My So-Called Phantom Love Life

by Tamsyn Murray

  Shock numbed my thought processes. ‘I don’t know.’

  Miss Pointer bustled up and unlocked the classroom. As we filed in, I thought Nico moved awkwardly and I wondered if he had other injuries. However he’d got them, it must have been bad.

  He didn’t speak as we settled into our seats. His uncharacteristic silence worried me even more; after Friday, I’d thought he’d at least have said hello and I didn’t want to prod him in the back in case I hit another bruise. But neither could I survive the whole lesson without checking he was OK.

  ‘Nico, are you all right?’ I said in an undertone, leaning forward and pretending to rummage in my bag. ‘What happened to you?’

  His shoulders stiffened and he turned slightly in his seat. ‘Leave it, Skye.’

  Catching a glimpse of his bruised cheek and puffy eye, I felt another wave of shocked concern.

  ‘Did you get into a fight?’

  ‘I said, leave it.’ This time, the words had an undertone of anger and, as worried as I was, I knew it was pointless to keep asking. But his raised voice had caught Miss Pointer’s attention. She glanced over at us and I saw her eyes widen as she took in Nico’s face. Her gaze lingered for several seconds and I guessed she was debating whether or not to mention it.

  ‘That’s a nasty black eye you’ve got there, Nico,’ she called. ‘How did that happen?’

  For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he said, ‘Playing rugby, miss.’

  A ragged cheer went up from the boys. Miss Pointer raised her eyebrows. ‘It must have been some match to cause so much bruising. Have you seen a doctor?’

  Nico shrugged. ‘It looks worse than it is.’

  The teacher studied him. ‘I doubt that but if it gives you any trouble, go and see the school nurse.’ A faint smile crossed her face. ‘I hope you won?’

  He didn’t return the smile. ‘No. I lost.’

  As Miss Pointer turned her attention to the rest of the class and the lesson got underway, Megan leaned towards me. ‘I didn’t know he played rugby.’

  ‘He doesn’t,’ I replied, gazing at the back of Nico’s head in grim bewilderment. ‘So the question is, what was he really playing at to get so badly hurt?’

  It must have something to do with the Solomonarii, I decided, but there were other questions I needed answers to more. If Nico, with all his powers, had come off worst, what exactly did he lose? And to whom?

  One thing I was sure of: whether he liked it or not, Nico and I needed to talk. And this time, I wasn’t settling for anything less than the full story. I wanted to know exactly what had happened to him and what he knew about Owen. Nico owed me the truth.

  Chapter 16

  I cornered him as we left the classroom. One look at my determined face and he agreed to meet me in the memorial garden at lunchtime. I half thought Megan would ditch her athletics practice to come with me, but she settled for making me promise to fill her in afterwards. If my suspicions were right, she wouldn’t be getting the truth.

  Nico was waiting on a bench in the quadrant which housed the memorial garden enclosure, when I walked in. My stomach somersaulted at the sight of him, but it wasn’t only the usual surge of attraction I felt – the awkward way he was sitting filled me with anxious pity and I knew he’d been lying when he’d told Miss Pointer the bruises looked worse than they felt. More than anything, I wanted to wrap my arms around him.

  ‘Hey,’ I said in a soft voice as I approached. ‘How are you doing?’

  A flicker of pain crossed his face. ‘I’ve been better.’

  I felt a pang of guilt. The memorial garden benches were wooden, probably not the most comfortable seats when you were injured. Usually, I avoided this part of school, with its small bronze plaques to students who’d died too young, but I’d chosen it today because it tended to be deserted.

  ‘Is there anyone else in here?’ I asked, peering behind the bamboo canes in the corner with suspicion. The last thing I needed was for someone to eavesdrop on what was likely to be a difficult conversation.

  ‘Doctor Bailey wandered through just now but he was muttering about queues in the canteen.’ Nico shifted on the bench and gave a humourless smile. ‘It’s just you and me.’

  ‘Good. Then you can tell me how you got hurt,’ I said, perching on the bench beside him. ‘And don’t give me that rugby rubbish. You don’t even play.’

  For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer. ‘Would you believe I walked into a door?’

  ‘No.’ I gazed at him and hesitated. ‘Were you doing something for the Solomonarii?’

  He stared at the gurgling water feature, avoiding my eyes. ‘Not exactly.’

  ‘Then what happened?’ I reached out a sympathetic hand to touch his bruised cheek. ‘Because if you don’t mind me saying this, you look like hell.’

  Nico slumped on the bench. ‘I stuck my nose into something I shouldn’t have, that’s all,’ he said and a trace of bitterness crept into his voice. ‘The beating was to teach me not to do it again.’

  I stared at him in horror. ‘Who did this to you?’

  He closed his eyes. ‘My father. I waited until he was out and snuck into his study, trying to find out more about the ritual of the Eaten. I thought if I knew more about it, I could figure out a way to make it better for the ghosts.’ His good eye opened and fixed bleakly on me. ‘He came back before I was finished.’

  Words failed me. I’d known the Solomonarii were dangerous but I hadn’t expected they would turn on one of their own. Worse still, Nico’s punishment had been delivered by his father. Any shred of doubt I’d had about whether Mr Albescu was unaware of his clan’s murky past evaporated. ‘Nico —’

  He held up a hand. ‘Don’t tell me I should report him to the police. It was my own fault. If I hadn’t been in his study, it wouldn’t have happened.’

  I gripped his hands. ‘Listen to me, Nico. This is not your fault. Even if you were doing something you shouldn’t have been, there’s no excuse for hitting you. Has he done this before?’

  ‘No. I’ve never actually seen him so angry.’ He shook his head, wincing. ‘Believe it or not, I think it could have been worse.’

  I supposed he was right, but what I was struggling to believe was how Nico was making excuses for someone who had beaten him black and blue. ‘Once is enough. I know you don’t want to but you should tell someone about this.’

  ‘And then what?’ Nico said, pulling his hands out of mine. ‘I get taken into care? No one in their right mind would choose that.’

  ‘You can’t stay with him,’ I insisted. ‘Look at what he’s done to you. Isn’t there anyone else you can stay with – family or something?’

  ‘The Solomonarii are all the family I have, Skye,’ he replied in a flat voice. ‘My mother’s sister lives in London but she’s always refused to have anything to do with my father and perhaps now I know why. Anyway, I can’t leave. Not after what I found out.’

  The breath caught in my throat. ‘What do you mean?’

  His gaze became stony. ‘You were right about what the ritual does to the ghost. They use binding spells to keep the ghost inside a pentagram until the ritual consumes them. The images and descriptions in the books I found were horrific. I almost threw up at one point.’ He brushed a hand over his face. ‘I can’t fool myself any more. There’s no way what they do helps ghosts.’

  ‘So get out while you can,’ I urged. ‘Track down your mum’s family.’

  He sighed impatiently. ‘I told you, I can’t. They’ve got something planned. After my dad had stopped hitting me, he rang someone. I suppose he thought I was unconscious but I heard him talking about the next ritual.’ His gaze met mine. ‘They’ve got a ghost lined up. It’s going to happen tonight.’

  My blood ran cold. ‘Who is it?’

  ‘I didn’t catch his name. But my dad said he’d found him in Hyde Park. He told whoever it was on the phone that the ghost was desperate to live again and would do anything the Solomonarii to
ld him to.’

  I let my eyelids drift shut. ‘He’s called Owen.’ I whispered.

  Nico froze. ‘You know him?’

  Tears welled up behind my eyes. ‘He’s my – friend. He told me he’d met someone who was going to help him live again. I thought it must be one of the Solomonarii.’ I hesitated. ‘Owen mentioned a man called Ivan. He’s your dad, isn’t he?’

  Nico groaned. ‘Yes.’

  Another thought occurred to me. ‘What does he look like?’

  ‘Like an older version of me,’ he said. ‘Tall, black hair, a bit grey at the temples. Less bruised, obviously.’

  An image of the dark-haired man from the tour bus flew into my mind. ‘I think I’ve seen him. How much have you told him about me?’

  Nico went pale. ‘Everything. I thought you’d see we weren’t so bad eventually and we could work together.’ He let out a hollow laugh. ‘How wrong was I?’

  ‘So he found Owen through me.’ As I spoke, Gregor’s vivid description of how a ghost became Eaten loomed large in my mind.

  He stared back at me and I could almost see the turmoil seething inside him. Sucking in a calming breath, I forced my heightened emotions to settle down. ‘What are we going to do?’

  Silence hung between us. Then he sighed and looked away. ‘I don’t know. I mean, I guess I’ve known for a while something wasn’t quite right but I didn’t want to find out for sure.’ His dark eyes sought mine and I almost gasped at the misery I saw there. ‘Dad’s always been strange. Even when I was tiny, I knew he wasn’t like other fathers, but I thought it was his sadness at losing my mum. Now I wonder if he mistreated her.’

  I didn’t know what to say. He’d never told me how his mother had died but I was starting to suspect it hadn’t been from natural causes. How would I sleep knowing Nico was in the same house as the person who’d beaten him without a second thought? More importantly, how would he? ‘Come and stay with us,’ I said on impulse. ‘I’m sure my aunt won’t mind once I explain.’

  Nico shook his head. ‘He’d find me. Besides, if I stay, I’ll be more useful. Maybe I can help your friend.’

  I bit my lip. ‘It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘It’s riskier to leave. Then he’ll worry who I’m telling his secrets to.’

  I could see what he was getting at but I hated the thought of him being in danger. ‘At least promise you’ll try to find out where your mum’s family are.’

  Nico threw me a tired look. ‘OK.’

  Leaning towards him, I planted a soft kiss on his unbruised cheek. ‘Thank you for trusting me with all this. It can’t have been easy.’

  He smiled. ‘Are you kidding? Knowing I could confide in you was the only thing which made me come in today.’

  I tilted my face towards him. ‘I’m glad you did.’

  Just as I was wondering whether it would hurt to kiss him again, the bell rang, making both of us jump.

  ‘We’d better go,’ I said reluctantly, getting to my feet. ‘You will text me, won’t you? Promise me you won’t try to do everything on your own.’

  For a moment, I thought he might refuse my request. Then he nodded. ‘Keep your phone on. I’ll text you once I know where we’re meeting Owen.’ He bent down and kissed me swiftly on the lips. ‘When this is over, I’m going to do that properly.’

  Try as I might, I couldn’t stop the flutter of butterflies his words aroused. In spite of the circumstances, I was looking forward to that kiss. And now I knew that, previously, he’d had no idea what the Solomonarii were truly like, I could forgive him for being sucked in. After all, if my mum or Celestine asked me to do something, I didn’t often question why, so it was only natural Nico would be the same with his father. And now that the truth was out, I couldn’t deny something else any longer: Nico was well and truly back in my life.

  Chapter 17

  The moment I was clear of the crowds after school, I dialled Celestine’s number.

  ‘Come straight home,’ she instructed as soon as I’d explained what Nico had told me. ‘I’ll see if I can contact Gregor. And, Skye? Don’t take any shortcuts down secluded paths.’

  I didn’t argue. Having seen what Ivan Albescu had done to his own son, I dreaded to think how he might treat anyone else who got in his way.

  Mary met me at the front door, a mournful expression on her grimy face.

  ‘The time of reckoning approacheth,’ she intoned as I swung the door closed. ‘Blood will spill.’

  ‘Let’s not get carried away, Mary,’ Celestine said, appearing in the hallway and pulling a face. ‘We don’t even know much about what’s happening until Nico texts Skye.’

  She turned and waved a warning finger. ‘Evil hath woken and darkness lieth ahead. I feel it in my water.’

  I turned to Celestine. ‘Have you spoken to Gregor yet?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. Have you heard from Nico?’

  I glanced at my phone. The text message symbol was noticeably absent from the screen. ‘Maybe I should go to Hyde Park, to see if Owen is there and stop him from this madness,’ I fretted. ‘Or try to find his family and persuade them to help. I should have seen this coming and done more to get them involved.’

  ‘Don’t blame yourself,’ Celestine said trying to soothe me. ‘There’s no way you could have known this would happen.’

  I’d wondered about that all the way home. Was it a coincidence that Nico’s dad had offered to help Owen or had he been chosen because of me? I thought back to the black-clothed man I’d seen lurking at the Dearly D; it had to have been Ivan Albescu. Maybe he’d spotted Owen with me and followed him back to Hyde Park. Or perhaps he’d selected him at random from all the ghosts there that evening. Whatever the reasoning, it was deeply unsettling; how many other ghosts at the Dearly D were in danger?

  Jeremy poked his head into the hallway, his hand over the mouthpiece of Celestine’s phone. ‘It’s Gregor.’

  My aunt took the handset. ‘Come on, Skye. He might need to ask you some questions.’

  A stab of anxiety cut through me as I dropped my bag and trooped through to the living room. What if Gregor said there was nothing we could do?

  Celestine waited until I was sitting on the sofa next to her before setting her mobile to speakerphone and holding it between us. In terse sentences, she explained the situation to Gregor.

  ‘This is very serious,’ Gregor’s voice crackled through the speaker once she’d finished. ‘If the ritual completes, this ghost will be lost to you forever. At all costs, you must prevent the Solomonarii from completing the incantation.’

  ‘Do you know what it actually involves?’ Celestine asked. ‘I expect there’ll be some kind of binding spell but what else?’

  ‘No one has witnessed the ritual and spoken about it but this much I can tell you. There will be a reversed pentagram inside a circle. Your ghost friend will stand within it. Each point of the pentagram will bear a candle to represent the element of fire. Water, earth and air will be symbolised as well. Most likely, the Solomonarii will have a knife for the ritual. You should take black pepper and salt if you are to have any hope of disrupting the spell.’

  I blinked. ‘Salt and pepper? Nico’s father will be packing a blade and we’re taking condiments to stop him?’

  Gregor sounded unruffled. ‘When the ritual is almost complete, throw them into the pentagram. This will break the spell and set your friend free.’

  ‘Why can’t we stop it before then?’ I asked. ‘Wouldn’t it be safer for everyone?’

  ‘If you act too early, the spell will not be affected,’ Gregor explained. ‘The safest thing would be to convince the ghost to stay away, but from what you have said, this seems unlikely.’

  He could say that again. I couldn’t even find Owen, let alone convince him to give up his crazy plan.

  Celestine shifted uneasily on the sofa beside me. ‘How will we know when the moment is right?’

  There was a pause. ‘You will know. The spirit will change, start to b
ecome what the ritual dictates. It is then that you must act. But perhaps I should come with you. I was due to leave London tonight but my appointments can wait.’

  ‘I’d feel much better if you were there,’ my aunt admitted and squeezed my hand. ‘If what happened to Nico is anything to go by, the Solomonarii are more dangerous than we realised.’

  ‘Owen is going to be OK, isn’t he?’ I asked, doubt creeping into my mind. ‘Afterwards, I mean.’

  Gregor cleared his throat. ‘I do not know. This has never been attempted before, to my knowledge.’

  My eyes met Celestine’s. ‘So it might not work at all.’

  ‘Possibly not,’ Gregor said. ‘But it is your only hope if you wish to save your friend. I am at your disposal, should you need me.’

  Celestine thanked him and, with promises to let him know if we heard anything from Nico, she hung up.

  ‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ Jeremy said, perched on the back of the sofa. ‘Can’t we call the police or something?’

  Now there was a conversation I wouldn’t mind overhearing. ‘What would you say? “Yes, officer, I’d like to report some illegal incense use”?’

  ‘Black magic isn’t considered a crime unless someone gets hurt or pays a lot of money for it,’ Celestine explained. ‘The police wouldn’t be interested in Nico’s dad unless Nico wanted to press assault charges and, even if they were, there’d be nothing to stop him performing the ritual another time.’

  I hesitated, wondering whether I should confess how I felt about Nico. ‘There’s something else I should tell you. Nico and me are kind of back together.’

  Closing my eyes, I waited for the objections. When none came, I peeled back my eyelids and squinted at them.

  ‘Well, duh,’ Jeremy said. ‘It was obvious something had happened and it didn’t take a genius to work out what.’

  ‘It is written all over thy face,’ Mary agreed and then glared at me. ‘Thou art a strumpet of the worst kind but mayhap thy love hath tamed the demon’s heart.’