Eternally Devoted (Frostbite #4)

by Stacey Kennedy

  Although, I wasn’t entirely confident yet that Wayde did kill Alexander. The lingering question of why wasn’t something I could overlook. But I wondered how Kipp stood here now if what Gretchen suggested was true.

  I concluded that Kipp wasn’t actually a ghost, since he wasn’t dead. We’d already learned normal ghost rules didn’t apply to him because of that. And Alexander possessed Caley’s body, so maybe that’s why he could enter, too.

  Once I cleared those thoughts from my mind, something else stood out as important. “A spell exists that will keep ghosts out of your house?”

  At her nod and smirk, I added, “When we get home to Memphis, you’re doing that spell on my condo. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Geesh, how many times had ghosts come into my bedroom, or bothered me when I didn’t want them to? Too damn many. I had no idea such a spell existed and knowing that it did made me blissfully happy, regardless of the spooky now.

  “I can do that.” Gretchen snickered.

  “Perfect. Thank you.” A sudden thought I hadn’t considered struck me hard in the chest and made me take another quick look around…just in case. When nothing jumped out at me or the house didn’t explode, I asked Gretchen, “Do you feel any other spells on the house?”

  She looked at me as if I should know better. “I allowed you to come in here, didn’t I?” At my cringe that she took that as an insult, she added, “But no, I don’t sense any other spells.” Using her flashlight, she yet again, glanced up at the old ceiling marked with brown spots before she scanned the entire area we stood in. “There are high levels of energy.”

  “I sense that, too,” Dane agreed. “But it doesn’t feel dangerous.”

  I exhaled a loud breath. “Good.”

  Max shook his head in clear disbelief. “I’m glad we’ve got that straightened out, since spells on houses is the utmost importance right now.” He gave me his stern I’m-your-boss look. “And furthermore, you should’ve asked that question before we entered the home.”

  “Well, excuse me for being scared shitless and not thinking of all the magical crap I have no idea about.” I placed my hands on my hips. “Oh, and so sorry that I didn’t stop to ask, “hey, what spells are on this house?” Because, don’t you know, that’s just normal every day conversation.”

  Max, as he always did, paid no attention to my outburst. He drew in a long breath and looked at the floor beneath the beam of his flashlight. “Regardless, the less ghosts, the better. It’ll keep you focused.” His head lifted. “How do you want to do this?”

  “As if I should know what we should do,” I retorted. “You’re the cop. All I care about is finding the Lux.”

  “Split up, then?” Zach said, more of a statement than a question since he didn’t wait for a reply. “Dane you can search the main floor with Amelia and Gretchen. Max and I will go into the basement with Tess.”

  “Oh no,” I snapped, pushing my way into the middle of the group and raised my flashlight to my chin so they could all see my scowl. “We are not splitting up. I don’t care if it takes us longer to search. We’re sticking together. Two guns are better than one.”

  “Three,” Dane stated.

  I hadn’t known he’d been carrying a weapon, but now I spotted it in his hand. Maybe he’d waited to pull it until I confirmed to Max and Zach he wasn’t the enemy. But he did work for the F.B.I., so it didn’t shock me he carried a firearm. Besides, it made me damn happy. “Great. Three is even better than two.” I examined the stony faces around me. “So, no splitting up, okay?”

  Max sighed. “Which was why I asked you to explain your plan.” He hesitated and mumbled a curse, and then finally said, “Let’s start from the basement then and work our way up.”

  Before anyone could make a move forward, Zach asked, “What does this book look like?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I stated. “You won’t be looking for it. You’ll be looking for a crazy-ass man named Wayde, but who actually isn’t Wayde. If you see him, you’ll shoot him if he gets insane. Deal?”

  Zach grinned. “Deal.”

  “Same as before,” Max said in his down-to-business cop voice. “Dane up front and we’ll take up the rear.”

  Exactly as we entered the house, we slowly made our way down toward the basement stairs, which were located in the kitchen at the end of the hallway. Dane’s flashlight beneath his gun guided our way, and the two beams of light coming behind me were Zach and Max scoping out the scene behind us.

  The beaten up hardwood floor beneath our feet creaked with each step, and I groaned. I hoped to hell after this all ended with Kipp, I never had to hear that sound again.

  My arm brushed against the wall next to me, and when I angled my flashlight, I noticed I had taken a huge amount of dust with it. My nose tickled against the musky air and I rubbed it, trying to remind myself as soon as we found the Lux, we could leave.

  When I followed the others into the kitchen, I discovered it was bare, except for the white kitchen cabinets and terribly ugly green fridge and stove. Now, I wasn’t sure what freaked me out more—the darkness or how deserted the house appeared. Ghost towns always wigged me out, because it felt like people had abandoned a place—had been scared away—for a good reason.

  This house felt exactly like that.

  There wasn’t even a ghost in sight.

  I glanced to my left and discovered the basement door was slightly ajar, I assumed, from Max and Zach’s earlier search of the house. And when Dane started down the staircase, it creaked so loudly it sounded as if the stairs were about to give out.

  I drew in a big deep breath, inhaling the dust flying around me, and shut my mouth not to consume any of it. Following the others down the stairs, Zach pressed tight against me, meaning Kipp had gone to the back of the group. I should have guessed Kipp would’ve known Zach’s next move and I didn’t mind.

  Having Zach close meant my ass was safe.

  I grasped the wooden railing that had peeling whitewash on it as the stairs shook under my feet, either from the weight of everyone on them, or because they were about to plummet to the ground.

  With that unsettling thought, I hurried down them and when I hit the last step, I scanned the area with my flashlight. My worries settled slightly. The basement was just a wide-open space made from round stones and cement. More importantly, there were no places for someone to hide. Meaning, Wayde wouldn’t jump out at me with a knife or something.

  Besides, Zach had taken his flashlight and the shoelace from his boot, and hooked it up to the ceiling beams, and it lit up the room like an ordinary light. I never appreciated Zach’s quick thinking more than I did right now.

  With a little more confidence, I approached Dane and exhaled the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. The air down in the basement smelled different, still musky, but had a funky smell I couldn’t identity. “No lollygagging. Look for that book.”

  “I thought you said we weren’t supposed to help you,” Max gently reminded me.

  Turning to him, I found him by the staircase wearing a smirk. Perhaps Max liked sticking it to me, but I stuck it to him a lot, so I could handle getting it dished out. Besides, something else held my concern. From this angle, the stairs looked even more rickety than they had coming down. Not a settling thought, since we had to go back up.

  “Well, there’s no danger, is there? It’s a wide open basement.” To prove my point, I gestured toward Zach’s flashlight lighting up the room. “There’s nowhere to hide, so I think we’re good. Hurry. Let’s find it.”

  Like a snap to the fingers, everyone disbursed and searched areas of the basement. Zach stayed at the foot of the stairs, his gun angled upward, and for that, I was grateful. It made me glad he knew I didn’t mean him and wanted him to keep an eye out for danger…just in case.

  Max headed beneath the staircase to where a couple milk crates were and called, “Again, what does the book look like?”

  “Who cares,” I bit off as I strode toward the far wa
ll, wanting to kiss the cement floor for not squeaking under my feet. Little blessings got me through the rough stuff. “If you find any kind of book, tell me.”

  I heard Max’s curse, meaning he felt foolish searching for something he didn’t even know what he was looking for. I couldn’t blame him. Magical spells, hunting a murderer who didn’t even live in Memphis, and always facing more danger than we got out of brought a world of frustration.

  Dane, Amelia, and Gretchen went off to the right toward a bunch of boxes. Kipp and Alexander remained at my side as I headed toward a large, wooden trunk against the old stone wall. The rocks above the trunk looked stained with rust and the floor around it looked a darker shade of gray than the rest.

  Terrific!

  I’d have to open a chest that probably had blankets and other gross items covered in mold. Although, as I drew in another breath, I couldn’t smell any mold in the room. The stronger pungent smell stole the muskiness in the air I’d smelled when I first entered the basement.

  Once I reached the trunk, I leaned down and noticed it was locked. Anything locked meant Wayde wanted to keep people out of it, and that made hope rise. I glanced over my shoulder to Gretchen, knowing better than to make that mistake again. “There’s no magic on this chest, right?”

  Gretchen stopped her examination of one of the boxes she had opened and looked at me as she rubbed her nose. “I still sense the high energy, even more so down here. But there’s no spell on the trunk I can feel.”

  Another blessing.

  I glanced at Max, who rummaged through the milk crates. When he stood, clearly not finding the Lux, I asked, “Max, can you pick a lock?”

  Not a second later, and perhaps bored of the milk crates, he hurried to my side. He squatted down in front of the trunk and gazed over the lock. Then he stood and kicked it with a strength I didn’t know Max possessed in his body. The lock smashed under his force, and then he smiled at me. “It’s unlocked.”

  “Look at your ninja moves,” I mused.

  Bending at my waist, I reached for the latch. I slid the cool pieces of metal away from the hook, sending the lock clattering to the cement floor. Then I opened the latch and with a wince, well aware I was about to find something gross, and pushed open the trunk’s top.

  I wrinkled my nose, not to inhale the dust flying around me, and I swiped at the air to clear it. Once the dust settled, I glanced into the trunk. What I discovered was so unexpected, I could only gasp in honest-to-god surprise, and perhaps sheer horror, too.

  Stumbling backward, I went right through Kipp, sending shivers biting across my flesh. With a loud yelp, I smacked into Max's chest, and he groaned, taking the brunt of my weight.

  “What’s wrong?” Kipp demanded.

  “Oh, God. Oh, God.” I pointed to the trunk, refusing to look at it again. “Look.” In a matter of five seconds, everybody—living and ghost—approached the trunk and peered inside. That’s when I managed, “Skeleton.”

  Chapter Five

  If I could’ve avoided looking in the trunk for the rest of my life, I would’ve called that a good night. Of course, avoiding the bones wasn’t an option. I glanced around quickly, my heart hammering, and cursed all the dark corners in the room as the basement suddenly looked much spookier.

  Wayde had a dark secret past, indeed.

  Had I known his secret was a skeleton in his basement, I was damned sure I wouldn’t have entered his house. What frightened me most of all was a murder would be something he’d be desperate to keep hidden. Now, in his basement, where the skeleton was located, I wondered to what extremes he would go to ensure no one found out his crime.

  With a grumble and hoping to hell he didn’t place explosives in the basement to silence us—which my frightened mind told me was totally plausible—I leaned forward again toward the trunk.

  First, I spotted either paint or old blood staining the sides. I surely hoped it was paint. The skeleton lay undisturbed; its bones looking much like a body curled up on its side, as if sleeping.

  “Who is that?” I gasped.

  When silence fell upon me, I glanced up and Kipp gave me a look that I should know better. “It’s bones, Tess.”

  “Right. Bones.” I sighed away the fear and slight disgust of seeing a pile of bones, somewhat annoyed that my rational part of brain had clearly been turned off. But I cut myself a break. I hadn’t suspected in the least I’d discover bones in the trunk. I had expected to find old sheets covered in mold, not the evidence of another murder.

  Looking over my shoulder at the old and rickety stairs, a creepy feeling of being watched made icy shivers run up my spine. However, I also noticed everyone else around me remained silent. When I looked away from all the scary bits in the basement, I discovered Amelia staring at me curiously.

  After a long awkward pause, she asked, “Who are you talking to?”

  Dammit! My current meltdown made my brain stutter and forget important things like not acknowledging Kipp. “Myself,” I snapped to rectify my error. “Geesh. I’m freaked out, okay?”

  Instead of a nod, which was what I expected, she smiled gently. Somehow, that smile unnerved me. It seemed all too wise, indicating I’d been entirely too obvious. She finally glanced away from me, meaning she was only glad to have her suspicions confirmed, and she looked into the trunk. “I have no clue who that is.”

  “By the looks of it, the person has been long dead.” Max pulled a pen from his pocket and poked at the femur. “The bones aren’t brittle, so I suspect it’s less than forty years old.”

  How odd was it to have that bit of knowledge in your mind? I was perfectly content that I didn’t know such information. Although, it did make me slightly happy that Wayde had been so stupid to leave a murder victim behind.

  Even if we couldn’t pin Alexander’s death on him, this one we could. I turned to Zach, even though I’d rather talk to Kipp about this new development. “His secret, I’m guessing?”

  Zach hesitated, his brows drawn together. “I’m not sure.”

  “You’re not sure?” I pointed into the trunk with bones in it. “There’s a skeleton, in his house, which he clearly put there. How can you not be sure? I’d say that’s a secret I’d want to keep hidden.”

  Before Zach could reply, Max interjected, “I think Zach’s onto something. If Wayde—and yes, I’m going to call him that to make this easier—was so concerned about keeping this secret, why wouldn’t he destroy the body?”

  “Magic,” Gretchen offered.

  I turned to her and found Gretchen by one of the dark corners in the basement. I tried not to focus on that, as she continued with a frown. “Perhaps he needed to keep the skeleton to hold onto a spell he conjured.” She paused, and then shrugged. “It’s just a thought.”

  More than pleased to look away from the dark corner behind her, I glanced at Dane. “You agree with that?”

  He tilted his head, and his eyes became focused. “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s possible.” He looked to Amelia next to him before he finally said, “Or maybe he wanted to keep the body close to him for other reasons.”

  I snorted. “Yeah, like crazy-ass-murderer reasons we couldn’t possibly begin to understand.”

  Every head nodded.

  Silence crept in as I rubbed my arms to warm the chill out of my veins, and Kipp brushed a finger over my forearm, only adding to my freezing cold state. “Fuck, I hate this.”

  I turned to him, and his expression was twisted. “You shouldn’t have to deal with this shit. You never signed up for this.” He trailed a finger over my cheek. “I did.”

  While I wouldn’t refute that statement, since I’d never had dreams of becoming a detective and dealing with murders, I had my gifts. That surrounded me with death. In truth, I had no response. We both knew if I hadn’t met Kipp, I’d still be working with Caley at the marketing firm, and I’d probably be a helluva lot safer.

  Did I like this part of my life? Not one stinkin’ bit. But I had to take the good
with the bad, even if that included skeletons.

  I became lost in Kipp’s tormented gaze, totally stuck on how to reassure him, until Max finally broke the silence. “Would that happen to be the book you’re looking for?”

  Max was pointing into the trunk and I used my flashlight to get a better look. Once I peered into the trunk, I noticed that tucked along the side of the trunk was a book with a brown leather cover. To Dane, I asked, “Is that the Lux?”

  Dane settled in next to me and he gazed down into the trunk for only a moment before his head snapped up. “That’d be it.”

  My heart skipped a beat and I reached forward, but Max’s firm grip on my forearm stopped me. “Before you touch it, put these on.” He dug into his pocket and took out a pair of latex gloves. “You don’t want to damage any evidence.”

  With shaky hands, I accepted the gloves and hurried to put them on. Sure, it made me happy I found the book, but touching it, while it lay near bones, was a whole ‘nother story. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

  In my peripheral vision, someone stepped in next to Kipp and that’s when I noticed Alexander. In that instant, I knew I had to suck it up, since Caley had it far worse. Something I didn’t want to forget. The sooner we helped Alexander, the sooner she’d have her body back. And the sooner I’d have Kipp.

  “Keep breathing,” Kipp murmured.

  I hadn’t realized I held my breath, but immediately exhaled and felt a little dizzy, which told me I’d been holding it for a while. I focused on my breaths to not pass out and lowered to my knees in front of the trunk.

  Max and Dane had now taken protective stances around the group of us, and Zach returned to the staircase. The corners of the room were still dark, but no sounds were coming from upstairs and no bombs had gone off. I figured, for now, things were safe. Besides, anyone who ever dared come down those stairs would first meet Zach’s gun and he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.