Freaky Rites (A Mystic Caravan Mystery Book 6)

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Probably.” I ran my fingers through my hair, wrinkling my forehead when my fingers snagged. “How did you sleep?”

  “Hard. I’m a big fan of the new bed.”

  “That’s good.”

  “How did you sleep?”

  “Fine.” I kept my gaze on the window. “We should probably get up and start breakfast. We have a lot to do today because the trucks are coming in late.”

  “We’ll get everything done. We always do.”

  “Yeah, well … .”

  Kade’s fingers landed on my chin and forced my face to him. “You didn’t sleep, did you?”

  That wasn’t entirely true. I’d slept. At times I’d slept hard. Other times, though, I could hear chanting. I tried to push it out of my head as best as possible, but the sound was always there, humming in the background. It didn’t make for restful slumber.

  “Do you not like the new bed?” Kade asked.

  I immediately realized what he was worried about and wrapped my fingers around his wrist to reassure him. “I like the bed. I love the trailer. I happen to really like you in the bed and the trailer.”

  Kade’s expression was plaintive. “So, what’s the problem?”

  I shifted my fingers to his stubbled jaw and pursed my lips. “I’m kind of afraid to tell you.”

  “Oh, something tells me I’m going to hate this.”

  I heaved out a sigh. Lying wasn’t an option, for various reasons. I had to admit the truth no matter how crazy he thought I was being. “I heard chanting.”

  Kade didn’t as much as blink. “What kind of chanting?”

  “I have no idea. It was just chanting, and only when I was trying to sleep. It went on all night and kind of invaded my dreams.”

  “Huh.” Kade was calm as he cupped my hand and pressed my palm tighter against his cheek. “What do you think it means?”

  I expected him to laugh at me, or at least offer some teasing about letting Luke infiltrate my brain. Instead he was serious. “I don’t know. It could be a variety of different things.”

  “For example?”

  “Well, for starters, I could’ve dreamed the chanting because of what Luke said in the woods last night.”

  “Do you think that’s the case?”

  “Honestly? I wish that was true. I don’t think that’s it.”

  “So, basically you’re saying something is out there and ready to attack,” Kade mused. “That’s essentially every other day for us, isn’t it?”

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at his serious expression. “Kind of.”

  “Then don’t sweat it.” Kade released my hand and gave me a playful swat. “If something is out there, we’ll figure it out. You said yourself that Luke could’ve planted the suggestion in your head. However unlikely that is, we can’t rule it out. We also have nothing to rule in right now.”

  He had a point. Still … . “What if something is out there watching us?”

  “Then you’ll figure it out.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “You haven’t let me down yet,” Kade pointed out. “We’ve been wandering through this wacky world together for months now and you always come through. I don’t expect this situation to be any different.”

  “So … you’re really not worried?”

  Kade shook his head. “We have a new home to share. We have a new office to share. I’m mildly worried that too much togetherness might make you cranky, but somehow I think we’ll get through it.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What makes you think I’m the one who will be cranky?”

  “I’ve met you.”

  I was fairly certain I should be insulted. “You could be cranky.”

  “Never. I’m a dream to be around. Ask anybody.” He tickled my ribs when I opened my mouth to argue. “A total dream,” he repeated. “Now come over here and have fun with your dream. We don’t have much time before breakfast.”

  Ah, well, I’d heard worse offers.

  KADE HEADED STRAIGHT to Max’s trailer once we moved outside to greet the day. He was determined to get the latest update on the location of the trucks, promising he would head back to help with breakfast as soon as possible. Unlike most of the Mystic Caravan men, Kade was always willing to pitch in and help when it came to “women’s work.” That was Nellie’s term, by the way. He spent all his time in dresses but refused to do the dishes unless someone bribed him with new shoes.

  My plan was to head toward the communal cooking area to offer help, but the woods to my left – the same group of trees Luke raced to the day before – called to me when I hit the bottom of the stairs. I spared a look for Raven, Nixie and Naida. They looked to have breakfast well in hand, which allowed me an opening to do a little investigating on my own.

  With that in mind, I headed straight for the woods. I didn’t look over my shoulder, instead acting as if I had a specific goal in mind. I figured my co-workers would be less likely to question me if they thought I was actually doing something of importance.

  I stopped at the edge of the dreamcatcher long enough to test the strings. They had a healthy bounce, meaning they were whole and intact, but that didn’t necessarily prove that nothing managed to cross over the previous evening. I’d heard chanting in my dreams. The dreamcatcher wasn’t designed to keep out random chanting, but given how weary I felt I wasn’t against seeing if that was something we could add to the design.

  The woods were thick, the trees staggeringly tall. Growing up in Michigan I was used to trees, even though I’d lived in the suburbs. These trees were something else. They were so tall they completely blocked out the sun except for an errant glimpse here or there. Because of that, the invading fog from the previous night remained. It rested close to the ground, not as thick but giving the location an eerie feeling.

  “What are you doing?”

  I jumped at the sound of Kade’s voice, wrinkling my nose as I swiveled to face him. My initial urge was to punch him in the face for frightening me, but that seemed a bit over the top, so I reined in the inclination. “Nothing. What are you doing?”

  “Me? I’m following my girlfriend into the woods. She was supposed to be making breakfast, but she ran off into a bunch of trees. I was naturally concerned because she had nightmares – the kind that will probably lead to danger or some sort of monster that I’ve never heard of – and I’m worried that she’ll run off half-cocked because she can’t seem to keep herself out of trouble.”

  Oh, well, crap. It’s hard to take the moral high ground when he has a point. “I’m not half-cocked.” Of course, nothing stops me from arguing when the mood hits.

  “Does that mean you’re fully cocked?” Kade asked.

  He asked the question with a straight face. Of course that made me laugh. “Ha, ha.” I lightly slapped his arm. “I only wanted to see if something was out here. It occurred to me that Luke was the only one to run around the woods last night. I wanted to make sure something dark and dank wasn’t living in here.”

  “It’s the woods, darling,” Kade drawled. “There are all manner of dark and dank things that live in the woods.”

  “I know, but … I just wanted to look around. Is that so awful?”

  Kade stared into my eyes for a beat. “No, it’s not awful,” he said finally. “Having company while doing it isn’t awful either.”

  “You were with Max.”

  “I was two minutes behind you,” Kade corrected. “You could’ve waited. You didn’t want to, which I get, but you still could’ve waited instead of running into the woods without anyone knowing where you were going.”

  “I’m sure someone would’ve missed me eventually,” I muttered.

  “Yes, well, I missed you and now we’re going to look around together.” Kade’s tone promised I was in for an argument if I even thought about giving him guff. “Now that we’re here, where do you want to start?”

  That was a very good question. “I don’t know.” My gaze bounced around the tre
es as I gathered my senses. “Everything looks alike.”

  “Trees often do.”

  His blasé attitude was beginning to chafe. “Hey! You wanted to come with me. You said it was necessary. Now you’re here, and I’m not a big fan of the whining.”

  Kade balked. “I’m not whining.”

  “It feels like whining.”

  “Someone is definitely cranky this morning.” Kade moved closer to an odd-looking bush and gave it a long once-over. “What’s this?”

  “A bush.”

  “Oh, really?” Kade rolled his eyes. “I never would’ve guessed.”

  “Probably because you’re not cranky.”

  Kade extended a warning finger. “Do you really want to start our first day of living together with a fight?”

  “Technically yesterday was our first day of living together.”

  “Today is the first full day.”

  Ugh. I hate it when he has a point. “Fine. I don’t want to fight.” I meant it. “I also want to look around without getting a lot of grief. I’m honestly … worried … about what I heard last night. I couldn’t push it out no matter how hard I tried. I think something abnormal is about to hit us over the head.”

  Kade’s expression softened. “And I trust your instincts. No, seriously. If you think there’s something out here we should investigate, I believe you. You have good instincts. That’s one of the first things I noticed about you.”

  “Oh, and here I thought you noticed her butt first.” Luke, a partially-eaten banana in his hand, appeared behind Kade. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at the way Kade practically jumped out of his skin … and then singed Luke with a hateful glare. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s a nice butt. If I played for her team I would’ve totally went for that butt, too.”

  Kade made a face that was straight out of a sarcastic sitcom. “Oh, well, that’s good to know.”

  “Isn’t it?” Luke’s eyes gleamed as he glanced between faces. “What are you guys doing out here?”

  “Nothing,” I answered automatically. I didn’t want to get Luke worked up unless I had good reason.

  “We’re looking for anything and everything,” Kade corrected. “Poet heard the chanting in her head when she was trying to sleep last night.”

  Luke’s eyes widened to comical proportions. “You did? See, I wasn’t imagining it.” He poked Kade in the arm for emphasis as he passed. “What did you hear?”

  I shot Kade a weighted look so he would know I wasn’t happy and then shrugged. “I can’t be sure. It was after I fell asleep. There’s a chance I imagined all of it.”

  Luke’s snort was disdainful. “Not likely. If you heard it there has to be a reason.”

  “Which is why we’re out here looking around,” Kade said. “Poet can’t shake the feeling that either someone is watching or something is about to happen, so we’re trying to head that off before something bad happens.”

  “I’m hip.” Luke bit into his banana and smiled as he chewed. “Where do you want me to start looking?”

  “Back at the grill so it’s not only the women doing the cooking,” Raven barked, appearing just behind Kade. She was close enough that he jumped again, and I almost felt sorry for him. The look on his face was so comical that it overrode the sympathy factor. This walk was turning out more enjoyable than I envisioned. “Why are you guys out here?”

  “Why are you out here?” Luke challenged, wrinkling his nose. “I don’t believe you were invited to the party.”

  “I don’t believe you were invited to the party either,” Kade pointed out.

  I cleared my throat to get Kade’s attention. “Technically it was a party of one when I set out.”

  Kade’s scowl was so pronounced it caused Raven to giggle like a school girl as she brushed past him and moved closer to me. Her long silver hair was tied back in two ornate buns – a little more conical than Princess Leia, but close enough to make Star Wars fans everywhere hop to their feet and applaud – and she looked as if the last place she wanted to be was wandering the woods. “So, what are we looking for?”

  “Poet heard the chanting in her dreams last night,” Luke volunteered, finishing off his banana and tossing the peel into a nearby bush. “What? It’s biodegradable. It’s not like littering.”

  “Fine.” I often got on him for littering, but he wasn’t wrong in this particular case. “As for the chanting, I can’t decide if it was real or imagined. I simply thought I’d take a look out here because that’s where Luke heard the same noise. I didn’t mean for it to turn into a group thing.”

  “Oh, well, I was looking for a reason to get out of cooking anyway,” Raven said, turning her attention to some nearby foliage. “Wolf’s Claw.”

  I tilted my head to the side as I regarded her. “Is that indigenous to this area?”

  Raven shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to do some research. I’m also not convinced it’s important.”

  “What is Wolf’s Claw?” Kade drifted closer to Raven so he could look over her shoulder. “That’s called Club Moss. It’s native to moist areas, and given the fog we saw last night I’d guess this place stays plenty moist.”

  “Now you’re a student of plants and herbs?” Raven challenged.

  Kade frowned. “I know what Club Moss is. It’s not a big deal.”

  “In witch circles it’s known as Wolf’s Claw,” I offered. “It’s used for power and protection spells.”

  “And purification,” Raven added. “It’s … interesting … to find it here.”

  “And why do you think that?” Kade challenged.

  “Because there’s no sun,” Luke automatically answered. “The trees get sun because they grow so tall. Nothing in here gets sun, though. That’s why the fog hangs so late in the day when it’s been burned off everywhere else.”

  “Whatever.” Kade stared hard at the moss. “Is this a clue?”

  “Probably not,” Raven replied. “I simply found its presence interesting.”

  “You find weird things interesting.”

  Raven flicked her eyes to me and offered an evil grin. “I feel the same way about you at times.”

  “Let’s not argue,” Luke said hurriedly, perhaps sensing my irritation. “We’re supposed to be a team.”

  I ignored his peacekeeping efforts and increased the distance between Raven and myself. Something on the ground, a flash of color that shouldn’t have been there, caught my interest. I knelt when I got closer, knitting my eyebrows as I leaned over the noticeable stain on the ground.

  “What are you looking at?” Kade asked, starting in my direction.

  Luke beat him to my side. “It’s blood.”

  “Human blood?” Kade asked, leaning over my shoulder.

  “I don’t know,” I replied after a beat, looking to Luke for answers.

  “I don’t know either,” Luke admitted. “Sometimes I can tell. This time I don’t know. That probably means it’s animal blood. There are probably all different types of furry fiends hanging around in here.”

  That was true. Of course, there was a chance it wasn’t true, too. “What if it’s not animal blood?”

  “We could try to figure out a way to test it,” Raven suggested. “I’m sure the pixie twins have something in their arsenal to do the job. We have to collect a sample first.”

  That sounded like more work than was necessary, especially because it was such a small stain of blood and we had no reason to think a human was in danger.

  “It’s probably nothing,” I said finally, straightening. Something else directly under the nearby bush caught my attention and I swept my hand beneath the green bough, frowning when I came back with a twenty-dollar bill and a driver’s license.

  I held up the twenty, which was free of blood, and read the driver’s license aloud. “Amanda Stevens.”

  “Do you know who that is?” Kade asked.

  “No. You know as much as I do. She’s twenty-four and a loca
l.”

  “Do you think the blood is hers?”

  I didn’t have an answer. “Not necessarily. Even if it is, some kids or young people might’ve come out here partying and the stuff could’ve accidentally fallen out of her pocket. It could be innocent.”

  “And the blood?”

  “It might belong to an animal.” That was possible, I reminded myself. It could also be more than that. “I don’t think it’s something to panic about.”

  “We could call the police and alert them to it,” Kade suggested.

  “No.” I shook my head, firm. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because then the cops will be crawling through the woods right next to our campsite,” Luke replied without hesitation. “They might want to see the animals or something, which means those of us who pretend to be animals for the show will have to shift and climb into cages.”

  “It will also bring unwanted attention,” Raven added. “I don’t think calling the police is a good idea when we have so little to point them toward. It’s just a license and a little blood.”

  “Are you sure?” Kade focused on me. “I’ll defer to you on this one.”

  I made up my mind on the spot. “We’ll wait. We have no reason to believe something bad happened here. It very well could’ve been an animal. Maybe the animal caused Amanda Stevens to jump and drop what she was holding. There’s no body or anything, no drag marks. I think it’s probably nothing.”

  “And the chanting?”

  I held my hands palms out and shrugged. “We’ll have to wait and see if we hear it again.”

  Kade didn’t look convinced, but he nodded. “Okay. Let’s head back for breakfast.” He held his hand out for me to take. “I’m hungry and these woods are officially giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

  I took his hand. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “That would be a nice change of pace.”

  5

  Five

  I kept telling myself through breakfast that the blood likely belonged to an animal. More importantly, I tried to convince myself that Amanda Stevens did not meet a dark end in the forest and that I wasn’t complicit in her death for not calling the police because I had nothing concrete to point them to. Then I internally repeated that refrain over and over (and over and over and over) as Kade and I debated how to set up our new office camper. The whole point of separating our work area from our play area was that we were afraid that being on top of one another twenty-four hours a day would make for frequent arguments. We were barely inside our new office digs – Kade’s old living quarters – when he decided to take control and start moving furniture.