The Ferryman (The Guardians Series 1 Book 2)

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘Olivia!’ he breathed heavily as he dropped down beside her, ‘what happened?’

  She raised her head unable to hide the marks on her face, watching as Theo’s gaze hardened.

  ‘Who did this to you?’

  Olivia sighed.

  ‘My mom decided to drop by.’

  ‘Your mom?’

  Olivia’s head snapped round to the voice in the doorway, wincing as she caught sight of Tommy standing open mouthed, staring at the mess in the room and the bruises on her face.

  ‘I thought your mom was dead?’

  ‘Oh shit,’ she breathed.

  Chapter 9

  ‘So let me get this right,’ Tommy frowned into his whiskey. ‘Your mom is not dead, because your Father didn’t kill her. But he did stab her because she killed her mother, your grandmother. Your dad was convicted of killing her which he didn’t because she is still alive but escaped from a mental institution because your mom started murdering other people.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Olivia mumbled as Theo carefully pressed an icepack to her jaw.

  ‘Olivia your family is fucked up.’

  ‘Tell me about it,’ she sighed. ‘Look Tommy you can’t say anything, it’s not common knowledge that my mom is still alive and there are reasons for that, good reasons.’

  ‘I don’t know Olivia, ‘your mom sounds like a psycho and she was here in your house.’

  ‘I know but if she wanted me dead believe me I would already be dead.’

  ‘That doesn’t make me feel any better about this,’ Tommy scowled. ‘You need to tell the police.’

  ‘They know,’ Theo answered for her.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Mac, the new police chief and Jake already know the truth.’

  ‘And they haven’t reported it?’

  ‘Like Olivia said there are reasons.’

  ‘But you’re not going to tell me those reasons.’

  ‘Look Tommy,’ Olivia removed the icepack so she could speak more clearly although her words were still slightly slurred from the swelling, ‘I know it’s frustrating but it’s kind of a need to know basis. Please just trust us on this, we’ll tell you as much as we can but as for the rest of it you need to let it go.’

  ‘Answer me one thing.’

  Olivia nodded.

  ‘Does Louisa know the truth; I mean all of it?’

  Olivia hesitated, knowing that her answer was going to make a tense situation between Louisa and her husband even worse.

  ‘That’s what I thought,’ Tommy interpreted her silence and stood, abruptly heading out of the room.

  ‘Tommy!’ Theo called after him as he heard the front door slam.

  ‘Let him go,’ Olivia caught Theo’s sleeve. ‘Louisa will deal with it; she knows him better than we do.’

  ‘I wish we could tell him the truth,’ Theo took the ice pack from her and pressed it back to her mouth gently. ‘I hate having to lie to him, it feels wrong somehow. He’s a good guy.’

  ‘Yes he is,’ she murmured, ‘which is exactly why we’re doing him a favour by not getting him involved with this mess. He’s dealing with problems of his own right now; he doesn’t need the added stress.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Theo conceded, ‘but it still feels wrong.’

  ‘I know,’ she stroked his forearm as he softly held the icepack against her face.

  ‘Why don’t you tell me the rest of it now, whatever it was that you didn’t want to say in front of Tommy.’

  ‘My mom stole Hester’s Grimoire.’

  ‘Damn it,’ he breathed. Then he looked into her eyes, realising there was more. ‘What is it?’

  ‘She said something to me, right before she knocked me unconscious.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘She told me to ask myself why she used my blood to open the devil’s trap instead of just hers.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And I’ve been turning it over and over in my mind. She didn’t just use my blood she used both of our blood to break the trap.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘There’s only one reason I can think of; her blood gives her immunity from him.’

  ‘I’m not sure I follow.’

  ‘She built him a mortal body and forced him into it with her magic, sealed with her blood. While he is trapped in that body he can’t harm her and because she used my blood too...’

  ‘He can’t harm you either,’ Theo frowned in confusion. ‘She was protecting you?’

  ‘I keep going over that moment when she shot me. I was standing at almost point blank range and at that distance, even if she was a lousy shot, she couldn’t miss me. If she’d wanted me dead she could’ve just put a bullet in my head but instead she shot me in the shoulder, incapacitating me and gaining access to my blood.’

  ‘She was trying to save you,’ he replied quietly. ‘I know Nathaniel and the first thing he would have done was kill you, she knew it too.’

  ‘What I don’t understand is why?’ her voice rose higher, revealing an underlying fragment of panic, as she fought back the tears threatening to spill over. ‘It’s all part of some manipulation, it has to be… I just can’t figure out why’

  ‘Olivia,’ he spoke softly, ‘maybe she saved you because you’re her daughter, because deep down she loves you.’

  ‘No,’ she shook her head in denial, ‘you don’t know her. She does everything for her own selfish reasons. If she saved me it’s not because she loves me it’s because she wants something from me, I just need to figure out what it is.’

  Knowing he wasn’t going to get through to her while she was in this frame of mind, he kissed her forehead softly and gathered her up gently in his arms, rocking her slightly until he felt the tension and panic drain from her body.

  ‘Why don’t you go up and have a hot bath,’ he stroked her hair back from her face. ‘I’ll make you something to eat and bring it up.’

  ‘Theo,’ she murmured, her mouth curving slightly; ‘you’re a lousy cook.’

  He chuckled lightly.

  ‘I can manage grilled cheese sandwiches and soup without needing to call out the fire department.’

  ‘It sounds great,’ she nodded as the first tear began to fall.

  ‘Don’t cry Livy love,’ he murmured against her mouth brushing the tear away with the pad of his thumb. ‘It rips me apart when you cry.’

  ‘I have such a need for you inside me Theo,’ she finally admitted, ‘it scares me how much I need you.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he kissed her gently, ‘because I need you too.’

  Unable to say anything she simply nodded and slid off the stool. Theo watched her silently as she slipped out of the kitchen and headed towards the stairs.

  ‘Go with her and make sure she’s okay,’ he told Beau, who thumped his tail against the floor in reply and trotted out of the room obediently.

  ‘You took your time,’ Nathaniel spoke coldly as Isabel entered the cavernous room, his dark eyes glowering at the object she carried in her hands.

  ‘You need to learn some patience,’ she replied.

  ‘I’ve waited nearly a thousand years witch,’ he spat venomously.

  ‘Then a few hours shouldn’t make a difference.’

  His lips peeled back in an angry snarl and he lunged for her but with a sudden shower of sparks he was pushed back two paces by an invisible barrier.

  Isabel’s mouth curved in an amused smile.

  ‘You can’t harm me demon, or have you forgotten that already? I always knew your race were ignorant. I didn’t realise they were stupid as well.’

  ‘Be very careful,’ he said menacingly from between clenched teeth, his eyes filled with contempt. ‘This filthy pig suit you have forced me into will not last forever and when I break free…’ his gaze raked over her dangerously, ‘the things I am going to do to you.’

  ‘Don’t bother threatening me Nathaniel you don’t scare me,’
she replied coolly as her gaze slid over to the half naked man chained up and suspended from the ceiling by his wrists. His head hung forward, his face mostly concealed by his dark matted hair. His torso bore vicious looking slash marks and was streaked with congealed blood and burn marks. The faint odour of blood and singed flesh lingered in the damp cold air.

  ‘I see you’ve been amusing yourself with our guest.’

  ‘He’s remarkably resilient,’ Nathaniel conceded grudgingly. ‘I’ve pulled out his organs several times but they just grow back again.’

  ‘The body of an immortal,’ she stepped closer tracing the seared flesh of his ribcage with her fingertips. ‘I wonder,’ she murmured, her lips close to his ear, ‘do you feel pain the way we do?’ She dug her fingers viciously into the wound causing his head to lift and a gasp to escape his dry ragged lips. Her fingers, now coated with his blood, softened and she traced his skin lightly causing the tiny hairs on his body to rise, ‘do you feel pleasure?’

  ‘Stop playing with him,’ Nathaniel growled, ‘he’s here for a purpose.’

  Isabel stepped back smiling.

  ‘Take him down from there.’

  Nathaniel moved to the wall where the end of the chain was anchored and released it. The damaged man dropped to the floor, limp and exhausted, the heavy weight of the black metal collar he wore weighing him down. He didn’t even bother to raise his head as the demon dragged a metal chair over the exposed floor with a sharp screeching sound. He felt himself being roughly lifted and thrown into the seat. He peered through the crack of one eye, the other swollen shut, watching silently as Nathaniel dragged a table over and placed it in front of him.

  Isabel placed a rectangular object wrapped in black velvet on the table in front of him. Carefully folding back the heavy fabric he leaned forward in interest as a large leather bound book was revealed. A triple moon was etched into its face and underneath it was a depiction of the tree of life; he could feel the ripples of power laced through the pages even without touching it.

  ‘This is a book of power’ he slurred, his damaged jaw making speech difficult.

  ‘Yes it is,’ Isabel looked down at him. ‘I want you to use it to locate her.’

  ‘No,’ he stared up at her defiantly.

  ‘You don’t have a choice,’ she answered smoothly as she circled him slowly. ‘Give me what I want and you have my word you will go free.’

  ‘I don’t believe you.’

  She shrugged unconcernedly.

  ‘I have no other interest in you or the gateway,’ she leaned in closer. ‘Can you feel them, unchecked and pouring into Mercy; they are everywhere.’

  He could feel them. It was like standing in a smog composed entirely of souls, lost, wandering and trying to connect with the living. It went against everything he was; it wasn’t supposed to be like this. He had to find a way to return them all to the other side but there was no way to achieve that whilst he was fettered by the damn collar. Even now he could feel his powers bound deep inside him, unable to reach them or to break free. He wanted to raise his head and howl in frustration. If only he could reach his master but that too was impossible. His master had not walked the earth in thousands of years and wouldn’t go topside just because he’d been careless enough to get himself captured by the witch and her pet demon.

  ‘You’re running out of time you know’ she smiled, her voice soft and cajoling. ‘For now only human souls have escaped the gateway. How long do you think it’s going to take for the others to realise the doorway is open? Are you really ready to let the Hell dimensions loose on earth?’

  ‘You really would condemn your own people to that?’ he looked up into her eyes.

  ‘You have no idea the lengths I am willing to go to, to possess Infernum.’

  ‘You’re not the first to search for it and you won’t be the last. It has been lost for millennia, far beyond the reach of a mortal witch and her delusions of grandeur.’

  Her hand cracked sharply across his cheek. Pain exploded across the side of his face as she connected with his swollen flesh and damaged jaw.

  ‘Find her,’ she hissed, ‘I know you can.’

  ‘No,’ he growled, a trail of blood and spittle trailing from his lip.

  ‘Then watch as the earth is overrun, if you think the destruction of humanity is worth the price of one soul.’

  ‘Go to Hell,’ he spat.

  ‘We may all do just that before this is over,’ she whispered in contempt.

  Picking up the book and folding it safely back into her arms she turned to Nathaniel.

  ‘See if you can make him slightly more co-operative.’

  Nathaniel smiled, his black eyes burning eagerly. ‘My pleasure.’

  He removed his shirt, his mismatched torso, which resembled the scars of Frankenstein’s monster, glowing in the dim light as he laid a roll of coarse fabric on top of the table with a metallic clank. He unrolled the material to reveal a gruesome assortment of metal hooks and knives. ‘I’m going to look forward to this,’ he picked up a cruel looking needle pointed knife which split halfway down the blade and curved away into a wicked looking hook. ‘I haven’t had the chance to use some of these since the fall of Constantinople.’

  Isabel ignored the pain filled screams as Nathaniel began his grisly work and moved away, pausing to gaze out of the cracked window pane down at the lake below. She watched the sylph like apparitions gliding across the lake and disappearing as soon as they touched the shoreline, leaving strange tracks leading up towards the main road into town.

  This was taking longer than she’d hoped but she was still confident he would give up the location of the soul she was searching for, sooner or later. Even an immortal couldn’t hold out indefinitely and Nathaniel was nothing if not creative when it came to getting answers. She gazed down at the leather bound volume in her hands; she couldn’t believe her mother and aunt had concealed this from her. Whenever she had asked she had been told it had been lost along with the location of Hester’s grave but they’d lied to her. They’d hidden it from her all along and handed it over to her daughter. Her fingers tightened convulsively on the creaky leather and her jaw clenched in anger. So they’d suspected her, even back then. She should have known.

  Her fingertips curved gently under the edge of the cover and opened it. The parchment pages fanned open, releasing a strange dusty smell. She gazed down at the black inky letters on the page as they undulated and streamed across the pages, arranging and then rearranging themselves into nonsense words. She slammed the book shut again in frustration. No matter what she did she couldn’t read it. Hester had obviously found some way to guard her secrets even from her own blood, but it was of no matter anyway. Soon they would have the answers they needed and nothing and no one was going to stand in her way.

  Olivia tossed restlessly in bed before a sudden chiming had her eyes flying open. In the darkness a scream caught in her throat as she saw a familiar pale figure standing over her, staring with white lifeless eyes. Theo opened his eyes and jolted awake as he too focused on the apparition beside the bed.

  ‘Don’t move,’ she clutched his wrist and hissed under her breath. ‘Don’t scare her away.’

  He froze, watching silently as the girl continued to stare at Olivia.

  ‘Charlotte?’ Olivia whispered.

  The girl raised her hand which was clenched tightly in a fist and as she opened it over the bed Olivia looked down at the handful of old coins dropping into her lap. She picked one up and turned in over in her hands, it was another Greek coin, they all were. She looked up at Charlotte and noticed she was holding something else. Her gaze narrowed in the darkness of the room until she realised what the girl was holding was the stick she’d pulled from the lake the first night she’d seen her. She must have led her down to the lake, Charlotte had wanted her to find the stick; it was important somehow.

  She watched calmly as the girl held out the stick to her. Olivia reached
out slowly, all her attention now on the strange object, ignoring the girl. It almost felt like the stick was calling to her, singing to her in the very depths of her soul. She felt a resounding vibration like a silvery chord strike inside her. Her trembling fingertips closed around the stick and its song roared to life inside her mind blocking out everything else. She didn’t notice when Charlotte disappeared. If she had looked up she might have been convinced she saw a ghost of a smile curve the corner of the girl’s mouth. But she was oblivious, unable to tear her gaze away from the stick in her hands as she rose from the bed.

  The strange Greek lettering began to light up with a bright silver glow. At first she thought it was just a trick of the light but the stick seemed to be lengthening, elongating until it was no longer a stick but more like a staff. Strange sliver flickers appeared at the edge of her vision much as it had the day they had been caught in the pub with the angry spirit. She could feel the atmosphere in the room change; it crackled with static electricity causing the hairs on the back of her neck to rise. Her whole body trembled but not in fear, more like she was being charged with energy. Somewhere in her consciousness she realised it was almost the same way she had felt after she had conjured Hell fire. As she made that connection, the staff roared to life bursting into bright silver flames which licked at her skin but didn’t burn.

  Theo’s eyes widened in fear as Olivia was engulfed in silver flames. She stared, unseeing, as she clutched the staff tightly in her hands. Her eyes, instead of her usual warm aged whiskey colour or the molten gold shade that came with her power, were now a bright shimmering silver.

  In his panic and without thinking he reached for her. As his fingers wrapped around her forearm he felt a sharp jolt and a searing pain. He let go and felt back against the bed, his back arching in agony as the fire raged unchecked through his veins. A high pitched buzzing filled his ears and a bright white light blinded him. His body felt like it was burning, being consumed from within as he felt the vast inescapable power and with it a sense of thousands upon thousands of souls.