by Wendy Wang
"You like to read?"
Camille nodded her head. She wrapped her arms around herself, hugging them tightly to her barely visible torso.
"I just wanted to be near my dad," Camille said.
"I know. My son is like that. He sometimes goes places and does things he's not supposed to do because he wants to be more like me. Sweetie, do you remember when your dad brought that book to your house?" Charlie asked.
Camille shook her head. A familiar rustle filtered through Charlie’s senses. Camille's face filled with terror.
"It's okay, sweetie. He's not here to hurt you," Charlie said. "There's nothing to be scared of."
Charlie turned to scold Tom. He knew better than to appear without his glamour around an unfamiliar spirit. It should have occurred to her that all reapers made a rustling sound. But they did not all look the same, which always struck her as odd. The one facing Charlie had a definite curve to her body.
"Get out of my way, human." The silky-smooth female voice drifted through her head.
Charlie stepped in front of the child and held her arms out as if to shield her. "I'm not done talking to her."
"I don't care." Then the reaper said, "Now move, or I'll take your soul along with hers."
"No. That's not gonna happen." Charlie couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. Will was right. Although she would never admit this to him, reapers were the scariest creatures of all. At least that she'd encountered. They were immortal, and when they set their minds to it, even a little obsessive. But not in the way that Will thought. They were mission-oriented and nothing, not even a living human, would get in the way of that mission.
Charlie fought the trembling in her chest. Fought to keep it from spreading down her arms to her hands, down her legs to her feet. If it hit her knees, they would buckle.
"I am going to count to one, human,” the reaper said. Why was it giving her any sort of chance? Charlie held up her hands.
"No. You cannot take her yet."
"One." The reaper lifted its arm in the air, and the scythe she concealed in her robe appeared in her bony hand. She reared the scythe back.
Charlie squeezed her eyes shut, but she didn't move. Was it because she was scared, or because she was stupid? She would have to think about that later. Charlie could still feel Camille behind her clinging to her, her small arms wrapped around Charlie's waist and her head buried in the small of Charlie's back. She wondered if anyone had ever tried to protect Camille like this before. Maybe her mother.
"Gabrielle, stop!”
Charlie opened her eyes. Tom seemed to come from the living room. He quickly dropped his glamour and stepped in front of her and the spirit child. The other reaper didn’t comply and brought the scythe down, swiping the glinting blade through Tom’s body. Charlie felt something sharp slice across her forearm. When she looked, there was no blood, but the arm of her t-shirt had been sliced cleanly. She took a step back from the reapers.
"You are not to take a human unless they are in your book. And I know for a fact, she is not in your book," Tom said.
"She is in my way, Ben Azrael. This is my territory. I will take whomever I choose."
"And you will pay the price," Tom said, his tone more ominous than Charlie had ever heard before. Her skin broke into goosebumps all over her body.
"Why do you care so much about this human?" the reaper asked. She lowered her scythe.
"She's a conduit. And she has helped me many times to carry out my missions."
The reaper seemed to consider Tom's words. She lowered her arms completely, and her scythe disappeared. "I'll give you one human hour to do whatever it is you need to do with this girl. When you are finished, the child goes with me."
"Agreed," Tom said. "I will call you as soon as we are finished. And a bit of unsolicited advice- something I've learned from this human. A little gentleness goes a long way."
The reaper nodded. Her robes began to flutter as if in a stiff wind. Charlie blinked, and she was gone. Tom put on his glamour before he turned to face Charlie.
"Are you all right?" Tom asked.
"I'm fine. And I am so grateful that you showed up when you did. I didn't think a reaper could take a life."
"They can't. Not technically." His gaze shifted from Charlie’s face to the arms wrapped around her waist. "It looks as if you are not quite finished yet."
Charlie reached back out of instinct to touch the child and comfort her. But the cold field around the girl, that penetrated through Charlie's back, stopped her. There was nothing to touch. Nothing solid.
"Can you give me a few minutes?" Charlie asked.
"Of course. Would you like me to sweep the rest of the house? See if I can find any other spirits lurking?" Tom asked.
The sound of Will clearing his throat interrupted their conversation. Charlie and Tom both shifted their attention to the half-open door.
"Don't mind me," Will said. "I'm just a casual observer."
Charlie rolled her eyes. This was going to get old. She needed to find a better way to react before she sprained something. She raised her arm and motioned for him to come closer.
"Tom Sharon, this is Will Tucker. Will Tucker, Tom Sharon,” Charlie said.
Tom held his hand out to shake. Will’s stared at Tom's hand, and a strange smile crossed his face. He let out a laugh. "I hope you don't take offense, but I'm not shaking your hand."
"You're the vampire hunter I take it?" Tom said.
"I am," Will said.
"Then none taken. You are a cautious lot. Understandably so, of course," Tom said and lowered his hand.
"I'm not done yet," Charlie said to Will. "I'll be out in a few minutes."
Will gave her a little salute. "If you'll excuse me, sir, I've been dismissed."
Charlie watched as Will turned on his heels and left the house. He walked down the steps and out of sight, and she probably should've been more concerned, but something told her Will could take care of himself. And he was less likely to run into a spirit outside. At least she hoped so.
"I'll be upstairs if you need me," Tom said. "It's okay, Camille. Charlie's going to help you. And I am, too."
The little girl peeked around Charlie's waist to look up at Tom. He smiled, and just the sight of it warmed Charlie’s heart. He looked at Charlie with his golden-brown eyes and winked before he headed upstairs.
Charlie knelt in front of the girl. "We don't have a lot of time, Camille. And I'm sorry about that. I have a few questions, and they're going to be scary. But I need you to answer them. Do you think you can do that for me?"
The pained expression on Camille's face told Charlie everything she needed to know. The girl wasn't lying. She didn't know what happened to her mother, or her brothers.
"Camille, when was the last time you remember seeing your mom and your brothers?"
"The night I heard the noise," Camille said.
"Do you remember hearing anything besides the noise? Did you hear anybody screaming or calling for help?"
Camille shook her head.
"You know, I saw you in a dream. You hid under the bed because you were scared."
Camille's blue eyes widened.
"I see things sometimes. But I don't see everything. Was it your dad that took you?"
Camille nodded her head slowly.
"Sweetie, where did he take you?"
Camille began to flicker in and out like a lightbulb about to lose its power.
"Don't be scared. It's okay. He can't hurt you anymore."
"I… I can't," Camille whispered and disappeared.
"Camille," Charlie said, getting to her feet. "Camille, please don't be scared. I only want to help you. Please come back."
Charlie waited and listened. She glanced around the foyer, studying every shadow and every cobweb. There was no sign of the girl. She was gone.
"Dammit," Charlie muttered. Tom's heavy footsteps on the stairs drew her attention. "I lost her."
"I'm not surprised,
" Tom said. "She reminds me a little of those other girls. You remember them? The ones from the woods where we met."
"A little bit, yeah. Did you find anything?"
"No. Nothing but fresh demon dust," Tom said. "Which is concerning enough on its own. Why are you here alone? Isn't that why you have a partner? So you’ll have backup?"
"I can take care of myself, Tom Sharon."
"I hate to say this, but I question that, considering that I had to put myself between you and another reaper," Tom said.
"We were working it out."
"That's not how it looked from where I stood."
"Are you done scolding me?"
"I wasn't really…" Tom stopped. Some part of her expected him to explode into anger, to be like her ex-husband Scott. But he didn't.
"You’re a grown woman, and a powerful witch. And I respect that. But there are creatures in this world who are as powerful, if not more so. I apologize if I came off as scolding. My only concern ever is your safety."
Charlie took a step back at this unexpected turn. He never failed to surprise her. And he never met the expectations she sometimes conjured.
"I…" Her fight or flight response wasn't quite ready to give up yet. "I appreciate that, but like I said, I can take care of myself."
"I won't push the subject further," Tom said, giving her a formal bow of his head. Some part of her wanted him to yell at her, and another part of her just wanted to pop him on the top of the head. She balled her hand into a fist and shoved it into her pocket.
"Your reaper friend’s going to be disappointed." Charlie sighed.
"Perhaps. But losing track of the spirit is sometimes par for the course as they say," Tom said. “Have you and your friend had lunch?”
"Don't you have to get back?" Charlie asked.
"I'm not in a hurry. Unless you want me to be."
"I think you should go back to work, Tom. I appreciate you coming, I really do. But we need to head back to the office and figure out exactly what we’re dealing with here."
"It appears you're dealing with a demon, from the fresh coat of dust I see."
"Maybe. But if that's so, where is it? It has to be inhabiting somebody," Charlie said.
"Not necessarily," Will interjected from the door. "Some demons are actually corporeal. What we should do is take some of the dust back to the lab and analyze it."
"You can do that?" Tom asked.
"I don't know for sure." Will grinned. "But I'll be sorely disappointed if we can't."
"Yes, that would be disappointing," Tom said.
"And by the way, I could eat," Will said, giving Charlie a pointed look.
"I thought you weren’t crazy about reapers," Charlie said.
"I'm not. No offense," Will said.
"None taken," Tom said.
"I just figure you and I are partners, so I guess I should get used to it," Will said.
"I like this man's attitude," Tom said. "And for the record, there are many reapers I don't like."
"Well, I'm beginning to think I don't like reapers or vampire hunters." Charlie headed for the door, pushing past Will. She stopped for a moment, realizing they weren't following her. "Well, are y'all just going to stand there all day or are we going to go eat lunch?"
"Lunch," Will said. "Come on, Tom, before she magically starts my car and takes off without us."
"Good idea," Tom said.
Chapter 10
Charlie’s phone buzzed on the table next to her plate. She put down her burger and wiped her fingers on her napkin before turning her phone over. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her aunt’s name pop up.
“Everything okay?” Tom asked.
“Uh, yeah, just…“ She held up her finger and pressed the green telephone button. “Hey, Evangeline, everything all right?”
“Hey, Charlie. Everything’s going well, thank you.”
“Good.” Charlie relaxed. “That’s a relief.”
“I do have a strange request for you, though.”
“Okay, how can I help?” Charlie said.
“Evan called me.”
“My Evan?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, sweetie, your Evan,” Evangeline said, with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. Charlie’s face heated. Of course, it was her son, Evan, and not his namesake, her father, who had died when Charlie was a child.
“Is he all right?”
“Oh, he’s fine. He just wanted to know if I could help him with a spell.”
“Oh, good goddess, I’m sorry he bothered you with that, Evangeline. I told him he would have to wait to practice spells until he’s at my house next week.”
“Yes, that’s what he said. But he also mentioned a big game Saturday.”
“Yes,” Charlie said. “Tom and I are going to watch. I’m sure they’ll play just fine without any sort of magical intervention.”
“It seems really important to him, and I thought it might actually be a good beginning lesson for his craft.”
“You do? I thought I would start him off with some of the basics.”
“We’d go over some basics of course. Intention, best practices, that sort of thing. I have done this before, you know,” Evangeline reminded her.
“Of course. I didn’t mean to imply you hadn’t,” Charlie said. “You’d have to pick him up after school and take him home. I can guarantee you, Scott won’t lift a finger.”
“That’s no problem. I opened the shop this morning, so I’m leaving right after the lunch rush is done,” Evangeline said.
“Let me give Scott a call really quick and make sure it’s okay with him. Can I text you back?”
“Of course,” Evangeline said. The line disconnected, and Charlie whipped off a quick note to her ex. She watched the screen for a moment. If he was with a patient or at the hospital delivering a baby, it might be a while before she heard back.
“Sorry about that,” Charlie said, laying her phone face up next to her plate. “Kid stuff.” She picked up her burger and took another bite.
“Is Evan okay?” Tom asked.
“He’s fine. He’s just a willful teenager, that’s all,” Charlie said.
“How old’s your son again?” Will asked. He popped the last bite of a fry into his mouth.
“Thirteen. He’s got a big game on Saturday, and he wants to win badly enough to consider magic.”
“What’s wrong with that? If I could do magic, I’d use it all the time,” Will said.
“There are consequences to using magic. He needs to learn that first before he learns anything else,” Charlie said.
"Doesn't everything have consequences?" Will said wryly.
"Of course," Charlie said. "But most things can't get you killed if you do it the wrong way, or worse, hurt someone else." She dialed Scott's number and put her phone to her ear.
"Charlie?" Scott answered. It surprised her that he picked up at all. Especially since he was working. She expected to leave a message. Actually, hoped to leave a message might be a better way of putting it.
"Hey, Scott," Charlie said. "I need to talk to you about something. Did you see my text?"
"I did. I just haven’t had a chance to respond. Is everything all right?" Scott asked. Something in his softened tone made her wary. Leaving Scott had been much easier for her, in some ways, than it had been for him. And now that he had broken up with his girlfriend, she sensed in his voice that longing he sometimes seemed to have for her and a way of life that was comfortable for him.
"Everything's fine," she said. "It's about Evan. You remember my Aunt Evangeline?"
"Of course," Scott said.
"Well, she's asked if she could spend some time with Evan one on one."
"Can she not do that during your week?"
"Of course she can. But Evan has requested to spend time with her this week."
"He didn't mention anything to me," Scott said. "Why does he want to spend time with your aunt?"
"Because, technically, she is the leader of o
ur coven, and he wants to learn more about his magical heritage and how to perform spells."
Scott grew quiet on the other end of the phone, which did not bode well for Evan. She could almost hear the cogs of Scott’s mind spinning, going over the last time he’d been exposed to a spell. It had basically ruined his life. It had revealed that his girlfriend, Heather, didn't really love him, and led to a bout of depression that Charlie wasn't certain he was over yet. And she wasn't sure what made her more nervous: the fact that he was so quiet, or the fact that he didn't explode immediately in proper Scott fashion.
"You still there?" Charlie asked.
"I am," he said, in a low voice full of gravel and reflection.
"Listen, Scott, if you don't want Evan practicing witchcraft—"
"I don't think I could stop him even if I wanted to. It’s like you said, it’s part of who he is," Scott said.
“That’s true,” she said.
"And I fear if I try to stop him, I'll lose him." The words like I lost you seemed to transfer from his head to hers with too much ease.
"If anybody's going to teach him the right way to do things, the moral way to do things, trust me, it would be Evangeline. If that's what you're worried about."
"I’m not really concerned about that," Scott said. “I know that you’ll ensure he knows the moral dilemmas he’ll face. And how to handle them. “
"What is it then? I can hear it in your voice. You're worried about something," Charlie said.
"He’s so different from me,” Scott said.
"He's not that different," Charlie said to reassure him. "He has your pig-headedness. That's for sure." She laughed.
"Gee thanks, Charlie," Scott said, clearly not amused.
"He also has your determination. Which is a very admirable quality when it's not being used to manipulate people to get what he wants."
"Why give into him if you think he's manipulating you?" Scott said.
"Because he's going to do it anyway. And if he's going to practice magic, he's going to need guidance. Otherwise, it could be disastrous and dangerous. And trust me, Evangeline will set the rules. She's no-nonsense. If she feels like he’s using his natural-born talents for the wrong reasons, she will bind him up and make sure that he can't practice anything on his own."