The Sixth Ghost: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 6)

by Tamara Geraeds

  “Thanks,” I say as the others pass it over to my side of the table. I flip through it and frown. “Are you sure you don’t need this anymore?”

  Gisella grins. “I’m sure. We never use it, since all the recipes in there are disgusting.”

  “It might be worth a lot,” I say as I slam it shut. Dirt rises from the pages and tickles my nose.

  With a shrug, Gisella leans back in her chair. “It can never be worth more than the safety of the whole world.”

  “Good point,” I say with a smile. “Then I guess we’re ready to start. I’ll put the spell on the book, and then we can go see your aunt.”

  Mona stands up and claps her hands together with a delighted expression on her face. “I’ll prepare some lunch.”

  I open my spell book to check the ingredients again and memorize the words. As I read the first line, the page flips on its own.

  My mouth goes dry. There’s a message on the next page. It’s written in a handwriting I recognize. Dad’s.

  Dante,

  If you need some extra power, think of what I did when I was fighting Lucifer. Do not listen to other people’s advice in this. Instead, listen to your gut.

  I love you and miss you,

  Dad

  After the word “gut”, there’s a letter that turned into a smear of ink, as if he wanted to tell me more but didn’t have the time.

  I wonder what drove him to write this in here. Why didn’t he just tell me?

  I read it again. Do not listen to other people’s advice. That must be it. He thinks my friends will keep me from doing what I think is right. And, of course, they can. I value their opinions, and most of them have more experience with magic than me. And with fighting the Devil.

  So, what’s so important that I should ignore them? What does that first sentence mean?

  Vicky nudges me. “Are you done memorizing?”

  I close the book fast. “Sure.”

  She scrutinizes me. “Is something wrong?”

  “Besides the fact that saving those souls wasn’t enough?”

  It comes out harsher than I intended, but Vicky doesn’t flinch.

  “I feel your frustration,” she says. “Literally. And it runs through my veins too. But John said we can still win. We’re meant to win. And that’s what we’ll do.”

  “Hear, hear,” I answer half-heartedly.

  But I do still feel it. Hope. Dad has left me tons of it. Even within his cryptic message.

  The spell to curse and cloak the book works best on a “natural surface” so I go outside and set everything up inside the circle of protection. Vicky joins me, and we both stare at the spot where D’Maeo was pulled into the box just hours ago.

  “We’ll get him back,” I repeat.

  Vicky nods. “I know.”

  “But first we’re going to get rid of the curse on you so you won’t go nuts on me again.”

  She scoots closer and brings her lips to my ear. “I thought you liked nuts?”

  With a chuckle, I turn my head and kiss her. “That depends on what kind of nuts we’re talking about.”

  “Nuts about you,” she whispers against my lips.

  “Oh yes, I definitely like that kind of nuts.” I suppress a shiver when her cold fingers touch my neck. “You know… it’s really hard to concentrate when you do that.”

  She pulls back, her shoulders sagging in disappointment.

  I lean toward her and kiss her cheek. “We’ll save it for later.”

  The corners of her mouth move up. “I can’t wait.”

  Shaking my head to get rid of the electric pulses flowing through my body, I walk around the protective circle to set everything up.

  “So, I had another idea,” I tell Vicky once the candles and herb circle are in place. “Since Kasinda is strong, I want to put several layers of spells on the book. A bit like the spell Dad used on the Bell of Izme, but instead of using the same spell more than once, I want to use different ones.”

  Vicky taps her lips in thought, and I look away, pushing images of my lips touching hers aside.

  “What kind of spells do you have in mind?” she asks.

  “Well, the ones we talked about for starters. One that takes away her powers and one that makes the book look like the Book of a Thousand Deaths. Then another one on top of that to immobilize her. This will be a fairly simple one, because it’s just for show. And the last one would be a spell to hide the immobilization spell.” I scratch my head. “It sounds harder than it is when I explain it like this.”

  “No, I get it, and it’s a great idea,” Vicky says. “Kasinda will discover the top two spells and undo them. She won’t expect other spells to lie beneath them. It could work.”

  I sense a hesitation. “But?”

  “But I might have a better idea for the most important spell.” She paces up and down between the candles of north and west. “Stripping her of her powers is a risk. I mean, what if that doesn’t break the curse?”

  I open my mouth to argue, but she continues without pausing.

  “Wouldn’t it be better to transfer Kasinda’s powers to one of us? Then that person would be able to undo the curse, and they would be more powerful.” She stops pacing and looks at me. “We could use some extra power.”

  With a frown, I look back. “I don’t know, babe. You want to transfer her dark powers to one of us? What if that turns them evil?”

  She tilts her head and smiles. “It won’t. Gisella can take them. She knows how to harness them.”

  My gaze flicks to the back door. “You think she’d do that? She already hates her own powers and doesn’t want to use them. Kasinda’s powers are even darker.”

  Vicky shrugs. “We can ask her.”

  She’s already on her way to the kitchen, and I don’t stop her, even though I’m not sure this is a good idea. But she’s right about the other plan. What if taking Kasinda’s powers doesn’t break the curse? Vicky could be stuck with it for the rest of her afterlife.

  She strolls back out sooner than I expected with a big smile. “She says she’ll do it. But you’ll have to write an extra spell now before we go to see her aunt. A spell with which you can take away Kasinda’s powers if Gisella is unable to control them. Make sure you strip only her powers, not Gisella’s.”

  My eyebrows move up. “She said that? Great. I can do that. I just need to add a few lines to the spell I wrote.”

  “You want company?”

  I lower myself onto the grass and take out my Book of Spells. “Sure, as long as you don’t sit too close. You’ll only distract me.”

  She crosses her arms and glares at me. “You’re no fun.”

  I wave my pencil at her. “You wait until all of this is over. I’ll show you fun.”

  Her lips split into a wide grin. “You’d better start writing then.”

  I bend over the book. “Already on it.”

  With every sentence I write, Vicky moves closer. Once she’s leaning against my shoulder, she doesn’t move anymore though. We’re just two people in love, enjoying a sunny morning in the garden. Or so I try to tell myself. Strangely enough, it works. I feel calm and almost happy. The words flow out of me easily.

  “Done.” I put away my pencil and kiss Vicky on the cheek and lips.

  She jumps to her feet and pulls me up. “Holler if you need me. I’ll be right here.”

  She steps out of the circle I created with the herbs, and I rub my hands. The amount of faith she has in me is comforting, yet I don’t feel the same way. These are a lot of spells on top of each other, most of which I wrote myself. If I forget one small detail or make one little mistake, this could go sideways fast.

  “You’ll do fine,” Vicky says. “Just take a deep breath and start. You’re good at this, remember?”

  I’m good at this. This is what I was born to do. I can do this.

  I flip back to the first spell and light the black candle in the midd
le of the circle. Black for banishment.

  With the black candle, I walk around the circle to light the four white ones, calling upon the powers of the north, east, south and west. Once the flames burn high, I start my first spell.

  I sprinkle the remains of the herb mixture I prepared onto the antique book.

  “With this book we shall control

  the powers that lie within a soul.

  Kasinda is the soul we choose.

  Her evil powers she will lose.

  When Kasinda’s touch is detected,

  her powers will be at once collected.

  They will travel through the air,

  invisible to anyone there.

  No magic will return these powers,

  not even in their final hours.

  To Gisella they will go,

  but the owner will not know.

  Once Kasinda’s powers are gone,

  she won’t be able to hurt anyone.”

  I almost drop the black candle and the book when the smoke rising from it changes into a claw with sharp nails. It shoots forward to grab me but changes direction when I pull back my head. For a moment, it seems to search the air. Then it dives into the book in my other hand, which turns dark as the claw slowly disappears into it.

  Vicky steps back into the circle when I don’t move. “Are you okay?”

  I’m still staring at the book. “I’m not sure.” I lift the book higher. “Does this look good to you?”

  She bends over it and narrows her eyes. “Not really.” Her forehead wrinkles into a concerned frown. “Do you think something went wrong?”

  After a short pause, I nod toward the back door. “We should ask Gisella.”

  Vicky takes off without another word and comes back seconds later with the werecat-witch at her side.

  Gisella takes one look at the book and shakes her head. “It didn’t work. Your spell bounced on Kasinda’s magic.” She rubs her temple hard. “I was afraid of this.”

  “You suspected this?” I ask, incredulous. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  She takes the book from me. “I didn’t want to worry you. You need confidence to cast a good spell. Besides…” She sighs. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use my powers again. I hate incantations.”

  “I’m sorry.” I grab the book and throw it into the grass beside us. “You know, you don’t have to do this. We can find another way. I understand.”

  Gisella bends down and picks up the book. “Actually, I think it’s the only way to break the curse on Vicky besides killing my aunt, which I don’t want to do. So I’ll do it. I’ll put a curse on this book.” She looks at the book in her hands as if it’s drenched in blood. “No matter how much I hate it, I’ll do it.”

  I’m still searching for the right thing to say when Vicky throws her arms around Gisella’s neck. “Thank you.”

  The girl in the red catsuit stiffens for a second. Then she relaxes and hugs Vicky back. “You’re welcome.”

  “What do you need?” Vicky asks when they let go of each other.

  Gisella picks up the black candle and hands it back to me. “We don’t need herbs, circles and candles for incantations. That’s the only upside of being an evil witch.” With a smirk, she steps to the middle of the herb circle. “A little extra power can’t hurt though, so I’ll use the circle.”

  A small nod of her head tells us to back up.

  “Please be careful,” I say, and she shoots me a look of affection.

  “No matter what happens, don’t interfere,” she warns us. “Your spell bounced on Kasinda’s protective magic, which means your spell is reversed. If we use the book now, my powers will flow into her instead of the other way around. I’m going to undo this first. It might look frightening, but I promise I’ll be fine.”

  I back up a little more and pull Vicky along. “Okay. Good luck.”

  Gisella closes her eyes and places the book on one hand. The other hand hovers over it, going slowly from left to right and back. She starts mumbling words I can’t understand. They sound like random syllables put together. Then she starts shaking. It’s a good thing she warned us, or I would’ve thought she was having a fit like Vicky’s.

  Her free hand is moving up and down now. The black, smoky claw becomes visible inch by inch as she pulls it out of the book. The edges of the pages are getting lighter already. But Gisella trembles more violently with every gesture she makes. Her voice gets lower until she sounds like the evil wizard Jafar from Aladdin, ominous, dark and powerful.

  I grab Vicky’s hand and squeeze it. “Do you think this is how it’s supposed to go?”

  What I really want to ask is, ‘Does this mean she can’t control her powers? Is she turning evil right in front of us?’

  Of course, Vicky senses my fear. And she’s a good mind-reader, even without her empath power.

  “I think it’s going well,” she says. “She’s in control. I can feel it.”

  I can’t say I feel the same way when Gisella throws her head back and coughs up slivers of red smoke. Her voice changes pitch again, growing higher and higher. The volume of her words increases until I slam my hands against my ears against the noise.

  Too late I realize my mistake.

  I drop my arms when Charlie comes flying past me, cursing at us for not jumping to Gisella’s rescue.

  CHAPTER 8

  “No, leave her!” I call out, reaching for Charlie’s arm but missing him by two steps.

  Vicky doesn’t hesitate. She vanishes and apparates in front of Charlie. His momentum knocks them both over. Vicky goes up in smoke again and comes back on top of Charlie.

  “Stay still,” she orders him, pinning his arms behind his back.

  When he keeps struggling, I kneel down next to him. “Take it easy, she’s fine. She told us it could get rough. We promised to leave her to it.”

  A tear makes its way from Charlie’s eye to his chin. “You call this rough? Something is killing her!”

  I place my hand on his shoulder and put every ounce of faith I have into my words. “It’s not. Gisella is strong. She said she could do it, and I believe her.”

  Charlie struggles again, but Vicky is too strong.

  We all watch as the book opens, and the black claw frees itself. It hovers in front of Gisella, its fingers outstretched, ready to dig into her face. Gisella keeps mumbling, her voice calm now. The claw starts to rotate, faster and faster. Slivers of smoke rise up from the book, pulled out by the small vortex. Then, the book slams shut. Gisella drops it, and in one quick movement, she slams her hands together, squashing the claw. Puffs of black escape her fingers, but they turn white instantly and are taken away by the wind.

  Gisella breathes in and out a couple of times, bends down to pick up the book, and turns to us. With a content smile, she hands the book back to me. “And now you hide my magic with yours.”

  Vicky lets go of Charlie, who sits up wide-eyed. He’s like a statue, frozen in place. His mouth is slightly open.

  Gisella puts her arm around him. “Come on, let’s go inside.”

  His head slowly turns toward her. “That was scary.”

  “I know.” She kisses him on the temple. “I didn’t want you to see that.”

  “You need to tell me next time you plan on doing something dangerous like that. Then I can cuff you to the bed or something, you know.”

  She grins. “That’s exactly why I can’t tell you.” She straightens up and holds out her hand. “Are you coming? I could use something to replenish my energy, and you’re the snack expert.”

  I pick up the book when they walk back into the kitchen, Charlie still arguing that she should’ve told him.

  Vicky points at the antique book. “That looks a lot better.”

  Nodding, I flip through the pages. “Yes, it looks normal again. I’d better cast the three spells.”

  First, I cast the cloaking spell to hide Gisella’s magic. It go
es well, and I move on to the next step. Since memorizing is still not one of my strong suits, I reread the spell I wrote to make the book look like the Book of a Thousand Deaths.

  “I can hold it up for you if you want,” Vicky says, eyeing me with amusement.

  I open my mouth to say I’ll be fine, but who am I kidding? It will take precious minutes to remember all three spells, and this is not something I want to risk screwing up. This might be our only chance to get rid of this stupid curse.

  Vicky reads my emotions and pulls the Book of Spells from my hands. “Just tell me when.”

  “Thanks. We can leave the circle like this, but I need dried fern leaf, poppy seeds, dill weed and a few drops of dew. The same things we used for the cloaking spell, remember? They need to be crushed and heated.”

  “Here you go.”

  We both turn at the sound of Mona’s voice. She’s holding out a bowl from which green smoke curls up.

  With a frown, I take it from her. “How did you─?”

  Her smile is dazzling with a touch of pride. “I’m your fairy godmother, honey. It’s my job to keep an eye on you.” She winks. “I looked over your shoulder while you were reading the spell.”

  “Thanks,” I say. “This will save us some time.”

  “You’re welcome.” She turns, and I watch her walk back inside, not a hair on her head moving and her steps light, almost lifting her completely from the ground.

  “She’s something special,” I say.

  Vicky scrunches up her nose. “She sure is, but what she said made me wonder…”

  “Wonder about what?”

  “How many times she’s looked over your shoulder while we were… intimate.”

  “Vicky!” I scold her. “She would never do that!”

  She smirks. “Not on purpose, but accidents happen, right?”

  I shake my head feverishly. “I don’t want to think about that.” With force, I push the rising images from my mind. “Okay, hold up the book, please.”

  After a deep breath, I sprinkle some of the mixture from the bowl onto the antique book.