The Fourth Soul: (Cards of Death book 4)

by Tamara Geraeds

  D’Maeo pops up next to me. “Maybe it’s better if we leave him alone. For some humans, magic is too hard to handle.”

  After one look at the old ghost, the man squeezes his eyes shut and pulls up his legs. He wraps his arms around his knees and rocks back and forth. “This isn’t real. This isn’t real. It’s just a dream.”

  For a moment, the two of us just stand there, looking down on the battered man. Convincing him that magic is real and that we’re the good guys will take hours. We don’t have time for that. But I can’t leave him here for Trevor to find. Maybe we should knock him unconscious and…

  A sudden bright idea hits me. I turn my head and beckon Jeep. In response, Vicky cuts the engine, and everyone joins us on the pavement.

  The man peers at the approaching ghosts and whimpers.

  “Jeep, can you take away his fear and make him realize this is all real?” I ask the tattooed ghost.

  He rolls up his sleeves and cracks his neck. “I think so.”

  When he drops down to eye level, Vicky places a hand on his shoulder. “Wait. There might be a better option.”

  She takes us a couple of paces away from the man. “It might be better if we make him forget all of this. We don’t want him to be traumatized for the rest of his life, after all.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “You can do that?”

  She gestures at Jeep. “Well, not right now, but Jeep should be able to.”

  I rub my forehead. “Okay, but what if Trevor pays him a visit to finish what he started?”

  “I don’t think he will, but in case he does, Jeep can leave Trevor’s face in his memory as a warning. That way, he will run, even if he doesn’t know why.”

  Jeep and I exchange a look and nod.

  “Tell me how to do it,” he says to Vicky.

  While she explains it to him, I peer up and down the street. Lingering here doesn’t feel right. Who knows what Trevor and his demonic friends are up to. We’re like sitting ducks.

  “What is it?” D’Maeo appears next to me, soon joined by Maël.

  “Do you sense something?” she asks.

  I look around them, scanning the houses for movement. “I’m not sure. Somehow, it just doesn’t feel safe here.”

  Maël points at the waistband of my trousers. “We could prepare the spells while Vicky and Jeep help that man. In case Trevor and the Horseman attack us.”

  Reluctantly, I pull out Dad’s notebook. “I’m not so sure those spells we had in mind will work on the Pale Horseman. We had to go to the Shadow World to trap the Red Horseman, remember?”

  “Sure,” she nods, her eyes still fixed on the street behind me. “But new spells keep appearing in your father’s book, don’t they? Maybe there’s one in there that will work. And if you can’t find a useful one, we can always open another portal to the Shadow World.”

  I bend over the book. “Maybe.” To be honest, I’d rather not go back there again. We were lucky to survive twice already, and who’s to say we can trap the Pale Horseman like we did his brother? Still, having a spell handy is always a good idea, and I don’t have any other options anyway.

  Thankfully, flipping through the notebook triggers my spell writing inspiration, and soon I’m scribbling away. I get so caught up in it that I momentarily forget everything around me.

  “Earth to Dante!” Charlie yells in my ear, and I jump, dropping the notebook.

  He picks it up and hands it back to me with a grin. “Sorry about that, but we’ve been trying to get your attention for several minutes.”

  My gaze wanders around him, and I frown when I see that the injured man is gone.

  “Did it work?” I ask Jeep and Vicky.

  The tattooed ghost gives me the thumbs up.

  “We’re ready to leave,” Vicky says.

  “Good, good.” My head bobs up and down on its own, and I open the notebook to see what I’ve written. “One more sentence and I’m done. Vicky, can you set up everything we need? And give Maël―“

  “Yes, yes,” she interrupts me. “Something to eat.” She steps closer and looks over my shoulder. “Sure, I’ve got all of that here. But don’t you want to go somewhere more private to do this?”

  I shake my head. “No, the sooner we do this, the better.”

  “Okay, but in the middle of the street? Anyone can see us here.”

  I shrug. The feeling that we need to do this now is just too strong to ignore. “We’ll cover everything up if someone passes. It’s a quiet street.”

  She exchanges a worried look with D’Maeo but doesn’t object any longer.

  A few minutes later, everything is ready. I hand the notebook to Maël and ask the others to stand guard.

  Please make this work, please make this work, I repeat over and over to myself while I watch Maël draw a thick line with coal and place two black candles at each end.

  “Make sure you all stay behind the line,” I remind the others. “We want it to protect all of us.”

  Maël lights the candles and pulls a couple of curls from her head. Blood would be better, but that doesn’t work if you’re a ghost, so hair will have to do.

  She dips the short strings into the mud-like substance Vicky made out of rosemary, basil, thyme, yarrow and agrimony oil and places them in the middle of the line to form the sigil of three two-way arrows forming a triangle.

  I go over all the elements of the spell again in my head. Did I think of everything? Rosemary and yarrow to get rid of negative forces, agrimony for protection and basil for luck. The sigil made with the hair of the summoner should open a portal, and the thyme should guarantee an easy passage. Coal to absorb energy, which would mean, in theory, that the coal combined with the sigil, thyme and the spoken words will pull evil beings through the created portal as soon as they attack one of us.

  Cold rushes up my spine at the thought of the risk I’m taking, using a spell I’ve almost entirely created myself. What if I’m not as good at this as everyone seems to think? What if the whole town gets sucked in?

  I press my fingers against my temples. No, don’t think like that. Positive, stay positive. I can do this. We can do this.

  My panic subsides, but the chill doesn’t leave my body, and that’s when I realize the feeling must be caused by something else.

  My head swerves left and right. The others are still standing guard with their backs to each other. No one seems to notice anything out of the ordinary. The air hasn’t changed. There’s no sound of footsteps, no ticking nails on the pavement, even the wind is quiet. Which is exactly what bothers me.

  The sensation of an approaching threat gets stronger, and I pinpoint it just before the cause rounds the corner.

  There’s three of them, their eyes glinting and their noses sniffing the air. They leave ashen paw prints the size of a Minotaur’s as they slowly approach us. Without the flames covering their bodies, they hardly make a sound, but they look just as murderous. Fire demons.

  CHAPTER 33

  Jeep and Taylar simultaneously take a step forward when they notice them.

  “Don’t cross the line!” I yell.

  They hesitate but do as I tell them. Of course they do, they have no choice, since I’m their master.

  The wolf demons tilt their heads and lick their lips as if deciding which of us they want to eat first.

  The silence that has fallen upon us is only broken by Maël, who starts reciting the spell.

  “Powers that be, hear my call.

  Protect us now, before we fall.

  Pull all evil that attacks,

  to a world that has no cracks.”

  The demons get closer with every word.

  “Hit them with everything you’ve got,” I order the ghosts, “but don’t let them lure you over the line.”

  I tug at my power core and reach out to every corpse I can touch. I find nothing except some left-over skeletons from the fight with Trevor. I must have already woke
n up every dead body nearby. There goes the idea of distracting the demons with a skeleton army.

  Taylar isn’t much luckier. He hits the demons with bolt after bolt. The lightning scorches them, but they keep coming.

  Maël starts chanting the next part of the spell.

  “Take this line and turn it to

  a portal that pulls evil through.

  Lock them in the world that shows

  no mercy to the bad they chose.”

  A thought hits me. You can’t fight fire demons with lightning. You need something else.

  “Use ice instead!” I tell Taylar.

  His faces scrunches up in concentration, but nothing happens. The wolves keep coming.

  “I can’t do it,” he pants.

  “You can,” I insist. “Look at the sidewalk, it’s getting slippery.”

  It’s just a faint glimmer of ice, but it’s better than nothing.

  With his hands balled into fists, he focuses on the demons. The middle one groans as one of its noses freezes.

  “You’ve got it, keep going,” I say.

  The ice steadily makes its way further up the wolf’s muzzle, and it comes to a halt. With an irritated growl, it ignites its skin. Flames jump from its back onto its head and melt the ice. With its eyes locked onto Taylar’s, it licks the water from its nose.

  The young ghost turns a couple of shades paler than usual. “It’s not working, and I’m almost out of energy.”

  I turn my head to my other side. “Charlie, can you slow them down?”

  My best friend is standing beside me with his eyes closed, breathing heavily. “I’m trying, you know, but it’s not working.” Drops of sweat form on his forehead, and he sways on his feet.

  I grab his arm to keep him upright. His other hand flies up to his head. “I’m getting dizzy, man.”

  He leans heavily on me, and I’m glad Jeep steps in to help me support him.

  “He’s still too weak,” he tells me.

  Keeping my eyes on the wolves, I nod. “I know, but we have no other way to stop them.”

  He takes off his hat and flings it at the three monsters, taking their time to cross the distance between us. They just duck and keep walking.

  Jeep catches his hat when it soars back, gently pushes Charlie behind us and pulls out his sword. “I guess we’ll have to do this the human way.” He nods at my pocket. “Use your Morningstar, that might keep them on their side of the line a bit longer.”

  I take my weapon out and fling it without really aiming. The spiked ball hits the ground inches from the demon on the left, and it hisses angrily at me.

  “How is it going back there, Vicky?” I call out, keeping my eyes on the monsters. “Is Maël nearly done?”

  When there’s no answer, I risk a glance over my shoulder, meanwhile pulling back my arm for another attack. I freeze mid-throw when I see Vicky hunched over, baring her teeth like a rabid dog. My Morningstar scrapes my leg, but I barely feel it. My eyes are glued to the transformation happening behind me. It’s hard to believe it takes only seconds for my strong, witty girlfriend with the naughty grin to change into a raging maniac with an appetite for fresh meat.

  She cracks her neck, hisses like an evil witch, and lowers her head, ready to charge.

  Someone pulls me sideways, just in time to avoid Vicky’s onslaught.

  She barrels right past us, uttering the guttural sounds I’ve become so familiar with. Still, I watch in horror as she digs her fingers into the first demon she can get her hands on. They roll over, snapping at each other’s necks.

  “How did you restrain your mother when she was under this curse?” Taylar asks breathlessly. “She must’ve torn down the whole house.”

  I just shake my head and try to keep breathing. I almost turn my head away when Vicky slams a fist into the wolf’s mouth, filling the air with the sound of snapping bones.

  The other two demons look back in surprise, and Vicky launches herself at them.

  My body tenses as the two demons turn on her, but in the blink of an eye, she’s on top of one of them and with a growl, she sinks her teeth into its neck.

  “She was never as vicious as this,” I finally manage.

  “Good thing Vicky is,” Jeep says, placing his hat back on his head. “She’s taking out these demons as if they’re defenseless puppies.”

  I wring my hands, not convinced that she’ll make it out alive. The demon she’s holding down, isn’t dead yet. The second head moves to bite her in the leg while the third demon goes for a full-frontal attack. But as the monster opens its mouth to sink its teeth into her face, she drops to the side and kicks it in the head, making it tumble over. It yelps and tries to scramble back up, but Vicky is once again faster. She grabs it by the ears and slams the two heads together so hard that the skin tears.

  The last of the three demons tries to scramble out of her way as she turns to face it. Taking her time, she rises to her full length and for a few seconds, the two just stare at each other.

  Then, without warning, Vicky leaps. The wolf stands its ground, raising its heads as high as it can, the fire on its skin roaring. I almost feel sorry for the beast when Vicky grabs both noses and uses her momentum to snap the necks.

  With a thud, the demon falls onto the pavement. Vicky throws her head backwards and hollers at the sky. Then she turns back to us with hungry eyes.

  From the corners of my eyes, I can see the others raising their weapons. In the distance, Maël is finishing the spell, and I pray that Vicky won’t be pulled in by it when she charges us.

  I raise both hands defensively. “Vicky… babe…” My voice trembles, and I swallow. “Babe, listen to me. This isn’t you. Take a deep breath.”

  She’s panting hard, her whole body alert. Her hands are at her side, the fingers clawing at the air as if she’s imagining what she’ll do to us.

  “Please, Vicky,” I say. “Come back to us.”

  She takes a step closer and spits out some guttural words.

  “Please…” I whisper, fear blocking most of the sound.

  “Don’t finish the spell yet,” D’Maeo tells Maël behind me. “We need Vicky on our side of the line.”

  For a moment, everyone is silent. All eyes are on Vicky.

  Finally, the tension leaves her limbs. The murderous look on her face changes into one of confusion. Slowly, she stumbles back to us, and I catch her.

  Her outfit is streaked with blood and pieces of skin, her mouth painted red and contorted in shocked silence as she looks up at me.

  I swallow the lump in my throat. “You’re okay, we’re all okay.”

  I rock her for a while and tell her how much I love her. When my arms start to tremble from the weight of her body, she straightens up and glances over her shoulder at the remains of the demons. “Who would’ve thought a curse would ever come in handy.”

  A smile creeps around my lips. “That’s my girl.”

  Maël brushes the coal from her fingers and hands Vicky back the candles. “We could’ve used a live one to test the portal.”

  Vicky pretends to need her concentration to put away the candles. “I’m sorry. I have no control over it.”

  The ghost queen’s face softens. “I know that. No need to worry about it.”

  Vicky throws up her hands. “How can I not worry about this? If those demons hadn’t been there, I would’ve hurt all of you!”

  “But that didn’t happen,” D’Maeo answers. “And if it had, it wouldn’t have been your fault.”

  She hides her face in her hands. “That doesn’t make it any better.” Her shoulders sag, and her hands drop to her side. “Look at me. I’m covered in skin and blood, the taste of death is still in my mouth and adrenaline is pulsing through my veins. This curse might not be my fault, but it is slowly taking over my body and mind. How long will it be until I hurt my own friends?”

  Ignoring the stench coming off her in waves, I pull her int
o a tight hug. “Long enough for us to break the curse, babe.”

  “You don’t know that,” she mumbles into my shoulder. “You said it yourself, I’m much worse than your mother was. What if we can’t stop it?”

  That’s exactly what I’ve been worried about, but I can’t tell her that. So I take her by the shoulders and wait until she meets my eyes. “We can stop this. Together we can do anything.”

  The corners of her mouth twitch. “You can’t save everyone, Dante. I could be the sacrifice the prophecy spoke about.”

  “You’re not,” I say as confident as I can manage.

  “How can you know?”

  I force myself to smile. “Sometimes I just know things. I sense them. Trust me, you’ll be fine.”

  Her face finally relaxes. Her lips stop trembling and relief fills her eyes.

  When she hugs me again, I feel like a traitor.

  CHAPTER 34

  “I just remembered something strange,” Jeep says when I start Phoenix.

  All heads turn to him.

  “Something Trevor said when they were torturing that man,” he continues.

  “What?” I snap. “Spit it out already.”

  He ignores my irritated tone. “He said something like ‘we’re on the clock, the chosen one will be here any minute’.”

  I nod slowly. “Yes, I remember that too. What does that mean? How did he know we were coming?”

  “He might have a spy near Darkwood Manor,” Taylar offers.

  “Maybe.” I shift into first gear and drive away. “But he’d have to be able to hear us too. The house is warded against evil, so I don’t see how someone could get close enough.”

  The whole way back home, everyone is lost in thought.

  We’re driving past the northern forest when Charlie sits up with a start. “Hey, where are you going?”

  “To the mine to see if we can create a demon snare.”

  “And if we succeed and catch one of those wolves?”