I felt the blood drain from my face as she said it. “You think Belphegor might come here?”
With a quick shake of her head, she replied, “No, not here. But the cemetery might be a different story. If they want to get at you, this might be an ideal time, Gillian.”
“Well, that makes me feel better,” I mumbled and put the rest of my incense and oils away.
She bit her lip, seeming almost hesitant to say what she was thinking. Finally, she spat it out. “Gillian, I am most concerned about you transitioning to the other cemetery today. You’re vulnerable there when your spirit is straying from your body.”
I folded my arms across my chest and dropped my eyes to the tiled floor. “I know it’s risky. But I have to do it. Ferris is going to be close to anchor me, so if anything at all seems wrong, he’ll try to pull me back.”
She nodded, the concerned look giving her a stern appearance. “Just remember to say your protection prayer, my dear.”
“I will, I even have—” I cut my sentence off as I saw several people approaching. I touched Astrid’s arm, and we entered the chapel moving to the side where I finished telling her that I had a stronger prayer than the ones I’d used before that I’d gotten from Gavin before the accident.
She tactfully didn’t point out that it hadn’t seemed to help him much. Maybe it had, or he wouldn’t have survived at all.
Ferris waited for me near the front of the chapel. The piano sat several feet away from the right side of the casket. Motioning him toward it, we took our seats in the front pew near the instrument.
“I checked the piano and sound,” Ferris informed me, knowing I would be concerned about it.
I nodded a quick thanks. Nervous tension kept me fidgeting, tapping a foot or rolling my fingers off my thighs in little rhythmic beats. I kept listening for the sound of the wind chimes.
“Do you think the wind chimes will be loud enough for us to hear them?” I asked.
“Trust me, they are.” Ferris squeezed my hand to stop my fidgeting. “They’ll echo in this hall.”
“Gillian, is that you?” a voice called out from a short distance away, and I turned my head toward the speaker.
Jared, Janna’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, strolled toward me. He looked tired with dark circles under his eyes. A twinge of guilt shot through me. I hadn’t given him a thought in all that had happened. Of course, he’d been grieving also.
“Jared, how are you?” I stood and turned toward him to offer my hands to him.
“It’s been hard,” he said frankly. “I still can’t fully grasp it. What about you?”
“The same. It’s a difficult time.” I paused, not sure what else to say. “Her parents should be arriving soon.”
He nodded, an awkward pause on his side as well. “I’ll look for them. It’s good to see you even if the circumstances suck.” He tossed a brief wave of acknowledgment to Ferris. Although I’d been with Janna and Jared on a few occasions, he only knew Ferris from the various shows he’d been to with Janna.
I nodded and sighed as he made his way back to find a seat with a few other people from the hotel staff. This was going to be more difficult than I’d thought it would be.
At last, Janna’s parents, her brothers, and their families, aunts, uncles, and cousins walked in, and silence descended on the room like a shroud. As they filled the first three rows of the left pews, even the children remained somber and quiet.
The service started with the priest offering a prayer, then proceeding through all the rest of the usual remembrance service. Little hornets buzzed in my stomach making me feel nauseous as I waited for the part where I would speak. I hadn’t prepared a speech, but had a good idea of what I wanted to say and would let it flow from my heart. The song would express the rest.
Finally, Father Douglas called me to the podium. Speaking into the microphone, I released all the deep feelings of love and friendship Janna and I had shared over the past eighteen years, and how I felt like I’d lost my sister. I fought to keep from bawling again and managed to say everything I had planned.
I feared the tension and frog in my throat might not bode well for doing the song. I had a backup one planned if I just couldn’t make it through, but I was determined to give it my best shot.
After I sat, one of her brothers spoke for a few minutes; then the priest opened it to any others. To my surprise, Ferris rose and went up to say a few words, recalling our college years, and a couple of anecdotes about Janna. I could hear the strain in his voice also. Someone slipped into the pew behind me, and I glanced back.
Started, I almost gasped in surprise to see Orielle sitting there. She leaned forward and whispered, “Backup.”
I nodded, grateful she’d chosen to come and offer support in case something happened. I turned my eyes back to the podium and just caught Father Douglas’ signal to go to the piano. I took my seat and Ferris positioned himself closer to me.
Then I started playing the beautiful song I’d written for Janna releasing my mind to the words and letting it soar as I sang for her and waited.
And waited. And...waited. Nothing.
I played and sang through four minutes without so much as a flicker to the transitional cemetery. As I sang out the final words, “Until we meet again, I will treasure the memories, my dearest sister-in-love,” I realized I wasn’t going leap. Maybe the song was wrong for it. I segued at once into the backup I’d chosen, “Walk With Me,” and hoped it would pull me across.
I got a glimpse of Ferris’s face, a slight frown on his brow as he realized I wasn’t going anywhere. His shoulders lifted in a slight shrug of sympathy, or maybe relief, and I continued to the end of the song without a hint of Janna’s presence. By the last note, I felt ready to burst into tears. As I looked around the chapel, I realized I wouldn’t be alone if I did. Almost everyone was in tears while Janna’s mom sobbed into her handkerchief.
Turning back to the piano, I closed the top over the keyboard and started to rise to go back to my seat. I froze as the tinkling of a chime rang through the chapel. My eyes shot to the alcove where the wind chime hung and swayed as if a gentle breeze touched it. Alarm shot through me and I whipped my head around looking for any sign of a yiaiwa.
Father Douglas seemed a bit puzzled about the chime but handled it well, saying, “Perhaps Miss Janna wanted to send us a message that she’s all right and is with our Lord. Now, let us pray.”
We bowed our heads for the prayer, but I kept glancing around the hall. Had Belphegor attempted to enter? Or was it something else?
With the service done, people began vacating the chapel, some stopping to talk to the Lewis family while others went to their cars to either go home or get ready for the procession to the cemetery.
Ferris hugged me, his nerves almost as raw as mine.
“What happened?” he asked in a low voice.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” I answered with disappointment evident in my voice. “Why did the chime ring?”
“I don’t know. There’s no breeze up there to move it and if you didn’t see any spirits, then maybe one attempted to enter but couldn’t get through your wards.”
“Exactly right,” Astrid said as she caught the last part of the conversation. “No evil spirits entered here, but perhaps the priest was correct, and a good spirit did send a message.” She stared straight at me. “You didn’t transition.” It wasn’t a question.
“No, not even a hint of it.” I saw Orielle standing a couple of feet away and introduced her to Astrid and Ferris.
“More help is good,” Astrid said. “We’re going to the cemetery; it’s likely to be more exposed there. Will you be a candle holder, Orielle?”
Ferris drove my Jeep, with Astrid and Orielle in the back seat, as we followed the coffin to the Our Lady of the Snows Cemetery, a place I had quite a bit of familiarity with over the past year or so. Both Marielle and Zoe’s mortal remains were interred there. Now, Janna’s would be as well. Grim thought. I shook
my head to dislodge it.
Meanwhile, Astrid explained to Orielle how the incense-infused candles would help keep any evil spirits away from the ceremony. It did mean we would have to try to pace a circle around the grave carrying the burning candles to make an invisible border the apparitions couldn’t cross. A little over a year ago, it would have sounded like mystical nonsense to me, but now I took it very seriously. Astrid handed each of us a little paper with the ritual words inscribed on it that we would need to repeat as we walked.
Great, we were going to look like idiots to anyone watching us. Once the service started, we could move in, but we needed to keep the candles lit. How was I going to explain this to Mom Lewis? The hornets were back in my stomach as we neared the cemetery. At that moment, I’d never hated anything as much as I hated the yiaiwa and if one showed up, I was ready to blast it back to Hell and into a pile of dust or whatever they became when destroyed.
Ferris parked in the first spot he found open near the section. While the pallbearers began to get the coffin out, Astrid, Orielle, and I dashed to the burial site and lit the candles. Astrid was going to walk one way; I would start the other, then Orielle would go the same direction as Astrid starting about one-third of the distance around the circle.
With determination, I started walking my direction, repeating the gibberish-sounding words over and over as I paced out the circle. Of course, people noticed, and I could hear a few murmurs as they walked past me to the gravesite. One of the kids pointed and asked a parent what I was doing.
Making a fool of myself? What does it look like, kid? But if it prevented an attack of any kind at the grave, then I would do what was necessary.
Midway around, Astrid and I crossed paths; she a little closer in than I so that we set a double line of defense. Each of the candles held a different herb infusion–anise in mine, cubeb in Astrid’s, and rosemary in Orielle’s—all of them powerful against demons and evil spirits, or so Astrid informed us. About two-thirds of the way around the circle, I passed Orielle who was a little further out than I was making the third ring of protection. By now, we had a small audience watching our ritual action. If I’d had a broom, I’d have started the witches’ broom dance to entertain them even more. I felt mortified to have to be doing this at Janna’s funeral.
When my circle was complete, I made my way over to the open grave where the casket was now being placed on the support above it. I felt eyes staring at me, and a couple of people edged away either not wanting to be close or not liking the scent from the candle. Even though I wanted to be closer to Janna’s family, I stayed almost opposite them to avoid any weirdness and kept more toward the back.
Under my breath, I repeated the protection spell I used at my home and the one I used for myself, expanding to protect all those present.
As the service started, I noticed one man who came late started toward the group but stopped several feet away and started coughing excessively. Perhaps a reaction to the herbs we used or possibly because of the scents. His face flushed red; he appeared to choke, then he turned to run back away from the gathering. Across from me, Astrid raised an eyebrow and held up one finger.
The service proceeded and our little trio, plus Ferris, kept watch on the area surrounding the grave. Something caught my eye, just a dark shadow at first, and I focused on it. I pointed subtly to Astrid and Orielle, so they shifted their attention that way also. The shadow grew as the demon materialized outside the invisible ring.
I stepped back away from the mourners into an open area and watched as the creature turned with me. Was this Belphegor or one of his minions? I hadn’t had a clear view in the alcove in India, but I thought he had a more human form than this. With the candle in my left hand, I reached with my right for the penknife I had tucked into my waist sash and pulled it out, palming it as I readied myself to send a blast at the yiaiwa.
I felt a hand on my shoulder, tensed, and glanced back. Ferris stood behind me, his focus on the shadow we all saw. Calming my nerves, I let the anger build in me, the fury to demolish the creature growing moment to moment. A couple of moments later, Orielle came to a skidding stop beside us. She placed her right hand on my other shoulder, while she held her candle next to mine, amplifying the power. I felt an additional surge of energy racing through me.
“Come at me,” I challenged in a murmur. Ferris squeezed my shoulder.
In a flash, the ghoulish creature spun into a half circle and sped toward the safety barrier. A blitz of energy burst across the area as it hit the invisible wards and slowed to a snail’s pace although it continued forward.
I didn’t hesitate. As soon as it started toward me, I flung my light blast in a pinpoint line across the open field. It struck the creature with a bright flash of light and a crack that sounded like thunder.
Heads turned toward the sound, but the yiaiwa had already vanished leaving no indication of the attack. If anyone had been watching, they might have thought a lightning bolt hit the ground, but no burning occurred. As it was, it just sounded like a crack of thunder on an almost cloudless day.
“Did you get it?” Ferris asked, his eyes showing his amazement.
I let out a breath. “I don’t know. I hit it, but I don’t know if I destroyed it or it just vanished back to the lower plane. We learned the barrier couldn’t stop the demons, but it does seem to slow them.”
“At least, you stopped it,” Orielle said. She released my arm and stepped back a pace.
Seeing several people watching us curiously, I turned to Ferris and slipped under his arms whispering, “Hold me. Let them think I’m over here sobbing my heart out.”
Without question, he folded me into his arms and stroked my head as I leaned my head on his chest and made my shoulders shake. That actually didn’t take much acting. Not only was I keyed up, but I was furious that the monsters had disturbed the funeral. I was shaking all right, but it was with anger.
“Well, that was quite a show, Foster,” an all too familiar voice said.
I lifted my head and gazed across Ferris’s shoulder at Egan Moss as he approached. I hadn’t spotted him earlier, but I should have known he would be there. Moss attended the funerals of all the murder victims that fell on his plate. In all fairness, he was wearing black today—slacks, shirt, coat, and hat; all black—instead of his usual brown suit.
From his opening statement, I assumed he’d seen that light blast.
“I suppose you didn’t see anything today either, Mr. Halliday,” he added with a hard gaze at Ferris. His appraisal shifted to Orielle and Astrid as he added, “Did either of you get a view?”
I took a deep breath, pulled back from Ferris’s hold on me and faced him. “You saw it, Detective. I blasted an evil spirit that was trying to get through our protective barrier. Pretty much the same type that borrowed Mr. Staunton’s body.”
The frown on Moss’s face rivaled a Shar Pei puppy for wrinkles. “I am not quite sure what I saw, Foster. But I sure would like to hear the whole story even though I don’t think I’m going to like it.”
“All right. I’ll tell you all about it. However, I am expected at the wake for my friend, and I really want to be there, so please don’t haul me downtown. I promise I will come in tomorrow and tell you the whole story.”
“Me, too,” Ferris added, a gesture of support that I truly appreciated at that moment.
“I will also make a statement and give you more information,” Orielle volunteered. I didn’t expect that.
“And you are?” Moss asked, looking her over.
“Dr. Orielle Chour,” she replied and whipped out a business card from her pocket. “I’ve been working on a project with Gillian.”
Moss took the card and looked it over, then turned his gaze on Astrid.
“Madame Astrid, psychic,” she said succinctly. “Want me to read your cards?” She cast a friendly smile at him.
“Are you all part of this—? Whatever this is,” he asked as waved his hand, business card between his
fingers, toward the perimeter of our circle in an encompassing gesture.
We all nodded, almost in unison.
Moss let out a long-suffering sigh. “I know I’m going to regret this. I don’t think I want to hear this at the office,” he said slowly. “So, why don’t we meet tomorrow afternoon at a neutral place and you can tell me and my partner everything then?”
“We can use my office,” Astrid spoke up. “I have free time for a couple of hours after one-thirty. Will that work?”
“Okay,” the detective said. “I know how to find you, so I’m sure you’ll all be there.”
As we all agreed to the time and the place and swore we’d be there, I gazed beyond Moss’s shoulder and saw the service was concluding and the final goodbyes were underway.
“Whatever you want,” I said hastily. “I need to get back to the funeral now.” I hurried past him, taking it at a brisk pace that bordered on running and Ferris soon fell into step beside me.
I took one of the buttery-colored jonquils from the bucket the florist had left for the flowers to cover her casket and slipped into line behind the group from Janna’s office. As my turn came, I paused for about half-a-minute, placing the flower on the lid before I whispered, “I am so sorry, Janna. I will miss you so much, girlfriend. I’ll try again to see you. Go to the light, please.” Then I let the flower drop on her coffin. I turned away as tears began to run down my cheek.
Damn. This was all so final. I’d lost her, and I didn’t see her today. Why? Why didn’t I even get to the transitional cemetery to see if she was there?
Chapter 9
ON SATURDAY, WE GATHERED dutifully at Astrid’s office, and home for that matter, by one-fifteen to wait for Moss and Hernandez to show up. Ferris and I came together while Orielle met us there, arriving a few minutes after we did. Ever the gracious hostess, Astrid had tea and cakes out for refreshments. Maybe she thought it would smooth things over with the detectives. I thought it curious that Moss would willingly work on the weekend when this could have waited until Monday. Even odder when you considered he’d volunteered Hernandez as well. I was grateful though. I didn’t need to take another day off work.
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