The Fourth Soul: (Cards of Death book 4)

by Tamara Geraeds

  Her eyes blink open, but don’t see me. Her gaze is hazy.

  Quinn, we need some help here, please, I think as hard as I can.

  “Mom, can you hear me?”

  “Yes…” Her answer is no more than a hoarse whisper, but at least she understands me.

  Her head lolls and I bite my lip. Please hurry, Quinn.

  A whoosh behind me tells me my angel friend has arrived. He doesn’t waste time asking obvious questions but appears at my side with a worried look on his face. “Let me see.”

  I step back to give him some space and while he places his hand on Mom’s forehead, my eyes move to the other seat, the one of which not much is left.

  My hand flies to my mouth to smother a cry. Mona’s legs are stuck under the mass of steel that has been pushed inside. Her arm is bent in an unnatural angle, and her face is covered in blood.

  My hand folds around the open car door with so much force that the metal rim cuts into my palm. The pain clears my head, and I turn to my Shield. “Will she… will she be able to heal herself?”

  Charlie steps closer and nods in Mona’s direction. “She already started. Look.”

  At first, I don’t see it, but when my eyes adjust to the glow of the half-broken dome light, I can see small movements in Mona’s body. The red splashes gradually disappear, her skin grows a shade darker bit by bit and her arm slowly moves into its natural position.

  A sigh of relief escapes me, and I relax my hands, my left one throbbing from the cut that the door left.

  “Dante?” Mom’s hand searches for mine, and I grab it.

  I smile at her as she gives me a stunned look. “Hey, Mom, how are you feeling?”

  A deep frown crinkles her forehead. “Fine, except for a splitting headache.”

  I shoot Quinn a questioning look, but he just shrugs. “I did the best I could. There are no internal injuries.”

  “What happened?” Mom asks. “Where am I?”

  She looks around, and her eyes fall onto her best friend. A scream rips my eardrums. “Mona! Oh no!”

  Our fairy godmother mumbles something without opening her eyes.

  “What’s that?” Mom leans closer to her, her hand hovering above Mona’s body, afraid to touch it.

  More incoherent sounds escape Mona’s lips, and Mom nods. “Okay, love. Take your time. We’re here for you.”

  She straightens up, presses her hand against the side of her head and turns back to us. “She says she needs a minute to heal herself.”

  Quinn steps aside. “I can help her if you can manage to get out of the car.”

  “Sure.” She sounds confident enough, but when she tries to stand, her legs wobble, and I have to catch her. D’Maeo and Maël are at our side in a second, and we ease her onto a fallen tree a few paces from the car.

  I sit down next to her and pull her into a hug. I know Quinn said she’s okay, but she looks so fragile and confused that I just want to hold her and never let go.

  “I was so scared. I thought I’d really lost you this time.”

  She rests her head on my shoulder and smiles weakly. “Silly boy, you won’t get rid of me that easy.”

  While we watch Quinn bending his limbs into impossible positions to reach Mona, I stroke Mom’s hair, hoping to ease her headache. After a couple of minutes, she gets heavier in my arms, and I realize she has fallen asleep.

  Not long after that, Quinn climbs out of the car and pulls Mona out. She still looks half broken with strange bumps on her legs, her hair a mess of blood and dirt, bruises all over her body and her dress torn.

  Once more, it hits me how close we were to losing them both. If only they could tell us what happened. Were they attacked by demons? By Trevor? But if it was Trevor, why did he leave Mom like that? He loves her. He would’ve pulled her out, right? And he would’ve killed Mona.

  No, something else must have happened.

  “I’m taking Mona straight back to Darkwood Manor so she can rest,” Quinn says, holding Mona as if she’s no heavier than a baby and vanishing into the darkness of the night before I can blink.

  Mom wakes with a start. “What happened?”

  I kiss her on the head. “I wish I knew, Mom. I wish I knew.”

  With her arms around me, I get up and guide her to Phoenix. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

  CHAPTER 22

  It’s strange coming downstairs without being greeted by the smell of coffee and breakfast. I didn’t realize how normal this had already become, Mona standing at the stove, preparing all sorts of treats for us.

  My head is full of cotton from lack of sleep, but I can’t complain. At least I didn’t crash into a tree.

  “How is she doing?” I ask Vicky, who’s apparating into her chair. She had the last watch over Mona.

  “She looks like her old self again, but she’s still tired.”

  I take eight cups out of the cupboard, hoping to need all of them. “And her headache?”

  “Still there.”

  “Yeah, Mom’s is too. I just checked on her.” I pour some water into the pan and put it on the stove. “It must have been one heck of a crash. Did you see the state of the driver’s side?”

  Vicky just hums a bit. When I turn to look at her, I see that she’s lost in thought.

  “We’ll find out what happened,” I say, assuring myself of this as much as her.

  The rest of the Shield appears at the kitchen table, and my attention shifts to Taylar.

  “You’re looking a lot better.”

  He shoots me a smile. “I feel better.”

  “Are you ready to tell us more about what you saw?”

  He swallows hard.

  “You could write it down,” Vicky suggests. “Maybe that’s easier?”

  The young ghost chews his lip. “Maybe. I’ll try.”

  I stir the chocolate powder through the water. “You know, these premonitions don’t have to come true, so don’t worry too much about it. Write down every detail you can remember. It’ll give us a better chance to prevent it.”

  “Right on it, master.” He salutes and goes up in proverbial smoke.

  Charlie comes down the stairs, yawning and stretching. With everything going on, he decided to stay at Darkwood Manor. “Are we ready to use the pendant? Or do you want Maël to try the spell first?”

  Pouring the hot chocolate into the cups, I shake my head. “I thought about it a lot while I was watching Mom and Mona, and I think it’s better to train the powers we have right now. If Maël tries the spell to return our powers and fails, we could be in even more trouble.” I shoot her an apologetic look. “Which has nothing to do with my faith in you. I just don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.”

  Maël straightens her golden headpiece. “It’s fine, Dante. I understand, and I agree.”

  I put the cups on the table and take my seat. “I think it’s time to scry for Trevor. He can lead us to the next soul.”

  They all agree and soon everyone ― except for Taylar and of course Mom and Mona, who are still resting ― is gathered around a map of Idaho.

  After some discussion about who’s the most fit to scry, we decide I’ll do it, because the pendant is obviously connected to me.

  Since I no longer have the abilities of a Mage, I can only hope that this will work.

  “Can you consecrate it for me first, Maël?” I ask, handing the miniature athame to her.

  “Are you sure? What if it goes wrong?”

  Charlie pushes his empty cup to the middle of the table. “Try it on the cup first.”

  I shake my head. “No, never mind, that will all take too long. I have a feeling that we should hurry.”

  Before taking back the pendant, I look at D’Maeo for advice. When he nods his consent, I string the athame to the necklace I borrowed from Mom and hold it up above the map.

  With my eyes closed, I picture Trevor in his human as well as his elemental form. In my m
ind, he is walking past the stalls of the black market. I focus on the stiff way he moves and remember the low, grumpy sound of his voice. As he walks away from me, I urge my mind to follow.

  My hand trembles as the pendant starts swinging. The image of Trevor is replaced by that of my athame, and I open my eyes.

  We all hold our breaths ― even those of us who don’t breathe anymore ― and follow the moving pendant until it slams down onto the map, piercing a hole in it and thus marking Trevor’s whereabouts.

  I put the necklace aside and bend over the map. “He’s in the woods just outside Mulling.”

  “How far is that from here?” D’Maeo asks.

  I point at Blackford, which is just one town further west. “This is us. It’s about six miles.”

  Charlie is already at the front door. “Let’s go.”

  My eyebrows convey my disbelief. “And what are you going to do when we find him? Freeze and capture him?”

  A light glimmers in his eyes. “That’s a great idea!”

  “It would be if we knew how to capture him. But even then, we want to find the soul to save through him, remember? He’s not supposed to know we’re following him.”

  Charlie puts his hands together and does a pretty good puppy imitation. “We can torture it out of him, you know. Can we, please?”

  I fold the map with the hole on top and hide the pendant in a cup in the cupboard. “You must’ve been hit on the head too hard, mate. You seem to have forgotten that we’re the good guys. We don’t torture people.”

  “How about monsters?”

  “No, Charlie.”

  He folds his arms over his chest. “You’re no fun, you know.”

  “Well…” I shove the map into my back pocket. “You can kill him if you want but only when we no longer need him. Feel free to fantasize about that for now.”

  A wide grin spreads on his face. “With pleasure.” He walks back to the table. “So, what’s the plan for now?”

  “To spy on him so we can find the soul they need for the sixth circle.” I turn to Vicky. “Can you ask Taylar to finish his report on the premonition and to keep an eye on Mom and Mona for us?”

  She gives me the thumbs up and vanishes.

  Charlie claps his hands. “Okay, everyone, arm yourselves, we’re going to war!”

  I snort and slap him on the back while I move to the front door. “You’ve seen way too many movies.”

  I park Phoenix at the end of the first entranceway into Mulling, and Maël hides the car as well as Charlie and me with the invisibility spell.

  Jeep gives her the thumbs up when she’s done. “Nice work! With a bit more practice, you can give us our powers back.”

  “I pray for that.” She doesn’t sound very confident, so I deduce that I made the right decision by not letting her try it yet.

  Vicky presses her body against mine from behind. “I’m glad you remembered to put in a line about excluding friends this time. I like it much better when I can see you.”

  Leaning my head against hers, I whisper back, “I like feeling you even better.”

  When I sense the eyes of the others on us, I pull myself away from Vicky. Once more, I check the map, and then we’re off into the woods.

  We walk around the spot the pendant pointed out and search ground, trees and sky.

  There’s nothing and no one there.

  Of course not, he’s probably hiding.

  Again, I sweep the ground, this time for signs of a hidden entrance.

  Nothing.

  Except for a prickle at the back of my neck. And a faint sour smell wafting in our direction.

  We all move back when a twig breaks not far from where we’re standing. No other sound breaks the silence, but I can sense something approaching. Something evil.

  “Was that…?” Charlie starts, and I raise a hand. “Shhh.”

  “No one can hear us, you know,” he says, but he falls silent nonetheless when a giant two-headed wolf steps into view.

  Its footsteps are silent, and the fire that makes up its skin has been turned down to a smolder. With determined steps, it moves past us when suddenly it comes to a halt and turns its heads to the side.

  The glowing eyes take in every inch of space within sight, and I can’t help but hold my breath.

  If it spots us, we lose our chance to spy on Trevor.

  The demon narrows its eyes and lets out a low growl.

  When nothing moves or makes a sound, it shakes off its unease and walks on.

  We follow its every move, curious about where it’ll go. But it doesn’t go anywhere. It just… goes up in smoke, except without the smoke. One second it’s there, the next it’s gone.

  “Did it go invisible?” Charlie whispers. “It seemed to know we were here or suspect at least.”

  I rub my forehead and scan every inch of air and ground in front of us. “No, I think it went through a hidden door of some kind. If it was still here, I would sense it.”

  Jeep folds his arms. “So, what now? We wait until it comes out again and capture it?”

  “And then what? We can’t question it. It doesn’t speak English.”

  He tilts his head. “I thought you heard one of these demons talk to Trevor?”

  Vicky steps forward, inch by inch, with her arms outstretched. “We did, but Trevor gave it a human voice. We can’t do that.”

  “Sure we can.” He nods at me. “Dante can write a spell.”

  “And I can mess it up,” Maël answers with one raised eyebrow.

  I almost roll my eyes. “That’s what I was trying to say.”

  Jeep scratches his tattoos briskly. “I hate these switched powers.”

  “There’s no time to mope about that now. We’ll have to deal with it.” I watch Vicky move around the spot where the demon vanished. “Please be careful, babe.”

  She shrugs. “There’s nothing here. Nothing visible or tangible at least.”

  I join her and pull her closer to the trees in case the demon comes back. “Should we try a show what’s hidden spell?”

  “Good idea,” Jeep says.

  D’Maeo is rubbing his gray beard again. “It has to be a quiet, invisible spell. Something that doesn’t give us away.”

  “And an easy one,” Maël adds.

  Pulling Vicky along to keep her safe―not that she needs it―I step away from the cursed spot. “I’ll search my father’s notebook.”

  While I sit down with my back against a tree and flip through Dad’s book, my friends keep their eyes open for movement.

  Maël stands still in several places, moving her hands slowly above the ground, but just like Vicky, she finds nothing.

  We all freeze when the branches around us move in a sudden gust of wind, but when nothing else happens, we return to our positions.

  Soon, I press my hand upon a page. Reveal hidden objects and people.

  That’s it. I just have to add one line and we’re good to go.

  Thankfully, my inspiration hasn’t left with my powers, and the line seeps from my pen without trouble.

  I rip out a page of my Book of Spells, write down what we need and give it to Vicky.

  She rakes her fingers through her blonde-tipped hair. “I’ve got most of this, but no mirror. It broke, and I haven’t had time to get another.”

  We could drive into town and buy a small mirror, but I have a feeling we’ll miss something important if we leave now. “We could use water instead? That will show a reflection.”

  Vicky presses a finger thoughtfully against her lips, then shakes her head. “No, we can’t risk it. It has to be a mirror.”

  “Hey!” Charlie pipes up. “What about the mirrors of your car?”

  I shoot him a happy grin. “That could work!”

  We head back to the road, but I stop when a thought hits me. “Two of us should stay behind in case Trevor shows himself.”

  Jeep turns around and salutes
in one motion, and Charlie joins him.

  D’Maeo, Maël, Vicky and I continue our way back to Phoenix.

  Vicky pulls item after item out of her endless pocket and together, we mix the herbs and put everything in place.

  When all is ready, Maël positions herself in front of the side mirror of the car and takes the bowl of dry herbs from me. With her other hand, she holds a white candle against the mirror.

  “Powers of high, hear my cry.

  Send your vision through the sky.

  Send it through to make us see

  what lies beyond reality.

  Powers that be, hear my call.

  Make sure that we see it all.

  Send your eyes through this reflection,

  but keep us safe in your protection.

  Let no sound by us be heard.

  Let no senses be disturbed.

  Through this mirror send your power

  to these herbs for just one hour.

  In these herbs your sight will stay,

  to reveal what’s hidden away.”

  The candle flame is blown into the mirror. It frees itself from the wick and hovers inside the reflection for a moment. Then, it grows and grows until it fills the whole mirror, and it shoots back through, passing the candle and going straight for the bowl in Maël’s hand. With a loud crackle, the herbs catch fire, only to extinguish a second later.

  Maël lowers the candle and stares at the bowl. “Did it work?”

  I take the candle from her and hand it back to Vicky. “Only one way to find out.”

  CHAPTER 23

  When we get back to the spot where the demon disappeared, there’s no sight of Jeep and Charlie. Instantly, we all draw our weapons and form a circle.

  I scan the trees around us, and then the ground for tracks, but there’s nothing there.

  “Jeep,” Vicky whispers. “Show yourself.”

  “Oh no, there!” I call out, louder than I intended, and I break the circle to dive for the black object that lies under a tree.