by C. J. Parker
Tabatha’s heart thundered against her ribs. “Nyssa, how could you do something like this? This poor child, all the others, why? Why would you hurt these innocent children? What kind of monster are you?”
Nyssa’s eyes darted back and forth from Derek to Tabatha. “The cheated kind. They’re all you, you know. Every single one of them. You were the nearest I had to a child, so I couldn’t very well kill you for real, now could I?”
Her words slid over Tabatha like scaling milk. Those babies died in place of her. “But why?”
“Because you refused to give me control of Gray Manor.” Nyssa slid her hand around the room with a sweeping motion. “You turned out to be just like all the rest.”
Like her grandfather, Tabatha guessed. “But you’ve always been taken care of. You always would have been. You have no right to more than that.”
“Right?” Nyssa turned the gun and her attention away from Derek and fully on Tabatha. “I have all the right. He loved me, you selfish bitch.” Derek took a step forward, but Nyssa aimed the gun at his gut. “Don’t do it, pig.” She stepped closer to Tabatha and out of Derek’s reach. “Your father did everything he could to turn Raoul against me. Then he married that gold digger mother of yours. Raoul was going to marry me. He changed the will. I would control the money. He knew Carla would squander it.” Nyssa curled her lip. “But that lawyer, he didn’t file the will. He was probably screwing your mother. They probably cooked it up together. He, all of you, cheated me out of what’s mine. Gray Manor is mine!”
In her peripheral vision Tabatha saw Derek edge his right hand toward his gun, and she tried to keep Nyssa’s attention centered on her. “Why are you dressed in Grand-mama’s wedding dress?”
“It’s mine!” Nyssa pulled the trigger back until it clicked. “I’m no fool, cop. Drop the damned weapon, and get rid of the phone, too.”
The sight of Nyssa’s cocked gun trained on Derek made Tabatha’s heart skip a beat. She had no doubt Nyssa would shoot Derek. He laid his pistol and cell phone on the table by the door.
Nyssa swung her gun back and forth between Tabatha and Derek. “Go stand beside your whore.”
He edged to Tabatha’s side and took her hand in his. “You’ll not get away with this. You think someone else won’t figure out what you’ve got in this garage? That it’s you killing the kids?”
“You didn’t figure it out, cop. Stumbled onto it.” Nyssa laughed. The sound was so cold it added to the chill of the chamber. “Why, this isn’t even my garage. It’s hers.” She gestured at Tabatha with her weapon. Tabatha grew numb. This woman who had called herself a friend had it all planned out. No qualms over killing the closest thing she had to a child. Derek took a small step forward. “Officer, I found out what she was doing. Tried to help that poor baby, but Tabatha attacked me. I had no choice but to kill her. And the child, well, I was too late to help her.”
“What excuse will you use for killing me?” Derek leaned forward and rubbed his leg, and as he straightened he took a step forward.
“Oh.” She shrugged. “They won’t find you for a very long time. I’ll just shove you in Raoul’s place. He won’t need it anymore.”
Tabatha sucked in a sharp breath and jerked her attention to the jugs on the shelves. Blood, lots of blood. To raise a body? “What have you done?”
The old woman brushed the veil away from her face. “I’ve dreamed of this since Raoul left me. I made sure you had the magic. Remember your puppy?” When Tabatha didn’t answer Nyssa muttered a profanity. “You are so dumb, girl. You found him on your steps one morning. Dead. Someone had strangled it.”
The pain of finding Mac on the doorstep returned with a sharp twist of knife-like pain in her stomach. “Nyssa, what... you killed Mac?”
“I taught you how to bring him back to life. I had to do it. You understand, don’t you? I had to know you could raise Raoul.”
Tabatha slowly nodded. “I remember. You made me tell him to go to back to sleep.” Tears stung her eyes with the memory of having to take life from the poor animal again. “Then you told me I could raise my Daddy and Paw-Paw and talk to them any time I wanted. You just wanted me raise Paw- Paw.”
“But you never did. You went to the graveyard and talked to the crypt. I know. I followed you. Bertha always came to get you before you got the nerve to try it.” Nyssa slapped at the veil once again as a breeze from the doorway fluttered it back over her face. “I should have killed her before you got back. She’s nothing but trouble, that old hag.”
Her answer to everyone who didn’t fit into her plan, kill them. Nyssa’s gaze tracked from Tabatha to Derek. “Load those bottles into your car. If you try anything I’ll kill Tabatha.”
“What’s in them?” He took a step closer.
“You take me for a fool, pig boy? Tiptoeing closer and closer. Stop playing your silly games.” Nyssa smiled. “It’s the children’s blood, my dear. The purest blood, that of an innocent. You can raise the long dead with such power. Now get moving.”
Tabatha’s heart twisted painfully. “Why did you save their eyes?”
Nyssa brought her hand to her cheek. “Oh, yes. I almost forgot. The eyes.” She lifted the jar and unscrewed the top. She formed a strain with her fingers over the opening and drained the liquid. The strong smell of vinegar filled the small enclosure. The old woman yanked a filthy towel from a hook on the wall and dabbed gently at the orbs. With a nod, she smiled and held her prize in front of her. Like oversized pearls, five sets of eyeballs were strung together on a silver thread forming a choker necklace. Nyssa fastened it around her neck. “Eyes to watch for evil. To protect me from any who would mean me harm. No one can stop me.”
Tabatha gagged at the idea of the eyeballs against her skin. Derek moved her behind him. “Stop you from what? What are you planning to do?”
“Tabatha is going to raise Raoul, of course. Today’s our wedding day.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Tabatha released a long-held breath as Derek returned from loading the jugs into the back of his Blazer. He leaned against the desk and reached for her. Sweat beaded on his forehead. His eyes told of his pain.
Nyssa giggled. “Yes, say your goodbyes, children. But don’t try anything. I see every move you make. I’d hate to kill your lover boy, Tabby.”
Tabatha came to Derek’s side and ran her hand over the back of his sweat-dampened shirt. “How’s your leg? How much pain are you in? Any blood?”
He drew a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. “Sore. A lot. No.”
She wanted to pull his pants down and check the wound, but that would only give Nyssa another weapon against Tabatha. “We’ll figure something out. There’s no way in hell I’m raising Paw-Paw.” Her voice was a soft whisper in the small enclosure. Nyssa stood over the child, running her fingertips over the child’s lips. “To be a baby again. To do it all over. You understand, don’t you baby?”
Derek leaned closer, the heat of his breath brushing against Tabatha’s neck. “We need to stall as long as possible. I managed to connect before I laid the phone down. Someone had to hear what’s going on. If you hear anything from outside, run like hell. I’ll cover you.”
“Bullshit, I’m not leaving without you.” She glanced toward Nyssa
standing at Missy’s side, uncoiling a new drainage tube.
“It’s almost over.” Nyssa flipped her finger against the bend in child’s black and blue arm. “You can’t hurt me anymore.”
Tabatha swallowed past the dryness in her throat. Nyssa planned to replace the tubes Tabatha had removed. Where did Nyssa get her hands on the powerful drugs?
“Leave Missy alone, Nyssa. You don’t need any more blood. And did you ever think that all this blood has been sitting too long? Or that it’s tainted with all the drugs you fed the children?” Missy stirred. A slight movement but it gave Tabatha hope.
“It’s been frozen. It’s good. But if it doesn’t work, we’ll just use a sacrifice.” Nyssa gazed into T
abatha’s eyes, a manic smile parting her lips. With a chuckle she glanced toward Derek. “Can’t use Tabatha. No. Not Raoul’s little baby. He’d rise with full fury if I commit such a sin against his very own.” She moved away from Missy’s side and closer to Derek and Tabatha. “Didn’t know that did you? That boy of his couldn’t do anything right. Shooting blanks is what they call it today.”
Tears stung Tabatha’s eyes. Her blood turned to lava with rage. “No. I don’t believe you. My mother wouldn’t do such a thing. She didn’t even want me.”
“Of course she didn’t, dear. You were a reminder of what she did to keep Dunnock. He wanted a baby. She wanted to make him happy.”
Derek gently touched her arm. “It doesn’t add up, Tabatha. It doesn’t make sense. She’s just trying to hurt you.”
Nyssa’s laughter cut through Tabatha’s brain like shards of glass.
“You are a liar. Paw-Paw loved me and would have told me the truth. I’m Dunnock’s daughter—the first daughter in hundreds of years to the Gray legacy. You are nothing but the gardener.”
Movement at the back of the chamber caught Tabatha’s attention. At first she thought it was nothing but shadows fluttering over Missy’s prone body, but then the shadows took form. One by one, childlike forms settled around Missy. Each placed a hand on her chest. Missy inhaled deeply. Her leg bent upward, then settled back down on to the gurney.
Tabatha swallowed hard and jutted her chin forward. “Nyssa, you are nothing to me. I do not know you. You will not hurt my loved ones nor get what’s mine. I want you off my property. You lose.”
Derek gripped her arm tightly. “Tabatha, don’t push it.”
Tabatha leaned close and whispered, “Look behind her, Derek. Can you see them?”
“What are you whispering about?” Nyssa stomped forward three long steps. “Stop talking about me behind my back.”
He shifted his gaze behind Nyssa, his eyes widening with a mixture of fear and disbelief. “Mother of God.”
The nearly transparent ghostly forms of six little girls formed a semi-circle around Missy, as if to protect her.
Nyssa slowly turned to look behind her. She jerked her head back and forth. “No. Go away.” She swung the gun toward them. “Why won’t you die? Don’t touch me.”
Tabatha ran across the room and shoved the gurney out of harm’s way as Nyssa fired upon the wraiths until the gun clicked on one empty chamber after another.
Derek leaped toward the corner table to retrieve his gun, aiming it at the old woman. “It’s over, Nyssa. Drop it.”
The children glided toward Nyssa reaching out their hands, their mouth open in silent screams. Nyssa covered her ears.
The oldest child came closer, grasping at the necklace.
A whisper of pleading brushed Tabatha’s ears. “Give them back. We want them back.”
Tabatha, picked Missy up wrapping her into the blanket, cocoon style. “Give them the necklace and they’ll leave you alone, Nyssa.”
Nyssa chanted frantically between sobs.
Mason appeared in the doorway and shouted, “Drop the gun! Drop it now, Miss Boussard, or I’ll shoot.”
Relief flooded Nyssa’s expression. “Thank God.” She raised the gun and moved as if to hand it to Mason. He fired.
The bullet struck just above her heart, throwing her to the ground. She screamed, brought the gun up once again and pulled the trigger. Only the sound of trigger hitting an empty chamber rang out. Mason readied to fire again, but Tabatha threw herself in front of Nyssa.
“No. The gun is empty. She can’t hurt you. Don’t kill her, please.” She dropped to her knees beside the woman she’d loved and trusted. “Why? I would have done anything for you. Given you anything you wanted. Why?”
“You took him from me.” Nyssa closed her eyes and released a heavy sigh.
Tabatha looked around at the children. “It’s over. You’re free. Go now.”
Eyes wide with fear, Mason stumbled backward, grasping for anything to keep his footing. “What is that? This can’t be.” He turned accusing eyes toward Tabatha. “What the hell are you? How can you do this?” There it was. The look. The one that said she didn’t belong with normal humans. A freak. Abnormal.
That was the Lotto winning answer. If she had caused the children’s spirits to come back, she didn’t know how she’d accomplished it. Tabatha accepted Derek’s help to stand. “I didn’t do this. I don’t know how the children got here. Maybe they just needed to make sure someone knew what happened to them. Wanted Nyssa stopped.”
The children smiled. A whisper of childish laughter flitted through the air and then they faded away.
Tabatha leaned down and jerked the necklace from around Nyssa’s throat and handed it to Mason.
“Here. These are the little girls’ eyes. I trust you can have them tested and buried with the right girl?”
Mason glanced at the necklace. His complexion lost all its color before he looked away. “Bainbridge, put them in something. God, man, this is beyond sick.”
Stepping around Tabatha, Mason kept as much space as possible between them. She should be used to it by now, but she’d thought Mason had accepted her and her magic.
“She doesn’t have cooties, Lieutenant.” Derek drew her against him.
Mason stooped and placed his fingertips on Nyssa’s throat. “She’s still alive. I’ve already called for an ambulance on the way over here. I figured Bainbridge would find a way to get himself shot up again.” He glanced over at Missy. “Dead?”
“Weak, but alive.” Derek pulled out the desk chair, sat and stretched out his leg. Tabatha strode toward him ready to rip his pants off. “Don’t even think of it. My pants are staying where they are. I’m fine. No blood.” He wiped his fingers gingerly over the wounded area and held them up for her to see. “I’m just tired. I’ve hit my limit for one damned day.”
The sound of sirens grew closer.
Missy’s eyes opened. She smiled. “Tabatha?” She closed her eyes and slept again.
A sob sounded before Tabatha could halt its escape. “It’s over. Everyone is safe. Missy is alive. She’d going to be all right.”
Nyssa gasped and jerked into a seated position. Her lips moved in a steady rant of chants. Curses upon each of them, Nyssa swore. The EMTs rushed into the dank room, glanced around the room. They went directly to Nyssa and lifted her onto a gurney and waited as Mason handcuffed her to the rails.
Suddenly quiet, Nyssa lifted her head from the pillow and stared at Mason, eye to eye. His expression hardened and held a silent threat. He brought his face close to hers and began reading her rights.
She bucked against the restraints, screeching then fell back against the gurney, her gaze boring into Mason’s. “You will obey me. The monsters must die.” She snapped her gaze toward Tabatha. “You think you’ve won. It won’t end with me. We will be victorious.”
A trickle of fear traipsed up Tabatha’s spine. She came to Nyssa’s side and stared down at her. She no longer saw the gentle woman she knew in her youth. She saw a deranged woman, living in a world of fantasy and lies. “You wanted it all, now you’ve lost everything. Goodbye, Nyssa.”
Nyssa continued to rant as she was rolled away and lifted into the back of the first ambulance.
The next EMTs checked Missy before sliding her from the filthy gurney to one from the ambulance. One of them acknowledged Derek with a nod. “I think she’ll be okay. Is this one of the missing kids from the news?”
Derek nodded. “Her name is Missy Lynn Blythe. I’ll get in touch with her mother. She’ll meet you at the hospital.”
Mason shivered. “Let’s get the hell out of here. This place gives me the damned creeps. Ghosts, curses, and it reeks of death.”
Tabatha agreed. “Like the death of six little girls.”
Once outside, Mason bared his teeth like a rabid dog, saliva spewing as he bellowed. “How could such a thing be happening in your own garage and you not know about it?”
/> She was in no mood for this shit. She stepped forward to give her side of this mess, opened her mouth and was shoved behind Derek.
“Look, Lieutenant,” Derek started.
“Did I ask you, Detective?” Mason shoved his finger toward Derek’s face. “I’m talking to Ms. Gray. I want to hear her answer the question.”
Tabatha shoved Derek out of the way and confronted Mason face to face. “I always parked my car outside. The garage was Nyssa’s domain, has been since I was a small girl.” She poked her finger in his face imitating his action earlier. “My grandfather built it for her when she first came to work for us. Used it for her gardening tools and lawnmowers. I had no reason to rummage though there.”
He slapped her hand away and crossed his arms across her chest. “Then why did you go in this time?”
“To piss her off!” The man was more dense than the first spring fog over the lake. “She told me to stay the hell out of her garage. I couldn’t let her talk to me that way.”
“I ought to take you in for questioning.” He took a step back and Derek came toward him. “This is…”
“My hero.” Tabatha shoved Derek away again. “Two days ago you were offering me a job with the force, Mason, now I’m the lowest scum on earth, is that it?”
“You ain’t taking her anywhere, Mason.”
Tabatha turned to discover herself staring down the barrel of Phelps’ gun. One eye covered with a patch, his face was bloated and discolored, his wounds beginning to fester. He leaned on his good leg, the other was still encased in a cast. “Come on, darlin’, it’s time to go. The plane is waiting.”
“Mr. Phelps, stay out of this.” Mason stepped between him and Tabatha. “Let it go. Get out of here.”
Phelps reached around Mason and grasped Tabatha by the arm and yanked her to his side. Tabatha tried to pull her hand free but his grip only tightened painfully. She glanced at Derek and shook her head when he took a step forward.
