Dead and Disorderly (Behind the Blue Line Series Book 2)

by Craig, Alexis D.

  “It was a chifferobe,” she responded sharply, and then reined herself in with a deep cleansing breath. “I started this, and dragged you all into it with me. You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to, but since you’ve been with me for most of my other ones, I’d hoped you’d be there for this. I need to go back there.” Her attention turned from Nigel’s look of incredulity to Nico’s one of speculation. “I think you need to, too.”

  Nico’s gaze was steady as he watched her, his expression neutral and reserved. “How do you see this going down?”

  “We,” she gestured to Mags and Amelia, “are going to take care of McManus. His days as Lord of the Manor are done. Hopefully with him gone, Aurelio can move on. If not, we’ll work something out.” The lack of specifics was on purpose. Though he’d borne up under a large part of the unusual weirdness that surrounded her regularly, she didn’t want to freak him out with more than he could deal with at one time, and the idea of putting up multiple altars and a summoning circle might just be a bridge too far for him.

  “The three of you against him.”

  She nodded but didn’t speak.

  “And you think this will work?”

  She nodded again, hoping he was just thinking aloud and not getting ready to shoot her down.

  His left eye twitched, and the corner of his mouth kicked up slightly. “Maybe I should ask the easier question. What are you not saying?”

  That it’s dangerous, involves conjuring and summoning, if it’s not successful, the potential for possession is pretty high, not to mention the potential damage to property, opening large rifts between this world and the next… “Nothing.” She gave him her most innocent expression coupled with her most winning grin.

  “Nahia Nizhoni!” Mags’ sharp look and reproving tone had her ducking her head in shame.

  She exhaled sharply as she looked up at the ceiling and thumbed her nose to alleviate an itch while she thought. “Okay, fine. It’s gonna be tough, dangerous, and you told me it had to be with you, or not at all, so here it is.” She fixed her gaze on him, and only him. “I want you there with me.” It wasn’t an ultimatum, it was a fact, and she was offering him her whole life, every page in her book opened to him. Repeating his words to her from the previous morning, she made her point plain, “I need you there with me.”

  All eyes were on Nico now, like the most riveting chess match ever, the silence was practically a spectator, too. From the corner of her eye, she could see Nigel braced with his elbows on both knees and his bottle of beer dangling, motionless, between them. Mags and Amelia were both still on the couch, leaning like they were pulled forward by the suspense. The only one who seemed immune, whose opinion she was truly interested in, was him.

  His expression was impenetrable, thoughtful, but giving nothing away as to the nature of the thoughts. She wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch him, lay a hand on him, as if that simple act would give her a window into his mind, into his heart. She’d given him hers, with a bow and without a receipt, so there was absolutely no returning it. All she could hope was he didn’t even want to.

  “I’m with you.” The words were so soft, she didn’t even react, they didn’t even penetrate the armor she’d been quietly wrapping around herself in anticipation of a rejection. “I’m with you, Nahia.” He reached a hand down from the couch, and her hand rose to meet it before the thought was even clear in her mind. His black eyes shone with joy as their fingers tangled and twined.

  Right then she knew whatever else went down today, everything would be okay. With him, she felt like she could conquer the world, maybe twice. Definitely twice. Tearing her eyes from her love to the lone holdout. “Nigel, it’s all you.”

  Her friend met her gaze steadily, methodically draining his beer. When he finished, he looked from her to Nico and back again, an insufferably smug grin slowly spreading across his lips. “Well, I guess, if you need me.” He sat up suddenly and slammed the empty bottle down on the coffee table, startling everyone. “Then I’m in.”

  She turned to Nico with a broad grin. “All right, then. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s do this.”

  The night took its time falling, like the sun was being dragged off against its will, with the light lasting well into what would have otherwise been the night. The sky was a beautiful purple through Nahia’s east-facing windows. His world felt right, complete with her hand in his and a look of pure adoration on her face.

  He hadn’t meant to declare himself tonight, or in front of a group of people for that matter, but he couldn’t argue with her smile, or the kiss that followed as she surged to her feet and launched herself into his lap. Her arms wound around his neck, lips on his, she was kissing him fervently and all he could do was hold on for the ride. His mind was scattered, the sweet scent of her skin, her taste, her soft body pressed close to him, he had to stop her soon or his reaction would be noticeable to everyone in the room, and possibly in a three mile radius.

  When she pulled back, their breaths mingling, her lips were swollen and her dark eyes were full of desire and love. It took a moment to hear their friends applauding, and they both turned toward the sound with distinctly unamused expressions. Nigel was going to give him no end of shit about this, especially in light of his pastry intervention earlier, but now wasn’t the time to think about it.

  “As great as this is,” Mags started as she stood and pulled Amelia to her feet as well, “and believe me when I say that I’m damn happy for both of you and it’s about damn time, we need to roll out. We have our gear in the car. Ready when you are.”

  Nahia sighed and slid off his lap with an air of reluctance. “My bag’s in the closet. I’ll get it, and we’ll go.”

  Nico stood and watched her walk to her room, rolling her shoulders and popping her neck like she was preparing to enter the ring, the implications were not lost him. Whatever they were about to do, it was going to be tough, drawn out, and just plain hard.

  “What more gear could she possibly need?” he asked to no one in particular.

  Nigel came to stand beside him as the women joined together in a circle of prayer as soon as Nahia exited her bedroom. “If I had to guess, it’s her portable altar, spare candles, incense, stuff like that. I’ve never gone with her on this kind of thing.”

  “‘This kind of thing’? What kind of thing are we talking about here?” His mind was swamped with images of demons, devils, and the ever-present flying furniture.

  Nigel nodded, his eyes never leaving the three women, who concluded their prayer and were gathering their purses to leave. “Yeah, they’re gonna cleanse the house. I don’t know what all that entails, but given how pissed McManus was last time we were there, I don’t think it’s gonna be all sunbeams and rose petals.”

  Great, exactly what he was afraid of. Rather than deal with that, he figured it was time to clear the air between him and his best friend. “Speaking of the house, we still have that little matter of you going back with her. What in the actual fuck were you thinking?” He glowered at his friend, who stood there looking like a ten-year-old kid with his first black eye, scuffing the toes of his shoes on the throw rug underneath the coffee table.

  “She was there by herself. I didn’t take her or even have an option as to whether or not she went.” Nigel’s gaze sharpened as he looked him over and could tell he wasn’t impressed. “I dropped by the store to see her, and she was already gone and at the house. I went to be with her because it wasn’t something she should do alone, and she’d tell you so herself. You can’t blame me because she’s hardheaded. That’s like cursing the sky because it’s blue.”

  The ensuing silent standoff would have been amusing if it had involved anything but Nahia’s safety. As much as Nico wanted to keep being annoyed with his partner, he knew Nahia would do exactly what Nahia wanted to do, with or without anyone’s input, much like her plan for tonight.

  A horrible thought seized him as Nigel was speaking, and he held him back from leaving
the apartment to allow the women to walk down the hall and out of earshot. “She has done this before, right? This isn’t her first time, is it?” The idea of her facing off against some spectral force without any real-world experience, such as it was, was horrifying.

  But Nigel shook his head. “No, she’s done this a couple times before for people. It hasn’t been this intense and required back up before, but she’s done it on her own more than once.”

  He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and was thisclose to crossing himself, something he hadn’t done in a very long time outside of church walls. “Good. What do you suppose Amelia’s here for? Moral support?” Not that he didn’t like the woman, she was perfectly pleasant in a patchouli-scented, hippie kind of way. All she was missing was the flowers in her hair.

  Nigel shook his head again. “No, she’s part of the ritual, I think. I’m not real clear on how it all works, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to participate and they needed three people for it.”

  Nico didn’t miss Nigel’s smug grin as he pulled out his key ring and locked up the apartment behind them as they left to follow Nahia and her friends downstairs. “Okay, but she had us. What’s she need them for?”

  His partner snorted in amusement. “Yeah, because an Anglican and a Catholic would be so terribly helpful in a pagan ritual.”

  Oh, well, when he put it like that… “Yeah, you’re right.” They made it downstairs and to the parking lot to find the women gathered together behind a dark blue hybrid Prius. He only just kept the smirk from his face. “So, what’s the plan, ladies?”

  Mags was leaning against the trunk of the car, smoking a clove cigarette, her arm casually draped around Amelia’s waist. “Nigel, you’re gonna be the A/V tech guy, okay?”

  That brought Nico up short. “You’re going to film this?” All he could see was more things that could potentially be tossed at Nahia to injurious effect.

  Nahia nodded. “Yeah, I think given our history with the place, this is going to be something we want on the record.”

  That wasn’t comforting at all. “And what am I doing?” He couldn’t shake the feeling he should be walking around with a flamethrower rigged to spray holy water instead of ignited gasoline.

  “You’ll be helping Nigel and filming from a different angle.” Nahia held up a finger anticipating his protest. “You’ll be safe. We’ll all be safe this time.” The steel in her voice and her eyes would have been kind of hot under other circumstances.

  Knowing nothing he said would change her mind, he sighed and acquiesced. “All right, then. Lead the way.”

  Nigel rode with Mags and Amelia in the Prius, and it was entertaining to see him fold himself into their back seat, but they had all figured three cars going to the house in the dead of night would be infinitely more conspicuous than just two.

  Nahia was silent as they rolled northbound out of downtown, a calm kind of focus settling over her as she rode in his passenger seat. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand, have some kind of contact with her so she wouldn’t retreat fully into her head, but it was hard for him to tell if she would accept that as she stared straight ahead, worrying her upper lip with her teeth.

  “The key is to believe.” Her voice was soft, but shattered the silence between them as surely as hammer. “The key to being safe, protected, is to be shielded by your belief.”

  Not sure where she was going with this, he asked, “My beliefs? Like my faith?” He was a Catholic from birth, but didn’t observe as faithfully as someone like his Ma or his Nonna.

  She nodded, but didn’t look at him. “Somewhat. Do you believe with your soul in it? With everything you have?” She paused, her eyes closed, and then she turned to him. “Do you know why the demon at the end of the Exorcist was able to fight off the priests so ably? It wasn’t the trappings of faith, but the lack of actual faith. The ritual was nothing without the feeling— the intent— behind it. No matter what they did as prescribed by their manual, it was ineffective in the face of a lack of feeling behind it, regardless of the desired outcome.”

  Nahia had said more in the last two minutes than she had on the entire ride, and they were nearing their destination rapidly. “You’re asking me if I believe?” Seemed like an awkward time to be discussing their religions, given their past week, but he wanted to understand.

  “No, I want to know you believe. I don’t care if it’s your faith, your God, your mother. I just want to know you believe strongly enough to be impervious to anything that may happen in there tonight.”

  He could feel her staring at him as he drove, watching her from the corner of his eye as he navigated through traffic and pondered what she said. Then he reached out and took her hand just as she turned back around to face the front. “I believe, completely and unreservedly.” He believed in them, and right now, that was the strongest and purest belief he had, it was all he could offer her.

  Nahia didn’t answer him, but at the stoplight just before their destination, he caught her looking down at their joined hands with a gentle smile curling her lips.

  Nico parked the car on the circle in front of the house, feeling like they should be facing the mouth of the driveway in case a quick exit was needed. The feeling of expectation and defiance was heavy in the air as he got out of the car and walked back to the trunk. Looking up at the house as he helped her into her backpack, he shuddered and said, “I think he’s expecting you.”

  She nodded and took a deep breath, exhaling very slowly like she was calming herself. “He is.”

  They gathered in a group by the front door, each with a flashlight and a look of terrified anticipation. Mags suggested they join hands and fire off a quick supplication to Saint Michael, and Nico couldn’t help but chuckle, just a little. Pagans and saints, he could practically see his mother falling into an apoplectic fit at the thought.

  Nahia reached up and lightly tapped the spot where she knew his medallions hung from his neck. “I think you’re covered,” she whispered theatrically. He raised their joined hands and brushed a quick kiss across her knuckles before they prayed.

  They didn’t have to break into the house, which surprised him, given the sign that had been hammered into the hard dirt and weeds to the right of the porch advertising a contractor. Maybe they got lucky and they hadn’t had a chance to start work on it yet.

  His hope was dashed by the drop cloths and plastic sheeting that now covered the floor of the solarium. If they weren’t working on it right now, it would be soon, and Nahia was right. Anything that could handily toss a dresser could more than easily sever a limb or kill someone working with power tools.

  Nahia led the way up the stairs without hesitation, her braid bouncing off to the side of her pack with every step. She was determined, and everything about her body language said she foresaw a fight. On the second floor, she stopped at the mouth of the mirrored hallway.

  “He’s not up here,” she pronounced, and Nico drooped a little in gratitude. While he had a decent idea of what was about to happen, he’d hoped it wouldn’t go crazy right out of the gate.

  “He will be,” Mags supplied confidently as she and Nahia poured a line of salt across the mouth of the hallway. Standing, she said, “Step over the salt, go down to the room at the end. Don’t break the seal.”

  He wasn’t quite sure what she meant, but he did as he was told, taking an exaggeratedly large step over the salt line and proceeding down to the room where they’d been briefly imprisoned. It felt different now, strange as it was to think about, it felt empty. The debris from the wardrobe was gone, something he attributed to the cleanup crew, but the hole in the wall still gaped with the lath-work visible.

  Mags and Amelia went about closing all the windows and marking their sills and casements in the same way he’d seen Nahia do at her store. For her part, she summoned him and Nigel over and handed them a roll of black trash bags and a roll of duct tape.

  “Cover the mirrors in the hallway. Mind the salt.�
�� As an afterthought, she looked at him with a sheepish grin on her face, “Sorry. Please cover the mirrors.”

  Nigel reached into his pocket and flipped open the knife he, and almost all the other cops they both knew, carried with him. “Covering the mirrors, check.” He disappeared out the door and Nico was on his heels.

  He held a bag as his partner slit it down one seam and then spread it along the wall closest to the doorway. “Why are we doing this exactly?” He tore off a strip of tape as he asked and handed it up to his friend.

  “Cutting off avenues of escape, if I had to guess.” He held out a hand for another bag, which Nico gladly supplied.

  “Isn’t that what the salt is for?” Nico wondered aloud as they worked their way down one wall and started on the opposite one. As they worked, the atmosphere around them changed, becoming more intense, almost aggressive and definitely angry.

  Nigel shrugged, and looked out into the open area of the second floor, a barely repressed shiver passing through him. “I think she’s just covering all her bases.”

  He hummed as he thought about it, and the two men finished the walls in silence. Beholding their handiwork, Nico felt a surge of apprehension flood him, and he wondered, not for the first time, if this was the best idea. Rubbing the sweat from his forehead with his wrist, he dropped his head back as he thought about Nahia’s ruminations on belief. He trusted her, and that was enough for him.

  The peaceful feeling that overcame him was short-lived as he looked at the ceiling. Shining his flashlight on it only confirmed his suspicions. “Hell.”

  Nigel’s eyes followed the beam of light as it bounced off the mirrored ceiling tiles that matched the ones on the walls. With a dejected sigh, he reached for Nico’s roll of trash bags and removed one, slitting it down the side. “She said to cover all the mirrors.”