by C. M. Cevis
“I can make you something horrid like porridge and bread if that makes you feel better about being here. I was just trying to be nice, but that didn’t work out so well for me before, did it?” Luna said, crossing her arms and giving Gideon a look.
He felt a bit embarrassed now. “I’m sorry about that.”
“I don’t believe you,” Luna said, turning and walking back toward the stairs.
“Wait, please,” he called. Luna stopped but didn’t turn to face him. “Can I come back upstairs if I promise to behave?”
She turned so he could see her profile over her shoulder. “Other way around, Prince Gideon. Behave first, and then maybe I’ll let you come back upstairs. You’ve already messed up once.”
Gideon sighed. “Right.” He put a forkful of the food into his mouth and let it shut him up as he watched her walk away.
30
“Hey Graham,” Luna said, sitting back in her chair.
“You must need something. You don’t ever just call me out of the blue,” he teased.
“I’m not supposed to, remember? You told me it was a safety hazard or something.”
“You’re right, I did. And yet here you are.”
She smirked. “I need something.”
Graham laughed. “Called it.”
“Have you heard anything about Harlowe Means lately?”
There were several heartbeats of silence on the other end of the call. “Did he and your father have a thing?”
“Years ago. But I’m talking recently.”
“Why do you ask?”
Luna cursed internally. She’d hoped he wouldn’t ask but had known he would. “Any chance I could just not answer that?”
“Not a shot in hell.”
She made a face. “What if he happens to have something to do with my brother being missing?”
“Do you know something you aren’t telling me?”
“No,” she responded. It wasn’t a complete lie. It was more that she didn’t know much that she wasn’t telling him. It was still a bit of a blind lead. “He’s tried to get to my father before, and with Dad in jail, now would be a perfect time to go after his kid and his business, don’t you think?”
Graham sighed loudly. “I still don’t think you’re telling me everything, but you are right. He is worth looking into, considering the history there.”
“Will you tell me if you find anything interesting?”
“I’ll tell you if I find your brother. Otherwise, I tell you what you need to know. This is my job, and your job is to lay low.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Right. Okay.”
“I’ll call you back.”
“Alright. Thanks, Graham.”
“Mmhm.” He ended the call.
~*~
“I didn’t even know you had a brother,” Asher said.
Luna nodded. “I haven’t spoken to him in a long time.”
“What’s his name?”
Luna glanced at Asher but didn’t respond.
“Right, nothing identifying. Is he an older brother? Can I ask that?”
“He’s older,” Luna answered.
“Can he see Liza?”
Luna shook her head. “No, but he always believed me about her. And he never made me sound crazy about it, even when he was mad at me.”
“You never showed him?”
Both sisters shook their heads. “I didn’t know I how at the time. I wasn’t quite sure it would work with you, it was a bit of a trial run.” Luna smirked and shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe I will one day, if I ever see him again.”
“If you guys get along so well, why haven’t you talked to him in so long?”
Luna took a sip of her drink. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned her worry about her missing brother to Asher. “Can’t answer that.”
“Oh, it’s because of the program?”
“No.”
It wasn’t. But that didn’t mean that she could tell Asher what happened. There was way too much danger in Asher knowing any specifics if Luna’s past ever caught up to her. That was something she just wasn’t willing to risk.
“Okay,” Asher breathed.
“I’m sorry, Ash. I shouldn’t have brought it up. There’s so much I just can’t tell you.”
“It’s okay, I understand. Or, I don’t because you can’t tell me, but I understand that you can’t tell me, and that it’s for my own good,” she said with a nod and a grin that made Luna laugh.
“Exactly.”
“Where’s Liza?”
“Here,” Liza replied, appearing on the other side of Asher, who jumped a bit in response.
“Don’t do that!” she squealed.
“Aren’t you a big bad wolf? You sure are jumpy for a carnivore.” Liza laughed.
“I am neither big nor bad,” Asher said before stopping to think. “Okay, maybe big. But definitely not bad. I am a bit jumpy in either form, honestly.”
Luna had never seen Asher shifted, but not because her friend was hiding it. Luna had just never asked about it. Part of her worried that maybe it was a private thing and Asher would be offended if she asked. Maybe it was intimate. Or maybe—
“Is someone else in the house other than the woman I saw? Zelda?”
Luna hesitated. “What makes you think that?”
“The house smells different in places. It has for the past few days.”
Luna and Liza exchanged a look, and Asher immediately sat up.
“I saw that. What was that look? What are you not telling me?”
Luna made a face. There wasn’t any harm in telling her this, right? And that weird fae guy hadn’t said she couldn’t tell anyone what was going on.
“Remember that gate in the basement?”
Ash rolled her eyes. “No, I forgot about it. Did another one light up?”
“No, but… someone came through.”
Asher stared at her, mouth open in shock.
Liza laughed. “It’s no big deal, Ash. Just a faerie queen and her son, who pissed off someone important enough for him to be exiled for a while.” She was practically bouncing in excitement at spilling the news.
Ash’s expression hadn’t changed, but she managed a “What?”
Luna waved a calm down hand at Liza. “I’m apparently keeper of the gate or something. Only guardians can wake up a gate, according to the fae.”
Asher blinked at Luna. “That sounds insane.”
“That is exactly how I’ve felt about it since they appeared in my basement. That being said, I can’t explain why it’s all lit up now if neither side did anything to it.”
“Is whoever you’re watching dangerous?” Asher asked, leaning in, eyes wide.
Luna shook her head. “Nah. A bit of a troublemaker, but harmless.”
~*~
“Interesting situation you find yourself in,” the witch said as she circled the space Gideon was confined to.
“If you aren’t going to do anything about it, this visit is pointless,” he snapped. “What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were confined to faerie.”
Lianna smirked. “When have I ever been truly confined to anywhere that I didn’t choose to be?”
Gideon rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”
“I want what I always want. We had a deal, young prince, and your failure to keep it is a problem,” she replied, parting her dark hair to reveal the beginning of a swath of gray.
“I’m not exactly in a position to help you, Lianna. You’ll just have to find your own food.”
Lianna’s teeth and jaw elongated, and she lunged toward the magic box, snapping at Gideon. A flash of the magic as she came in contact with the magic barrier made her leap back, a confused look on her face.
Gideon smiled. “She’s more powerful than you are, isn’t she? You steal from others to boost your own abilities, and she is still more powerful than you. That’s got to sting.”
“Shut it,” she snapped, her teeth and jaws returning to normal size.
She couldn’t get to him? Oh, this was fun. He stroked his goatee. “I’ve always wondered who you pissed off to find yourself in this situation. The jaw disfigurement, the need to steal life from others… who cursed you in such a way?”
Lianna gave Gideon a look that could have killed. “You agreed to this arrangement, just like I did. You are breaking your end of the deal, and should this continue, I will take what is due me.”
The smile faded from Gideon’s face and he cleared his throat. “Regardless of what either of us would like, I am bound here. I can’t feed you, deal or no deal.”
Lianna frowned, eyeing the makeshift prison. “I will get you out.”
The laugh escaped Gideon like a disbelieving bark. “How? You couldn’t even get in when you wanted to attack me.”
Another deadly look. Gideon really needed to stop pressing his luck with Lianna. One day it was going to come back to bite him in the butt.
“I will return when I know the answer to that,” she said, turning away.
Gideon opened his mouth to respond, but she was already gone. Almost as if she hadn’t been there. But her perfume lingered—roses with a hint of sulfur.
Feet running brought his attention around to the entrance and someone new appeared in the doorway. Someone who almost pulsated with the amount of life in her.
“Oh hello,” Gideon whispered.
“What in the world is that smell?” the new girl asked, wrinkling her nose. “It’s not him.”
Luna pushed around her and nodded, looking around. “Sulfur and roses? Why does my basement suddenly smell like someone stepped out of a small piece of hell and hadn’t had a chance to shower yet?”
Hell? Gideon almost sighed out loud. Why in the world had he never thought of that?
“Gideon!” Luna barked, bringing his attention back around. “What is that smell?”
He gathered his wits and shrugged. “No idea, it just started a few minutes ago. I don’t even notice it now.”
Luna eyed him warily before turning to the redhead she’d come down with.
“Anything, Ash?”
She shook her head. “Whatever it was, it’s gone.”
“Liza?” Luna said. Her sister popped into view.
“I was outside with you guys, but I didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary.”
Interesting. The psychic sister couldn’t sense the witch. Gideon immediately pushed the thoughts from his mind, replacing them with food. He remembered what Liza had told him about shouting his thoughts, the last thing he needed was for her to hear the wrong thing in that moment. He could think about Lianna later, when he was alone.
Luna sighed and crossed her arms, the frown on her face deep. She could pout all she wanted. Gideon wasn’t about to rat out the only person who seemed willing to try and get him out of there. Even if she also wanted to kill him from time to time.
“Alright, Prince you’re-not-telling-me-something, I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I can’t leave you down here knowing that hell might be popping in and out without my knowledge. You get your wish: you’re coming back upstairs. But you’d better behave, or I’ll make things… uncomfortable.”
Her narrowed eyes had him imagining all sorts of tortures—circles of poison ivy to keep him from sitting, manacles of rose thorns, food that tasted like dirt. Who knew what this witch was capable of?
“I’ll behave,” he said with a grimace and a nod.
“Good.” She waved her hand and the box fell away as Gideon got to his feet. “I’m not leading you like some sort of human dog. That’s not really my kink. Come on,” she said, motioning for him to follow.
Something about that made him smile as he watched her hips sway in front of him. What was her kink—
“She will hurt you, Gideon,” Liza said in his ear and he almost gasped. Damn mind-reading witch. “That’s the only warning I’m giving you. Be glad that I kind of like you.”
Gideon nodded, and Liza popped into vision in front of him walking beside her sister. She glanced back over her shoulder at him and nodded.
Right. That was his warning and she’d sounded like she’d meant it. No intimidation meant, just truth. He’d behave.
31
Zelda had settled herself on the other side of the dining room table from Luna. The ashes of her friend Amie were settled between the two of them, and Liza was standing by.
Luna had done all of the prep work that her sister had needed, noting that most of it was to make sure that she’d feel alright after Liza had helped her be the human equivalent of a vessel. Luna had done it before, and would probably do it again, but it always took a lot out of her for a bit.
“Are you ready?” Luna asked.
Zelda gave a small smile and nodded. “I’m ready.”
Luna and Zelda joined hands across the table, and Luna opened herself up to the world around her. The room seemed deafeningly loud for a moment, but it quieted as she felt her sister’s presence began to sort the noise from what was important.
“Amie?” Luna heard Liza call. “Are you here?”
“Yes,” came a soft response. Then, “How in the hell are the two of you doing that?”
Luna swallowed a laugh and kept quiet so as not to interrupt the conversation.
Liza let her laugh ring. “My sister and I have a complicated situation going on.”
“I’ll say,” came Amie’s response. “But you can help me get Zelda to move on?”
“We can help you speak to her. What she does with your words is up to her.”
Amie sighed, sounding frustrated. “Alright, what do I do?”
“Take my hands. I can funnel you through my sister, and between her power and mine, Zelda will be able to see you. Then you can speak to her.”
There was a lull in the conversation, and Luna braced herself for the feeling of Liza’s power. No matter how much she tried to be gentle, the feeling of another’s power entering your body was like being hit by a speeding truck.
“Ready, sis?” Liza asked softly.
Luna nodded, not wanting to let go of the breath that she was holding.
It slammed into her, like it always did, and brought her knee crashing up into the table. She heard Zelda gasp just as she opened her eyes. There beside her sister, she could see a woman. She looked to be in her sixties, but healthy and happy with a wide grin on her face as she looked at Zelda across the table. She had snow white hair that had been shaved on the sides and styled up into a short mohawk.
“I love this woman,” Liza said.
“Z, what the hell are you doing carrying around some ashes for all this time? Is that what you really think I’d want you to do?”
Zelda’s mouth was hanging open as she stared at her friend. “Amie, is that really you?”
“Yes, it’s really me. Thanks to these girls and they’re willingness to help, I can tell you to stop with this silliness and let me go. I’m fine, I promise you.”
“I can’t just let you go,” Zelda said, her eyes starting to tear up. “You have been my other half for my entire life. How am I supposed to just go on without you?”
Luna could feel the tears that Amie wanted to shed through their connection, and a lump pushed its way up into her throat as her eyes began to water.
“I’m always with you, Z. I didn’t want to leave you, but my body had other plans.” Amie laughed. “But that guy you found… he’s a good one. I told you that. I know that he’ll take care of you. That’s why I could go, and leave that pain behind. I was hurting so badly, Zelda.”
Zelda sniffed and nodded her head. “I know.”
“I don’t want you to be held back by a jar of ashes, or a memory of someone who wants nothing more than for you to spend the rest of your life blissfully happy. Not mourning me.”
Zelda looked up at the apparition of her friend and smiled. “I love you, Amie.”
“I love you too. You got me through so many hard times in my life. Hell, you even saved my li
fe a few times, and you didn’t even know it. Now let me return the favor: Dump the ashes wherever you want. I am not trapped in those ashes.”
“And then you’ll be peaceful?” Zelda asked.
“When you let me go, and live your life again, I’ll be peaceful.”
Zelda’s eyes shifted to Luna’s, and Luna had to work hard to see her through the tears.
“Can I leave her here? With you?”
Luna nodded, the tears freely rolling down her face now. “I promise I’ll take good care of her, Zelda.”
Amie’s ghost turned to Liza beside her. “Can she see you?” she asked.
“No,” Liza responded.
Zelda cocked her head, confused, and as she opened her mouth to ask, Luna intervened. Gathering a bit of her wits, she pushed a small amount of herself into the magical mix flowing through the room. Just enough for Zelda to be able to see Liza.
“Zelda, meet my twin sister, Liza.”
Zelda looked shocked, then chuckled. “She’s the psychic one?”
Luna and Liza both nodded.
“You’re the first person out of the few who know that has been cool with the ghost sister thing.”
“I’ve seen weirder.” Zelda laughed.
The bulbs in the small chandelier over the table dimmed and flickered, and the joy that had filled the room was suddenly gone. Something was wrong.
“Liza?”
Her sister’s eyes were wide and she looked around wildly. “It’s not me, sis, but I don’t feel anyone else.”
“Of course you don’t, you silly ghost girl. You could walk right past me and not know I was there.” The deep voice boomed through the room, and Luna stifled a scream.
Zelda had gone pale. “Please tell me I’m not the only one who heard that,” she whispered.
“It’s fascinating that you would open yourself up this way, so soon after your experience with the coma. The one that you both already know wasn’t natural. Do you have no fear of allowing back in whatever or whomever caused it?”
Luna wanted to kick herself. Of course they should’ve been cautious about doing a séance, but it just hadn’t occurred to either sister. She reached out with her powers, trying to sense where the voice was coming from. She needed to keep it talking.
