Llew turned toward me. “Are you all right? Raven? What happened, and what was that thing?”
I waved for him to be quiet for a moment until I could catch my breath. Finally, I leaned back, trying to stretch as a muscle spasm hit my side.
“That is what we’re fighting,” I said. “And I hate to tell you this, but we have to go back in the basement, into Tag’s secret room. There’s something hidden there, and while I have a feeling we don’t want to see it, I don’t think we have a choice.”
“Is there any way that this barrier can travel with us?” It would help so much if we could take it with us, using it like a shield, but Llew shook his head.
“Not the way it is. However, I can harvest some of the energy, and we can carry that with us. It won’t be quite as effective, but it will provide some protection. It won’t take me long to prepare it, but be aware, the moment we attack the creature, the barrier will break.”
“So we can go down and check out that back wall, but we can’t fight the creature while we’re in the middle of it?”
He nodded. “That’s about right. I need something we can eat. Find something in the kitchen, if you would, and bring it to me.”
It wasn’t what I hoped for, but for now it would have to do. Whatever the entity was, it was stronger than both Llewellyn and me put together.
He went to work, charming the energy of the barrier, while I headed into the kitchen to look for something we could eat. I was leery, worried the entity might come back and attack me, but it seemed to keep at bay. I found brownies, but then it crossed my mind that they might be spiked with something—like Tag’s control potion or whatever he had used on Lana. In the end, I chose a couple of apples. I carried them back into the living room, relieved to see Llew was still all right, and still there. I didn’t usually get spooked easily on my cases, but this was quickly turning into a nightmare.
“Eat your apple. The flesh will infuse your aura with the essence of the spell. But remember, once you attack, all bets are off.”
We ate the apples, and I was surprised to find that I could actually taste the magic—it gave a sparkly aura to the fruit, heightening the taste. Llew fixed his dagger and sickle to his belt, and I made sure that Venom was within easy reach. I zipped Laralea back into her case, and set it on the floor where the handpan wouldn’t get thrown around. At least, I hoped it wouldn’t be thrown around. The instruments were pricey and she and I had found our groove together.
We headed toward the basement, and I grimaced as we descended the staircase. All around us was a murky, thick energy. It was the entity. Luckily, it wouldn’t be able to touch us easily, given Llew’s spell. But neither could we attack it. I prayed the barriers would keep in place long enough for us to find out just what we were facing.
Llew opened the secret door and we slipped inside Tag’s ritual room. In physical form, I couldn’t see the energy coming from behind the back wall, but I knew it was there. I led Llew to it, pointing to the area where I’d felt it the strongest. He examined the wall, looking it over closely. After a moment, he snapped his fingers and jiggled something near the molding on the floor. Another click sounded, and yet another secret door opened up, this time sliding up to reveal an opening about a foot off the ground, about three feet wide, and about six feet high.
I was about to clap my hands when the overwhelming stench of what smelled like a charnel house poured into the ritual room. I coughed, choking on the fetid odor.
“What the fuck?” Llew recoiled, catching himself as he started to stumble back.
“I told you I didn’t think we wanted to go in there,” I muttered, keeping my voice low. Gritting my teeth and trying to breathe through my mouth, I slowly stepped over the doorjamb. As I shone my flashlight around, I caught sight of a light switch and flipped it. As the light flooded the room, my heart sank.
We were in a large unfinished part of the basement. The ceiling here was low, but tall enough so we could walk through it. The walls were dirt, hardened and compacted, but with long narrow shelves cut out of them. The room had to stretch farther than the house itself, probably taking up over half the yard. But everywhere I looked, gleaming bones protruded from various shelves, and the smell of decaying flesh overwhelmed me, filling the room.
In the center of the room was a large stone tub, and I slowly walked over to it, dreading what I might see. It was next to a large metal table, with shackles attached to both ends. Dried blood covered the table, and when I looked in the tub, it too was lacquered with dried blood.
I turned back to Llew, who had vomited in the corner.
“This is a slaughterhouse. I can’t even count the number of shelves, and I’m guessing that they all contain bodies.” My mind reeled at what we were facing. I peeked in the nearest shelf, and there was the rotting corpse of a woman. I couldn’t tell how she died, but there were enough stab marks on her bloated body that I had a pretty good idea. She was fresh, which meant Tag was definitely still in action.
“Look at the table,” Llew said. “It’s sloped so that blood can pour into the tub. Could Tag be pulling an Elizabeth Bathory?”
Images of Tag bathing in blood flooded my thoughts. I tried to shake them away, grunting. “At this point, I think anything’s possible. I wouldn’t put anything past him now.”
As we stood there, the shock slowly wearing off, the shadow creature came racing into the room behind us, only this time, it didn’t try to attack. It moved to the center of the room, and in a whirl that resembled a tornado, it spun toward the ceiling. The shape of a body formed within it—though it was impossible to tell if it had been male or female, and it dropped its head back, letting out a howl more painful and dreadful than any I had ever heard in my life. The scream nearly brought me to my knees, it was so filled with pain. Llew turned a ghastly shade of white, the color completely draining from his face.
And then I knew. I knew what we were facing.
“This creature—it’s not a demon. Not like any we think of. It’s created from ghosts—but it’s not a ghost itself. I think it’s the combined force of every spirit Tag has killed. Ten to one, it’s trapped. I’m guessing he feeds off the creature’s energy. So of course it’s angry. Of course, it’s terrified and furious.”
Llew closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. He was a softhearted man, down deep, and I knew that the thought of what Tag was doing wounded him to the core. “Is there a way we can find out for certain?”
I turned to the creature, holding my hands open to show that I wasn’t going to try to hurt it. I put as much empathy as I could into my thoughts, into my voice.
“Are you the combined spirits of Tag’s victims? Do you need help? Is he trapping you?”
The creature paused for a moment, then let out another howl that shook the house. But within that howl, I heard the word yes reverberate through the room. And then it backed away, waiting.
Chapter Thirteen
“What do we do now?” Llew asked. “I’d like to get the hell out of here, if you want to know the truth.”
“I’ve never dealt with something like this before. I’m not certain what to do.” I thought for a moment, then glanced at the shadow. “I wish it could tell us how to free it.” Biting my lip, I took a slow step toward the entity, once again holding out my hands as a sign of peace. “Is there anything we should know about? Something that might help us to help you?”
The shadow paused, then slowly began moving toward the far corner of the room. I followed it, trying to ignore the stains on the cement floor that were dirty brown. My guess? Blood, from all of Tag’s victims.
The shadow moved to the side to show me a desk. Using my flashlight for a better view, I gingerly sat down in the chair next to the desk, and began searching through the drawers. In one drawer, I found a box of condoms. I grimaced, shifting my thoughts away from the direction the condoms suggested. Another drawer, one of the larger ones, held a large wooden box. I cautiously lifted the box out of the dr
awer, setting it on the top of the desk.
Llew was standing guard near the door into the ritual room. “Do you need help?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m just searching the desk. You keep watch over there, just in case.”
As I opened the box, I saw that it was filled with mementos. Rings, watches, panties, eyeglasses, credit cards, licenses, all sorts of personal belongings. I knew precisely where they had come from. This was Tag’s trophy box. I closed the lid, looking through the remaining drawers. In one, I found a journal.
As I opened the journal, I saw that it was a ledger. On one page was a series of first names, one per line. By each name there was a date. I scanned the list of names. All women.
And then I saw one, from June 1979. Alicia. A teardrop had been drawn next to the name, and a heart. Shuddering, I took out my phone and quickly snapped a picture of every page that had any writing on it. Ten minutes later, I replaced the journal back into the drawer where I’d found it, and then opened the trophy box and took a couple pictures of the items inside. I returned the box to its drawer as well.
Looking at the shadow, I said, “We’re going to have to leave for now. But we will be back for you. We’ll do whatever we can to help free you, and to stop him. Do you understand?”
It faded out, then back in again. I took that as a yes.
As Llew and I returned to the ritual room, I closed the opening behind us to shut off the odor. The entity didn’t follow us.
“What the hell are we going to do?” I asked. “This is bigger than either of us imagined. He’s a fucking serial killer.”
“Well, calling the cops comes to mind. But if they arrest Tag, he’ll never remove the Target from Lana. And you know the way justice works in the courts these days. He’ll get off somehow.” Llew was more angry than I had ever seen him.
“First, we have to make certain Lana’s safe from him. She’s extremely lucky she hasn’t ended up on the chopping block yet, but want to make a bet that he’s planning for that? I think we should go talk to Herne, at the Wild Hunt. He might have some suggestions. In fact, I’m kind of holding out hope that he might offer to get involved, given this involves human victims. Except, of course, the Wild Hunt mostly deals with the Fae causing havoc. But at least we can try.” I seldom felt the need for outside help but on occasion, I had called various people in, depending on the circumstances.
“It’s four in the morning right now. He won’t be at work yet, will he?”
I shook my head. “No, he won’t. But they open at eight a.m., I think. Meanwhile, we might as well get a few hours of sleep.” I paused. “I’ll talk to Herne. You go ahead and open your shop. I can’t expect you to shut it down until this is over.”
“No, but call me when you’ve talked to him. I’ll help you however you need it.” He paused. “When you go home, you should check to see if Tag’s still in Colorado.”
“Yeah, I thought of that. I’ll take Lana with me to the Wild Hunt.” I looked back at the entrance to the slaughterhouse. “I’ve spent most of my life dealing with ghosts, some of whom have been murdered, but now, in two months’ time I’ve found myself up against two serial killers. I hope this isn’t a trend, you know? First Ulstair’s killer and now…” I paused, shaking my head. “I hate this crap, Llew. What we saw in there—” I pointed to the secret entrance. “What happened to create that entity? I want to kill the person who did it. And I hope to the gods I never come across something like this again.”
“Me too,” was all Llew could say as we gathered our things to leave.
By the time I reached home, I was feeling anxious. I hurried from my car to the house, praying that everything was all right. I wasn’t sure what had started the panic attack, but I only knew that I was terrified for Lana and for Raj. But as I opened cautiously opened the door, I heard the soft hush of chimes that indicated my wards were still active and intact.
Breathing deeply, I slumped against the door as I shut it. The horrors of Tag’s obsession had gotten to me. “Raj?” I called out softly.
“Raven okay?” Raj’s voice came from the kitchen.
I glanced around, but Lana was nowhere in sight. “Yes, Raj. Raven’s okay. Is Lana okay?”
“Lana asleep.” Raj came lumbering over to me and rubbed up against my side. He was tall enough that he came up to my hip when on all fours. I stroked his head.
“Good. I’m so tired, Raj. Raven’s had a hard night.”
I was exhausted. I needed to sleep, but I couldn’t go to bed until I knew that Tag was still in Colorado. Lana’s phone and purse were on the dining room table and, after debating for a moment, I checked to see if she had a passcode on her phone. She didn’t. She had probably disabled it on Tag’s orders.
I turned her phone on and opened up her Find Friends app, scanning the names for Tag. After a moment, his location bleeped onto the phone. He was still in Colorado. No texts popped up, but I had the feeling once morning hit, he’d text her and start wondering why she wasn’t answering. I quickly shut the phone off again and put it back on the table.
Weary, feeling like I’d spent too long under the sun or too much time in a bright light so that every nerve felt scorched, I made sure the wards were still working, deadbolted the door, and then headed for my bed for a blissful hour or two of sleep.
By the time I woke up, showered and dressed, and strolled out to the living room, it was half-past nine. I had slept right through my alarm. Lana was at the dining table, petting Raj, who had plunked his chin on her knee.
“Morning,” she said, glancing up as I entered the room.
“Hey.” I headed for the kitchen. “Hungry?”
“I already had breakfast. I hope you don’t mind. I had toast and eggs.” She stood, following me in. “I would have fed Raj but I wasn’t sure what he eats. I’ve never known a gargoyle before, but if they’re all as friendly as he is, I wouldn’t mind meeting more.”
“Raj is pretty special among his own kind. And no problem on breakfast, eat whatever you like. As for Raj, he eats most foods, but he does have his favorites.” I pulled out a dish and poured some dry cat food into it. “How about cat food this morning, Raj?”
A bright light gleamed from Raj’s eyes and he practically danced his way over to the place where I kept his food dishes. As he went to town on his breakfast, I decided cereal would be quickest. I still had to feed the ferrets and clean out their cage, but I also needed to visit Herne. After debating for a moment, I called Apollo.
“Hey, chickadee, can you come over and take care of the ferrets for me today? I have some urgent business to attend to and they need to play and eat, and their cage needs cleaned.” I cleared my throat, trying to sweeten the deal. “I’ll owe you one.”
“You’ll owe me two, because you still owe me a favor for getting you out of Dutch with Vixen when they thought you were slandering them all over town.” Apollo laughed.
“It wasn’t my fault that Evolyn spread that rumor. I think it just goes to show what kind of a friend the Moth Queen really is. Vixen now knows not to trust her, and so do I. But yes, I’ll owe you two favors. Can you come? I really don’t want to let the ferrets go a day without making sure everything’s shipshape. Yesterday I was a bit haphazard about it.”
Apollo promised me he’d be over within the hour, and I hung up. I poured myself a bowl of Chexios, added milk and a little honey, and then made myself a quint-shot mocha. I was going to need all the energy I could get, and last night had thoroughly drained me. Carrying it to the table, I joined Lana, wondering how the hell to tell her that she was engaged to a serial killer.
She leaned her elbows on the table, cradling a cup of coffee. “So—should I ask what you found?”
I chugged down half the mocha, almost blistering my throat, then locked gazes with her. “Do you want it straight, with no sugarcoating? Because Lana, I hate to tell you this, there is no good spin on what we discovered.”
She placed her mug on the table, waiting. “Just
tell me. Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than what my imagination is cooking up.”
I paused for a moment. “Unfortunately, it can and it is. Remember I told you about the secret ritual room we found?”
“Uh huh.” She nodded.
“Well, I went in on the astral and found another hidden room. The entrance is inside his ritual room, and it leads to a room beneath the kitchen, I think. A big room. The entity attacked me. I managed to push it off and returned to my body. Llew and I went down to the basement in order to figure out what else Tag’s been hiding. What we found…Lana, it’s bad. Really, really bad.”
She sat very still, but I could tell she was trembling. “Did he kill his wife? Did you find her skeleton? Is it her ghost that’s haunting the house?”
I finished the rest of my mocha, hoping the caffeine would kick in. “Yeah, it looks like he killed Alicia. But Lana, he’s killed so many other women.”
She let out a cry and her hand fluttered to her mouth. “What do you mean?”
I wasn’t sure how to say it so I just plunged right in. “We found the secret entrance to what’s essentially a charnel house. There are so many dead bodies down there that I couldn’t count—and probably more that have decomposed. I found his journal that lists the women he’s killed—at least the ones he recorded. He exsanguinated them—they were drained of blood and we think he was bathing in it for some creepy-assed reason. I also found his souvenir box, where he’s kept trophies from all of his victims.”
When you hear about someone breaking down, you never really think of it in physical terms, but as I watched, Lana slowly imploded. She shrank, her shoulders slumping, her face melting into a mask of sorrow and pain. Her shoulders curved forward, as though she were trying to protect herself from the impact of my words, and she let out a harsh cry. Then, abruptly, she turned and vomited on the floor.
I pushed away my cereal and hurried into the kitchen to fetch a roll of paper towels and the cleanser. When I returned, she was sobbing, holding her stomach as though she’d been punched.
Witching Hour: A Wild Hunt Novel, Book 7 Page 17
