She felt Alex’s soft hair brush her hand as he leaned forward, then his lips as they traced over her skin. “Rest, please.”
But she didn’t want to rest. She wanted to find out what happened. She forced her eyes open, even though the dim light of the bedside lamp in Grace’s bedroom stung them. Pushing aside the instinct to recede back into the hole of nothingness, she stared at Alex with as much purpose as she could muster.
“Look at me, Alex.”
He did and she saw his charming face contorted with misery. It quite simply staggered her.
Slowly, he reached up to cradle her face in the palm of his hand. “You didn’t warn me you could be possessed.”
Her breath caught, and she released it on a long, understanding exhale. “So that’s what happened.”
“Do you need an exorcism performed or something?”
She shook her head, wincing at the word. “It’s not possession. The spirit may have channeled through me, used me to speak, but it’s not the same as demonic possession. I’ll be fine.”
He grimaced. “You didn’t look fine, Jackie. You looked like you had the Spanish flu or something. I thought you were going to have a seizure and die.”
A small smile softened her face and she tried to sit up so she could face him. She winced at how weak her body was.
“Don’t worry so much about me, darling.” She cupped his hand that held her face, leaning into it. Her dark eyes glittered in the lamplight. “I have seen and experienced worse things.”
He didn’t look convinced. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“For that, I apologize.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “Ray is not gone.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” He pulled his hand away and got to his feet, pacing the room in agitation. “Aubrey and Dominic took off. Grace and Ian have no idea what to do now. It seems you were right…a séance only made things worse.”
Jackie pondered his words for a moment, taking in the room around her. “No, I think one good thing came out of it.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s a gaping hole that Mercy’s energy once occupied. I think she may have left the house.”
“Maybe she’s just out of range.”
“No, I think she may have left, maybe only temporarily. But the heavy grief, the torment, the anger…it’s gone. I only sense Ray’s darkness now.”
Alex let out a frustrated breath and came to sit beside her on the bed. “So, what do we do now?”
Jackie reached for his hand. “We do another cleansing ritual. It’s a must after a séance, especially one like that. After that…well, I guess I’ll have to ask Aubrey. She’ll know.”
“She didn’t know anything,” Alex snapped, still on edge over Aubrey’s insistence to continue the séance despite Jackie’s condition. “She kept pushing, she wouldn’t help you.”
“She wanted to ensure she had done all she could to get rid of Ray.” Jackie released her hand from his and sat back, her gaze drifting off thoughtfully. “She knew that if she didn’t then it would all be for nothing.”
“What if you had died?” His hands dove into his hair as he had the wild thought of finding Aubrey and strangling her.
“I wasn’t in any real danger.”
“You could’ve fooled me.”
Jackie pouted, tired of his anger. He was no good to her when he was like this. She needed his soothing, positive temperament if she was to gather her strength.
“Come here.” She reached out with her hand, tugging on his shirt. He shifted closer as she dragged him against her, her mouth finding his. She poured everything she had into the kiss, weak as she was, and took as much of his light as she could grasp.
He gave in and gathered her close, his fears of losing her chased away by his relief that at least she was safe. His mouth cruised over hers, his hands tangled in the wild mass of her hair. She nipped at his lower lip playfully and he couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face.
“You’re doing this on purpose.”
Jackie nodded, grasping at his shirt. “I need the strength only you can give me.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“Oh, it does.” She pressed her face into his neck to settle her heart. It galloped frantically, as if wanting to run from the knowledge that it was perilously close to falling.
She couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Shouldn’t.
“I need to do the cleansing ritual.” She got to her feet slowly, pleased that her knees were stronger than she expected. She smiled down at him. “You can film me again if you’d like.”
A half laugh escaped his throat as he stood up. “I didn’t realize you liked being in front of the camera so much.”
“I don’t.” She reached for his hand, pulling him from the room. “I just need you by my side tonight.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Fear was not enough to keep Ian from examining the footage taken that night, despite the horrors he experienced. After all, he was an investigator first and foremost, and he’d be damned if anything would chase him away from gathering evidence.
He made a mad dash into the basement to grab the cameras, bringing them upstairs to the living room. He hooked them up to Alex’s laptop on the deteriorating coffee table and plugged in the digital recorder to upload the recording of the séance.
Earlier, Jackie had performed a final cleansing ritual before Alex took her back to the hotel room to sleep the rest of the night. They were both still shaken up by what happened, so much so that Alex begged Ian and Grace to join them.
But Grace refused to leave. Even though she had visible marks on her neck, red stripes in the shape of fingers, she wouldn’t abandon Sally. And Ian wouldn’t abandon Grace.
Though the marks were fading by the minute, Grace still constantly rubbed her neck as though she could still feel the fingers pressing into her skin. Ian watched her out of the corner of his eye as she sat beside him on the sofa, wishing she would take his advice and get some sleep.
He reached for her hand, pulling it away from her neck. “You’ll be okay.”
She met his eyes. “Talk to me when you’ve been strangled by a ghost.”
Guilt shot through him, though he had nothing to say. Instead, he avoided her eyes and turned to the computer. He tapped away at the keyboard, bringing up the footage taken from Camera B, which had been set up in the back corner of the basement facing the table and the staircase. He hit play at the point where they all took their seats and joined hands.
The pale green of the night vision gave everyone on camera an eerie, surreal look. Eyes were unnaturally translucent, skin strangely pale, and the basement that had been cloaked in near darkness was, on camera, completely lit. The flickering of the candle flames added shadows that bounced off the walls.
“I look terrified,” Grace commented, chills running down her back.
“You had a right to be.”
Ian turned up the sound and Aubrey’s voice echoed through the laptop speakers. “Ray, if you are here, make yourself known to us.”
They watched closely as Aubrey continued to ask questions, nothing out of the ordinary happening.
That was when the candle exploded.
Grace jumped despite knowing it was coming. On the screen, a dark shroud seemed to slowly descend upon the basement. The light of the candles dwindled and stilled, almost as if a vacuum had sucked all the air from the room.
She wanted to ask Ian if that was normal, but from the stunned look on his face, it clearly wasn’t.
The distant cry of the sparrow came through and Grace felt sick watching her own panicked expression. She had been so worried for Sally, but it seemed the little girl had only been trying to warn them.
Because Mercy was busy trying to channel through Jackie.
That was when she spotted what looked like a small, white orb of light hovering just over Jackie’s head. It circled, faltered, then dove straight into her.
“Look, see th
at?” She pointed at the screen, and Ian nodded.
“That must be Mercy.”
They watched as Jackie lost herself to the will of the spirit, her eyes and words no longer her own. She trembled uncontrollably and Grace remembered clinging in panic to her hand, helpless to do anything.
Jackie’s screams exploded out of the speakers, piercingly loud and tormented, and Grace felt tears spring hot into her eyes. There was so much pain, so much violent anger in that scream. She realized it was the same scream she would have heard from Mercy out in the harbor had there been any sound.
That was when the abrupt, resounding gong of the broken grandfather clock rang out. Followed immediately by the sound of the basement door being thrown open with a loud bang.
Grace’s hands shot to cover her mouth, the fear of that moment alive in her heart. A shudder ran through her body as she watched a dark shadow descend the staircase and begin to circle the table.
“Shit.” Ian cursed under his breath, eyes glued to the screen as the shadow flickered in and out, morphing in shape as it stayed just outside the circle of salt. Aubrey’s commanding voice did nothing to stop it. Instead, it only seemed to grow in strength.
That was when Alex yelled in anger and distress and Aubrey gave up on Ray and turned her attention to Jackie.
The white orb suddenly emerged from Jackie and swirled off, vanishing the second she came back to herself and fainted.
Then the candles went out. In the night vision, Grace could see the way Ian and Aubrey scrambled to find the matches and the frightened way Dominic bolted from his chair after claiming to have been touched. Alex could be seen clutching Jackie in his arms, helpless to do more than wait.
She saw herself sitting vulnerable in her chair as the black shadow appeared behind her. It loomed over her shoulders menacingly, giving her confirmation of what she had felt.
The shadow vanished the second Ian skirted the table and fumbled along the wall for the light switch, relieving them of darkness. Aubrey and Dominic fled moments later and Alex pulled Jackie into his arms.
Ian reached over to shut off the video, completely speechless. He stared at the screen for a moment longer, on the image of him and Grace, alone in that horrid room.
Grace leaned back, wishing she had never watched the video. It was more concrete proof of the paranormal than anything else she had witnessed, a fact that terrified her. How could anyone deny the truth behind what she just experienced?
“Ian?” she managed, tearing her eyes from the screen to look at him.
He rubbed his face with his hands, then looked at her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded in a quick, uncertain movement. “What was that?”
“I think you know.” He reached over for the infrared camera then flipped through to one of the images Alex had captured. He handed it to her silently.
When she looked at it and saw the blue and purple figure of a man hovering in the corner, several shades lighter than the walls themselves, her breath caught. “God.”
Ian took the camera back from her and patted her on the knee. “We’ll figure something out, Doc.”
“Will we?” She let out a delirious laugh and got to her feet, unable to stare at the computer any longer. Her hands ran over her neck again. “Maybe I should just get used to living with ghosts.”
Ian tapped back into the computer, eager to listen to the audio from the digital recorder. “Whatever. If you want to give up now, it’s no skin off my nose.”
Grace crossed her arms and shot him a heated look. “Oh, that’s nice. You know, this ghost thing wasn’t even an issue before you guys showed up. I’m beginning to think all this investigating has made it worse.”
“A lot of things made it worse.” Ian gritted his teeth and was sorely tempted to slip on his headphones and ignore her. Knowing she would likely hit him over the head with something if he tried, he turned to face her. “Look, we’re doing all we can. Yeah, that séance was fucked up and I’m sorry you got hurt. But Jackie says it got Mercy out of the house, so at least we have that. Now we can focus on Ray.”
Grace let her head fall back as she sighed. “Fucked up is putting it mildly.” She brought her eyes back down to his, her lips pursed in a pout. “And it doesn’t hurt, I’m just freaked out.”
His shoulders fell, wishing he could have done something to protect her. “I’m sorry, Grace. I really am.”
“It’s not your fault.” She approached him, reaching for his hand. “Why don’t we take a break before you listen for ghost voices, okay? I need you.”
He blinked. “You need me?”
“Yeah.” Her mouth curved slowly, intimately. “If you’ll have me, anyway.”
“You want to have sex at a time like this?”
Frustration flashed over her face as she pulled her hand back.
“Damnit, yes! I do.” She let out a laugh that was borderline mad and dragged her hands through her hair. “I need something to make me forget all this death. I know you could use it, too. You’re so on edge, you look like you could tear the head off a Barbie doll and stick needles in its eyes.”
He frowned at the visual, but rose to his feet. “All right, Doc. If you insist.”
“Well, don’t make me pull your arm or anything.” Her eyes were filled with frustration even as she bit back a smile. She began unbuttoning her blouse, surprised her hands didn’t shake.
“Only if you want to.” He closed in on her, slowly walking her backward to the wall. Her shirt slipped from her shoulders and she let it fall to the floor as he tore off his own.
His teeth flashed in a predatory grin, disarming her. Without warning, he pinned her against the wall of the living room, his mouth hungrily finding hers. He lifted her hips so her legs could straddle him, his fingers digging into her skin through the jeans she wore. Her mind reeled from the assault and relief shot through her like a drug. It rammed into her like a searing white wave, and she relished every last drop of it.
Her nails raked down his bare back, a desperate moan escaping her throat as his teeth nipped her collar bone. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you? I should be scared, upset, something.”
He met her eyes, intense and direct. “You’re done with that, Grace. Live your damn life already.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He captured her mouth again, wanting nothing more than to make her forget it all. To let go. She was more than capable of it, was so much stronger than she realized. He wanted that strength from her now.
He needed it. Craved it.
Almost as much as he loved her.
The realization of it exploded within him and he wasted none of it, riding on its powerful rush. It tore through him with an urgency that blinded, humbled, and alarmed all at once.
Good God, he was in love with her. Which meant that everything suddenly mattered a whole lot more.
Grace’s eyes fluttered closed as her head fell to the side, lost in him. Lost to him. He suddenly took on a tenderness she hadn’t been expecting, and it rocked her until she was completely senseless. She buried her face in his neck, stunned by it.
Her heart cried out his name, and she fell victim to its command. It was over for her now, there would be no stopping it. She was done for, fallen, helpless.
Joy shot like a dart into her chest and she let its warmth envelop her as he slipped off her jeans, lifted her once again, and took her. Her legs hooked around his hips as her hands clung to his back.
Ian held her against the wall, each movement he made further damning him. Falling for her meant he would never be the same. But he didn’t care, because loving her was the greatest drug, the most exhilarating high. It surpassed everything that had come before it.
All that mattered now was saving her.
They both failed to notice the shadows that slithered along the walls around them like living, breathing things. They roamed over the plaster, snaking closer. Watching. Filled with rage. With jealousy and hatred.
They z
eroed in on Grace, tormented into a frenzy. Every cry she uttered, every exhaled release, infuriated them. Her heart that beat hot and true with passion and love chased away her grief, her sorrow. It rid her of the pain she’d been consumed by for so long.
The spirits hated her for it. They wanted her miserable, then they needed her dead. Only at that point would she, at last, be truly held captive to the house.
To the beast Ray had created.
* * *
Jackie awoke early the next morning with a blinding headache. It pierced through her temple and shocked her out of a shallow, restless sleep.
She sat up, her palm pressed to her forehead as she looked wearily around the hotel room. For a moment, she completely forgot where she was. It all came back to her when she noticed Alex lying beside her, fast asleep and lightly snoring.
She stared at him, her heart aching. She wanted nothing more than to just curl up beside him and fall back asleep, to forget the world and all its troubles.
It wasn’t possible, not now. If she stayed, then he would only get used to seeing her there. She couldn’t allow that to happen, for his sake and for her own.
She had no choice but to go.
Moments later, she snuck out of the hotel room dressed in the clothes from the night before. She resisted the urge to look back at him, knowing it would only hurt more. He wasn’t going to be happy with her for leaving unannounced, but she knew he would get over it.
Her Alex never held onto anger.
It wasn’t until she’d climbed into her Jeep that Alex had driven to the hotel the night before that she realized what she had done. What she had started to believe as truth.
Her Alex? He was no more hers than she was his, and she knew she had to stand firm on that. As much as she may enjoy and appreciate him, it had to end there. There was no other option for her. There never had been.
She drove the three miles to Dominic’s house in dead silence, not feeling up to listening to the radio. The roads were slick from the previous night’s rain, the clouds still heavy and misty in the sky.
Normally, the damp chill of the wind calmed her. Now it only made her feel hollow, empty. It hurt her skin and dug deep into her lungs to fight its way to her heart. Her heart that told itself it knew better. She couldn’t afford to be so foolish where Alex was concerned.
So Fell The Sparrow Page 23