Ghost of Himself

by Pandora Pine

  Not getting any audible response from Copeland, Jude headed outside. He needed a break from being so close to Copeland. He also needed a minute to express gratitude to his elders for using him as a vessel to heal Cope.

  The barely woken rays of the sun touched his face and Jude knew his elders had heard his prayer of thanks. Keeping his face upturned to the sun, he pulled himself together so Ten and Ronan wouldn’t see the emotion in his eyes when he went into the house. He knew they were up. Dixie was barking her fool head off at the sliding glass door.

  “Dixie, my little pixie!” Jude scooped the tiny dog up when Ronan opened the door for him. Jude let her bathe his face in her love.

  “You look like shit, man. Did you sleep at all?” Ronan set a cup of coffee in front of him. Before barking at Ronan like he’d usually do with some kind of asshole comeback, Jude studied his friend. “Probably about as much as you did.”

  “Yeah, Ten and I had a pretty restless night. I think we both wanted to run out there a dozen times and find out if it worked.”

  “Speak for yourself.” Ten walked into the kitchen with his nose high in the air. “I wanted to run out there two dozen times.” He sat at the table across from Jude and Dixie, snapping his fingers in the air. “Coffee, Jeeves.”

  Ronan burst out laughing. “Yes, dear.”

  “Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Jude. Did it work?” Tennyson’s tired eyes glowed with excitement.

  Ronan walked back to the table with Ten’s coffee. “Yeah, I don’t think can take the suspense for another second.”

  Jude grinned at his friends. “Why don’t you take a look out the slider.” Jude pointed a split second before Dixie started to bark. He set her down on the floor where she wasted no time in running full out to meet Copeland who was stepping through the door and into the kitchen.

  “Hello, my little love bug.” Cope cradled her against his face.

  “I knew it.” Ronan slapped a hand on Jude’s shoulder. “I knew you could heal him.”

  Jude looked up at the burly cop who was wiping tears from his blue eyes. There was no mistaking the pride Jude had heard in his voice.

  “Pancakes!” Ronan announced. “This deserves pancakes.” He wrapped an arm around Cope giving him a short hug before walking across the room to rummage around in the fridge.

  “We all knew you could do it, Jude,” Tennyson seconded. “Now you can dance the night away, Cope.”

  “After I run to the bathroom.” He handed Dixie back to Jude. “Stay with Uncle Jude, kitten.”

  Dixie howled as Copeland dashed from the kitchen.

  “Do you think she’s objecting to Cope abandoning her or the fact that he called her the ‘K’ word?” Tennyson started to laugh. Dixie howled again.

  “Oh, it’s the ‘K’ word for sure.” Jude laughed. “I’d make the same exact sound if you called me Ronan.”

  “He makes a good point, babe.” Ronan laughed. “Just for that, you’re getting a pancake too, pixie girl.”

  Dixie stopped howling. She shook out her dainty ears and hopped down onto the floor before scampering over to Ronan.

  “She knows where her bread is buttered.” Ten laughed as Ronan bent down to tell the dog what a good girl she was.

  “She sure does.” Jude found himself laughing at the interaction between Ronan and Dixie and wondering for the first time if there was room in his life for a tiny dog of his own.

  25

  Copeland

  Breakfast turned into a bigger production that Copeland expected. Everyone who’d been at the healing ceremony had showed up at Ronan’s at some point in the morning to check on him. There had been hugs all around and Carson and Truman’s little ones had just wanted to sit in his lap while they ate their pancakes.

  Onyx and Dempsey had stuck around long after everyone else had gone home. Cope knew they were sticking around for a reason. Dempsey had also shown up with a backpack he’d made sure to hide in Ronan’s kitchen when he’d thought no one was looking. Cope had taken a minute to scan its contents and found it was protected by a charm. He was unable to see what the bag contained.

  Not that he thought Dempsey had brought something dangerous into Ten and Ronan’s house, it was just interesting to Cope that he brought something with him that needed to be protected by magick.

  Now that it was time to get down to business, Dempsey had retrieved the bag from its hiding place. He’d set it on the table and was unzipping the largest pouch. Cope felt his eyes go wide when Dempsey pulled out a large obsidian crystal ball.

  “Ohhh.” He’d heard of wizards using obsidian before, but had never seen a crystal ball of this size. Known as the stone of truth, it also was used for its ability to repel psychic attacks and negative energy which made it the perfect stone to use in crystal ball work. What Cope liked most about it was its ability to mirror back weaknesses.

  “She’s a real beauty, huh?” Dempsey grinned as he set the ball down on an ornate stand. “Do you want to give it a spin?”

  Did he? After everything he’d been through over the last several days with getting to Massachusetts and dealing with the psychic attacks and the healing ceremony. Was he strong enough to gaze into the crystal?

  “Whatever you decide. I’m here.” Jude set a hand on Cope’s.

  Without thinking about it, he twined their fingers together and reached out to touch the obsidian. It was warm to the touch which surprised Cope. He would have assumed the stone would be cold. As he was staring at the shiny, black surface, it shimmered and he’d swear clouds began to swirl within its depth.

  “Holy shit. Are you seeing that or am I having a stroke?” Jude asked breathlessly.

  “What are you seeing?” Cope was eager to find out if Jude was seeing the same thing he was.

  Jude’s hazel eyes were blown wide. “Storm clouds are swirling inside the ball.”

  “I’m seeing that too,” Cope confirmed. Just as the words left his mouth, the ball started to clear and he could see both of them sitting in Jude’s Thunderbird. They appeared to be staring out the windshield at something Jude was pointing at. They were talking animatedly, but didn’t appear to be fighting.

  “Is that our future?” Jude asked.

  “I’m not sure what that is.” Cope focused back on the ball again just as the clouds began to swirl. It refocused on Jude walking alone in Ronan and Tennyson’s back yard.

  “What is that?” Jude mumbled.

  “That’s the outfit you were wearing yesterday. Do you remember what you were thinking about when you were at the back of the yard near the fence?” Cope remembered Jude walking around back there before the ceremonial staff had been handed out.

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  From his tone, it sounded to Cope like Jude didn’t want to share what he’d been feeling with the rest of the class. Cope bent his head closer to Jude’s. “We don’t have to talk about this here.”

  Jude’s fiery eyes looked up to meet Cope’s. “It’s not that I don’t want the rest of the room to hear what I was thinking.”

  Oh. Cope understood now. Jude didn’t want him to hear what he’d been thinking in those crucial moments before he’d been about to perform the healing ceremony. Cope gave their still-joined hands a squeeze.

  “I was unsure of my skills.” Jude sighed. “Afraid that I couldn’t heal you.”

  “That’s the stone showing you your greatest weakness,” Dempsey chimed in. “That’s half the battle in turning it into your greatest strength.”

  “Okay, now I’m having a stroke.” Jude looked around the table. “How can I possible turn fear of failure into a strength.”

  At Jude’s words, the crystal ball went dark.

  “I guess that’s up to you to figure out for yourself.” Cope hated saying those words out loud. Jude seemed like the kind of man who worked better with a partner. So far as he’d seen, Jude was the lone wolf of this friend group. Always working by himself.

  “I guess so.” Jude pulled his han
d back from Copeland. He cleared his throat. “Now what? The ball didn’t show us anything about the attacker. What do we do now? Play charades until he knocks on the door like the fucking Avon lady?”

  “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Dempsey snickered.

  Cope watched the look on Jude’s face go from sour to icy in a matter of seconds. He didn’t need to be a psychic to know things were about to get ugly. “The crystal ball is nice, Dempsey, but it surely didn’t need the levels protection you layered on the backpack.” Cope leaned forward on the table. The challenge in his eyes was obvious. “What else is in the bag?”

  “Bravo.” Dempsey whispered a few words Copeland was too far away to hear. When he was finished, he reached into the knapsack and pulled out what looked like a shallow bowl.

  “That’s what needed the magickal equivalent of Fort Knox security.” Dempsey set it on the table.

  Unless Copeland missed his guess, the bowl was also made of obsidian, just like the crystal ball.

  “You’re awful judgy for a just-healed psychic-witch. If this is what you’re both like after a night of not getting any, I’d rather you both get some.” Dempsey grinned.

  “I’ll volunteer to throw myself on the sword, me.” Onyx raised a hand. He was staring at Jude and licking his lips obscenely.

  “I appreciate the offer, Onyx, but…” Jude stopped talking abruptly.

  Cope turned to Jude to see if he was okay. The P.I. looked just fine. He was actually smiling. “Do I even want to know what was about to come out of your mouth?”

  Jude shook his head. “Nope! It would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap.” He turned back to Onyx. “I never thought the day would come when I would be announcing my retirement from one-night stands.”

  Onyx stuck his hand up in the air as if he had a question to ask in a seventh-grade math class. “I’ve got nothing against a two-night stand. A man with my particular appetites needs some extra time to let my freak flag fly.”

  “Jesus Christ, a man could get VD just listening to this conversation.” Dempsey headed straight for the giant pump bottle of Purell Tennyson kept on the kitchen counter. Squirting three pumps into his hands, he started slathering the gel all over his fingers and up his forearms like a surgeon.

  “As flattering and absolutely frightening as that offer is, Onyx, I’m going to have to pass. My sole responsibility right now is to Copeland. I’m afraid I couldn’t give your dick the attention it deserves since my mind would be completely focused on Cope.”

  “Not a problem, Jude. Not a problem at all. Cope is welcome to join in. The more the merrier. Isn’t that right, boy?” Onyx grinned. He rubbed his hands together as if he couldn’t wait to get naked.

  Dempsey gagged from near the kitchen sink.

  Christ, if Onyx called him “boy” one more time in front of everyone, they were going to have words. “Dempsey, is that a scrying vessel?” At least his brain was working enough to figure out what it was the wizard had in mind for them.

  “It is.” Dempsey walked back to the table and took his seat next to Onyx. He reached into the backpack again, pulling out a bottle of water. “This has been blessed by the light of the full moon.” Dempsey poured the liquid into the bowl.

  “What’s scrying?” Ronan asked. “I think I remember something about it from the Harry Potter books, but how is doing it here going to help Copeland?”

  “It’s seeing into the future by using some kind of reflective object.” Dempsey focused on Ronan. “Some practitioners use a mirror or a crystal ball, while others use a flat vessel with water like this. This bowl has been passed down through my family for generations.” The wizard looked up at Copeland. “That’s the reason for the protective spells. I didn’t want to alert the wrong people of my intentions and that such a powerful vessel was in your vicinity.”

  “What are you hoping to see?” Jude’s hand had found its way to Cope’s again. Cope gave it a squeeze.

  “Something to give us a leg up here. I’m going to ask to see the attacker. I need all of you to pay close attention to what we’re about to witness. The smallest detail could be what gives us the clue we need.” Dempsey looked around the table at each of them before looked down into the water. “Ten and Ronan, can you close the shade for the window over the sink and the blinds across the sliding glass door. After that, we’ll need two candles lit.”

  Cope got up from the table to move around to Dempsey’s side, while Ten and Ronan were closing shades and grabbing candles. Jude followed him. This way they’d be able to see whatever image formed right-side up.

  “Take a few deep breaths, everyone.” Dempsey did that very thing, his eyes slipping shut.

  Copeland breathed along with the wizard. He was starting to feel himself relax when Jude’s hand slipped back into his own.

  “May the Goddess watch over us and keep us from harm. May what we see in the depths be only a one-way reflection and cannot see us in return. So mote it be.” Dempsey opened his eyes. The water in the bowl was calm. All that could be seen in it was his reflection.

  Just as Copeland saw Ronan start to open his mouth, there was a ripple in the water, as if someone had bumped the edge of the bowl. Right before Cope’s eyes, a picture began to form of what looked like a generic hotel room.

  The angle of the room looked like they were looking down from a bit of an elevated spot. There was an open suitcase on the bed. A tangle of clothes were thrown haphazardly into it.

  “Looks like we’re viewing the room from a wall-mounted television.” Onyx muttered. “Double room. You can see the edge of the second bed, just at the edge of the frame.”

  “Those look like men’s boxer briefs,” Ten commented. “Upper left-hand side of the suitcase.”

  Ronan was nodding his head. “There’s nothing to identify where this hotel room is or who owns the suitcase.”

  “Be patient,” Dempsey cautioned.

  Jude squeezed Cope’s hand just as a figure rushed into the frame. The person was only visible from behind and was wearing a dark sweatshirt with the hood up. The person threw something into the suitcase and began zipping it up before jerking the bag off the bed and leaving the frame.

  “Shit,” Jude whispered angrily under his breath.

  “Hold on a second,” Cope pointed to the bowl. “They left something on the bed.”

  Everyone leaned in closer to see what the object was. “It looks like a travel brochure of some kind.” Dempsey said.

  “No,” Onyx muttered. “It’s a take-out menu. From the Gumbo Shop.”

  “How in hell could you possibly know that?” Ronan sounded dubious at best.

  “The olive-green logo for one,” Cope half-whispered. “It was my favorite place in the French Quarter. I used to eat there four or five times a week. Got so that the folks there recognized my number on the caller ID.” He huffed out a rough laugh. “They’d answer the phone like, ‘What will it be today Mr. Forbes, the shrimp creole or the red beans and rice?’ Sometimes I’d mix it up and get the crawfish etouffee just to make the girls laugh at me. ‘You’re getting unpredictable, Mr. Forbes,’ they’d laugh and then ask if a current boyfriend was their soulmate.” Cope ducked his head. It hurt to remember those happier days.

  “The menu is a message. It was obviously left there on purpose, right?” Jude asked.

  “It seems that way to me,” Dempsey admitted. With those words, the image of the hotel room faded.

  “I don’t mean to sound like an asshole here,” Jude began, “but where does this get us? We didn’t learn anything new and may have given this person a clue that we’re employing our own magick to spy on him.”

  “The one thing we did learn is that he’s on the move.” Dempsey leveled a look a Jude that said he’d done the best he could.

  “I understand that, Dempsey, but we don’t know if he’s on the move from New Orleans, New York, or fucking New Hampshire. That doesn’t exactly give us the leg up we were hoping for.”


  Cope set a hand on Jude’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go. We’re low on ice cream and I’ve got a hankering for nachos. We can run by the grocery store before we go home to eat and watch Jeopardy on Netflix.” The beginnings of a plan were forming in Cope’s mind. He just hoped Jude was smart enough to shut his mouth and play along until they could get in the car where he could explain things to him in private.

  Nodding, Jude pulled the keys to the Thunderbird out of his pocket. “Yeah, let’s do that.” He managed a smile for Cope. “Guys, thank you for everything. I’m sorry for being such a dick, but we’re the good guys here. Usually we have the upper hand.” He gave Ronan half a hug and slapped a hand on Dempsey’s shoulder on his way past.

  Cope tried to hide his smile as he made his goodbyes. Jude Byrne was one hell of an actor.

  26

  Jude

  Jude knew Copeland had something up his sleeve, but that didn’t stop him from being pissed off over the bowl of water showing him jack shit. He rolled his eyes at his own reflection in the rearview mirror. Shit, he really had come a long way if he was angry at magick not working in his favor.

  The scrying bowl had actually worked. He’d seen that image of the hotel room as sure as he was looking at his own reflection now. He’d also seen the take-out menu lying on the bed. The look on Copeland’s face when he’d recognized the restaurant logo had been chilling.

  Dempsey had asked his goddess to keep them safe from harm during the viewing, but somehow the freak who was after Copeland had known they were watching him all the same. How was that possible? Was it simply a matter of the best offense being a good defense?

  “Okay, I’m ready to go.” Copeland grinned at Jude as he hopped into the Thunderbird, slamming the door behind him.

  Jude felt his heart shrivel in his chest. He took a deep breath and prayed that he wouldn’t lose his shit. “Uh, Cope?” Damn, that came out bitchier than he’d intended. “I know the door is heavy, but please don’t slam it.” There, that wasn’t so bad. Jude even managed a half-hearted smile.