Give Up the Ghost: The Nightwatch Series Book 2

by Cassidy, Debbie

  “But Henri has a soul,” Tris said. “So … you’re creating a soul bond.”

  Karishma canted her head. “Yes. I know it sounds intimate and scary, but if you want to be sure the shimmer man can’t affect you, then this is the only way. The other option is to—”

  “No.” I looked from Karishma to Henri. “We do this, right?”

  He met my eyes, his pupils expanding to reflect my desperate expression. “I can’t protect you if the shimmer man can switch me off with a word.” He nodded. “We do this.”

  The door opened and closed, and then Mai and Lark strode into the lounge.

  Mai stood hand on hip. “A tea party without moi?”

  Karishma’s attention went to Lark. “Ah, just in time. Fancy helping me with an ancient binding ritual?”

  * * *

  The blood Lark had drawn from me sat in a syringe on a metal tray on the coffee table. Karishma had pulled open a notepad and was studying the words on the page.

  She looked up. “I need you with your shirt off,” she said to Henri.

  He reached over his shoulder and tugged off his tee. His muscles rippled beneath his skin as he casually threw the shirt onto the sofa.

  Karishma’s cheeks reddened slightly, and she shot me a wide-eyed look.

  I bit back a smile. Yeah, Henri was packing some serious muscle, muscle that looked epic both in his glamoured form and his metallic one.

  “Do you need me to drop the glamour?” he asked, his tone tense.

  “No need.” Karishma pulled a silver box from her handbag. She opened it with a click and retrieved what looked like a quill.

  “Lark, can you squirt some blood into the inkwell, please?” She handed him the box.

  Lark pushed some blood into the well from the syringe. My blood.

  Karishma dipped the quill into the pot and muttered something. The quill began to glow.

  She stepped up to Henri. “Just stay really still, okay?”

  He nodded. “Do it.”

  “Lark, can you hold up my notebook, please?”

  Lark stood beside her with the notebook opened at the relevant page. Shit, she was going to use my blood to write on Henri. And then it was happening—the quill was cutting into Henri, cutting a path across his skin, and my blood was filling the grooves, becoming one with him.

  Heat seeped into my veins—gentle, comforting, and purposeful. Henri locked gazes with me, his blue eyes darkening as the heat intensified. And then it hit me—this was him. This was his heat coursing through my veins. This was Henri inside me.

  The thought was intimate and shocking. My mouth parted on a sigh, and delicious shivers spread across my skin.

  Henri tore his gaze away, his jaw tight, and a pulse of desire shot through me.

  Oh, shit.

  Karishma finished and stepped back. The words blazed white against Henri’s skin for a moment and then settled to black, inked script.

  “Done,” Karishma said. “Try it.”

  “Try what?” Henri asked.

  “Try pushing power into Kat.”

  Henri tucked in his chin. “Give me a moment.”

  The heat ebbed a little, and then something else flooded my veins. Energy. Raw, unbridled power.

  “Fuck!” My hands balled into fists.

  “It works?” Karishma sounded incredulous.

  “Wait, didn’t you think it would?” Mai asked.

  Tris peered up at me. “You all right, chickie?”

  “I feel like I could bench press a house.” I looked to Henri again. Is this how he felt all the time? How did he keep it in check?

  “Now, pull it back,” Karishma instructed.

  The power ebbed, leaving me shaken. My knees gave way, and I stumbled, but Henri was across the room, his arm around my waist to steady me.

  “I’ve got you.”

  “Now, you try and draw from him,” Karishma said.

  Shit. His gaze was on my face, on my mouth, and what was this? What was happening? My heart felt too heavy and full, and there he was … His essence brushing against mine, alive and bright in my mind.

  “Do it,” Henri said softly.

  I latched on and tugged.

  He sucked in a breath as both power and heat flooded me. His hands tightened on my waist, and I gripped his shoulders as we merged. It was thrilling and liberating and undeniably sexual.

  He let go of me and stepped away, putting physical distance between us. He stood tall and turned to look at me, his face impassive, and the heat winked out.

  He’d shut it off, and embarrassment burned my cheeks. I’d invaded him, but he’d asserted control and locked me out. I’d have to be careful.

  The power thrummed between us, shared by us both, but it was his, and this exercise wasn’t about my siphoning of him. It was about keeping him safe from the shimmer man and from breaking his bond with the word.

  I released his power, but this time I was ready for the comedown and locked my knees to stop myself from buckling.

  Karishma was looking at me expectantly.

  “It works. You did it.”

  She grinned. “Which means you’re no longer bonded to the word. But just to make sure.” She went up on tiptoe and whispered in Henri’s ear.

  He blinked down at her and arched a brow.

  She nodded, satisfied. “Yep, he’s still active.”

  “So, we’re done?” he asked.

  “Yes. I’ll keep looking for the unbinding script, and once we have that, you’ll be truly free.” She patted his arm. “I really am sorry about what was done to you.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t remember who I was. This is all I know.”

  “And maybe that’s a blessing,” Karishma said with a small smile.

  But the look on his face said that was far from the truth. The look on his face was all kinds of confusion. My golem had a soul, and now it was bound to mine, and even though he was holding back, I could feel his pain, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to ease it.

  Henri grabbed his shirt and tugged it back on. “I have a question for you, Karishma.”

  “Shoot.”

  “What exactly does this mean? Being able to share essences like this. Kat can draw from me, but what about vice versa.”

  “Oh.” Karishma looked surprised by the question. “It’s a closed two-way connection, so power and life force can flow both ways. So, yes, you could benefit from Kat’s abilities. You are essentially an extended part of her now.”

  Henri’s smile was razor-sharp. “Enough to accompany her to Demonica?”

  Karishma made an ‘o’ with her mouth. “I don’t see why not.”

  Henri looked over at me with a small smile, and I couldn’t help but smile back. Kris would be an asset in the unknown realm, but I never felt as confident without Henri by my side. We were a team, and the trip to Demonica, the whole fucking mission that had felt impossible a moment ago, suddenly felt like it would be a success.

  I jerked my head toward the door. “Want to fill Kris in on the developments?”

  Henri smirked. “With pleasure.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Well, Kris hadn’t been happy about Henri tagging along. Another body to hide and explain to the daemons. But he’d agreed that in his weakened state, the backup would be useful.

  Karishma met me outside my bedroom door with Tris.

  “Wonder weaver has a solution to our damaged binding,” Tris said. “She says she has a patch.”

  I looked at Karishma in surprise. “Is there no end to your skills? I think I need to get you a cape.”

  Karishma wrinkled her nose. “I’m more of a catsuit kinda gal.”

  “Ooh,” Tris said. “You’d totally rock a catsuit.”

  Karishma blushed. “Thanks. So, about this patch. I found Vinod’s notes, and I deciphered what I could. For some reason, he used a shorthand that I don’t quite understand.”

  “Probably to hide the reason why Tris was needed.”

  Secrec
y and lies. Poor Vinod had been forced into both by my gramps.

  “Yes,” Karishma said. “He must have been one of your gramps’s confidants. From what I can gather, he used Tris as a totem to block your ability to dream. She’s woven with a powerful spell and bound to your subconscious. Not being able to dream would have driven you insane if you were a human, but the physiology of a Nightblood differs from humans greatly. Nightbloods believe that when you dream, your astral body goes on a journey. Tris prevents your astral form from leaving your body. There was some other stuff, but I couldn’t decipher it. But it’s fine. I have a solution. I just need to take a look at the weaving to patch it up.”

  She could fix it? Fix what the shimmer man had almost broken? “You mean, I won’t see the cracks in my sleep anymore.”

  “What cracks?” Tris pounced. “You never told me you were having problems.”

  Uh-oh. “I didn’t want to worry you, but I’ve been hearing his voice when I sleep.”

  “You’ve been dreaming.” Karishma looked worried.

  “Yeah, I guess that’s what you could call it, except it’s real. It’s him, and he’s beyond this barrier that’s riddled with hairline fractures.”

  Karishma took a determined breath. “Well, I’m going to fix those fractures now.” She waved a hand to my door. “Shall we?”

  I let us into my room.

  Karishma pointed to the rug. “Okay, both of you need to sit facing each other.”

  I knelt on the rug, and Tris positioned herself in front of me.

  “Kat, place your hand on Tris’s head and don’t remove it until I say so.”

  I did as I was told, and Tris and I locked gazes.

  “You should have told me,” Tris said, miffed.

  She was right, I should have. “I’m sorry.”

  Karishma dabbed some oily substance on Tris’s back and then began to mutter softly under her breath. The hairs on the nape of my neck stood to attention.

  “Ooh, something’s happening,” Tris trilled.

  Something was happening all right. My hand was heating up where it contacted her body, and then my arm lit up in pain.

  “Fuck.” I rubbed the spot where the shimmer man’s handprint was set against my skin.

  Tris’s brow furrowed. “You okay, chickie?”

  “What is it?” Karishma asked.

  “Just an old brand. The shimmer man’s little gift. I think the fact it’s hurting means whatever you just did worked.”

  Tris’s skin lit up with runes, and Karishma began touching them, moving them about so quickly it was like she was solving a puzzle my mind couldn’t comprehend. Tris shuddered and closed her eyes, and then Karishma sat back, and the runes dimmed.

  “Now we’re done,” Karishma said with a satisfied smile. “It’s not the same as what Vinod did, but it’s a block, and it will stop you from dreaming. This shimmer man won’t be able to get to you.”

  It was as if a weight had been shifted off my shoulders. As if a death sentence had been alleviated. Henri was on the way to being free. I was safe from the shimmer man. Now all I needed to do was save Gramps.

  “Thank you, Karishma.” I leaned over and pulled her into a hug.

  “Anytime.”

  * * *

  I lay in bed with Tris snuggled up beside me. “What are you going to do, chickie?” she asked softly.

  “Go to Demonica and get the book for the council, that’s what.”

  “Oh, honey, I know you’ll do that. You’ve never been one to give up on a mission. I’m talking about Henri.”

  I closed my eyes. “This isn’t one of your romance novels, Tris. There is no happily ever after for us. Not in that way.”

  “He has a soul,” she reminded me.

  “And he’s trapped in a golem. He’s obligated to me. We can fake it, we can spin it however we like, but there is a distinct lack of balance to our relationship. I hold the power.”

  “But when you set him free …”

  My chest ached. “Then what he does with his freedom will be up to him.”

  “You’re afraid, aren’t you?” She brushed my hair back from my forehead. “Afraid he’ll choose to leave.”

  I tamped down on those emotions. “No, Tris. What I’m afraid of is that my gramps will be killed if I lose focus on what’s important. The only thing that matters. The only thing I can focus on now is my trip to Demonica. I have five days. Five days to get ready.”

  “You’ll be ready.”

  I rolled onto my side. “I know I will. Failure is not an option.”

  She began to hum, and I closed my eyes. The bond between Tris and me had been reinforced, and for the first time in days, I abandoned myself to sleep with confidence.

  Tomorrow the training would begin, and I was determined to learn everything needed to pull this off. Five days, and we’d be off.

  Five days and I’d be faced with my only chance to save my gramps.

  * * *

  Blah, blah, blah, words and more words. My head spun from all the information Kris was shoving down my throat. He might as well have handed me an encyclopedia on Demonica and told me to chow down.

  My head throbbed dully. Was my brain pulsing with all the extra information?

  “Kat, are you listening to me?” Kris demanded.

  I groaned. “Yes. Just give me a second.” I took a deep breath and rearranged my thoughts. “Okay, so there are nine provinces, each ruled by a duke or duchess, and everything is steam-powered using Chaol, which is like Demonica’s version of our coal?”

  Kris sipped his tea. “Yes. It burns green. You’ll see what I mean when we get there. Carry on.”

  I sat back in the chair I’d dragged in from my room. “Politically, everyone adheres to the central province law, and the dukes and duchesses have their own cliques.”

  “That’s correct. There was a time when the duchy would spend a lot of time on the mortal realm. Humans were naïve back then, and the daemons had the kind of power that made them seem almost godly. Most myths and legends—Greek, Norse, Roman—can be traced back to daemon meddling. They liked to play at being gods.”

  “Wait.” I sat forward in my chair. “You mean gods like Odin and Zeus and Apollo?”

  He rolled his lips into his mouth and nodded. “All daemons. Just playing a part.”

  “So, what happened? Why did they stop?”

  “The Nightwatch rose up and forced them out. The natural glamour of this world doesn’t work on daemons, which was why they could make humans see the amazing things they did. The Nightwatch claimed we were altering perception, which would inevitably damage the universal glamour of this world. To avoid a war, our worlds formed a tentative truce. Daemons were welcome on the mortal plane as long as they adhered to the universal glamour.”

  “The cuffs?”

  “Yes. The truce turned into an alliance when the fomorians attacked and then finally a treaty.”

  Henri sat on a chair by the chest of drawers. “You haven’t told us how you fit in? Why haven’t you been back all these years?”

  Kris puffed out his cheeks and studied us for a long beat. This was the information he hadn’t even told Jay. One of the reasons Jay hadn’t fully trusted him.

  But it was clear from the expression on his face that whatever the truth was, it was a hard one.

  I shook my head. “It’s fine, you don’t have to tell us.”

  He closed his eyes and sighed. “No. I do. I confided in Jay the other day, and if I’m going to take you into Demonica, then you need to know the truth. There’s a blood bounty on my head.”

  “What’s a blood bounty?” Henri asked.

  “It means I’m wanted dead, and whoever delivers will have their bloodline elevated in society from peasant to lord, from lord to viscount, from viscount to earl. It makes it hard to live in Demonica when I’m having to watch my back at every turn. There are a lot of people who would literally kill to be elevated. Social position is everything in Demonica. It’s power.
It’s status. It’s a hunger.”

  “What did you do?” Henri asked softly.

  Kris’s eyes dulled. “I killed someone.”

  There was silence. “But it was an accident, right?” I scanned his face.

  “It doesn’t matter what it was. The daemon is dead. It was my fault, and his family placed a bounty on my head.” His smile was weak. “I’m probably the most unpopular duke in Demonica.”

  Wait, had he just said he was a duke?

  The corner of his mouth turned up. “Oh, did I neglect to mention that?”

  A thought occurred to me, and I sat forward in my seat. “Hang on, were you one of the dukes that played god?”

  There was a definite twinkle in his mercury eyes. “Well, I wasn’t going to miss all the fun. I had a penchant for mischief back then, and the god I played echoed that.”

  My mythology studies had been extensive, not because we had to learn everything about the gods but because I’d found it fascinating, and there was one god who’d always captivated and intrigued me.

  “Loki?”

  He winked at me. “In the flesh.”

  The depictions in old texts and movies didn’t do him justice.

  Okay, so this was a fangirl moment, and it took everything I had to keep my expression polite and neutral and not geek out. So many questions tumbled through my mind, and no doubt, I’d have to badger him about those in due course, maybe spread them out over the next few weeks so as not to seem obsessed.

  “Kat, are you all right?” Kris frowned. “Your face has gone red.”

  “I’m fine.” My voice was a little high. I cleared my throat. “So, all the lore and the stories behind your godly personas … Was any of that real?”

  He shrugged. “A mixture of fact and fiction. Although we did knock heads and have our disagreements and alliances while on this plane, and it was fun to reinvent ourselves to suit humanity’s perceptions as it evolved. A challenge, really.” He grinned. “Good times.”