that?”
“I was searching for a trail, but there doesn’t seem to be anything,” she replied. “I thought maybe if we could find the wraith’s essence that we could follow it.”
“Oh.” That was better than any idea I’d come up with. “Why do you think we can’t find a trail?”
“There are two possibilities. The first is that the wraith’s lack of a complete soul makes a trail impossible because it doesn’t read as a complete entity.”
“And the second possibility?”
“That it’s so strong it managed to mask its trail.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Which do you think it is?”
“I have no idea.” Maxine planted her hands on her hips as she huffily looked around the room. “I don’t know what to tell you. I need to think.”
MAXINE TOOK HER THINKING plans home. She offered to walk back to the boathouse with me, but I waved her off. I had my golf cart, which meant I could zip to my new home in a few minutes. The island was empty, the wraith seemingly gone, so I wasn’t overly worried about making the trek myself.
I had no reason to stay near the gate. Our logs were cleared for the afternoon thanks to Oliver and Renee, which meant we wouldn’t have souls to monitor again until the morning. Still, I couldn’t drag myself from the shimmering surface.
I sat cross-legged on the top step next to the opening and stared at the rippling doorway. The surface was reflect
ive, and I saw a distorted image of myself, but I could see nothing on the other side.
Perhaps that was for the best.
“I know you’re not there,” I said softly, speaking to no one in particular. “I know you can’t hear me, but this is as close as I can get.”
If anyone were to catch me, to ask what I was doing, I would lie and say I was talking to myself. That was less embarrassing than the truth. I was alone, which meant I could be bold. I had things to say to my parents that I didn’t want Renee and Oliver to hear. I was under no illusion that they could hear me. I still wanted to talk.
“I’ve never forgotten you,” I offered. “I was young, but you ingrained yourselves in my memories. Grandpa kept photos of you all over the house so I wouldn’t forget what you looked like. He would tell me funny stories. Sure, they were mostly about Dad, but he tried to include Mom as much as possible.
“Even though he wanted me to live with him, he didn’t keep me from Aunt Maxine,” I continued. “She came to visit every six months. He wouldn’t let me stay with her for the summers, and I was bitter about that when I was younger, but I get it now. He was always afraid I would find my way back here.
“I can’t remember what happened,” I said, furrowing my brow. “I try. Hard. I remember us screwing around in this very room. Dad was making a joke — I think it was one of those lame Dad jokes that made me roll my eyes even back then — and we were planning to do something as a family over the weekend. I’m pretty sure it was the zoo.
“I remember the gate flickering, and it made a sound like a skipping record,” I said, trailing my fingers close to the shimmering surface but being careful not to touch it. “I think something came through, but I can’t remember what. Everything in my head is jumbled after that. I hear screaming and nothing else.”
I lapsed into silence for several minutes before continuing.
“They questioned me – the reaper council and police officers, I mean. Aunt Maxine stepped in when they got a little overzealous,” I offered. “They wanted answers. I get that. I didn’t have answers to give. I was in shock. That’s what the doctors said. It took days for me to snap out of it.
Only The Lonely (A Death Gate Grim Reapers Thriller Book 1) Page 13
