by Sonya Clark
“I like being able to talk again,” she said. “I couldn’t figure out how before. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. But I don’t know how long we can do this.” The restless spirits outside the range of the candlelight continued to push and my energy was beginning to wane under the strain of keeping the wards up. “Tell me what we need to know while you can.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she screamed. “That night was just the end. You need to know it all to know who really killed me.”
My scalp itched with sweat and muscles began to burn. “Who was there?”
“I don’t know who they were. There were two of them. I didn’t know them.”
Hopes for a quick end to this dashed, I swore under my breath and struggled to keep going. Lightning flashed through the treetops, accompanied by the low rumble of thunder. Thank you, Stack. We could use the storm to dispel the ghosts trying to overrun the space but it would also call a halt to communicating with Britney. I had to get something useful out of her quickly.
“Britney, we don’t have much time. Tell me something I can use to find your killer.”
She moved closer. “It’s so strange, being dead. The past folds in on the present and I can’t tell what I’m seeing. I mean, when. I don’t know. I can’t make sense of it. It’s like the past is a movie playing at the same time as the present, which is also a movie. Does that make sense to you?”
“I need something concrete, honey.”
“I could see it happening to me, and I could see it happening to her at the same time. Like two movies in the past playing at the same time. Whatever, I don’t want to look at it anymore. I just want to be with my baby. She’s not with me and I’m stuck here and I don’t know what to do.”
Suddenly she was right in my face, her energy once again bleeding over into mine like in the restaurant. Only this time instead of reliving her death I felt the rage keeping her tied to this mortal plane and the desperate need to move on to the next. “I want my baby! I want my baby!”
Flickering like a signal about to go out, voice raising and dipping as it moved from hers to Stack’s, the ghost burned with a fury that scared me. The pressure in my head eased as some of the spirits outside the wards fled Britney’s wrath. I didn’t take that as a good sign.
“Who are you angry with? That’s what’s keeping you here, Britney. Your anger, this rage is what’s keeping you tied here. You can let go of it and move on or you can tell me who to go after so maybe that will help you rest. But you’re not gonna be with her until all this bad stuff is worked out.”
“I want my baby!”
“Tell me who to go after.” The first drops of rain fell. The wards didn’t have much longer. I didn’t have much longer.
“I want my baby.”
“Then point me in the right direction. Who? Give me something, anything!”
She blinked away, materializing in front of Ray. The sky opened up as the last of my energy bled into the ground, taking the wards with it. She leaned close to Ray, as if whispering something in his ear. He reacted with shock, whatever it was.
A howling rush of darkness blew out the candles as the spirits descended on the space. In an instant Britney was gone. Magic went haywire, twisting in all the wrong directions in the air. Stack was gone. Just like that, he’d left on his own or been taken along for the ride when Britney departed. I was tapped out, barely standing, as the storm intensified. The smell of ozone announced the lightning a second or two before it hit the ground less than a foot in front of me, sending all of its energy into me as if I were a lightning rod.
The precise moment my heart stopped was a thudding boom in my ears, then everything went black and silent.
Chapter 23
Water dragged me under, the weight of it like mud as I struggled.
“wind up no better than trailer trash if you don’t learn to act normal,” Nadine screeched.
Witch bitch witch bitch witch bitch.
“Using the mortar and pestle to crush the herbs is best but I’ve used the flat of a spoon, a rolling pin, whatever works. That’s what’s important, girl,” Rozella said. “You use whatever works. The rest will sort itself out.”
“all this stupid nonsense you read won’t do you a bit of good where it counts.”
“I sought you out. I mean, I needed that ghost expelled from my house but I was looking for you anyway. I searched for you because you are my descendent.”
“You’ll find the type of spells you’re best at. It will tell you more than I ever could about the nature of your magic.”
Voices floated around me, eddying like currents in the water that held me down.
“I don’t know anything about magic but I know what I want.”
“What’s that?”
“You.”
“You’ll never amount to anything if you don’t stop acting like a freak!”
“Seeing the future is no trick. Reading the bones or the cards or the dregs in a tea cup, it’s all the same. It’s all about seeing what’s right in front of you.”
Darkness and rain and his breath mingled with mine. The hard surface of the patrol car hood underneath me, more hardness above as he lowered himself to cover me. Hard muscle and warm flesh and cold rain. Hands on my thighs, stroking, caressing. My head fell back as he pressed himself inside me, the sound of the rain swallowing my cry. His hand slammed on the hood. I hooked my ankles around his waist, pulling him closer.
“What do you see in those cards for us?”
Rain in my eyes. He held me tight in the cage of his arms, hips bucking a relentless rhythm that dissolved all coherent thought. He whispered my name.
“Don’t leave me again!”
Nothing but sensation. Pleasure and pain and the feeling of being owned and more alive than I ever had before as he tattooed his claim deeper than skin and bone and flesh all the way to my soul, all the way down to where the magic lived and breathed and ran free. He wrote his name on my heart with every breath.
Every breath a talisman.
Every call of my name a spell.
Every breath.
Every breath.
I returned to awareness quickly. Disoriented, I flailed only to find myself captured by two strong arms. Rain pelted in heavy drops, my hair a sodden mass obscuring my vision. He pushed it from my face, his touch almost unbearably tender. I tried to speak but couldn’t.
“Are you sober enough to drive?”
“After that, I am. You get her in the car, I’ll get the stuff.”
He lifted me, carrying me through the woods to the back seat of the SUV. Just being out of the rain was such a relief, I sagged against him in the seat. He pulled me into his lap.
I finally managed to speak. “What happened?”
“Your heart stopped. I had to do CPR.”
I breathed in his scent. Woodsy aftershave and coffee and warm flesh. “Ray.”
“It’s all right. Everything’s all right, baby. It’s all right.” He drew a ragged breath. His lips brushed my temple. “It’s all right, baby.”
The driver’s door opened, Daniel climbing in and shutting it quick against the lingering storm. He craned his neck to look in the back seat. “You okay?” He reached for my hand.
I took it, entwined our cold fingers together. “Yeah.”
It was all I could manage.
He exchanged a look with Ray. “Home or the ER?”
“Home,” I croaked. “No doctors.”
Ray slipped his fingers around my wrist. “Her pulse is good. I think home is okay.”
Daniel nodded. “Okay. Just relax, Roxie. You take it easy and we’ll be there in no time.” He faced forward and started the vehicle.
I sank deeper into Ray’s embrace, shivering. He adjusted his jacket around me, as if to draw me in closer, wrap me up in all the warmth and safety he had to offer. I closed my eyes and drifted.
* * *
The next time I woke I was warm in my bed under a mountain of cove
rs. I lay there for a while, listening. The stereo was on in the living room. I strained to make out the music. Even in this state I liked winning at Name That Tune. It was Robert Plant, one of his later solo albums. Not Daniel’s usual fare. I pushed aside the covers and stretched, then found my glasses on the nightstand. The clock read two thirty.
My feet didn’t want to cooperate so it took me longer than it should have to make a simple trip to the bathroom. Dragging a brush through my hair ignited a righteous headache. My mouth felt so fuzzy I brushed my teeth twice.
Food. I needed food in the worst way. Every muscle ached. My chest throbbed above my heart. I left my room, making my way slowly to the kitchen, keeping one hand on the wall as I padded slowly up the hallway. With every step more came back to me, of both the séance and what happened after.
Sunlight stabbed through the living room curtains. Ray sat in the recliner, a book open on his lap but ignored as he stared at nothing. I stood in the junction of the hall, watching him. Remembering. Could everyone recall their near death experiences so vividly or was it the magic in me that made the experience sharp enough to cut glass?
I stepped into the room, making enough noise to ensure he would notice. The book fell from his lap as he stood and took two hurried steps before stopping.
“How.” He swallowed. “How’re you feeling?”
“Hungry.” It wasn’t the answer he was looking for but it was the truth. “What’re you still doing here?”
“Daniel had to sleep but we didn’t think you needed to be completely alone. I’ve checked on you a few times. Your pulse, just to make sure you’re stable.”
“Did you call in sick?”
He nodded. “Not something I do often but I felt it was best.” He ran his hands down his sides then gestured toward the kitchen. “Come on, I’ll make you breakfast.”
A meal seemed like a good way to dispense with the awkwardness so I agreed. I sat at the small table while he busied himself finding ingredients and cookware and making me breakfast. “So,” I said. “I’m guessing you and Daniel had a talk?”
“We surely did.” Ray grinned. “He’s real sensitive to sparkle jokes. I told him about that damn Radioactive nickname to make him feel better.”
That was not what I expected to hear. “You’re okay with this? I mean, you’re not shocked or trying to deny it?”
“He showed me his fangs.” Ray paused with an egg poised over a bowl. “Yeah, that sounded bad. Look, I know I wasn’t always the most open-minded guy back when we were together but I’ve changed. I kinda had to. Is it the easiest thing to accept? No. But in the grand scope of things it’s not the hardest, either.”
Chin propped on my hand, I watched him cook with economical movements. In a strange kitchen, in the home of a creature of myth and nightmares, Ray Travis was still at ease in his own skin in a way I envied. And he remembered how I liked my eggs, scrambled with shredded cheese and salsa. As soon as he put the plate in front of me I attacked the food. He touched the top of my head briefly, then moved away to study the espresso machine. By the time I was done with the eggs he’d figured out how to make cappuccino and was working on two cups.
“What did she tell you?” I deposited my plate and fork in the sink. “When she came over and whispered to you? What was that about?”
“Mackie and Terry have a sister, did you know that?”
I thought about it for a moment, digging up Parker family trivia from the addled landscape of my brain. “Uh, yeah, I think so. I don’t recall anything about her. Did she move off?”
“No. They keep her in the house. Peggy Parker, Margaret’s her birth name, is supposedly what would now be called developmentally disabled. Maybe autistic spectrum. They used to say it was either put her in an institution or keep her in the house with a full time nurse.”
“Supposedly?”
Ray crossed his arms over his chest and leaved against the counter. “Britney told me, Aunt Peggy’s not retarded.”
“Then what is up with Aunt Peggy and what does it have to do with Britney’s death?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“Mackie Parker just got moved to the top of my list.”
“Funny, mine too.” The machine beeped behind us, the smell of good strong espresso rich and blasting the last of oversleep from my head. Ray said in a low voice, “Does the blood drinking bother you?”
“Dude. I can’t even go there.”
Chapter 24
Ray was still there when the mail delivered another manila envelope of pages torn from Britney’s diary. I let him read the first set as I examined the second. Once again there was no date to be found but I did find something useful. She talked about her first ultrasound showing her to be nine weeks pregnant, with the name of the doctor mentioned.
“I’m guessing there’s not an OB named Carter here, is there?”
Ray looked up from the pages in his hands. “Uh, no. Shouldn’t be too hard to find out where this doctor is but without a warrant I can’t do anything with the information.” He dropped the pages on the table, rubbing the stubble on his jaw. “I can’t do a damn thing until we find something concrete. A threat to her life. Something.”
“There’s nothing like that in any of this. No indication of when any of it was written either.” I tapped the pages on the table. “Daniel can do things.”
He looked up over the sheets he still gripped in one hand. “What do you mean?”
I took a deep breath. “We find this doctor, Daniel can find someone in the office who can give us dates for Britney’s appointments.”
“I won’t have anyone getting hurt.”
“No, it’s not like that. He has a sort of vampire mind thing. He can influence people. He doesn’t use it much but will if I ask him.”
“You’re talking about mind control? Am I right?” He dropped the pages. “That’s a hell of a lot further out of bounds than breaking and entering.”
“I know. I’m just saying, this is an option. It’s up to you.”
Skimming the tops of the loose pages with his fingertips, he moved them restlessly. “I know it may seem hypocritical after what I let y’all do the other night but I feel like that’s a step too far. I might feel different if we were trying to save a life but we’re trying to solve a murder.”
“I get you. I just wanted you to know.” Privately I was relieved. It wasn’t something I liked to ask Daniel to do. For some reason I also liked knowing Ray had limits. I’d always respected him and I was glad to know I still could.
“We need to talk to whoever’s sending you this stuff. How did they know to send it to you, anyway?”
“Somebody who had access to her apartment. Other than that, I don’t have any ideas yet. Daniel’s mentioned the case a little on his blog.”
“Yeah, I read it.”
“Why do you read his blog? And all those books in your office at home, what’s up with that?”
Ray picked up the new diary pages. “What? Can’t a guy expand his reading choices?”
“That stuff always made you nervous back then.”
“When we were together? Like I said. Things changed. I changed.”
I looked away. “I guess those posts on the Grapevine let people know I was working on this.”
“There are posts about you on the Grapevine?”
I nodded, hoping I could avoid going into detail.
“God damn it. That damn website is a menace.”
I took the plunge. “Your name came up in connection with mine. Just so you know.”
“Yeah, I figured. Don’t worry about it.”
“You never really said whether you’re seeing anybody. If they see those posts they might get upset.”
“I’m not seeing anybody. You’re the one that’s attached. To a boyfriend who left you to go play guru in some ashram or some damn thing.”
“Now you sound like Daniel.”
“He’s right. That Blake fella’s an idiot for leaving
you on your own.”
Embarrassment brought me to my feet. “You should talk. You broke up with me.”
Ray stood so fast the chair toppled behind him. “I didn’t break up with you! You walked out on me. The stupid thing I did,” he said, pointing at his chest. “Was not chasing you down like I should have.”
My heart slammed in my chest. I couldn’t hear him say things like that. Not now, not with the emotions brought back by the lightning strike so close to the surface. Ray was mostly a good-natured, laid back guy, but he could turn on a dime, a volcanic eruption with no warning. I’d been on the other end of that more times than I wanted to think about and every single one of those times led to either an intense fight or even more intense sex. He’d look at me with those blue eyes burning a hole in my flesh, starting a fire. He looked at me that way now. I wanted to run but I stood rooted to the ground. I wanted to remember what Blake looked like but his face was shrouded in mist. I wanted Ray to yell, scream, be angry, make me angry.
“I never should have let you go,” he said, voice husky.
“You can’t talk to me like that. I’m with somebody. It’s not right for you to say things like that to me.”
“You’re with somebody? Baby, he’s not here with you. Coming back home is probably the hardest thing you’ve done since you left. I know that. Daniel knows, that’s why he’s came with you. But Blake? Where is he?”
I fought back tears. “You said we were going to be friends. Is this how you treat your friends?”
“I’m honest with my friends. So I’m gonna be honest with you now. I see you holding on tight to something that’s not real. I see you hurting. I see you still trying to figure out what it is you want.” He bent to right the chair, pushing it under the table. “But the thing that bothers me most is I still see you running away from yourself. At some point you’re gonna have to stop running and face some things.”
He gathered his jacket and book and headed for the door. I stared at the curtains as he paused in the doorway, not wanting to look at him. “Go visit Mrs. Kent’s grave. I know you haven’t been. Cowardice never suited you.”
