Freaky Deaky Tiki

by Amanda M. Lee

  “What’s sock hockey?” I asked.

  “Only the best game ever,” Cillian replied. “It’s brutal, though. Dad doesn’t want us accidentally jostling the baby loose.”

  “That won’t happen. I mean ... will it?” Aisling screwed up her face in disgust. “There are too many new rules, Cillian. Everything is changing.”

  Sensing the shift in his sister’s mood, Cillian sobered. “Ais, don’t you dare cry. I won’t be able to take it if you cry.”

  “I can’t seem to help it. I’ve cried three times since we left on our honeymoon ... and for no good reason. I can’t explain it.”

  “I believe it’s hormones.” Cillian was pragmatic as he dragged a hand through his hair. “Maya is a nurse. You can talk to her if you’re nervous. She’s excited to be an aunt, and she was telling Dad, Braden and Redmond to chill out last night. For the record, they did not listen.”

  “Who is Maya?” I hated feeling out of the loop.

  “Maya is Cillian’s girlfriend and Griffin’s sister,” Aisling explained. “She’s the chick in the bed.”

  “Who had a double-shift yesterday and needs her sleep,” Cillian said. “Keep your voices down.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Aisling waved off the admonishment. “Can you help me with the tiki mask research or not?”

  “I guess.” Cillian didn’t look thrilled at the suggestion. “May I ask why this is so important?”

  Aisling related the events of the last few days to her brother. It was a tidy condensation that left a few things out of the telling ... like the fact that I used magic to scare off the members of the tribe who gave chase. All Aisling said was that Galen happened to show up and left it at that. It was a curious choice, but I didn’t question her on it.

  “So what you’re basically saying is that you went on your honeymoon and stumbled across a murder mystery,” Cillian muttered after a beat. “Only you would allow something like this to happen.”

  “Hey, I didn’t go looking for it. Trouble simply seems to find me.”

  “Yes, because you’re a pain in the behind.” He exhaled heavily as he looked over his shoulder to make sure Maya was still sleeping. “I’ll look for you, Ais. It would help if you could get me descriptions of each mask.”

  “I’m the one who saw them,” I offered. “I can put together quick sketches and email them if it helps.”

  “It will,” he confirmed. “I’ll do what I can and put together a packet of information. I’m assuming you don’t want Dad to know what you’re up to. That’s why you’re calling in the middle of the night, right?”

  “It’s almost ten, Cillian,” Aisling drawled. “It’s hardly the middle of the night.”

  “I’ve been working the late shift with Maya so we can spend time together. It’s the middle of the night to me.”

  “Then I’m sorry for waking you.” Aisling looked genuinely contrite. “Before you go, though, how is everyone else? I mean ... how is Jerry?”

  “Jerry has been shopping for onesies and decorations for the baby’s room,” Cillian replied. “He’s excited to be an uncle. So is Aidan. They’ve already discussed getting baby monitors that stretch to their condo so they’ll be able to help you.”

  “That sounds sweet,” I prodded Aisling, grinning. “And here you were worried you wouldn’t have any help.”

  “That’s not all I’ve been worried about,” Aisling grumbled, shaking her head. “I’m worried I won’t survive childbirth. That’s the real worry.”

  Cillian snickered. “You know what’s weird? Maya was saying just last night how that’s a regular worry for expectant mothers. Dad said Mom thought the same thing — at least with Redmond. By the time you and Aidan came around, she was over thinking she would die in childbirth. I think that’s a normal fear.”

  “Yeah, well, it doesn’t feel normal.” Aisling turned pouty. “It doesn’t help that Dad is mad at me.”

  “He’s not mad. He’s ... surprised. We’ve had a lot to deal with the last few weeks, Ais. Mom’s soul crossed over to help us. Then that thing that we thought was Mom did what she did. You got married. The baby was simply an element we weren’t expecting. That doesn’t mean we’re not happy.”

  Aisling turned suspicious. “Why are you happy?”

  “Because I’m going to be the best uncle in the world. We all are. We’ll spoil the crap out of that kid. That includes Dad. Just you wait.”

  “I hope so.” Aisling remained melancholy a moment before recovering and changing the subject. “Did you know I can’t eat deli meat?”

  “Who do you think did all that research, Ais? Dad asked for it, so I did it.”

  “So you’re the reason I can’t eat deli meat. I’m going to make you pay when I get home. And since you guys can’t fight back, it’s going to be fun.”

  “Who said we can’t fight back?”

  “You might jiggle the baby loose if you do.”

  Cillian’s smile slipped. “You’re going to use that baby against us?”

  “Don’t act so surprised. I was always going to use the baby against you. As for now, we’ll email copies of the masks to you. See what you can come up with.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “We’re going to try to find our missing souls,” Aisling replied without hesitation. “They must be around here somewhere.”

  “Be careful. If you get in trouble and Dad has to swoop in and save you, he won’t be happy.”

  “What else is new?”

  19

  Nineteen

  May was fascinated with Aisling.

  Of course, so was I.

  There was something about the woman that defied conventional thinking. On paper, I shouldn’t have liked her. She was egotistical, blunt and spoiled to the core. Unlike others of her ilk, she recognized all those things in herself and didn’t apologize. That was probably why I liked her so much.

  “Tell me about your life growing up,” May insisted as I worked on the sketches to email Cillian. “As the only girl, you were probably treated like a princess.”

  “Not exactly a princess,” she hedged.

  “You grew up in a castle, right?” I prodded. “I think that’s what Griffin said.”

  “It’s not a castle, although it does have turrets. It’s just a big house in an older neighborhood. It’s really close to the lake, and only the uber-rich can afford to live there.”

  “Still, it must have been fun,” May pressed. “To have all those brothers. There was a time I thought I wanted a houseful of kids. We were only blessed with my daughter Emma, and we loved her to distraction. I think more children would’ve been fun.”

  I had never really thought to ask May about that. I only knew the bare bones of the story, that my mother had grown up on Moonstone Bay and moved away to marry my father. There had been some sort of fallout because May and Wesley wanted her to return home, but she died before they could reconcile. My father decided to cut them out of my life — which I was still mildly bitter about — and then I got a letter not long after May’s death telling me I’d inherited a lighthouse. Things moved fast after that, so I only learned the story in bits and pieces. I made a mental note to sit down and ask May about the rest of her life when we had time.

  “We had fun as kids,” Aisling volunteered. “We ran all over the neighborhood, terrorized everyone we could find and fought with each other nonstop. I’m sure my parents had plans to be strict, and maybe they even carried them out when it was just Redmond. We came in a clump, though. One day they had one baby, the next they had five. I think they learned to pick their battles.”

  “That makes sense.” May bobbed her head. “Are you close with your father?”

  “Yes, but he’s not really talking to me right now.”

  “I’m sure he’ll get over that. Are you sure you’re not exaggerating things?”

  “He was pretty angry. He chased Griffin. I’m not making that part up.”

  “He was probably surprised. A baby is
a joyous occasion, and you’re married. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  Aisling cast my grandmother a look. “You’re pretty good at this. I have one set of grandparents still alive on my father’s side of the family and they’re nowhere near as cool as you. But I have to ask, why did you decide to stay behind? Don’t you want to cross over?”

  “Maybe one day,” May replied. “I want to spend time with Hadley first. And, well, Wesley isn’t ready for me to go. I’m not ready to leave him either. I figure when it’s time I’ll know it.”

  “Fair enough. I think it’s cool that you and Wesley got divorced and still acted as if you were married on the weekends.” I’d related the story of my grandparents’ rather infamous love affair to Aisling as we drove to spy on the cult the previous day. She’d been thrilled … and couldn’t stop laughing.

  “Sometimes love is a cagey beast,” May explained. “I always loved Wesley. I simply couldn’t live with him.”

  “At least you recognized your limitations.”

  “Is that what you’re worried about?” My grandmother’s eyes twinkled. “Are you worried you’ll have limitations on being a mother because you weren’t expecting it? Trust me, my dear, you’ll be perfectly fine. In fact, I’ll wager that you’ll be better at it than you ever imagined.”

  “I hope so.” Aisling flashed a watery smile before focusing on me. “Have you got those drawings done yet? I want to send them to Cillian and then head out. I could use some iced tea.”

  “I thought you weren’t supposed to have caffeine,” I challenged.

  “They make decaffeinated tea.”

  “Oh.” That sounded perfectly reasonable. “Good point.”

  “I might not drink it, but they make it.”

  Yup. It was going to be a long day.

  INSTEAD OF HEADING TO Lilac’s and allowing Aisling to get buzzed on caffeine, we stopped at the grocery store before I decided to take her to one of my favorite places to visit. She was less than thrilled when I told her where we were going, but her fascination grew when she caught sight of the cemetery ... and the absolutely huge walls surrounding it.

  “Why is your cemetery locked up like this?” Aisling played with the padlock on the front door. “I mean ... isn’t the whole point of a cemetery to visit the dead, pay your respects and meander into memories?”

  “Yes.” I nodded perfunctorily. “I was surprised, too. There’s something different about this cemetery.”

  “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

  “Come with me.” I led her along the cemetery wall. It was a big plot, so it took a few minutes. By the time we crossed to the back of the graveyard she was grousing about the heat and humidity. That ceased when she caught sight of the viewing window, which allowed as many as three people to sit in front of it and watch the show at night.

  “What the ... ?” Aisling strode forward and stared through the window, baffled. “I don’t understand.”

  “I didn’t either when I first got here.” I sank onto the bench and looked through the window. There was no movement on the other side, not even a stray animal. I knew that would change as soon as the sun set, but we wouldn’t be around for that happy occurrence. “Someone cursed the cemetery.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know. Galen says nobody knows. They’re trying to counteract it, but they haven’t been able to yet.”

  “And what does the curse do?” Aisling gave up trying to find anything of interest on the other side of the glass and settled next to me. “Something tells me that you’re extremely interested in this curse. I know I am. The only curses I’ve come into contact with have been terrible ... like storms that turn people you love into monsters. What’s the deal with this curse?”

  “At night, once the sun sets, the people in the graves get up and start walking around.”

  “Get out!”

  “It’s true.” I rubbed my sweating palms over my knees. “It’s fine to wander around the cemetery during the day. At night, though, it’s filled with zombies and it’s dangerous. That’s why they put up the high wall.”

  “Huh.” Aisling rubbed her chin. “How long has this been going on?”

  “Several years.”

  “Do you come out here and watch the zombies at night?”

  “Yeah.” I swallowed hard, my heart giving a little roll before I continued. “My mother is in there.”

  Aisling snapped her head in my direction, surprised etched over her features. “I thought your mother died when you were born ... and far away from here.”

  “She did. May and Wesley brought her back here because they wanted the island to be her final resting place. My father allowed it. No one has given me any specifics, but I think my father said it was okay because he knew even then he was going to cut me out of their lives. He wanted to give them something.”

  “Why don’t you just ask him?”

  “My father isn’t always chatty.”

  “My father is the exact opposite. He always wants to talk.” She pursed her lips as she stared at the window. “So ... you come out here and watch your mother walk around as a dead person pretty regularly?”

  “I came a lot when I first found out. Now I try to keep it to once a week. Galen worries otherwise, even though he doesn’t come right out and say it.”

  “She’s dead.” Aisling adopted a pragmatic tone. “You realize that. Galen is worried you’ll get it in your head that she can somehow be saved. It makes you feel close to her, even though it’s not really her.”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s okay. I get it.” Aisling cleared her throat and I could tell she was fighting tears. “The thing that came back with my mother’s face was kind of like a zombie, but she had attitude and could think. She didn’t exactly try to eat us, but she had a plan to steal my soul to prolong her life. It was essentially the same thing ... without the gross eating of entrails.”

  “She wanted to steal your soul?” I was horrified. I never knew my mother. I missed her, but it was a different sort of longing, something that only popped up at odd times. How difficult had it been for Aisling, someone who knew and loved her mother, to deal with a monster when it returned?

  “She wasn’t really my mother,” Aisling stressed, taking on a far-off expression. “I knew that the moment I crossed paths with her. She was different, somehow stretched. The problem was, there were glimpses of the real her under the veneer.

  “My brothers wanted to believe so badly it almost ripped us apart,” she continued. “Especially Braden. He has middle-child syndrome and always required extra attention from her. My father did his best to spread the love, but he was more practical.

  “Every day, he would pick one of us as his favorite and give that child more attention,” she explained. “With five of us, that meant we essentially had a special day at least once a week. My mother spread herself thin trying to jump from whiny child to whiny child. She recognized that Braden needed more from her.”

  She was so sad I couldn’t help uniting my emotions with hers. “It must have been hard for him when she died a second time.”

  “It was, but it’s for the best. She was stirring everything up and trying to work against us from behind the scenes. Our real mother came back thanks to a spell, and helped us end the woman that had her face. Now she’s gone again.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “And yet it’s better than what you’re dealing with,” Aisling noted. “You know that thing in there isn’t really your mother, right? It’s just her body. I’m sure it’s terrible because you never knew your mother. All you have are stories from other people, and even though they probably didn’t mean for it to happen, those stories are filtered.”

  “I wish I’d gotten at least a chance to know her.”

  “I’ve dealt with zombies before, believe it or not, although not on this scale.” Aisling slowly climbed back to her feet and meandered to the window. “I find it inte
resting that your island government hasn’t eradicated them.”

  “I think they’re looking for another way. This island is different from other places.”

  She snorted. “Trust me. I figured that out the moment we hit the docks. Still, this has to be dangerous.”

  “I think they’ve gotten it under control. We’re allowed to watch as often as we like. Until they find a way to fix things, it is what it is.”

  “Yeah, well ... .” Aisling trailed off when she turned, her eyes going to a spot over my shoulder. I instinctively looked in that direction, worried I’d find some of the cult members from the previous day. If they’d followed us, we’d have to fight to escape.

  Instead of Taurus’s tribe, I discovered the soul of Jacob Dorsey watching us with morose eyes. He looked absolutely beaten down, as if life had shoved him into a slasher movie from which he couldn’t escape. My heart immediately went out to him.

  “We’ve been looking for you.” Aisling was calm as she regarded him. She had much more experience with displaced souls. It was obvious she knew what she was doing. Er, well, more than me, that is.

  “I don’t know you.” Jacob was uneasy as he glanced between faces. “I don’t know either of you and yet you can see me. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “You’re dead.” Aisling was matter-of-fact. “Someone killed you several days ago, left your body on the docks. I was there the day it happened. I saw you when I was heading to the hotel. Hadley did, too.” She inclined her head toward me, causing Jacob’s gaze to float in my direction.

  “Hadley.” He rolled my name through his head. “Hadley Hunter. You’re May Potter’s granddaughter.”

  “That’s me.”

  “And Galen Blackwood’s girlfriend. I’ve heard people mention you. A lot of the women have their noses out of joint because they thought Galen wasn’t ready to settle down. Your arrival proved that wasn’t true.”

  “I don’t know that he’s ready to settle down,” I said, embarrassed.

  “And I don’t think that’s important to our conversation,” Aisling noted, striding forward. Jacob didn’t shy away from her, but he didn’t look overly happy that she was invading his space. “What do you remember about your death?”