I didn’t like relinquishing any control of my situation, especially when there was this nebulous threat, as opposed to anything remotely concrete and obvious. Which meant that we had several hours of driving ahead of us, a cranky Javier, and massive levels of awkward in the van with Mary being there. So, there was only one thing I could do to address that: make things more awkward.
“So, Isabella, now that I know who you actually are, why didn’t you tell me you were Javier’s girlfriend?”
A pained sound escaped Javier, audible even over the engine and wind.
Isabella laughed, unnecessarily loud for such a simple question. She lightly punched Javier in the arm, who scowled. “Is that what you told them?”
“Well, ya know…” Javier said, rather self-consciously I thought.
“Wait, you aren’t Javier’s girlfriend?” Jeremy asked. “You guys broke up?”
Isabella laughed again, though she managed to say, “Step on it, Javi, or I’m going to take over driving.”
“You drive like a drunken maniac,” Javier grumbled.
Isabella snorted.
All of this witty banter was adorable and helped take my mind off the impending doom, but I had to clarify: “Seriously, you aren’t a couple?”
I know it was stupid to pick at Javier and a woman I barely knew, but I needed the distraction from basically being kidnapped by my friends. To laugh, smile, and get my heart rate down before I blew out an artery seemed like a wise choice.
I think Isabella sensed what I was doing. She looked at me from the rear view mirror and said, “I could be, if he’d ever got around to asking me.”
“This isn’t the time,” Javier mumbled.
“Why don’t you ask him?” I said.
“Where’s the fun in that?” Isabella said in a silky voice that convinced me she had asked Javier before.
“Dude, you were the one who told me I needed to tell Rach I liked her,” Jeremy said. “You even gave me this big bullshit story about you and Isabella.”
“He did?” Isabella asked. “What did he say?”
“It was all lies,” Mary said from the back seat. “Javier just likes playing with his sword.”
“Jesus save me,” Javier swore.
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I laughed so hard my stomach muscles ached. Javier’s glare of death in the rear view mirror did absolutely nothing to slow me down. Everyone was laughing – everyone but Javier, of course – and my rising fear over the situation took a reprieve.
“We went out once,” Javier said defensively into the laughter.
“Two hundred years ago!” Isabella exclaimed.
“What?” I said, all laughter gone.
Javier took his eyes off the road long enough to glare at Isabella. “Now we have to explain that.”
“Oh my god! You’re vampires! Oh my god! I knew it! I knew it!” Jeremy slapped me on the arm. “I knew it!”
“Ow!”
Jeremy slapped my arm again, as if I didn’t hear him the first time. “They’re vampires!”
“Ow!” I slapped his thigh hard. “That hurt.”
“Vampires!” he sputtered, motioning at the front of the van. “They’re vampires.”
“They are not vampires,” I said. “Vampires aren’t real.”
“No,” Jeremy said. “I remember Javier saying that there were people who were like vampires. See? He never said they weren’t real.”
“He said they weren’t real,” I said calmly. “Because vampires aren’t real.”
“It’s complicated,” Mary said.
“Can someone fill me in on this vampire story?” Manny asked, staring at Connie.
“What? You don’t know?” I asked Manny, who’d been quiet the entire ride until now.
“I’m not allowed to say anything,” Connie said defensively.
“You knew they were vampires and you didn’t say anything!” Jeremy demanded.
“Oh my freaking god, Jeremy! They aren’t vampires,” I said. “Just like those other guys weren’t zombies.”
“They were totally zombies.”
I might have smirked at the little pout forming on Jeremy’s face. I’d seen less pathetic puppies.
“This isn’t time to discuss this,” Javier said sternly.
“Later,” Isabella promised us. “You pretended I was your girlfriend.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
Jeremy nudged me with his elbow. I glared at him. He pointed at Isabella and Javier arguing. I made a face that conveyed I am perfectly capable of understanding that Javier and Isabella are having a wee domestic dispute in the front seat of our getaway van.
He grumped a bit, but said, “Fine. Be like that.”
Chapter 11
I Don’t Want to be Misty Monroe Anymore
We tried keeping up idle chatter throughout the drive down the highway from St. Anthony along the twisting road south. As Isabella would only speak to the rest of us, and in monosyllables, we went for casual talk. However, small talk is exhausting for any length of time. So by the time we zipped by the Port aux Choix turn off, we were all down to moose alerts and not much else.
For the record? Six moose. Not bad at all.
Jeremy let out a high-pitched squeak that I didn’t know men could even make. Javier slammed on the breaks, skidding and sliding, rubber burning. Isabella screamed for everyone to get down.
“What? What is it?” Javier demanded as he grabbed the handgun from the armrest compartment.
He pointed behind me. “Her!”
I followed his gaze and let out a long, pained sigh. Dema was floating in the air and jogging in place next to the vehicle.
She glared at Jeremy before rolling her eyes. “The Tall Man’s testicles haven’t dropped yet, Spirit Caller. He will not give your womb the children you crave.”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When that didn’t work, mostly because of the hysterical laughter in the van, I counted to twenty.
A rusted truck pulled up next to us and asked if we were okay. Javier said we dodged a moose, but were fine. The driver said good, be careful, and all that, and took off. Javier took a deep, audible breath, and began to drive once more.
Dema ran alongside the van, her hair not moving in the breeze.
“How is she even doing that?” Jeremy asked.
“I’m surprised you can see her,” I said. “She’s around the house all of the time, and you never see her.”
“What do you mean, all of the time?” Jeremy asked with a horrified expression.
“There are rules for when she’s allowed to lurk,” I assured him.
“Who makes those rules?”
I could tell he was worried the ghost was spying on our intimate moments, but I didn’t want to say anything in front of everyone. I went for casual. “I make the rules, Jeremy. It’s all fine. We’ll talk about it later.”
“There’s a ghost running alongside the van. We’re talking about this right now.”
“I’m sorry, Jeremy. It’s probably my fault,” Isabella said.
“Can’t you control it?” Jeremy snapped.
“Jeremy!” I said, trying to keep the scolding tone out of my voice. I failed.
“It’s creeping me out!”
Isabella looked over her shoulder. “Dema, would you please come inside the van to make things easier on Jeremy’s sensitive nerves?”
“Dema, please come in,” I said. At that, Dema floated inside the van and took a seat behind me and alongside Mary. Mary seemed to take it all in stride.
“This is creeping me out,” Jeremy said. He glanced over his shoulder. “No offense. If ghosts take offense.”
Dema sighed and said, “Spirit Caller, please inform the Tall Man that I do not lurk in your windows while you copulate.”
“Jesus wept,” Jeremy muttered next to me.
“Jeremy, rule number one,” I said. “Do not annoy Dema. She’ll always get you back.”
“The Spirit Caller is becom
ing wise. This is my influence upon her.”
A moose jumped out on the road and Javier swerved hard once to avoid it, and hard again to avoid the oncoming tractor-trailer belting down the highway on the curve. The driver gave us a contemptuous blast of his horn. Javier ignored him and hit the accelerator.
“Do you need me to drive?” Isabella demanded.
“Shut up and watch for moose!” Javier shouted back. He reached down and picked up his phone. He tossed it behind him at Connie. “Check messages.”
Connie shook her head. “No reception.”
Javier swore and slammed his hand on the steering wheel.
Dema leaned forward and said, rather loudly into the silence, “I believe he is angry about something.”
“Dema, shut up,” I whispered.
After more silence, I said, “All right, we need more information here. All you’ve said is that the Whisperers are coming to town and that you have a bunch of your people showing up. I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Isabella and Javier shared a look.
“I mean it. I want to know right now.”
“Territory war,” Mary said, very gently.
“That sounds bad,” I admitted.
Connie turned around and her face was ashen. “The last time there was a territory war, they left a crater where an oil refinery used to be.”
“But…why? I haven’t done anything,” I protested. “I just…I don’t do anything!”
Jeremy patted my hand. “It’ll be okay.”
“No, it’s not okay. This is my home. These people can’t just show up and drive me out of my home!”
“They can and they will,” Isabella said. “They can’t be reasoned with.”
“Everyone can be reasoned with,” I complained.
“No, Rach, not everyone can,” Jeremy said.
“So they sent those spirits after me? After all of this about how they don’t work with the supernatural? Their entire purpose is to stop me and people like me, so they use spirits to do it?”
“Needs must when you think God is on your side,” Isabella said grimly. “They think they are above corruption. They think they’re doing the right thing.”
“Hypocrites,” I said.
“Agreed. In the meantime, we are going to get you to Deer Lake. We’ll lay low until the rest of the crew arrives, and then we’ll head back in force.”
I turned around to speak to Mary, but she anticipated the question.
“Charter plane. Deer Lake’s going to be flooded with them in a few hours.”
“I can’t have them turning my home into a crater! What are we going to do?” I demanded.
“We’re going to…”
A red minivan opened its windows. Our van slowed to a crawl. Why were we slowing down? Weren’t we in a hurry? Pop-pop-pop sounds broke the air, followed by breaking glass and Isabella’s screaming. Why was this happening? People didn’t just shoot at each other on Newfoundland highways! They hit drunk drivers, patches of ice, wood trucks that toppled their loads, and moose, but they never were shot at.
This was my fault. This was always my fault.
The van went into a tailspin, rubber burning and tires squealing. Dema was shouting directions at Javier, and the van would weave and bounce as he responded to her orders. Manny, Connie, and Mary were all shouting, but I…
If they die, it will be my fault. I deserve to be alone. I should throw myself out of the van. Just end it. Let the tires roll over me…
Jeremy grappled with the seatbelt until he heard the click and he pushed me into the foot well. He crawled on top of me and wrapped his arms around my body. I clenched my fists and my eyes and prayed that we were going to make it out of this.
“Hold on!” Javier shouted.
“Mary! Look after Jeremy and Rachel!” Isabella shouted. “Connie! You’re on Manny.”
“It’s okay,” Jeremy whispered in my ear over the shouts around me. “It’ll be okay, Rach. I love you.”
Something wasn’t right. Why was Jeremy on top of me on the van floor? Why was Mary pulling on him, shouting and cursing as she did? I realized I was crying. Sobbing, in fact. Realizing this just made me cry harder. Jeremy tightened his grip until I struggled to breathe. His entire body cocooned around my torso and head, protecting my vitals in case of…
“I love you, Rachel. Do you hear me? I love you. I love you. I love you. It’s going to be okay.”
“Jeremy!” Mary was shouting. “You’re hurting her!”
My mind began to clear and I realized the van wasn’t riddled in bullet holes. I wasn’t bleeding. Neither was anyone else. We were travelling down the road like normal. Only, I was on the van floor, Manny was sobbing, and Mary was shrieking. Dema was berating everyone for their lack of calm in a crisis.
“What…happened?” Jeremy said, blinking his eyes. He stared at me as if he was seeing me for the first time. “You’re alive?”
“The van isn’t full of bullet holes,” I said by way of reply. Which, I suppose, didn’t really answer his question.
“Get up,” Mary ordered. “Both of you. Manny! It isn’t real.”
“Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Not again. No more. I’ve worked so hard. It isn’t fair,” Manny said through sobs.
“Connie!” Isabella ordered.
“Izzy, I’m trying!” Connie barked back. “Manny, hush. It’s just the voice, okay? It isn’t real. You aren’t going to hurt anyone.”
I struggled to breathe and my ears were ringing. My eyes stung from the sweat getting in them. Jeremy got into his seat and helped me up into mine. He clicked on his seatbelt, helped me with mine, and then wrapped his arms around me.
We held each other, ignoring the chatter around us. In the distance, I heard Manny come to his own senses, too, and I heard Connie’s relieved sounds.
Sometime later, I found my voice. I smiled up at Jeremy and asked, “Is everyone all right?”
“We’re all fine,” Isabella said. I saw her reach across and squeeze Javier’s arm. He glanced at her. Yeah. There was something there, all right.
“That’s why I said we need to get out of town,” Javier said grimly. “I can’t…we can’t protect you.”
“You should have warned me.” I didn’t mean for the words to come out as a snarl, but they did. “I didn’t even know the Whisperers could do this on the road!” When Javier and Isabella remained silent, I shouted, “Answer me!” Jeremy squeezed me tighter, but I ignored him.
“Listen to me very carefully. You will explain to me what the hell is going on right this minute, or I swear to all of my Ancestors I will fling open this door and walk back home.”
“Rachel…” Isabella began.
I cut her off. I had no more patience left in me. “No. You are going to listen to me now. You say you want to protect me. Fine. Start protecting. I need details, information, history, all of it. And you are going to start right now. We are going to drive to Deer Lake, since that was your original plan. We’re going to get this mysterious help that’s supposedly arriving, and then we’re going to turn this goddamn van around if I still think I need to be home instead of on the run. Is that clear?”
Isabella began to protest, but Javier put a hand on her forearm. She looked at him and he just shook his head. Isabella let out a sigh. “Fine. What do you need to know?”
Chapter 12
Gros Morne is Lovely This Time of Year
The next two hours were a blur of information. Javier explained how the spirit swords both he and Isabella wielded helped mitigate some of the toll of Whisperer attacks. With their training and experience, Mary, Isabella, and Javier could quickly identify a mental attack and recover quite quickly. A shiver gripped my spine when Isabella said we’d be dead by now if Jeremy or myself had been driving.
Javier detailed the various tactics they’d employed against us, including mental assaults that preyed on a person’s fears. Those previous assaults had taken away my ability to detect the other. The removal o
f the headaches were good, in that I could ride in the van with Dema, but bad in that I could no longer tell the age of a spirit.
All the while this was going on, Connie’s cell reception kept cutting in and out, so she could give occasional “sit reps” to the group. Connie had said she worked in customer service for an international call centre. She did safety check-ins. I thought she meant truck drivers and people in fire towers in the middle of a forest. I didn’t know she meant a religious organization sworn to protect the magically-cursed. Inclined. Gifted. Whatever.
I shivered as Javier told a story about a time decades ago that the Whisperers had caused an entire village to commit suicide when they were unable to find a suspected spell caster. Someone like Manny. To them, wiping out innocents was a small price to pay to rid the world.
Jeremy demanded specific details about their weapons, training, and tactics. He wanted numbers, dossiers, and previous attacks. There are times I forget Jeremy is actually a Mountie. It was easy to forget amongst all of the doctors’ appointments and light duties that he was a trained police officer. We never really talked about work all that much; most of his work these days had been forms and letters. But it was strange hearing him talk about guns and proven tactics.
The anonymous attack of the Whisperer who’d been driving down the road hoping to cause an accident had worn me down. My head was pounding and I was exhausted. I wanted to sleep, but something about this entire discussion got under my skin. These weren’t some rag-tag wannabe rebels. These were highly trained, highly financed…Oh god.
“They are from your organization, aren’t they?” It wasn’t really a question.
Javier glanced at Isabella before looking in the rear view mirror. “Yes.”
“Shit,” I said. “That’s how come you are calling in everyone else.”
“They are very dangerous,” Isabella said.
Dead Living (Spirit Caller Book 5) Page 10
