Eventful adventure…try psychotic nightmare that still haunts me. “When he was draining me, I felt tired, and all I wanted to do was sleep. To just give in and go to sleep. What if that’s what she does? Makes them sleep until she’s drained her victims?”
“Then why isn’t the baby…? Because she wants to savor Hailey. Her energy is the purest thing in this world. Of course, she’d want to feed on her for as long as possible.”
I need help. “Kane!”
It only takes a few seconds for him to appear. He looks tired when he pops in beside me. Can reapers get tired?
“You rang?”
“Now is not the time for sarcasm,” I say and gesture to Seth and then to my trapped ghost. “We need some help.”
“What did you do?” His eyes are wide and fearful. “Mattie, you put a soul eater where she has unfettered access to souls?”
“What are you talking about?”
He grabs my head and turns me to face the ghost. “Look, Mattie, really look.”
When I look, I understand why she didn’t pitch a fit at being trapped. I locked her in a prison where she could eat unfettered. She’s pulling energy directly out of The Between, and I can see the souls inside her, both those of the lost and the wraiths, giving her more and more power. She’s bloated with it.
“No,” I whisper, horrified. “I didn’t know…I swear I didn’t know.”
“Get everyone out.” Kane stands. “We have to cut off her food supply, and no one living can be in this house when that happens.”
Realizing Doc can’t see Kane, I repeat his instruction. “Take Seth and get Mary and Eric out. I have to stay and fix this.”
“Mattie, you just said that no one living can be here.”
“I’m not really human, though, am I, Doc?” I give him a rueful smile. “My soul is made up of more ghost energy than anything else. Besides, I made this mess, and I have to fix it.”
“I don’t know about this…”
“Go on, Doc. The ambulance should be here soon, and I don’t want anyone coming in while we defuse the bomb.”
And that’s exactly what she is right now. She’s full of energy and more powerful than any ghost I’ve come up against. She could do some serious damage.
“Okay, but promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
I smile and give him a mock salute. Not promising that, because I probably will do something stupid.
Once he’s gone, I turn back to Kane, who’s eyeballing the soul eater with trepidation.
“How do I fix this?”
“I don’t know.”
Well, that’s not good.
“If I tear down the circle, she gets out, and I’m betting she’ll wreak havoc.”
“She may have enough energy to break her ties to this house.” Kane walks the circle, studying her much the same way Doc studied the back yard earlier. “If she gets into the outside world, unfettered, there’s no telling what damage she’ll cause.”
“Or who’ll she’ll hurt.” I finish the thought for him. “We can’t let that happen.”
“Well, duh.” He gives me a look that says the same.
Sometimes I wonder exactly how old Kane is. There are times he speaks like a teenager, and times he speaks like he’s as old as my grandfather.
“Have you ever reaped a soul eater?”
“God, no.” A full body shudder wracks him. “Reapers stay as far from these things as we can get.”
“Why?”
“Because while your soul may be made up of mostly ghost energy, ours is nothing but ghost energy. That thing would devour me the minute I touched it.”
Not good, not at all.
“So, how the heck are we gonna defuse her?”
“No clue.” Kane shrugs and stands there, staring.
Out of desperation, I call someone I haven’t spoken to since I left Charlotte.
“Mattie?” Caleb Malone picks up right when I think it’s going to go to voice mail.
“Hey, Caleb.” The words come out low and strangled. He sounds a lot like Eli on the phone.
“Is everything okay?”
“Uh, no. It’s not.”
“Tell me.”
Just like that, the awkwardness goes away. Caleb never blamed me for Eli’s death. None of his family did. Eli was my Guardian Angel, and as such, if dying was his only way to protect me, then they understood.
I explain everything I know and what I did, and how it backfired on me.
Caleb lets out a low whistle. “You done gone and got yourself into a pickle, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know how to fix it.”
“And you said your reaper friend can’t just absorb the soul?”
“Even if she wasn’t all hopped up on wraith juice, he still couldn’t. She’ll latch on before he even has a chance to run. He has no protection against…” Holy crap!
“Mattie?” Caleb prompts when I fall silent.
“Uh, Caleb, I might be able to defuse her, but I can’t force her to cross over. It has to be her choice, and I’m betting she’s not gonna want to do that.”
“How can you defuse her if a full-fledged reaper can’t?”
“Silas sort of gave me a new tattoo that stops her from snacking on me. I forgot until just now because of everything going on here at the house, Mary starting to date, Nathaniel showing up…”
“Wait, Mary’s starting to date?” Caleb’s voice gets a little high. I close my eyes and bow my head. I shouldn’t have said that. Caleb has a thing for my sister, but he chose to stay in Charlotte and follow in the family business instead of what he really wanted to do. Mary let him go, but I’m not sure Caleb ever let her go.
“Now is not the time, Caleb.” I clear my throat. “Is there a way to kill it outside of a blessed blade?”
“No.” His voice gets very quiet. “You can’t just kill a ghost with any old thing. It would be easier if you could.”
“Can we trap her somehow that doesn’t involve The Between?”
“That’s the question hunters have been asking for centuries, and we still don’t have an answer.” He lets out a long sigh. “Maybe I should come down there with my sword?”
“No.” Mary would have a conniption fit. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, and I need to learn to handle these things myself. I just wanted some advice.”
“I wasn’t very helpful.”
“You were, actually. You made me remember my new ink.”
“You’re going to need to text me the design so I can incorporate it into our library.”
I’d do that. If I can help save even one life, I will.
“Do you know any hunters in New Orleans you trust, Caleb? In case we need backup?”
“I thought you said…”
“Caleb.”
“Fine, I know a couple, but if Dr. Olivet is there, I’m sure he knows more hunters than I do…”
“I don’t trust him, Caleb, but I do you.”
Caleb was quiet for a heartbeat. “Okay, Mattie. I’ll have them call you at this number, yeah?”
“Thanks, Caleb.”
“You’re very welcome, and don’t wait to call until you’re in trouble. You’re family, and I miss you.”
“I miss you too. Do me a favor?”
“Yeah?”
“Call Officer Dan and tell him not to freak out, that I’m just going to exercise my reaping abilities, and I’ll call him later tonight, okay?”
“You want me to lie to my brother?” He might sound all surly, but I can detect the hint of laughter in his voice.
“I’m not lying. I’m going to go in and reap all the souls she ate. I’ve done it once before.”
“And it almost killed you.”
“But it didn’t.”
“Just be careful, okay?”
“I will. Talk to you later.” Hanging up before he can say anything, I push the phone back into my pocket.
“What tattoo are you talking about?” Kane stalks
over and demands to see.
I lift up my pants leg and show him the still covered tattoo. “Silas did it earlier when Miss Piggy over there decided I was lunch. He says he can’t have me dying after all the work he did to save me.”
“Let me see it.”
“Nope. Silas said to leave it covered until at least tomorrow. I’m not going to ruin the design because you want to see it.”
“What’s the plan, then?”
“I’m going in there with her and pulling the souls out of her.”
His face goes ashen. “You really are insane.”
“She can’t feed on me like she can you. We can’t release her until she’s powered down. You have a better idea?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean I like this one.”
“No one said you had to like it.”
He shoots me a glare but stops arguing. He knows I’m right.
I look at Miss Piggy, as I’ve named her, and she stares at me, daring me to come to her.
This is going to hurt.
Here goes nothing.
Chapter Thirteen
“There’s something you should know before you get in there.” Kane’s words sound ominous, but I try to not let it bother me as we make sure the cameras in the room are off. I do not want this showing up on YouTube. I’ve already texted Eric to cut the audio feed, which I’m sure is going to make Wade furious, but I refuse to be the next YouTube spectacle.
“The souls that thing is syphoning from The Between are wraiths.”
“Yeah, I know that.”
“No, you don’t understand. Wraiths have turned ugly and twisted, their souls black. They’re evil. If you reap them, all that darkness gets reaped into your soul as well.”
“And?” I wish he’d get to the point instead of dancing around what he’s trying to say. I’m already nervous enough.
“And given your demonic heritage, I’m worried.”
There’s no denying the fear radiating off Kane. Nothing ever fazes Kane. He’s a rock in a sea of sharks. But I can hear it in his voice. He’s afraid.
“So, what you’re saying is if I reap all those wraiths, I’ll turn evil or something?” I have to force the words out. Maybe I should tell him my demonic side woke up this morning.
“It’s possible.”
Fudgepops.
“But if we don’t do it, this ghost is going to get out, and that’ll cause a whole mess of other problems. I won’t put anyone else’s blood on my hands, Kane. I have enough of that already.”
“There’s more.” Kane’s words are so low I almost miss them.
“More?”
He nods and shuffles closer so his mouth is pressed right against my ear and begins to whisper. “My bosses are still watching you. They already know your demonic side woke up. If this causes all your abilities to reawaken, there’s a good chance they’ll do what they were going to do last time.”
My eyes widen. Kane’s bosses were going to allow me to use all my gifts from both my demonic grandfather and my metaphysical mother, who just happened to be a goddess, to defeat Deleriel. Then they planned on taking me out. I’m not supposed to exist in this world, anyway, and neither is Dan. We’re unnatural, and they’re afraid of what I can do if I learn to harness all my gifts.
I swallow thickly. Suddenly, my mouth feels full of sawdust. There are very few things that scare me anymore, Silas being one of them, and Kane’s bosses being the other. I’d never see it coming. They could just pass judgement, and it would be over before I could blink.
I’ve survived too much to die now.
Especially at the hands of some bureaucratic supernatural government.
“What’s going on in here?”
Both Kane and I whip our heads around at the sound of Nathaniel’s voice. How did he get in here? I told Doc to keep everyone out.
He’s drawn right to where my ghost is trapped.
“What did you do, Emma?” His eyes are wide, but there’s no fear there. He looks more impressed than horrified.
“I trapped a soul eater.”
“With a circle of The Between. Gutsy.” He walks around the circle. “But how are you planning on getting her out now that she’s pigged out on wraiths?”
It shouldn’t surprise me he knows all about The Between, but it does. I guess I figured the only people who know about it are living reapers like me, and there aren’t many of us out there.
He gives me a sheepish smile. “It pays to know everything about the supernatural when you run in our circles.”
I guess that is true enough, but I don’t trust his words. As much as I want to, I just don’t. I hope he proves me wrong.
“You should probably go back outside with the others. When she gets out of the circle, she’s going to try to find someone to munch on to regain some of her strength.”
“I’m protected. She won’t be munching on me.”
“Protected?”
He nods. “My grandparents warded me against everything they could think of. There’s not a lot that can get past my defenses.”
Good to know, in case I have to be one of the things that gets past his defenses.
“But what about you? Are you protected?”
“Yes,” I say and look back to the ghost, putting my worries about Nathaniel away for the minute. I need to get this done before the ambulance gets here. “Can you stand out of the way, please? Protected or not, I don’t want to have to worry about you and me both.”
My eyes flicker to Kane, and he nods. He’s ready if I need help, even if that might get him killed. It’s good to have friends who have your back, no matter what.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Nathaniel asks, his eyes glued to the ghost.
“Just stay out of my way.”
Taking a deep breath, I force my legs to move and walk over until my toes touch the edge of the circle.
Cold.
The Between is the coldest place I’ve ever visited. There’s no heat at all. It’s a desolate place of unforgiving nothingness.
That’s what seeps up out of the circle and wraps around me. At first, I fight it because it reminds me of being trapped, unable to move, but then I remember Kane’s lessons.
The Between is made up of everything I am. It’s cold and stark, like death. I am death. All reapers, living or not, bring death to souls. We convince them to move on, instead of clinging to the last trappings of their lives. Death isn’t unkind or cruel. It’s simply the natural succession of life. Souls are meant to move on from this life to the next.
Once I remind myself I am the cold, it stops scaring the bejesus out of me. I embrace it and step over the circle and into the ring with Miss Piggy the soul eater.
She snarls and reaches for me, and I don’t flinch. Her hands wrap around my upper arms, and she tries to latch onto my soul. I can feel her rooting around, trying to catch the broken, shattered strands of my soul.
But she can’t.
When she realizes she can’t, I finally smile. The one I reserve for people who piss me off, the one full of teeth and the promise of pain.
She tries to flee, but there is nowhere to go. She’s trapped. I can feel the hatred oozing out of her, but I pay it no mind. Instead, I open up that part of myself that is a reaper. It only takes a moment to find it.
Without warning, the ghost shrieks and flies at me, knocking me backward and out of the circle. I land with an audible thump.
That stung.
“Your eyes…” Nathaniel whispers, his voice a little awed.
“Never seen a living reaper before?” Kane asks and startles Nathaniel so badly he stumbles backward.
“Who are you, and where did you come from?” My brother looks a little pale. I’m guessing people don’t get the jump on him easily.
“I’m Kane.”
“A little help here?”
Kane leans down and helps me to my feet. “You okay, kid?”
“Yeah. My hip took the brunt of it. I’ll be fine.”<
br />
“Back to my question. Have you ever met a living reaper before?” Kane turns his attention back to my brother.
“No.” Nathaniel looks from me to Kane. “Do their eyes always glow like that?”
“Only the most powerful ones. Your sister is the strongest I’ve ever met. Most stubborn too.”
“Hey!” I am not that bad.
Kane gives me a cheeky grin in reply.
“Let’s focus on the ghost and not on my stubborn streak.” I glance back at the ghost, irritated. She’d gotten the jump on me, and I don’t like it. Not one little bit.
“Can you collect them from this side of the circle?” Nathaniel keeps his eyes on Kane, still not sure who he is and why he’s here.
“If that was the case, I’d already have done that,” Kane tells him sarcastically.
“Nathaniel, Kane’s a full-fledged reaper.”
Something slithers behind his eyes. If I hadn’t been staring straight at him, I’d have missed it. It’s something dark, and it sets off internal alarm bells.
“Hey, Kane. Can you come over here and stand next to me in case I need help?” I motion to the opposite side of the circle, the side farthest from Nathaniel.
Nathaniel’s face is deceptively blank, but I think he knows I saw something I didn’t like. Just one more reason to be cautious.
Kane frowns but does as I ask. Once he’s safely away from Nathaniel, I take another deep breath and step back into the ring. Round one went to Miss Piggy, but I’m going for the knockout round.
She’s on the offensive the second I’m in the circle, but this time I’m ready for her. I push my reaping powers out, imagining long ropes reaching and binding her. Wispy white cords form and latch onto the ghost, holding her.
The minute she realizes she’s bound, she starts to fight me, twisting and turning, doing everything she can to escape.
I turn inward, closing my eyes and tasting the air around me. The scent of death is everywhere. She’s so old and angry, she stinks of rot and decay. Rage has eaten her alive. There’s nothing left of the woman she was.
At least, not that I can find. To help her, I need something that belonged to her or something that would be familiar, anything to reawaken even a whisper of a memory of who she was.
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