One Grave at a Time

by Jeaniene Frost

  My wishful thinking was short-lived, however. Just as abruptly as Kramer appeared, he vanished, leaving the Remnants twining their diaphanous, deadly forms through nothing more substantial than air.

  “Come back here!” I yelled.

  Nothing stirred except the dozens of Remnants who turned toward me with hazy expressions that all seemed to be asking the same question.

  Now what?

  Damned if I knew. “Go get him!” I tried, but they only swayed like reeds in a strong wind while their bodies stayed anchored in the demolished room.

  Great. I shivered, fighting off the combination of hunger and cold that raising Remnants always brought about. My most lethal, secret weapon couldn’t follow Kramer, and I’d neglected to order him to stay put before I unleashed them on him.

  “Wait,” I told the Remnants. Maybe Kramer would spoof back for another assault. I doubted it, but I could hope he’d be that stupid.

  “How’s he doing?” I asked Bones, kicking pieces of the desk out of my way to reach the opposite corner of the room.

  Bones stood and moved aside, revealing Tyler crouched in a ball on the floor. He clutched his neck, but blood no longer streamed out between his fingers, and his breathing was ragged but unhampered.

  “He’ll be fine,” Bones replied. “Just a bit traumatized.”

  “I was dead.” Tyler’s voice was no more than a croak. “I saw a bright light, felt myself floating away—”

  “You did nothing of the sort,” Bones interrupted. “Your heart didn’t stop once though your larynx was crushed, and you were choking on your own blood.”

  “Oh, God,” Tyler moaned.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t attempt to reassure him,” I said dryly, fighting a shiver for a different reason. The Remnants tugged on my emotions, the chill and hunger of the grave permeating my defenses.

  Bones cast a glance at the Remnants, his mouth curling down. He’d experienced firsthand what they could do when Marie unleashed them on him in order to blackmail me into drinking her blood. To say it hadn’t endeared them to him was putting it mildly, but they couldn’t help themselves. They were like supernatural missiles drawn to whatever target they were pointed at—or whatever target was the closest.

  “Pity they didn’t do the trick.”

  I lifted my shoulder in an apologetic shrug. “Not their fault. I jumped the gun.”

  He gave me a level look. “All of us underestimated what Kramer could do, but we won’t make that mistake again. At least now, we have confirmation of Elisabeth’s claims.”

  Oh yeah. I’d say Tyler’s near-death experience, the wreckage of this office, his injured dog, and my being bulldozed by a desk were all very definitive forms of confirmation.

  I sighed, brushing some wood shards off Bones’s shirt. “How long do you want to wait here to see if he comes back?”

  “Wait here?” That alarmed Tyler into standing. “Hell no, we’re not waiting here. We’re leaving, and I’m not coming back until that thing is taken care of. Mama didn’t raise no damn fool.”

  “He’s not interested in you, Tyler, so there’s no reason he’d come back once we’re gone—”

  “You see that Ouija board?” he interrupted me, pointing at pieces littered among the ruins of the desk. “I didn’t get a chance to turn it off before he broke it. That means the gateway’s still open, so no way am I gonna work here while a ghost who’s obviously pissed that I summoned him has a ticket straight to my door. I’ll have my assistant run things for a while. Ghost’s got no issue with him.”

  “Okay, you want us to give you a ride home?” He looked too wound up for me to trust him to drive.

  “That’s not safe, either. I’ve opened gateways there before. That ghost could sneak in through one—and I don’t have any vampires in my apartment who can heal me if he tries to kill me again.”

  “So where do you want to go? A friend’s house?” Hunger and a bone-deep inner chill sharpened my tone. Only being a vampire kept my teeth from chattering. I couldn’t wait to cut my connection with the Remnants by sending them back, so I could feel normal again.

  Tyler looked at me, then Bones. And smiled.

  “No way,” I said, not needing to read his mind to figure out what he intended. “No. Way.”

  “Forget it, mate,” Bones replied sternly. “We have enough unwanted guests already without adding one more.”

  Tyler’s smile vanished, and he sank to the floor as if our rebuffs had sapped his strength.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t stay with us,” I said, making my voice a lot kinder because Tyler hadn’t done anything to warrant my snippiness.

  “He’s going to find me and kill me,” Tyler said again.

  I shifted uncomfortably. Maybe it was too dangerous to leave him on his own. Besides, even though he’d dealt with ghosts long before meeting us, we were the reason one had almost put him in the grave just now.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dexter limp over, whining even though he also wagged his stubby tail. Tyler pulled him onto his lap, wincing when the dog let out a sharp cry as his injured leg was jostled.

  That was all I could take. I turned to Bones, who was already shaking his head with a distantly jaded expression.

  “It’ll just be until we take care of Kramer, and he did say that he knew some people who might be able to off a ghost . . .” I began.

  Tyler’s mournful expression vanished as if by magic. He sprang up, still holding the dog.

  “Wait right here. It’ll just take me a minute to get my and Dexter’s things.”

  Eight

  Several hours later, we pulled into our driveway with two more passengers than we’d left with. Dexter’s left hind leg was secured in a cast, and his eyes were distinctly glassy because of the painkillers the vet had administered.

  “This is where you live?” Tyler cast a look around at the steep, forested terrain surrounding our Blue Ridge cabin. “I’m amazed I don’t hear banjo music.”

  I ignored the quip, reminding myself that near-death experiences were very traumatic for people who weren’t used to them. Besides, it wasn’t news to me that our home was in the middle of picturesque nowhere. That had been the intention, so Bones and I would have more privacy. Little did we know that having privacy would prove to be wishful thinking. At least our lack of close neighbors meant Tyler’s thoughts were the only ones inside my head aside from my own.

  Dexter let out a low whine, picking his head up. “Are you sure it’s safe?” Tyler asked. “Dexter’s telling me there are ghosts nearby.”

  Bones let out a sardonic snort as he got out of the car. “Too right.”

  Tyler had mentioned that he could see ghosts, just not right away. I’d better prepare him for life at Casa Russell. My cat had gotten so used to the ghosts here that he almost never hissed at them anymore.

  “There are a lot of ghosts here. All friendly,” I hastened to add. “They just, um, like to hang out around our house.”

  Liar, Tyler thought, his gaze narrowing. Dexter chuffed like he didn’t believe me, either. Too bad. Only a select handful of people knew why I was so popular with ghosts, and it wasn’t information I was about to share.

  “Maybe we built on a former burial ground, and that’s why this place is such a hot spot,” I improvised as I got out. “You know. Like in Poltergeist.”

  Lying her pasty white ass off, Tyler thought, but smiled blandly. “Could be, sugar.”

  I debated telling Tyler that Bones wasn’t the only one who could read minds, but decided not to. For all that we’d brought Tyler home with us, we still didn’t know him. Getting a peek into his thoughts would go miles toward determining if he was someone we could trust. I didn’t perceive him as a threat, but we still had to be careful. We’d already taken a risk by showing him where we lived, but that information could be erased from his memory if need be.

  Who was I kidding? With how vigilant Bones was about my safety, he would probably insist on doing that regard
less of how trustworthy Tyler proved to be.

  “Go on inside, I’ll be there in a minute,” I said, heaving a mental sigh as I spread out my hands and waited for the barrage of transparent greeters. I still felt off kilter from summoning the Remnants, but it wouldn’t be fair to march into the house without saying hello in the manner that my ghostly acquaintances preferred.

  Tyler gave me a strange look but hefted Dexter and went into the house. Five minutes later, my hands tingling, I did as well. Bones wasn’t in sight, but I could hear him upstairs on the phone with Spade, and his tone was less than pleased. That’s right, honey, give him hell, I thought wryly.

  I found Tyler in the kitchen, checking out my refrigerator’s contents with dismay.

  “I know you’re both vampires, but a few packets of cheese and some tonic water can’t be all you have.”

  “I’ll go shopping tomorrow, but you’ll have to make do with some canned soups and crackers from the pantry in the meantime.” It was not like we’d been expecting company, and I didn’t feel like driving forty minutes to get to the grocery store tonight. It would probably close before I arrived, anyway.

  Fabian floated up to me, leaning down near my ear.

  “I don’t know if I like this man,” he whispered. “He made a comment questioning your decorating skills upon entering, and now he disparages your hospitality. He won’t be staying long, will he?”

  “If we’re lucky, no,” I replied. Tyler’s staying a long time would mean we’d failed to stop Kramer, not to mention wreaking havoc on my patience. Neither option was acceptable to me.

  Fabian frowned. “Are you well, Cat? You look tired.”

  “I’ll be fine after a shower.” A lingering chill still clung to me, and the thought of banishing that under a steady stream of hot water sounded heavenly.

  My cat chose that moment to come sauntering down the stairs but stopped short when he spotted Dexter. The dog spotted him, too. He got to his feet—the three that worked, that is—and wagged his tail while emitting a friendly-sounding chuff.

  Helsing hissed, his dark hair fluffing out to stand on end. That hiss turned into a garbled, extended growl, with a distinctly threatening undertone while his ears went flat.

  “No, no. Be a nice kitty!” I ordered. Poor Dexter had stopped cold and cringed even though he outweighed my cat by about thirty pounds.

  Helsing’s growl ended with a final hiss before he turned to give me a look that could best be summed up as A dog? How could you? Then he ran back up the stairs, tail twitching in agitation the whole way.

  Okay, so no one was thrilled about our new guests, but it was only temporary.

  “Ohhhh,” Tyler drew out, staring to my right. “You’ve got a ghost floating next to you.”

  “You can see me?” Fabian asked in surprise.

  I left the kitchen to start closing the drapes. “Tyler, meet my friend, Fabian. Fabian, this is Tyler, the medium we went to see today. Things didn’t go as planned, but we’ll get into that after I take a shower . . . and pet my cat until he forgives me.”

  After a blissfully long, hot shower—and some groveling to my cat that I doubted Helsing understood—I came downstairs to find Tyler on the couch, wearing nothing but my favorite blue robe.

  “My clothes are in the wash, and it was this or a towel,” he said with a shrug.

  Of course Tyler would want to change out of his bloody outfit. I should’ve thought to offer him some of Bones’s clothes. “Sorry, I’ll get you something else to wear.”

  His casual wave stopped me from heading back upstairs. “This is fine for now.”

  Fabian buzzed over to me, almost twitching in anxiety. “It is unseemly that he wears your robe, Cat!”

  I bit back a laugh at the ghost’s scandalized tone. Nineteenth-century formalities must be hard to shake even after death.

  Tyler shot Fabian a patient look. “Keep your panties on, ghostfriend, it’s only temporary.”

  Fabian threw up his hands. “You see? He is incorrigible!”

  “We’ll get him some proper clothes straightaway,” Bones reassured Fabian as he descended the stairs.

  “Elisabeth, the man in the robe is Tyler,” I introduced when I saw Tyler’s gaze fasten on her, finally noticing her after a few minutes. “Tyler, meet Elisabeth, but don’t mention her to any ghosts aside from Fabian. She’s kind of hiding out here.”

  Tyler smiled. “Charmed to meet another refugee like me.”

  Elisabeth looked a little confused, but she curtsied, reminding me that I wanted to learn how to do that as gracefully as she.

  “Tyler’s hiding from Kramer, too,” I said in explanation.

  “Oh.” Her face pinched with compassion. “You poor man.”

  “Finally, some genuine sympathy.” He patted the spot next to him. “Sit here, sweetie, and tell me all about yourself.”

  “Um, you and Elisabeth can chat later. You mentioned people who might be able to help with Kramer. Do you mean another medium?” I prodded him.

  “You are hell and gone from anything a medium can do. Good mediums can open gateways, summon and commune with spirits, clean a house of presences, and sometimes help a ghost cross to the other side. What you’ve got is a nasty, free-range phantom that can poltergeist like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

  “We told you that,” Bones pointed out.

  Tyler rolled his eyes. “Believe me, I wish I’d listened, but that’s what most people say. I had no idea you’d be the only ones telling it like it was, and you weren’t sure yourselves, either. No medium can help you, but maybe the best damn ghost hunters money can buy will be able to.”

  “Yeah, well, I hear Bill Murray and the gang don’t do that anymore,” I countered in growing frustration.

  He waved a hand. “Not the Hollywood version. The real ones, and lucky for you, I happen to know some.”

  “Give us their names and how to contact them,” Bones directed.

  Tyler’s look grew pointed. “I’ll set up a meeting and go with you. Otherwise, just like me, they won’t believe how powerful that ghost is until it’s too late, and you might not be fast enough to save all of them.”

  My inner cynic calculated the odds of ghost hunters being able to help us at twenty to one . . . in Kramer’s favor. Still, I’d sworn that I would try to see the silver lining instead of only the ominous clouds, so I fetched my cell phone from the counter and handed it to Tyler.

  “Make the call.”

  Tyler rose. “Right after I take a piss.”

  Once he disappeared into the bathroom, Bones spoke very softly. “Keep trying to tail Kramer, Elisabeth. If there’s a particular place he frequents, or any humans he’s attentive to, I want to know.”

  Bones must not have high hopes for the ghost hunters, either. Elisabeth nodded solemnly. “I saw him earlier today. He was not far from the largest ley line in Iowa, at Oktoberfest in Sioux City, but he left quickly. Too quickly for me to see if he’d been interacting with any humans.”

  “What time was this, do you know?” Bones asked, suspicion edging his emotions.

  “Right after midday,” she replied.

  One-ish Iowa time would’ve been about 2:00 P.M. in Washington, D.C. Right about the same time that Tyler broke out the Ouija board.

  “I think Kramer left in a hurry because he got a page,” I said wryly.

  Bones’s gaze was speculative before he returned his attention to Elisabeth.

  “Keep trying to find him, then follow him when you do, but don’t let him tail you back here.”

  I knew how important it was for Elisabeth to find out who Kramer’s intended victims were, not to mention the identity of his human accomplice; but after meeting the former Inquisitor, I really didn’t want him to know where we lived. Sure, I could summon Remnants to our defense if Kramer tracked Elisabeth back here despite her best efforts, but what if he snapped Tyler’s neck before I sicced the Remnants on him? Even if I were fast in calling forth my spectral guards, it only too
k a split second to kill a human, as I well knew.

  And sometimes, it only took a split second to kill a vampire, too. We had plenty of silver knives at our house, for obvious reasons. What if the malevolent ghost poltergeisted one of those through Bones’s heart before either of us even knew he was near? I shivered at the thought.

  “What’s wrong, Kitten?” Bones asked, his sharp gaze picking it up.

  I forced a smile. No more what-if thoughts of worst-case scenarios. Silver linings and glasses half-full, remember?

  “Nothing.”

  Nine

  A huge building loomed in front of us, dark exterior looking ominous even with the many gold-edged leaves on the trees surrounding the grounds. Hundreds of windows reflected the moonlight as if in stark rejection of any illumination penetrating the structure’s interior. Every so often, shadows would pass by those windows, and voices would drift out on the crisp autumn air, but the former hospital was empty.

  Well, empty of anyone who was solid. All the members of N.I.P.D., the Northeastern Investigative Paranormal Division that Tyler had recommended, were still outside with us. They’d just finished setting up their equipment in various rooms of the former Waverly Hills Sanatorium. Now they were huddled up in a final group pep talk before they started their documentation of everything that went bump in the night here.

  The sanatorium might have closed decades ago, but it was quite the popular attraction, as it turned out. The curious paid for guided tours of the facility, hearing all about its history and the many anecdotes of ghostly encounters. Amateur or professional paranormal buffs could opt to have the hospital all to themselves for a night of investigation, provided they paid the proper amount and booked in advance. Waverly Hills Sanatorium had a waiting list, and the owners didn’t give refunds if a group missed its scheduled appointment.