What Remains

by Bailey Bradford

  Laine bent and placed his lips against Sev’s ear and hoped to hell he didn’t get smacked upside the head. “Wake up, sweetheart. Miriam’s calling about what she found out.”

  That got Sev awake in record time. He set up so fast his shoulder clipped Laine’s lip. Laine tasted blood and slapped his hand over the wounded part. Obviously he was getting too old and slow. He should have been able to dodge that hit.

  Sev looked at him and frowned. “What happened?”

  Laine rolled his eyes. “Talk to Miriam while I get a wet washcloth.” If Sev didn’t realize he’d clocked Laine, Laine wasn’t going to tell him. Although, maybe he should. It might get Sev over that whole man-woman crap Laine had so stupidly spewed in jest.

  When Laine came back from the bathroom, Sev was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs dangling off the side of the bed. He stopped mid-sentence in his conversation to Miriam and blanched when he looked at Laine.

  Laine wished he’d been able to stop the bleeding but Sev had got him pretty good.

  “I did that, didn’t I?”

  It wasn’t a question, but Laine still nodded.

  “Hang on, Miriam, will you? Apparently I busted Laine’s lip when I woke up. Or was asleep. Whichever. Be right back.” Sev was already up and almost to Laine by the time he finished babbling.

  Laine lowered the washcloth under Sev’s pointed look and felt a stream of blood trickle down his chin. He swiped at it with the cloth then covered his lip again. “You didn’t do it. I mean, you did, but I should have moved,” Laine said around the wet material.

  Sev glared up at him. “I did do it. You not moving doesn’t make it your fault. But it was an accident, you know I would never deliberately hurt you. I’m sorry.” Sev stood on his toes and bussed Laine’s jaw. “Forgive me?”

  “Always.” Like Sev even needed to ask. Laine wrapped an arm around Sev’s waist and gave him a hug. “So, no feeling guilty for either of us?”

  Sev stepped back and tapped his chin, his eyes turned up as he looked at the ceiling. “Well, no, but I will quit giving you shit about what you said.”

  “Then it was worth it,” Laine said fervently. He took Sev’s hand in his and headed for the bed. He and Sev sat on the edge. “Okay, Miriam, what can you tell us?”

  “Well, besides the fact that the two of you are about as sweet as that tea you like, I can tell you it wasn’t anyone here who did it, but yes, a spell was definitely cast.”

  “How do you know? I mean, that it wasn’t anyone there?”

  Miriam harrumphed at Laine’s question. “Because Vincent and I both are very adept at scrying. And before you ask, yes, I said scrying. It’s a form of divination that—well, it worked, okay? After we discerned that it wasn’t Wicca magic used, we had to find out what kind it was.”

  Laine looked at Sev who shrugged. “How many kinds of magic are there?”

  “More than you care to hear about,” Miriam said. “Anyways, Vincent, Chris, Rich and I, along with eight others in the coven, focused our energies. We all felt pulled to four very distinct points—north, south, east and west. A direct line of each, mind you. We split into four groups and each one found the exact spot. Like if I was holding a compass—well, I was, I stopped exactly when the needle was perfectly aligned to the North. My senses were leading me forward, so we kept walking. The other groups did the same in the other directions. What we found, exactly three-point-three miles outside of town, were four very small but ornate altars.”

  “Y’all don’t use altars?”

  “We do, but these weren’t ours. The offerings on the altars were…well, they weren’t anything we’d have used. Nothing illegal, mind you, but things that make me and Vincent certain there’s a curandero or curandera in or near McKinton.”

  Laine looked at Sev. “You know anything about curanderos?”

  “Some, yeah. My grandmother took me to one right after she got me out of the institution. The curandera looked me in the eye and I’d have sworn she looked all the way into my soul. She murmured some things I didn’t understand, then told my grandmother that I was ‘precious’”—he smirked—“and had the gift of communing with the dead. Grandma never doubted me from then on.”

  “If it’s a gift, why would a curandero interfere like this?”

  “Laine, not every curandero is good, although the majority are. There’s good and bad in all religions and professions,” Miriam pointed out. “And the curandero who did this might not think they did anything bad. He or she may see it as aiding lost spirits or some such crap.” Miriam put enough emphasis on the last word that her disgust was patently obvious. “Regardless of the reason, we can undo this. But, I can’t…I can’t guarantee all the spirits will return. Some might choose to stay where they’ve been sent.”

  “Conner will come back,” Sev said when Laine’s throat felt too tight to speak. “So will the others who interact with their loved ones. They hung around after death to be here for us, I don’t think they’ll change their minds.”

  Sev sounded so sure, but Laine wasn’t. Hadn’t he thought Conner might want more than just drifting along as a spirit? If Conner had the opportunity to be reborn, have another go at life, why wouldn’t he take it? The man…spirit, was vivacious and playful, like someone who just enjoyed existing. Wouldn’t he enjoy it more in the flesh?

  Or maybe he was content to move on to whatever spiritual plane others went to when they died. Damn it, Laine didn’t know, but he suddenly had to wonder why Conner would ever choose to come back to Sev and him.

  Laine became aware that Miriam wasn’t speaking and Sev was looking worriedly at him. He cleared his throat and gave Sev an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, I kind of zoned out there.” He had a feeling, from the way Sev was watching him, that he would have to give a full explanation once Miriam was off the phone.

  “It’s okay, I know it’s a lot to take in, but if you’re fine with us moving the blessing to the following night, we’ll cast the spell to bring the spirits back tomorrow night instead.”

  Sev was nodding eagerly.

  “That will work.” Laine just hoped he and Sev didn’t have to learn to live without Conner in their lives when it was all said and done.

  “There is one other thing,” Miriam said with what sounded to Laine like reluctance.

  “What?”

  Miriam was silent so long Laine thought she wasn’t going to answer. When she finally did, Laine’s entire body went cold. “I know I said the curandero might have had the best of intentions, but he or she might not have, too. We found a few strands of black hair on each alter, set in melted wax. In case…in case the spell was directed to hurt Severo, I think it’d be best if he participated in casting the spell. But it could have been someone else’s hair. This is just a precaution. I mean, unless you can think of someone who’d want to hurt Severo?”

  Laine could, and judging by the pain flaring bright in Sev’s eyes, he thought the same thing.

  “My parents,” Sev said in a tight voice. “They’re the only ones who’d want to strip everything they could from me.”

  * * * *

  After making arrangements to meet with Miriam tomorrow to learn what he needed to do to help cast the spell, Sev settled beck beside Laine. His heart hurt, knowing, believing as he did that his parents had done such a thing.

  “They probably came up with this idea after Rogelio mentioned me. They’d seemed to have forgotten about me before then.”

  Laine pulled Sev over until he was sprawled half on top of Laine. “I don’t believe they ever forgot about you. But yeah, I think that’s probably what set them off, that or Alma telling them she wasn’t going to cut you out of her family’s lives. Either way, it was a hateful thing to do. And if that was your hair, I wonder how they got it?”

  Sev knew the answer to that. “Mom used to save bits of our hair every time we got it cut. I would have thought she’d burned mine, but then again, I wouldn’t have thought she or my father would
ever turn to a curandero. It’s stupid of me to think I know anything about them other than that they hate me.”

  “I think they’re scared of you,” Laine corrected, his words so similar to Rogelio’s that Sev almost smiled. “People fear what they don’t understand, we’ve heard that often enough, seen it at least as many times as we’ve heard it.”

  “Yeah, but why couldn’t they just accept me? Tolerate me, if they couldn’t love me?” Sev willed his welling eyes to dry. He wouldn’t break down over this, not when he’d come to terms with it years ago. Or thought he had.

  “Because they are some seriously fucked up people, sweetheart.” Laine dipped his head and kissed the corner of Sev’s eye. “I don’t see how anyone can’t love you. The problem lies with them, not you. Never you.”

  As he closed his eyes and listened to more of Laine’s comforting words, Sev wished he could believe him.

  Chapter Nine

  Rogelio looked a little thunderstruck, Sev thought. He’d brought his nephew with him to meet with Miriam. Alma had been unsure about it, but once Sev had told her and Roger what someone had done to the McKinton spirits, and just who he and Laine thought that someone was, Alma had quickly agreed to let Rogelio accompany him.

  She’d also told him that their mother had been going to a curandero in secret for years now. In secret, at least, in regards to their father. There was no way that rigid old man would tolerate his wife turning to such a heathen practice.

  He’d been furious when his own mother had gone to a curandero, but all Grandma had done was point out who held the purse strings and Sev’s father had shut up. If he found out his wife was going, who knew what he’d do, even if she was using the curandero to hurt Sev.

  “Will you be participating in the ceremony too, Rogelio?”

  Rogelio swallowed noisily. “Sure, if my parents will let me. I, uh, I don’t have to get naked or anything, do I?”

  Sev thought the kid sounded more hopeful than not.

  Miriam laughed and ruffled Rogelio’s hair. “No, there’ll be no getting naked. You’re a minor, none of us want to go to jail for dancing skyclad around you.”

  “It means naked,” Sev said before Rogelio could ask.

  “I also have someone outside of the coven coming to help. I made another call last night.” Miriam turned and waved to someone in a group of people behind her. A pretty young woman with dark brown hair and large almost black eyes walked over. She was dressed in a long skirt and a loose blouse, but even so Sev could tell she was built in that voluptuous way that made most straight men drool. Rogelio didn’t even look at her breasts, which, Sev noted, jiggled when she walked.

  Yep, the kid’s gay. Not that I really doubted it.

  Miriam took the woman’s hand and held it. “Severo, Rogelio, this is Veronica, a good friend of mine. She’s also a very well-known and powerful curandera.”

  Sev wondered if he imagined the shimmering power he felt when he shook Veronica’s hand. He doubted it, considering her eyes widened and her full red lips parted.

  “You’re a very powerful man as well,” Veronica purred. It freaked Sev out, because he was relatively certain she was…ogling him.

  “He’s also very happily gay,” Miriam dryly pointed out. “Down girl, and don’t do that sultry stuff with this one”—she pointed to Rogelio—“he’s still a kid.”

  “And gay, too,” Rogelio rushed out as he shook Veronica’s hand as quickly as he could. Sev noticed he wiped his palm on his jeans. Did his hand tingle too or was he afraid Veronica would give him girl cooties?

  Veronica laughed good-naturedly then gave them both a friendly smile. “Figures. I’m destined to be attracted to men I can’t have.” She winked at them, which brought a flush to Rogelio’s cheeks and a grin to Sev’s lips.

  “Maybe you should make a charm for that,” Sev teased and laughed along with Veronica.

  “Right. I prefer not to interfere in my life’s path. I’m too busy delving into others’.” Veronica cocked her head and stared into Sev’s eyes. He was thrown back over two decades to when he was a child, staring into another curandero’s dark eyes. “You have a good soul. Someone close to you hates you for it. It’s not because of what you do, but because they fear that you are pure of soul and touched by the gods because of it. There’s intense jealousy, envy…we’ll need to cast a protection spell for you and your loved ones to keep these people from hurting you again.”

  “Sounds great,” Sev said through a too-tight throat. “Let’s do it.”

  * * * *

  Laine was wound tighter than a spring. Work was slow, which was good, but the day was dragging by at a glacial speed. Slower, considering global warming. He was twitchy and jumpy, and snarly enough that Matt and Rich both snapped back at him.

  Despite being a grouch, Laine figured the more the merrier—or more powerful, hopefully—and he readily agreed. He also called Zeke and Brendon as well as Lee and Darren and asked them to come as well.

  Then he called Miriam, who thought he was brilliant for inviting the core people who were involved. “We’re going to be in five groups, one in each spot where an altar was found and one centered between all four points. That one will be the power source for the spell. Vincent GPS’d it and that will put us—you, Sev, Rogelio, me, Vincent, Veronica—she’s a curandera, you’ll meet her this evening—and three of our coven standing in the center of Main Street at midnight. Think that’ll be a problem?”

  Laine had assured her he’d handle it if it was. He wouldn’t let anyone keep them from bringing back the spirits to McKinton.

  Now he was stuck behind his desk, watching the minutes crawl by. He hoped this worked, and he hoped Conner came back. Maybe he should have been ashamed for being so selfish, but Laine couldn’t help it. He and Sev missed the guy.

  But, if Conner didn’t return, he and Sev would deal with it, together, and they’d wish Conner a good life…or death, whichever it was he chose.

  * * * *

  At Alma’s insistence, Sev and Rogelio met up with her at the motel. Sev handed her his house key. “I want y’all to go wait there. There’s a guest room you and Roger can use, and the kids can camp out in the living room.”

  Alma took the key but put a hand to his shoulder when he would have hugged her. Sev looked at her, a little hurt.

  “I’m just nervous about this,” Alma admitted. “You have my baby with you—”

  Rogelio groaned. Alma shot him a withering look. “You will always be my baby, so get over it.” She tipped her chin at her son. “Just take care of him, okay?”

  “Of course,” Sev answered, stung she’d think he wouldn’t.

  Alma sighed and pulled him in for that hug she’d denied him. “I don’t doubt you mean it. It’s that I don’t know about all this woo-woo stuff.”

  “Moooommm,” Rogelio whined, making Sev’s ears ache. “Everyone’s going to be dressed. It’s not like they’re gonna be dancing around naked and sacrificing small children.” He leaned to the side and peered past her to his siblings sprawled on the bed. “Although…”

  “Rogelio!” Alma let go of Sev and reached over to pop her son on the back of the head. “Any more jokes like that and you can just stay here with us!”

  “Sorry,” Rogelio muttered as he rubbed his head. “Sheesh! That’s, like, child abuse!”

  Alma’s eyebrows drew together, she frowned so sternly. “I didn’t break you and you’re not bleeding. That would be child abuse. Don’t tempt me, son.”

  Sev was relieved when Rogelio only said, “Yes, ma’am.”

  After saying goodbye, they went back outside and waited for Veronica to pick them up. Rogelio tapped his foot on the sidewalk and looked at Sev. “Why don’t you drive, Uncle Severo?”

  It was a good question, and one he didn’t really have an answer to. He tried, though. “I don’t know. I never had driver’s ed. Grandma was afraid I’d be driving and have a spirit pop in my head and I’d wreck. I guess the idea stuck. And I liked no
t having the responsibility of a vehicle.”

  Rogelio’s expression said Sev was nuts.

  Sev shrugged and went on. “Maintenance, insurance, tags, all that stuff. I just didn’t want to deal with it. I…I used to go wherever I wanted, just hop on a bus and go, or wherever I got a consulting contract. Then I came here, met Laine, and bam! That was it. I knew where I belonged. And I—I guess I just didn’t think about getting my license. I’d never really needed it before.”

  “And you don’t want to be hijacked by a spirit.”

  “No, it doesn’t work like that. Grandma didn’t understand, and neither did I, really, but they don’t just slam into me and take over. It’s—there’s like a buzzing in my head, that’s all.”

  Except Conner had nearly frozen Sev’s balls off when he’d first tried to really speak to him, then there’d been that whole thing with McAlister settling his nasty spirit in Rich.

  “It’s complicated,” Sev settled on saying. “I don’t know if I should drive or not, so I won’t.”

  “That sucks, dude.”

  Veronica pulled up saving Sev from trying to think of a comeback. They loaded up in her car and headed back to Chris and Rich’s place to prepare for the spell casting.

  * * * *

  “I’ll meet y’all and everyone else at your place,” Laine told Rich. It was finally five o’clock and he was eager and scared both, but he wanted to get this spell thing done.

  “Sounds like a plan.” Rich looked past Laine to Matt, who was right behind him. “You think you and Carlin will be long?”

  “Nope. He’s here now. I’m just going to change out of my uniform real quick then we’ll be heading out there.”

  Laine had a duffle bag with a change of clothes in it out in the truck. His boots were in the truck, too. “All right. Zeke, Brendon, Lee and Darren should be there by six. See y’all there.”