Of Ash and Spirit: Piper Lancaster Series

by D. G. Swank

  She nodded. “It’s going to take some time.”

  I squeezed her hand. “Trust me. I, of all people, understand that.”

  “Because of your own parents?” she asked, searching my face. “The rumors say you can speak to the dead because you witnessed your own parents’ murders and spoke to their ghosts before they departed.”

  I inhaled sharply and pulled my hand from hers. I wasn’t surprised she knew about my parents’ murders. It had been big news at the time, and if she did know my grandmother, she was sure to know about the double homicide. “No. I hadn’t heard the rumors, and they’re only partially true. While I did see my own parents murdered, I wasn’t fortunate enough to speak to them after their deaths.”

  “I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn,” she said with horror in her eyes. I got the sense she wasn’t the type of person who normally spoke so openly.

  “No, of course not. You just caught me by surprise. It makes sense that people would try to find a reason for my . . . aptitude.”

  She nodded and glanced up at me. “You have no idea what a blessing you’ve been to me, Piper. Your grandmother must be very proud.”

  My mouth twitched as I fought to keep from laughing. “My grandmother is a proud woman.”

  She reached to her side and picked up a check I hadn’t seen. “I know you don’t take payments, but Melanie said you were open to gratuities. Please accept this as a thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

  I was unable to contain my shock when I saw the amount on the check. “Nancy. This is far too much.”

  “A thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money I’ve paid in therapy bills and antidepressants. Truth be told, I probably owe you much more.”

  I stared at the check in disbelief. My name and the date had been filled in with black ink, but the amount and the signature were in blue—she’d waited to see how the visit would go before entering in the amount.

  “I really can’t take this, Nancy.” I held the check out toward her.

  Rhys stiffened and tried to discreetly nudge my side.

  Nancy shook her head. “Piper. Please take it. You said Megan wants me to be happy, and this will make me happy.”

  “Okay,” I said, folding the check over even though it didn’t feel right.

  “What’s that on your palm?” Nancy asked, sounding concerned.

  I checked my partially clasped hands to figure out what she was talking about. The hint of two shapes could just barely be seen on my left palm—a circle intersecting a square, the circle touching all four sides. The lines were very faint, but I knew for a fact they hadn’t been there when I’d taken my shower earlier. I swallowed my panic and quickly fisted my hand before anyone else saw. “Nothing. Just a smudge.”

  Hudson stood. “We really need to get going, Mrs. McNamara. Thank you so much for letting Rhys and me tag along.”

  She got to her feet, offering him a warm smile. “I was glad you were here to keep me from falling to the floor in shock. It looks like we both needed you.”

  Hudson reached down and held my arm as I got up. We said our goodbyes, and Nancy hugged me once more at the door. The three of us were quiet all the way to the car, and Hudson refused to let go of my arm, even when I tried to tug it free. He led me to Rhys’s car and opened the door.

  After I was inside and Rhys was behind the wheel, he squatted next to my open door and gave us a stern expression. “Neither of you say a word until we get back to Piper’s house. We’ll discuss it all there. All three of us. Together. Have I made myself clear?”

  I managed to nod, but that was about all I could manage. I fell into a deep sleep within a minute of leaving Nancy McNamara’s house.

  I woke up to Hudson calling my name. He was squatted next to me, holding my hand.

  “I’m awake,” I said, feeling like I was inside a cave.

  He helped me out of the car, but I felt stronger as I walked to my kitchen door. Sleep was obviously what I’d needed.

  Rhys was already waiting inside, looking anxious.

  “I have so many questions,” she said.

  “Me too,” Hudson added.

  “Let’s go sit in the living room,” I said.

  I sat in the oversized chair with the ottoman, while Rhys and Hudson sat on the sofa.

  “Spill it,” Rhys said.

  I told them about seeing a glimpse of Megan—how she’d been little more than a flicker before I put the necklace on.

  “And you actually touched her?” Rhys asked.

  “I think Jack was right about the spiritual planes,” I said. “As soon as I put the pendant on, it was like she was just as real as you and Hudson. I didn’t try to touch her until the end, and when I did, Nancy said she could feel her.”

  “Then you actually touched Nancy, and she could hear her as well.”

  “I was a bridge,” I said. “A bridge between the two planes.”

  “And a conduit,” Hudson said. “You transferred energy from the ghostly plane to ours, but it took energy of your own. I saw the bed shake several times, by the way. You were sitting perfectly still, and the mattress moved as if someone else was on it. I caught it on video.”

  “So the necklace was the key,” Rhys said. “I thought Abel said it would protect you.”

  “And the website you found this morning said it could have dual purposes.”

  “No,” she said. “That’s not what it said.” She pulled out her phone and looked up the site. “It says obsidian is very powerful. It’s a reminder that life and death are concurrent. They’re not separate; they’re one.”

  “Holy crap,” Hudson said, rubbing his hand over his head.

  Rhys continued, “It says stories from way back link obsidian to guardian angels. Like Abel says, it offers protection. But yes, it can be dangerous unless you’re prepared to face both sides of who you are—the positive and the negative. It says it energizes and forces self-awareness.”

  “Like the ghost today,” Hudson said.

  The hair on my neck stood on end.

  “Finally, it says it will help you face current challenges as well as learn from the mistakes from your past.”

  “All of that from a stupid necklace,” I said with a shaky voice.

  “No,” Rhys said. “All of that from the stone. This says the purer obsidian is, the more powerful.”

  I held out my left hand and showed them the faint outline of the square and the circle. “What do you make of this?”

  They both gasped. Hudson leaned forward and grabbed my hand to get a better view. “When did you first notice it?”

  “When Nancy asked what was on my hand. I hid it from you two so you wouldn’t make a big deal of it until we got home.”

  “Piper,” Rhys said. “That’s the symbol on the back of the pendant.”

  I held her gaze. “I know.”

  “Take it off,” Hudson said, reaching for my neck. “Get it off right now.”

  I leaned away from him. “No. Look what I did for Nancy and her daughter. Abel said I was growing stronger. Yesterday, before I saw the old woman behind my car, I couldn’t see ghosts at all. Today, I caught a faint glimpse of Megan. What if the necklace is helping my talent grow stronger, faster?”

  “And what if it’s hurting you?” Hudson asked. “I’m not gonna lie, that thing on your hand scares the shit out of me. You need to take the necklace off until we know what you’re dealing with.”

  “I know what I’m dealing with . . . ghosts that need my help to find peace and a demon set on finding the demon hunter and destroying it.”

  Hudson got to his feet and began to pace. “This is crazy, Pippy.”

  “I know,” I sighed.

  He stopped and turned to me. “You really believe a demon is set on killing you?”

  My breath caught to hear him say it so bluntly. It still sounded ridiculous, but there was no denying what had happened to Gill, let alone everything else that had happened afterward. “If he th
inks I’m a demon hunter, then yes.”

  “Shit.”

  “There’s something else we’ve completely ignored,” Rhys said. “What about the piles of ash?”

  I sucked in a breath. How had I overlooked that? “Megan didn’t leave one.”

  “That’s right, but the other ghosts did. Why?”

  I shook my head. “All I know is the three ghosts who left piles of ash were sent to give me warnings.”

  “But by whom?” Hudson asked.

  “I don’t know. I asked Austin, but he didn’t know either—he only knew what he was supposed to tell me.”

  “But what’s with the ash?” Rhys asked. “The demon left ash too, right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Didn’t Abel say things created of ash and spirit were set loose to kill you?”

  “Yeah,” I said, leaning forward, “but those ghosts weren’t a threat. They were trying to help me.”

  Rhys glanced down at her phone. “It’s four thirty. If you aren’t going to your five o’clock appointment, you should probably call and cancel.”

  “You’re not going, are you?” Hudson asked.

  “No,” I said. “I don’t think I’m strong enough. And I also don’t want to be too exhausted to meet Jack for dinner.”

  “Who’s Jack?” Hudson demanded.

  Rhys put her hand on Hudson’s arm. “Jack’s the priest we spoke to. The one I told you about earlier.”

  “You’re going on a date with a priest? There are so many things wrong with that.”

  “Why can’t she go on a date with a priest?” Rhys asked indignantly.

  “She’s got enough shit going on in her life right now without pissing off God by corrupting a priest.”

  “He’s an Episcopalian priest, Hudson. They can date and get married.” A wicked grin lit up her eyes. “Not that she can’t still corrupt him.”

  “Rhys!” I shouted.

  Hudson scowled. “I don’t like it.”

  “It’s not a date,” I said, irritation bleeding into my voice. “It’s a dinner to discuss what he knows about demons.”

  “At Othello’s,” Rhys said in a cheery tone.

  Hudson looked even more defensive. “Then I’m going too.”

  “No, you are not!” I countered.

  “Why not?” he asked. “You said it wasn’t a date.”

  “Hudson!”

  “Hey,” Rhys said. “If she wants to go out to dinner alone with a young, hot guy, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “He’s hot?” Hudson swung to face me. “You’re going out with a hot priest?”

  I rolled my eyes. “His attractiveness has nothing to do with anything. What we should be focusing on is that Rhys called several priests to ask for an appointment, and the only one who could fit us in is a priest who’s been on sabbatical since he was attacked by a demon a few weeks ago.”

  “How do you know it was just a few weeks ago?” Rhys asked.

  “Because his scars were too fresh to be much older than that.”

  “What are you suggesting?” Hudson asked.

  I turned to face him. “I don’t much believe in coincidences.”

  Hudson’s eyes narrowed. “Are you suggesting that your meeting with him was orchestrated? By whom?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. The deeper we dig into this, the more questions we get. I’m hoping to find out more about what Jack knows. Hudson, I want you to look into a group called the Guardians.”

  “The Guardians? The ones your parents’ killer claimed to work for? I thought they were an anti-civil rights group.”

  “I think there’s more to it. Call it a hunch . . .”

  “Say no more. On it.”

  I glanced over at Rhys. “I want you to find out what happened in Manteo.”

  She nodded. “Got it.” Then she grimaced. “But I have a class I can’t miss, and I haven’t finished the outline for my paper. I need to turn it in tonight for approval. I won’t get to the research until later.”

  “It’s waited this long. It can wait a little longer.”

  “And what are you going to do?” Hudson asked.

  “Before I meet Jack for dinner, I’m going to search my parents’ room for clues.”

  Hudson looked confused. “Clues for what?”

  “I don’t know yet.” But I was determined to find a connection between their murders and what was happening now.

  Chapter Fourteen

  After a wasted hour searching my parents’ room, I headed to my own room to get ready to go out. It was surprisingly hard to figure out what to wear to my non-date. For one thing, Othello’s was a trendy, upscale restaurant in downtown Asheville. Since it was Asheville, I could probably get away with walking in and looking like a slob . . . Was it bad that I didn’t want to? Jack was really good-looking, and I kind of wanted to dress to impress without looking like I had. In the end, I wore a black sleeveless dress with black, low-heel slingbacks and a black cardigan in case I got cold.

  Rhys had left by the time I walked downstairs, but Hudson was at the dining room table hunched over his laptop. He looked up when he saw me, and from the way his brow lowered, I could tell he didn’t approve of my outfit.

  “I thought this wasn’t a date.”

  “It’s not. It’s a working dinner.”

  He gave me a hard stare.

  “Okay,” I admitted. “I wore a dress, but I’m meeting him at Othello’s—”

  “See, that part doesn’t make sense.” He twisted in his seat. “Do you know how hard it is to get into that place right now?”

  I leaned my head back and groaned. “Hudson. Please. I know you’re worried about me, but everything else in my life is so hard right now. Can you please go easy on me here?”

  He stood and his face softened. “I’m not trying to make your life hard, Pippy, but I’m worried this guy isn’t on the up and up.”

  “He’s a priest, Hudson. If I can’t trust him, who can I trust?”

  “I’m pretty sure all those little boys who were molested thought the same thing.”

  Groaning again, I picked up my purse and checked the contents. “Those were Catholic priests. This guy is Episcopalian. When was the last time you heard of an Episcopalian priest molesting altar boys?” He started to say something, and I jerked my index finger up at him in warning. “Don’t tell me. I want to live in blissful ignorance.” I let my hand drop as I returned my gaze to my purse. “Besides, we both know that’s the least of my worries.”

  He stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. “I hate that this is happening to you.”

  “Yeah, me too, but that won’t make it go away, will it?” I grabbed my car keys out of my purse and spun to face him. “Wish me luck.”

  He grimaced. “I hope you have more luck than I have so far. I’ve found a website that’s interesting yet uninformative all at the same time. I hope to have more when you come home.”

  “Are you still planning to go get your things?”

  “Yeah. After I’m sure Charlotte has left for the restaurant. I won’t be able to get all of it in one trip, but most.”

  I fisted his shirt and pulled him close. “Do it before it gets dark. And stay away from Beaucatcher Mountain. Jack was attacked there too. I think the demon is anchored to it somehow.”

  He looked shocked, but he said, “Okay. I’ll stay away from Beaucatcher Mountain. And I’ll be home by nightfall.”

  I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

  “Be careful, Pippy.”

  “I will.”

  I walked into the restaurant a few minutes before seven and told the perky twenty-something hostess that I was meeting Jack Owen at seven.

  Her face lit up at the mention of Jack’s name. “So you’re his mystery date.”

  My heartbeat picked up, and I was pretty pissed at myself for getting so excited at being called his date. “Excuse me?”

  “He had us set up the
private room for you.” She looked me up and down and grinned. “I’m Becca, his sister.”

  I stared at her in confusion. “Episcopalians have nuns?” Where was her habit, and why was she working in a restaurant?

  She laughed. “No, I’m Jack’s sister sister. Our brother Max owns this place, but it’s really a family restaurant.”

  I could see a hint of family resemblance, and it all made sense now. “Which is how Jack managed to get a private room last minute at one of the hottest new restaurants in Asheville.”

  She beamed. “You’re my new favorite person for saying that. You’re Piper, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Welcome to Othello’s. Let me take you to Jack.”

  She led me through the restaurant. Every table was full and the restaurant was loud with the hum of voices. She walked to the back corner and started up a staircase and then down a dark hall. She stopped next to a closed door on the left. After a quick knock, she pushed her way in.

  “Look who I found,” Becca sing-songed.

  Jack was sitting at a table with a wall of windows behind him overlooking the street. The table was covered with a white tablecloth and silverware and napkins, water and wine glasses. A pitcher of water and an ice bucket sat on a small table off to the side. He stood when he saw me, and I had to suck in my breath. He looked amazing in a light blue dress shirt that was open at the collar and a pair of jeans that hung low on his hips. He’d been handsome in street clothes, but this . . .

  That breath caught in my throat.

  This is business, Piper. Only business. Don’t forget it.

  He gave me a tentative smile, but it quickly changed as he took in my appearance, his darkened eyes suggesting that he found me attractive too. Jack and I stared at each other for several awkward seconds, which only seemed to make Becca happier.

  “Okay, then . . . ,” she said with a big grin. “I’m going downstairs to check on the kitchen, but I’ll be back in ten minutes with your food. If you need anything before then, let me know.” Still grinning, she walked out and shut the door behind her.