Let Sleeping Ghosts Lie

by Elle Adams

  “Angie,” I finished. “So you decided to poison her when you figured that she’d put two and two together. I guess you pushed me into the river for the same reason.”

  “I should have guessed a Reaper would be hard to get rid of.”

  “So you decided to help me instead,” I said. “So I wouldn’t suspect.”

  Not until it was too late, anyway. Worse, I couldn’t hear a word from behind any of the doors in the house. What had she done to Allie and Carey?

  “Like I said, I don’t want to hurt Carey or her mother,” she said. “I have a spell prepared. A memory charm which will make them forget any of this happened. But before I let them go, I’m going to need you to get rid of the ghost of Amanda Dawson.”

  “Not the ghost of Angie, too?” I said. “I guess the coven leader already has that in hand. Is she really so scared of letting the police in on coven business?”

  “She’s scared of being kicked out of the coven leadership,” she said. “She worried that the murders would prompt the coven to come under investigation and expose all the crimes she’s committed in order to keep her position.”

  “She won’t have it for much longer, one way or another,” I said. “Where is she?”

  “Does it matter?” She raised her wand. “Go on. Call back Mandy’s ghost, and I won’t have to hurt anyone. Use your Reaper skills. I know you can.”

  I shook my head. “I won’t.”

  Her wand waved, and the door flew open behind her. Carey and Allie sat back to back on the living room floor, their hands and feet bound with ropes. Anger spiked within me, and shadows darkened my palms.

  “Go on.” Her wand flicked, and Carey moaned. “I won’t ask you again.”

  “Damn you.” Think, Maura. Drew didn’t know I was here. He was with the police, preparing to find the coven leader, wherever she was hiding. Mart wasn’t around, either. I had one backup plan at my disposal.

  I held up my hands, letting shadows fold across the floor until the darkened form of the afterlife filled the area in front of the door. Hayley’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”

  “Finding the ghost.”

  And giving you a good scare, too. I was normally careful to hide this side of my powers, but Carey had seen it before and she trusted me. Hayley, though, paled, and her wand trembled in her hand. “If I find out you’re deceiving me—”

  A loud meow sounded, and Casper leapt out of the gloom, hissing and spitting. Hayley yelped and dropped her wand on the floor as the yowling familiar crashed onto her head. I seized my chance and snatched up her wand, kicking the door open. Then I ran to Carey’s side and crouched down. Her ghost goggles sat at an odd angle on her head, her expression befuddled, but she stirred when I leaned closer. “Maura?”

  A blast of air rattled through the room.

  “Don’t move!” Hayley shouted. Her face was bleeding where Casper had scratched her, but the little cat cowered away from her trembling hand. “I don’t need a wand to use magic.”

  Crap. She must have more skill than I’d thought. If we started a magical duel here, Carey and her mother might get caught in the backlash. Hayley was prepared to kill to get what she wanted, but if I finished her off, the truth might never get out, and the victims would never get closure.

  I crouched beside Carey and whispered in her ear. Then I rose to my feet. My hand slid into my pocket, finding Angie’s notebook.

  “I’ll find the ghost,” I told Hayley. “But I need you to promise not to move an inch.”

  Shadows swirled around my feet and spread through the room, revealing a door etched against a blank backdrop. The door to the afterlife. As Hayley stared in mute horror, I used my Reaper senses and stepped through the shadows, emerging in the coven leader’s office. At once, I found myself face to face with Angie’s ghost.

  “Back again?” she said. “Don’t you have somewhere more important to be?”

  “I’m a Reaper,” I told her. “I can be in several places at once, technically speaking. Your murderer is currently threatening me. Care to give me a hand?”

  She frowned. “You can’t get me out of this office… can you?”

  “I can.” I stood back, and the shadows folded in around her. “Reaper skills can’t be held back by a simple barrier spell. Come with me.”

  She floated after me into the shadows, and we both emerged in the living room of Healey House. Behind me, Carey whispered to her mother, Casper curled up protectively at her side.

  Across the room, Hayley hadn’t moved an inch, though she was still bleeding where the cat had scratched her. Her eyes widened at the sight of the healer’s ghost. In the afterlife, anyone could see the dead. The chill in my hands warned me that I’d overstretched my powers, but as long as I held up, everyone would stay alive.

  “You said you’d find Mandy’s ghost,” Hayley said. “You lied. That isn’t her.”

  “You poisoned me,” said Angie, accusingly. “You did as much wrong to me as you did to the girl.”

  “You were poking your nose into the wrong business.” Her face flushed, her mouth pinching. “If you’d just left it alone—”

  “You murdered Angie,” I said to Hayley. “The same way you killed Mandy and Harriet. Do you deny it?”

  “No, but—who cares, anyway?” she burst out. “Mina Devlin did worse. She only cares about the coven, and I bet I’m not the only person she’s covered for.”

  That was all the proof I needed. I gave a faint nod, and Allie rose to her feet, her wand in her hand. Carey did likewise, her familiar at her side.

  “How—” Hayley’s eyes widened as she flew backwards into the wall. Recovering, she lunged at me, but the shadows got her first. Darkness spread from my feet, seizing her in its grip. The door to the afterlife loomed behind me, closer than ever.

  She gasped. “You can’t kill me. You aren’t allowed to take a soul to the afterlife if the person isn’t dead.”

  “I’m not an official Reaper,” I said. “The rules don’t apply to me.”

  Hayley’s composure cracked. “Help!”

  As gratifying as it was to see her panic, I’d tormented her enough. I nodded to Allie, who conjured up a rope and bound Hayley’s hands behind her back. “Is the detective on his way?”

  “I told him to be here.” Mart floated into view. “Give it two minutes.”

  At the sight of my brother, Hayley’s panic turned to confusion. “What? You’re not going to kill me?”

  “That’s your method, not mine,” I said to her. “We already have your confession, but is there anything else you want to admit to before the police get here?”

  “I don’t understand why you did it,” Carey said, looking at Hayley. “Why would you kill someone to get their powers? Weren’t your own enough?”

  “Her mother was dying,” said Allie. “We all felt pity for her at the time, and while Mandy’s death was tragic, I didn’t think Hayley had it in her to commit murder. When I hired her, I never would have guessed she’d attempted to steal her powers. She had no gift for healing.”

  “The first ritual didn’t work,” I said. “Her power didn’t transfer. She left the coven rather than risk being found out, and that was when the case was dropped. I think we got the rest. Right, Carey?”

  She lifted her ghost goggles and gave a nod. Her camera had recorded the whole thing.

  Hayley’s eyes bulged. “What—?”

  A growl sounded, then several werewolves ran into the room, circling Hayley. Drew walked in behind them, in human form.

  “Carey just recorded Hayley’s confession on her camera,” I said. “Want to hear it?”

  “Does that count as evidence?” asked Allie.

  “Yes,” he said. “Bring it with you to the police station, Carey.”

  Two of the shifters herded Hayley out of the room between them, while Drew turned to me. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure,” I said. “I’ll be there in five, okay? I just need to deal with one small thing first.”<
br />
  “The ghost?” Carey guessed.

  Drew gave a nod of understanding. “I’ll see you later.”

  While Carey and her mother left with the police, I headed in the opposite direction, across the bridge and towards the Reaper’s home.

  Old Harold was exactly where I’d left him, standing outside his cottage with an expectant look on his face and Mandy’s ghost hovering behind him.

  “Dealt with your little problem?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Mandy, I found your killer. She’s on her way to jail now.”

  Mandy’s expression crumpled, and silent tears flowed down her cheeks. “Thank you. Are… are you going to banish me now?”

  “Not if you’d rather stay,” I said. “But I can take you to see your sister first, if you like.”

  Mandy’s ghost floated up to me. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.” I smiled at her. “I’ll take you to see her.”

  There was no danger of us being followed, not with Hayley already in custody. My brother’s ghost accompanied us, though he didn’t have to, while I met Drew on the way to Mandy’s sister’s house. She answered the door after the third knock, wearing a dressing gown.

  Her mouth parted when she set eyes on me. “I… did you find her?”

  “We found your sister’s killer,” I told her. “She’s on her way to jail right now. I also have your sister’s ghost behind me, and she’d like to speak to you before she moves on.”

  Her eyes brimmed over. “How? I can’t see her.”

  “I can help.” I dropped my voice. “I’m a Reaper. Half of one, anyway. I can make you able to see her, if you like.”

  She nodded, and I let the shadows creep from my feet until they surrounded her doorstep. Mandy floated closer and closer to me until the shadows enfolded her, too.

  Her sister gasped. “I see her.”

  “Good.” I stepped back. “You two can have as long to say goodbye as you need. I’ll be right here.”

  And so would the door to the next world, when Mandy was ready.

  The detective’s hand found my shoulder as I watched the siblings approach one another, tears stinging my eyes. “I didn’t know you could do this.”

  “It’s not usual,” I said. “Actually, it’s kind of against half the Reapers’ rulebook, but it’s not like they’re going to check up on me.”

  “I thought not.” A chuckle entered his voice. “You don’t do things by halves, do you? Reaper or witch.”

  “No, I really don’t.” I smiled at the sisters as they said their goodbyes, heedless of the shadows around them.

  Maybe my Reaper talents weren’t all bad.

  16

  “What do you mean, she’s gone?” I said in disbelief. “Mina Devlin did a runner? Seriously?”

  “She must have left the town the moment it became clear she wouldn’t be able to keep this quiet,” said Allie. “Hayley’s actions against us were the last straw.”

  The two of us sat at the table in the restaurant, with Carey and her familiar. It’d been a hectic few days, and I’d been on tenterhooks waiting to hear of Mina resurfacing to make trouble for me. I hadn’t realised she’d be cowardly enough to abandon what was left of her coven and run for the hills before any of the consequences found their way back to her.

  “I thought Hayley was lying or exaggerating.” I groaned. “Seriously? Mina gets away with covering up three murders and whatever else she did to secure her position as coven leader?”

  “I wouldn’t say she got away with it,” said Allie. “Her coven is in tatters, and she won’t be able to take on a position of authority within any other magical community. They’d ask for her history, which would lead them straight back here.”

  “One piece of good news, then,” I said.

  “The other is that we all got out alive,” said Carey.

  “You did great with the camera, though,” I told her. “And Casper was amazing. Going after a murderer was much braver than going after a ghost.”

  Casper mewed and huddled closer to her. The two had been inseparable since the incident, including during their report to the police. While we had Hayley’s confession on tape, the police

  had still needed to hear a statement from the witnesses, including me.

  “The weird thing is the story actually got me more readers,” she said. “I thought admitting there wasn’t a ghost in the house would end up with everyone abandoning my blog in droves, but they really got into the story about us unearthing a years-old murder.”

  "You did mention the ghost, though,” I reminded her. “Even if we didn’t get any footage of her.”

  After deliberation, we’d shared a version of the story of Healey House’s history on her blog, with enough details omitted to remove anything which might cause her readers to figure out who’d been involved in the cover-up. Even with Mina gone from town, she was still dangerous enough to make trouble for us.

  “True,” she said. “I guess the part about us being trapped in a creepy old house was enough to satisfy the ghost fanatics.”

  “Pity we didn’t get more footage of the ghost when she was in my room,” I said. “Glad she’s gone, though, just for Mart’s sake.”

  After she’d departed, he’d decided to take her room for his own, which was good news for both of us.

  “We’ll need someone new to take her place at the restaurant,” said Allie. “Assuming anyone wants to work with us after we hired a murderer.”

  “Nobody will think bad of you for this,” I reassured her. “You couldn’t have known. Besides, everything’s a bit unsettled at the moment.”

  With the coven minus a leader, the local witch and wizard population had some adjusting to do. I didn’t know if they’d reform a new coven in place of the old one, or if they were too afraid of Mina’s wrath to do so in case she came back and hexed all of them. The police were still on the lookout for her, but she was a formidable witch and no doubt had places to hide. On the plus side, the restaurant’s business hadn’t visibly suffered, and the local wizards continued to meet here.

  “You aren’t wrong,” said Allie. “I think a certain group of former coven members might need a side income if this shakes out the way I think it might.”

  “Like them?” Carey indicated the group of wizards who’d just entered. Among them was Archie, who caught my eye.

  I stepped away from the others as the wizard approached me. “I just wanted to say thank you,” he said to me. “For getting answers on Harriet’s death.”

  “No worries,” I said.

  “Also, thanks for chasing that evil Mina Devlin out of town,” added Bernard. “None of us will miss her.”

  “That part wasn’t exactly deliberate,” I admitted, “but at least she can’t stop you from forming your own coven now.”

  Anyone would be able to do the same. Granted, it was bound to cause issues between me and the other ex-coven members. Cathy in particular had suffered a grilling at the police’s hands for her involvement in the cover-up, though I hadn’t heard an update from the detective yet. I’d better hope I didn’t need a doctor in future, in case she tried to poison me.

  Carey cleared her throat and indicated the doors. I looked that way and already knew who I’d see waving back. Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

  Ignoring Mart’s wolf-whistle from behind me, I joined the detective outside.

  “How was the trial?” I asked him.

  “Hayley is in jail,” he said. “Cathy is going to have a short sentence, too, for her involvement in the cover-up. She showed genuine remorse, but working closely with the coven leader has consequences.”

  “For everyone but Mina, apparently,” I said.

  “My team has been searching the area,” he said.

  “I know, but werewolves can only go so far on foot,” I said. “She probably flew away. Or used magic to teleport.”

  “Even in the magical world, she can’t hide forever,” he said. “We’ll ge
t her. Mark my words.”

  “I hope so,” I said. “She’s sneaky, that’s for sure. And now Allie needs new bar staff, which I suppose will give the other coven members something to do. If they don’t blame us for the loss of their leader, anyway.”

  “I notice you didn’t mention any of that in the official story,” he said. “Good thinking.”

  “How do you know…?” I broke off. “You’re still reading Carey’s blog, aren’t you?”

  He shot me a smile. “I feel it’s nice to be supportive. Besides, I was interested to see which bit you wrote.”

  “We both wrote it,” I told him. “We had to leave out the details of the coven members, including the victims. I kept it all vague, but even then, it’s a popular story.”

  “Did you help Mandy’s ghost, then?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I helped her move on. After she said goodbye to her sister, anyway.”

  We walked past the cemetery. Harriet had been buried, and Mandy’s family now had closure. As for the Reaper? He’d let me get on with my job without a fuss, for a wonder.

  “He looked after her,” I remarked to Drew, with a glance at his cottage. “Mandy, I mean. He told me he didn’t want to get involved in coven drama, but he still made sure nobody banished her.”

  “I have an inkling our Reaper cares more for the spirits than he lets on.”

  He probably wasn’t wrong. Old Harold and I weren’t friends, not even close, but we’d managed to cooperate for once, and maybe he’d be less unfriendly in future. I could dream.

  Speaking of dreams… it was about time I got things straight with the detective.

  I drew in a breath. “Well, now the case is over, you’re out of excuses to spend time around me.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “I’d like to take you out tonight.”

  My heart missed a beat. “Really?”

  “What do you think?” said Drew. “Want to give it a shot?”

  I returned his smile and thought why not. I’d give it a shot. I was here in Hawkwood Hollow for the long haul, I knew that, now. It was time to take a leap of faith.