by Jayne Faith
Goosebumps raised along my skin, rippling over me in a wave, and I realized the air in the room was growing chillier by the second. Not only was it cold, it felt heavy, as if we were deep underground. I clamped my arms to my sides to keep from shivering too obviously. The sensations in the room intensified, and I fought to keep still, focusing on the lights in the vampire witch’s eyes and realizing too late that I probably should have asked her what she intended and what she expected to happen.
I began to sink into my own trance, my eyes unfocused, and my body settled into the cold until it felt oddly comfortable. Almost without trying, I felt my own magic begin to rise from the earth. For a split second I tensed, thinking to push it away, but then decided to let it flow. Jennifer was probably powerful enough to block it if she needed to.
She took a breath, and I expectantly returned my focus to her face.
“Elements of nature, I invite your presence and power,” she intoned. “Lift the veil to reveal the truest, deepest essence of your child, Ella Grey.”
I expected more—some of Deb’s spells and incantations were fairly long—but instead of continuing, Jennifer reached for the smoked glass mirror and lifted it, positioning it between our faces.
The candles in the room flared, and my entire body went rigid as I gazed into the mirror. Panic set off a spike of adrenaline as I realized I couldn’t move, not even to blink. I expected the other to take over, but it didn’t, and after a moment my alarm began to subside. I could see the lights of Jennifer’s eyes through the mirror—it was a glass, actually—in addition to my own reflection.
The image in the mirror was shifting, my features morphing and moving as if reflected on a watery surface. As I watched, I realized with relief that I could move under my own power again. My face dissolved as the glass went dark.
A small blue flame appeared in the center of the glass, just one dancing point, but then it began to bleed outward in all directions. As it spread beyond the edges of the glass, a burning cold hit my skin. It hurt like the searing press of ice and the sensation grew as the flames seemed to wrap around and engulf me. My pulse quickened. This must be the gateway. The pain intensified, and my eyes darted around, looking for a way through. I knew I was still sitting on a cushion on Jennifer’s floor, but I was also somehow standing in the middle of an ice-cold inferno.
The flames were pressing inward, and the air was growing thin as they consumed the oxygen. I glanced up, but the flames covered me. I let my eyes close, pulled in a breath, and propelled myself forward. The icy-hot pain flared and then snuffed out.
I looked around, and I was back in the center of Jennifer’s circle, with the glass between me and the vampire witch. I stared into it, and something new began to clarify. I recognized my own eyes, but the rest . . . that face was not mine, I knew it even though it was partially obscured by a hood. It was like looking at a hologram. The face in the glass was hollow and skull-like one moment and then resolved to my own features the next. It shimmered back and forth a few times and then settled on the skull with my own eyes overlaid. My mouth dropped open as I gazed, and my breath puffed white in the cold. I tilted my head slightly, and the skull moved with me.
In that second, my own body, my self seemed to evaporate, leaving only the empty skull reflected in the glass. I gasped, jerking back, as a sudden, horrifying sense of loss and confusion rushed through me, torrential and dark. It wasn’t so much what I saw but what I felt, and it terrified me. Ella was gone, and only a yawning, endless chasm of timeless space between worlds remained. I squeezed my eyes closed and pushed my fists to my temples, but felt only the dry scratch of bone on bone and the realization that I couldn’t close my eyes because there were no lids to cover them. I shook my head violently, and the room swung around in my vision and then blurred.
“Ella.”
A gentle hand touched my arm. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times, and felt a rush of gratitude that indeed I had working eyelids again. Thankful for eyelids. That was a new one.
Jennifer was leaning toward me, her pupils normal again and reflecting the warm candlelight.
“Ella, focus on the floor beneath you,” she said. “Ground yourself.”
I flattened my palms on the carpet and visualized my anxiety and the memory of what I’d seen flowing down, into the earth where it was safely absorbed. After a few seconds, I could breathe normally.
Jennifer stood. “I’m going to open the circle. Just focus on your breath.”
She said a few quick words to close the spell and moved counterclockwise to dissolve the circle she’d cast. The air around me began to lose its chill. I brushed my hands up and down my bare arms and filled my lungs slowly.
She went to the wall and turned on the overhead light, keeping it dimmed low, and then went around the room extinguishing the candles with a little metal bell-shaped flame tamper. She pulled her cushion around to form a triangle between the three of us and sat down on it.
I swallowed hard and looked at her expectantly.
“I saw the same thing you saw in the glass,” she said. “It looks like you’ve got a spare soul tethered to you.”
I blinked several times and flicked a quick glance at Deb, but she looked as mystified as I felt.
“Like a ghost?” I asked. “Am I permanently haunted?”
I didn’t bother trying to hide my look of horror, and Jennifer cracked a smile.
“No, it’s not a ghost, it’s a soul.” She watched me patiently, allowing it to sink in.
I scrubbed one hand down the side of my face. “Okay, I don’t know what that means.”
“Every person has a soul. Every living being, actually, though animal souls are a bit different than human ones, and plant souls are different still. I believe that in the course of your accident, another soul somehow got snagged onto you.”
I squinted at her. “How does that explain all the weird things that have happened? And my two-toned necro-vision?”
Her face tightened, and for the first time I sensed some apprehension. “I’m fairly certain it’s not a human soul.”
My brows shot up, but I just stared at her without a clue how to respond. Then a dreadful thought occurred to me. “Please tell me it’s not a demon soul,” I rasped, my throat suddenly dry.
She shook her head firmly. “No, it’s not a demon.”
I slumped in relief and let out a breath. “Okay, so what are the other possibilities?”
“Vampire or zombie, in theory. But I know what those look like, and that’s not what I saw. There’s another possibility I’m aware of. Another creature of death, but an extraordinarily powerful one, and one that didn’t begin life as a human like vampires and zombies do.” She hesitated and moistened her lips, and then her words came slowly, almost reluctantly. “It . . . could be an angel of death. I’ve never seen the soul of one, so I don’t know for sure.”
My lips parted and for a moment I couldn’t speak. “A reaper?” I whispered.
A faint smile ghosted across her lips, and she nodded. “That’s another term for angel of death.”
“I think that’s what it is.” I found I felt no real surprise at her confirmation. After all, she wasn’t the first to tell me.
“It looks like you now have some new talents as a result of this extra soul. Necromancer-related, which aligns with some of the things you’ve experienced. Very rare, as I’m sure you know.” Jennifer bit her lower lip, and then took a heavy breath. “You need to have it exorcised or cut loose. Reaped from your being. I’m not sure what the right term is. But a reaper won’t be content to just ride along as a passenger in your life.”
“Yeah, no shit.” I gave a short, humorless laugh. “It’s taken the wheel a few times already.”
Instead of mirroring my amusement, her face grew deadly serious. My chest clenched as if bracing against what was coming.
“There’s something else I saw,” she said. “Ella, it’s already started consuming your soul. If you don’t get rid of i
t, you’ll, well, disappear. In the most profound and permanent sense of the word.”
Deb let out a little sound of dismay, and I glanced over at her. She had her fingertips pressed to her lips, and her blue eyes were starting to well up. She gave a little sigh and dropped her hands to her lap.
“You’ll keep this confidential?” I asked Jennifer. “What you saw and what we’re talking about?”
“Of course,” she said. “But this is incredibly serious, and you need to do something as soon as possible. Deb and I can put you in touch with someone who—”
“I appreciate the gravity of what you’re saying,” I cut in, my voice low. “Believe me, I do. But I can’t cut this spare soul loose. Not yet, anyway. I—I need it.”
I gave her some brief background on my brother and then told her about how I’d seen him through the necro-vision.
“You have a talent for magic in this area, and you’re obviously powerful,” I said. “Is there anything you can do, a spell or charm or something, that might slow down what the reaper is doing to me? I’ll pay you, I’d be glad to. Whatever it takes.”
“I’m not sure if I can do it, but I’ll try. It’ll take me some time. I need to consult with more experienced crafters and do some research. Do I have your permission to talk about what we’ve learned? I won’t use your name.”
I gave the vampire witch a nod.
She turned a hard look on me. “But in the meantime, I want you to promise you’ll reconsider. There’s no way to tell how fast the reaper’s soul might consume yours. For all we know, it may reach a tipping point where it gains the upper hand, and then suddenly you’re done for. It could happen tomorrow or next week or a year from now. There’s no way to predict it, and no guarantee of time enough to find your brother or to come up with protective magic if there is any. There are people in your life who care about you and don’t want anything bad to happen to you. And Ella, if the reaper claims your soul there will be nothing for your brother to come back to.”
My defenses prickled at what she was implying, that keeping the reaper around and using the necro-vision to try to find Evan wasn’t worth the danger. But Jennifer was clearly a woman who called things as she saw them, and it was a quality I appreciated. She was trying to help, and she didn’t have to do it.
I nodded. “I understand, and I promise I’ll think about it.” I swallowed hard, not daring to look at Deb for fear of what I’d see on her face, and more so how I’d feel when I saw it. “Thank you so much for everything. Deb is lucky to have a friend like you, and I’m glad we got the chance to meet.”
I slowly unfolded my legs and began to rise. I didn’t want to seem rude, but I needed to escape, to be alone to try to process what I’d learned.
Deb and Jennifer followed my lead.
I dug into a pocket of my cargo shorts and pulled out a slim foldover wallet that held my I.D., bank card, credit card, and some cash. “I want to give you a down payment on the work you’re doing for me.”
Jennifer held up her hand and shook her head. “I’m not taking your money. Not today. If I can come up with something that’ll help, I’ll clean you out, though.”
I stared at her for a beat before I realized she was joking, and I managed to crack a shaky grin. “Fair enough.” I shoved my wallet back into my pocket.
Deb didn’t smile, and in my periphery she was too still. I ticked a glance her way. She looked stricken, staring past us at nothing. The tightness in my chest began to transform into a dull ache of guilt. Deb didn’t need this burden, not right now when she was in the midst of her own crisis. I silently cursed myself for being the cause of more stress in her life.
Jennifer saw us to the door, and Deb and I trudged out to her Honda. Once we were in the car and buckled in, she just sat there with the keys in her hand.
“Do you want me to drive?” I asked gently.
She shook her head, but didn’t move to start the car. She just stared straight ahead through the windshield.
“I know what you’re thinking. I know you’re feeling guilty that all of this . . . this angel of death stuff is putting more stress on me,” she said. “But it’s okay. Really, it is, because the alternative is that you’d be dead. You wouldn’t have come back after your accident, and I’d be visiting your grave. I’d be pregnant and struggling with my marriage and unsure about what to do next, and I’d have to do it all without you. I’d rather have you here with a ticking time bomb leeching your soul than dead. Because you’re not going to die again, Ella, we’re simply not going to allow that to happen. This reaper thing is not going to kill you.”
She spoke with such intensity, her voice broke just about the time a tear welled over the lower lid of my right eye and slid down my cheek. The emotion snagging in my throat wasn’t about me or my strange predicament. It was more about the reversal of our roles—Deb trying to reassure me instead of the other way around—and the unexpected strength and determination she was radiating.
She turned to me with a piercing look, but all I could do was nod.
Then to my great relief, she started the car. I rolled down the passenger window and closed my eyes as the hot early evening breeze blasted my face and swept away the last remnants of the chill left by Jennifer’s grave magic.
Chapter 19
BACK AT HOME, I let Loki out into the yard and then got in my truck, leaving Deb to wait for Roxanne to return from babysitting. Without exchanging a word, Deb understood that I needed a few minutes to myself. In spite of her brave words in the car, I could feel her worried attention like a spotlight trained on me.
When I stuck the key in the truck’s ignition, there was a thump behind me. I twisted around to see Loki through the rear window.
“Aw, don’t tell me you can jump over the fence.” I narrowed my eyes, trying to look disapproving, but I couldn’t help grinning back at him. I sent Deb a quick text to let her know he was coming with me.
I headed past my precinct, where the lot was full of cars belonging to the Demon Patrol officers on shift. East of downtown, I took a street that angled past the military reserve and up into some older Foothills neighborhoods. It was still a few hours before sunset, but the shadows were beginning to stretch eastward away from the lowering sun, highlighting and deepening the muted grays, taupes, and sages of the summer-baked hills. On a winding road that sloped gently upward, I made my way toward Tablerock, a mesa that overlooked the city.
The paved road ended, and I crunched onto a steeper dirt road. Tablerock was a notorious hangout spot for teenagers, but this early in the evening I had the road to myself and there were only two other cars at the top. I parked and got out, and perspiration prickled my body. Up here with no cover, the sun was relentless.
Loki hopped out and trotted alongside as I angled away from the other people enjoying the view. I walked to the edge of the rocky plateau and took in the trees, streets, and buildings that filled the valley below. Here and there, the river revealed itself as a twinkling ribbon stretching westward. A faint brownish haze hung in a stripe that layered low across the blue sky parallel to the horizon, evidence of smoke from summer forest fires.
As always happened when I came up here, some of my tension began to melt away. I took a slow breath, wondering where Evan was and why he’d never tried to contact me. I’d always assumed it was because he was dead or lost in the haze of addiction, but . . . We hadn’t been on the best terms when he’d disappeared. I’d been trying to get him into a rehab program, and he’d stubbornly refused all help. Maybe he didn’t want to speak to me, just didn’t want me to be part of his life. I pushed the thought away before the familiar ache could take hold of my heart.
Whether Evan was dead or alive, whether he ever wanted to see me again or not, I was risking my life to find him, and I’d never stop until I had answers. Or the angel of death claimed me, whichever came first.
I reached for Loki and scratched between his ears. “You scared the reaper away that night when I was spellbound. I
don’t suppose you know how to keep it at bay until I find Evan?” I looked down at him and he panted up at me, his pupils glinting maroon.
It was a chance I had to take. Evan was my brother, and it was my choice to leave the reaper soul right where it was. I pressed the fingers of one hand against my chest, as if I might feel it in there. I needed to learn more, to figure out how to control it before it consumed me.
But right at this moment there was a different fight to lead. I needed to focus on Roxanne’s brother. I went back to my truck, got in, and pulled out my phone as Loki thunked onto the bed. Suddenly antsy to check in with Raf, I felt compelled to urge things along. Not just for Nathan’s sake. I was now in a race against the reaper, and I wanted to see things through with Roxanne and her brother.
He answered on the first ring.
“Hi, it’s Ella,” I said. My gaze went out the front windshield to the view, but I had already pulled my focus inward to the future.
“Ella, good news,” Raf said. “I’ve got the Global Supernatural Humanitarian Organization on board, as well as the World Human Protection Federation.”
I nearly let out a whoop. “Advocates for both the gargoyle and the human involved—that’s perfect. My only concern is how fast we can move on it.”
“GSHO is sending in a representative, and she’ll arrive on an early flight tomorrow morning. They’re accustomed to swift interventions. I’ve worked with Human Protection in the past, and they’re willing to let us appoint a local proxy. I want to move in on Gregori tomorrow.”
“You’re a miracle worker, Raf. You’ve gotta let me take the lead on something. What can I do to smooth things along?”
“Could we meet up in a half hour?”
I turned the key to start the truck. “Absolutely. Do you remember where I live?”
“Sure do.” I could hear his faint smile as his voice warmed a notch.
“Come by whenever you’re ready.”
