“I have to wonder who’s died on this land. If Aida—that was her name?”
“Right. Aida Lanchester.”
“If her spirit is here, chances are she died here. Which begs the questions, where are her remains and how did she die? Was it accidental or murder? It has to be one or the other. If she died of natural causes, the family wouldn’t have any reason to hide her death and there would be a record.” Llew pointed to my cards. “Why don’t you do a reading about it? We have half an hour before the fair opens. Meanwhile, I’ll go over to Jordan’s booth and get us some coffee and pastries.”
“Does he have any sausage cheese sandwiches? I’d love one if he does. And I want a triple caramel mocha.” I pulled out my cards and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Then, as I shuffled them, I whispered, “Aida, tell us what happened to you? Are you here now? We just want to help.”
A cold breeze swept through me at that moment, and I froze. There was a spirit right next to me—I could sense her and I could see a vague outline of her out of the corner of my eye.
“Hello,” I said, keeping my eyes on the cards. “I know you’re here. I just want to help. Will you talk to me?”
There was another soft gust of wind that blew over me and, very clearly, I heard, He’s after me.
“Are you Aida?” I asked.
Again, the breeze. Yes.
“Who’s after you?” I was beginning to feel her presence grow. It was as though she had latched onto my energy and using it to give her the strength to talk. But just as I asked her what was chasing her, she shrieked and vanished, startling me so abruptly that I scattered my cards all over the table and ground. It was as though the wind had caught her up and snatched her away. My heart racing, I gathered up my cards and took a moment to regain my composure.
When I felt calm again, I very quietly shuffled the cards once more and laid them out in a star-shaped layout. The first card’s position was whether Aida’s remains were still on the land. That came up with the princess of discs. Physicality. A younger woman who was grounded in the earth, which told me that yes, her body was still hidden on the farm somewhere.
The second card’s position was as to whether Aida had been murdered. And that came up the ten of wands—strife, being oppressed, feeling caged in by circumstances. It wasn’t a definite yes, but it led me to think that she hadn’t died by accident or by her own hand.
Third position was underlying energy surrounding the issue, and this card scared me. It was the seven of cups, and in the deck I used, that indicated a dark, hollow energy, which often came from psychic vampires—or physical ones, or energy leeches. Essentially, those who fed on others for energy or strength.
The fourth card was advice, and in this position the Moon appeared, which told me her body was hidden, and that it wouldn’t be easy to find. Then, a thought tugged at the back of my mind. Maybe it also meant something literal—maybe it would be easier to find her body by moonlight, or during the night? A click inside registered that I was right.
The last card was the outcome card, and it was the four of swords. That told me we could find her remains, because it indicated peace and rest after a long battle, recuperation after illness. And for a ghost, it generally indicated that we could put her to rest.
But I kept going back to the seven of cups. Just looking at the card gave me the creeps. I was trying to meditate on it when Llew returned with our drinks. He brought me back a sausage cheese muffin, along with a couple maple bars.
“Have you learned anything?” he asked.
I nodded. “I know her body is still on the farm, but there’s something that scares me. That thing that Evie and I heard in the corn yesterday? That Kipa sensed? I think it’s some sort of energy vampire. I think it feeds on people and I’m wondering if it’s what killed her?”
He frowned. “But why would it lie dormant all these years? And if it didn’t, why weren’t there other deaths?”
“Who says there weren’t? We still don’t know why there was so much turnover on this farm. And remember, people can die from something that appears to be natural causes, but still be the victim of an energy leech. However, figuring out just what kind of energy leech is going to be difficult. There are so many types.”
“Could it be a regular vampire?” Llew asked. “Does it have to be an energy vamp?”
“Well, it could be, except if it is, that couldn’t be what we heard in the corn maze because regular vampires can’t be out under the daylight.” I shook my head, taking a long sip of my mocha. “I’ll pull out my Beltan’s Bestiary tonight and start thumbing through it.”
“What do you want to do about Aida’s remains? Do you think that we can come out here and poke around, look for them?” Llew finished arranging his goods on the table and peered anxiously up at the sky. “I think we’re due for a soaking rain today.”
“I think so, too. And I’m not sure. If Rain gives us permission, we can. But—” I stopped as loud voices rang through the fairway. I recognized one of them as Marigold’s. “Uh oh. I’ll go see what’s up. You stay with the booth.”
I took one more sip of mocha to fortify me and headed out. The shouts were coming from the left of the vendors, down the path toward the pumpkin patch. I hustled my ass over there, hoping that it was just something minor. But when I arrived at the edge of the patch, I realized that the day was just going to get worse the longer it went.
Marigold was there, shouting at Evie and Dray. He was behind the counter, cringing as she laid into him. Evie had backed away from her mother.
“You are the stupidest kids in the world. I told you, there are no ghosts in the patch, and I come down to see how things are doing and I overhear the two of you talking about spirits haunting our farm? What if our customers heard you? You want to drive away them away? You want to make sure we don’t sell enough to pay the mortgage?” Her voice was rising, and she was so livid that I was afraid she might have a stroke.
“Mom—stop!” Evie stepped between Marigold and Dray. “The farm is haunted and you know it! You can’t pretend that it’s not, not with everything that’s happened the past year. You’ve turned into a total bitch and I’m surprised Rain’s still with you. You treat her and us like dirt!”
Oh boy. I worried my lip. I was an outsider, but Marigold was going ballistic and somebody had to step in. I had just gathered my courage to intervene when Marigold suddenly backhanded Evie, knocking her to the ground with a strength that shocked me. Marigold was strong, but not that strong.
I raced forward as Marigold curled her fist for an actual punch. Screaming, Dray jumped over the counter to try to help Evie. She scrambled back, trying to avoid her mother’s anger. I managed to grab Marigold’s arm before she could swing again and I yanked her back, off her feet. Given I was Ante-Fae, I was a lot stronger than most humans.
“Oh no, you don’t!” I leaned down to catch her by both arms, pulling them behind her as I restrained her. Then, I kneed her hard in the butt, letting go as she fell forward. I was on her before she could move, straddling her as I once again restrained her arms.
Marigold was cursing up a storm. She struggled but couldn’t break free. I glanced at Dray, who was helping Evie.
Evie’s cheek was bright red from the imprint of Marigold’s hand. She was crying, and Dray wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
“Shush, it’s okay. It’s all right, Evie.”
At that moment, Rain and Kipa came racing over. Rain took in the scene and gasped, raising her hand to her mouth. Kipa strode over and I shifted out of the way so he could take hold of Marigold. He brought her to her feet, holding her arms behind her. I moved around in front to gaze into her eyes. They were flickering with an unnatural light, and I realized that Marigold was actually possessed.
“She’s possessed,” I said, turning around. “Evie, are you okay?”
“What happened?” Rain whispered, moving over to where Evie and Dray were standing.
“Mom hit Evie,�
� Dray said. “She’s lost it.”
Rain ran over to Evie’s side and examined her cheek. “Oh, honey.” She turned to Marigold. “How could you? How could you hit your daughter?”
“She’s not herself,” I said. “Something is controlling her.”
“Can you do anything?” Rain asked. “Can you exorcise her?”
“I’d try, except I don’t know what has her under its control and unless I do, I might end up doing more harm than good.” I glanced at my watch. “Crap, the fair’s due to open in ten minutes. Evie, you can’t man the booth. Not now.” I turned to Kipa. “One of your men? Could he take tickets?”
Kipa raised his eyebrows, but nodded. “Yeah.” He let out a long, low whistle.
I turned back to Dray. “Is everything okay in the patch right now? Did the spirit come back? And by the way, it is a spirit. I know of at least one ghost who’s haunting the farm.”
Marigold let out a long hiss. When she spoke, her voice sounded low and guttural, almost inhuman. “You’ll never free her, bone witch. She’s stuck here with the rest of them.” And then, before I could say anything, she fainted. Kipa caught her up in his arms.
“What should I do with her?”
“We can’t just let her run around. We know she’s possessed and she’s out to wreak havoc now. If we lock her up, whatever has control of her might make her hurt herself. I hate to suggest it, but we need to strap her down so she doesn’t hurt herself or anybody else,” I said. I hated the thought—I knew what it was like being held down against my will. But whatever was controlling Marigold needed to be restrained.
Kipa turned to Rain, who was crying. “Do you have any leather handcuffs?”
Rain blinked. “We’re not that kinky.”
Kipa blushed. “I didn’t mean—”
“I have an idea! Wait here.” I ran back up the pathway and over to the booth. “Llew, we need something that will knock out a human. And I mean, knock them out, but good. Marigold’s possessed and we need to control whatever it is that has control over her. So whatever we give her needs to be strong. Do you have anything that might work?”
Llew frowned, sorting through the items on his table. “You know, I don’t right off-hand, but if I take apart several of the protection charms, there are some herbs in…oh…four of them that when combined together should do the trick. They could knock out a horse. Here.” He wrote the name of the herbs on a piece of paper. “Go ask Rain if Marigold has any known allergies to these.”
As I turned back to the path, I saw one of Kipa’s men striding toward the entrance. He was gorgeous, swarthy and tall, muscled and looking hot to trot in his jeans and skintight T-shirt. His hair coiled down his shoulders and he made me drool just looking at him. Oh yeah, the women coming into the fair were going to be hanging around the entrance booth, for sure. And probably some of the men, too.
I jogged back to where Kipa and Dray were waiting. Rain had taken Evie back to the house to tend to her cheek.
“Dray, do you know if your mother is allergic to any of these herbs?”
He glanced over the list and shook his head. “The only allergies my mother has are mangoes and stinging nettle. If they aren’t related to these herbs, she should be okay.”
I nodded, heading back to Llew. “Mango and stinging nettle. Any relation to these?”
He shook his head. “Nope, different botanical families, so we should be okay. I’ll get started on this. Can you watch the booth?”
I nodded. “You should go down there to work on it. Kipa’s restraining Marigold. Luckily, she’s fainted.”
As Llew headed toward the pumpkin patch, I thought about what a convoluted morning it had been. It seemed like it couldn’t get much worse, but I wasn’t about to jinx it by saying so. The universe liked to play games at my expense and I wasn’t giving it any more ammunition than I needed to.
Frowning, I pulled out my phone and called my father. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey, Birdie,” he said, using one of my childhood nicknames. My mother had named me for one of her favorite birds, and my father had often called me Birdie, or Ravie. “What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Not so much. I’m fine, but things have already gone to hell. I wondered if you could do me a big favor. In my office, you’ll find a copy of Beltan’s Bestiary—”
“My copy, if I remember right,” he said, laughing.
“Right. Your copy. Anyway, can you start looking through it for creatures that are energy vampires? Just make a list of them and of their primary characteristics. We know we’re looking for one, but that doesn’t narrow down the field enough.”
“Sure thing. You know, somebody really should create an online version of this.” He paused. “I can type. Do you want me to start entering data for you?”
“That would be great, though you’ll have to scan the pictures. But right now, this takes priority. As soon as you have some leads, let me know.” I then spoke briefly to Raj, who wanted to say hi, and got off the phone. Several customers wanted tarot readings but I told them I wasn’t taking appointments until afternoon. I wasn’t sure how long it would take Llew to concoct his knockout potion and I didn’t want to just ignore the booth.
Half an hour later, Jordan dashed across the way, handing me another mocha. I thanked him, and he winked and ran back to his booth. The crowd was even larger today than it had been on Saturday. A steady flow of customers lined up, and I spent the next hour selling the protection charms. I heard a number of people discussing the dragon scourge. It seemed the reality of the situation had hit home for a select few and they were beginning to take things seriously.
By the time I had sold over half of Llew’s goods, I saw him peeking from around the corner of the path leading to the pumpkin patch. He turned around, nodded, and Kipa came strolling out, a large sack draped over his shoulder. While he could have just about anything in that sack, I knew that Marigold was in there. If he had openly carried her, people would have asked questions, the rumor mill would buzz, and the farm would probably lose customers.
Kipa headed toward the house, around the back of the booths to keep as far out of sight as he could. Llew returned to the booth.
“I’m sorry it took so long, but it took a hell of a lot of juice to make certain she won’t wake up and break free. There’s definitely another entity sharing her body—you’re not wrong on that. And whatever it is, it’s powerful and has a slimy, dank feeling to it. I gave her enough of the sedative that it should keep her out for at least eight hours.”
“I have my father researching various forms of energy vampires. He’ll call me back when he finds anything. Meanwhile, I’ve sold over half your protection charms, and a good amount of the other goodies too.”
I returned to my table, trying to focus on the cards, but my mind kept drifting back to Marigold, and the anger in her eyes. Whatever was possessing her was dangerous and had no qualms about attacking others. We had to find out what it was and boot it from her body before she hurt someone. I also needed to ask Rain if we could come out after dark to look for Aida’s body. I had the feeling that once we found that, we’d have answers to several puzzles. And answers were what we needed.
Chapter Ten
The rest of the day went by in a blur. I read for seven people, then folded up the cards and tucked them away.
“I’m going to find Rain and ask her a few questions,” I told Llew, who was selling the last of the charms he had brought.
“Good.” He nodded. “Once I finish here, I’ll head over to the house and check on Marigold.”
I slid out from behind the booth and took a deep breath. The rain had been sporadic all day, and right now, it was sprinkling again. I hugged my cloak snugly around me and began to look for Rain. I found her in one of the tents where there was a preserves contest going on. She was watching, but not judging, so I stood off to the side, motioning to her. She sidled away and followed me out of the tent, leading me to a nearby awning where we cou
ld stand out of the rain.
“How are you doing?” I asked, even though I knew it was a feeble question.
“Okay, I guess. As okay as I can get, given what’s going down. What am I going to do?” she asked, lowering her voice. “I can’t keep Marigold tied up, but if I let her loose, whatever is in control of her could easily kill us.” She was trying to hold back tears.
I took her hands, holding them firmly as I closed my eyes for a moment. I wished I knew how the Elven therapists siphoned off emotion to calm their patients. It had helped me so much and I wished I could do it for others. But since I couldn’t, I just squeezed her hands.
“I wish I knew what to tell you.” Then I paused. Something was tapping at the back of my brain and I tried to remember what it was. “Hold on, give me a moment…” I closed my eyes again, straining to catch the whispers that felt like they held some sort of an answer. And then, I remembered.
A few years back, I had been acquainted with a couple. The husband was a wolf shifter, and his wife was one of the magic-born. The husband had been possessed by a minor demon, and the wife hadn’t known how to help him. She had sent him away to be cared for, to some place where he couldn’t hurt himself or anybody else. Where had she sent him, though?
“Let me make a phone call.” I pulled out my phone. I remembered the wife had been named Ronita, and the husband, Jacob. What had been her last name? Elsten?…Felsten?…Halston! That was it. I dialed information and asked for a Ronita Halston’s number. Within thirty seconds, the operator connected me with her.
“Hey, Ronita? I don’t know if you remember me, but this is Raven BoneTalker.”
Ronita let out a little gasp. “Raven! I wondered whatever happened to you. I’m so happy to hear from you. How are you?”
We had drifted apart, but only because she was caught up dealing with her husband and I had been going through a number of issues with Ulstair at the time.
Witching Time: An Ante-Fae Adventure (Wild Hunt Book 14) Page 11