Sophia caught the forced nonchalance in his voice. “I guess we’re going to have to draw up papers to fight the state.” She refilled her teacup. “We didn’t find anything yet, but I suggest we go to the courthouse and look in the public land records next week.”
“Monday, you can do that.” Arturo straightened his tie. “I’ll work with Garren to come up with a strategy and a plan B. It’s very difficult to win an eminent domain case.”
“So what are we doing today?” Sophia tried to keep her voice even. If Arturo was a demon, wouldn’t he be able to sense her fear? Feed off of it? Or was that just the way it worked on television? Her hand shook as she picked up her teacup and sipped.
“I need to go over some legal documents with Garren.” Arturo yawned. “I’m exhausted from travel, though. I think I’ll take a quick nap and refresh. Would you mind if we picked up on business in a few hours?”
Garren’s mouth set in a firm line. “That’s fine. Shall we meet in the sitting room?”
“Yes. Say seven o’clock? Sophia, if you’re available, will you join us?”
“Of course.” Anxiety pooled in her stomach. Wouldn’t the portal be opened at midnight or was that a ghost story, too? She shuddered. “I’ll be there.”
Arturo smiled and stood. “I’ll retire to my room now. See you both at seven.”
Garren nodded.
They sat in silence until Arturo’s footsteps faded.
“Now what?” Sophia whispered. She set her cup on the table.
“Now, we wait.”
Sophia swore that time had slowed down. She’d talked to Garren, taken a shower, and changed into a white blouse and clean jeans. The good guys wear white, right? The clock had moved so slow, she wondered if it really had stopped for a while. Finally, it was ten till seven. Garren was probably already waiting in the sitting room.
She pulled her room door closed behind her. The hallway seemed longer and darker than usual, like a tunnel. She gulped down her fear and headed for the stairs.
Sunset filtered through the windows of the tower stairs, bathing everything in shades of red. Sophia took a deep breath and headed downstairs. Halfway down, she stopped. A whole gaggle of orbs floated around her.
“You can do this, Sophia,” a soft voice whispered. “You were meant to do this.”
“Save us.”
“Save the inn.”
“Garren needs you…”
She scrambled down the remaining stairs. She would never get used to having ghosts around.
The inn lay wrapped in silence so loud, she felt pressure in her ears. Shadows ran in long lines down the wooden floor, the sconces dimming as she walked through the first floor hallway to the reception desk.
The antique clock chimed, breaking the thick silence, each note deeper than the last and the echo barely fading before the next strike. The notes reverberated in her gut.
Seven o’ clock.
The door to freedom beckoned. She could leave now and be far from the inn by the time anyone realized it. Hop in the car and be far away by the time the portal opened. She paused.
No, I can’t do that to Garren. I promised I would help.
After a deep breath, and a moment to steady her shaking hands, she headed toward the sitting room.
He needs me. Blackbird Inn needs me.
She heard the men before she saw them. They were talking as if nothing was about to happen. No portal, no demons. No Alexandra. How could they both be so calm? A small fire burned in the fireplace, warming the room and casting it in oranges and yellows.
“Sophia,” Arturo smiled.
Shivers raced up her spine as cold slid around her, enveloping her. In another setting, she’d be drooling over the man. He had a presence about him that exuded confidence and sexiness, a charisma that charmed most anyone around him.
She looked at Garren and her heart warmed. A different kind of handsome, and her body betrayed her preference. He’d made her feel special in bed and out—and she bet Arturo just took what he wanted. No comparison. Garren’s hair, pulled into his trademark ponytail, shone in the light and his eyes twinkled as he watched her. He was a man that she could spend a lot more time with. I hope we get the chance.
“Join us!” Arturo pointed to a spot beside him on the couch.
Though she’d rather sit near Garren, she couldn’t call attention to their new relationship, or tip off Arturo in any way. She joined Arturo on the couch, sitting as far from him as she could without being rude.
“We were talking legal strategies.” Garren leaned forward. “Arturo thinks we have a solid case. The state has no good reason to seize this land. It isn’t like they are putting a road directly through the mountain.”
“I hope we can win. It’s always scary fighting the government.” Sophia fiddled with the ends of her hair. She didn’t know how long she could keep up the ruse, but Arturo didn’t seem to smell her underlying fear. Either that or he hid it well.
The thought chilled her.
“We’ll win.” Arturo said. “I’m confident. But we need to prepare.”
“Whatever I can do to help,” Sophia said. “That’s why I’m here.” She forced a smile.
Garren cleared his throat. “Blackbird Inn’s resources are at your disposal. Just tell me what you need and I will make it happen.”
The dimming flames popped and crackled. Having a fire was so nice in the late fall when the nights grew cold. Light and warmth and a hot man. What more could she want?
No demons. No ghosts. No portals.
Arturo stood and moved to stand in front of the fire, his form silhouetted by the flames. “I think the first thing that would help is a tour of the property. I can get a better idea of what’s here, and why the state wants to seize it.”
His eyes held rings of glowing red. Sophia blinked and his eyes were brown again.
“Sure, that’s fine.” Garren stood. “When would you want to do that?”
He glanced back at the fire again then turned to them. “No time like the present.”
Chapter 11
Sophia clutched her sweater, thankful she’d retrieved it from her room before they went outside. She held the flashlight in front of her, sweeping the ground with its yellow beam as she followed Garren and Arturo around the property. The fall night held a chill and when the breeze blew, it was downright cold. They’d walked a good bit of the grounds, seeing the barn and fields. Arturo had pretended to be interested, but she knew what was coming. He was biding time.
“And this is the cemetery.” Garren stopped at the tall, iron gate. “It’s small. Most of my family is buried here.”
“Let’s go in.” Arturo lifted the latch and swung the creaking gate open.
Shit’s about to get real. Sophia stuck her hands in her pockets. Shouldn’t they have brought a weapon of some sort? How would she and Garren defend themselves against a demon? Garren had said mortal weapons would be useless, but she would feel a lot better knowing she had a knife or something. Or even pepper spray. Her heart thumped.
“Okay, but there’s nothing to really see here.” Garren followed Arturo inside.
Sophia took a deep breath. The portal wasn’t in the cemetery, but it still felt creepy to be poking around a dark graveyard on Halloween night.
An owl hooted in the distance, followed by the howl of some kind of wolf or dog. The breeze picked up, sending leaves scattering and rustling across her path. The tombstones rose in the darkness, almost appearing to float in the mist that hovered just over the ground.
She wanted to be next to Garren, close to his warmth, but Arturo couldn’t be tipped off to their relationship. He had to think she was there to help him, and him only. But what would he want from her? How would he draw power?
She shuddered.
“These are all your family?” Arturo waved his hand in an arc.
Garren shone his light over the tombstones. “Yes, mostly. My family has owned this land for over two hundred years.”
; All the flashlights shut off and darkness closed in.
“What the…” Garren mumbled.
The moon, now full and bright, came into view as the clouds parted, its almost silvery disc looming over the cemetery like a watchdog. Garren looked up at the sky, his golden chains trailing across the cemetery and back toward the house.
Sophia covered her mouth with her hand. Did Arturo know she could see the chains? After all, he apparently knew she was a descendant of witches. She looked away before he could notice.
She shook her flashlight and the beam flickered then came back on, followed by Garren and Arturo’s lights.
I hope they stay on.
“Thank goodness,” Garren said. “Have you seen enough here?”
“Yes,” Arturo gazed around. “I think so.”
“We’ve about seen all there is to see, or all that we can in the dark. Are you ready to go back to the inn?”
The owl hooted in the distance again, its cry echoing off the stone face of the inn. Sophia wanted nothing more than to get inside, but she knew that wasn’t happening yet. Until Arturo was down, they’d be outside.
“We passed an old well between the barn and the cemetery.” Arturo set off walking. “I’d like to get a closer look before we go back.”
“Okay. Why?”
“It looks really old. Maybe there’s a marker or something that dates it.” Arturo stuck his hands in his pockets. “Besides, it looks interesting.”
Garren followed Arturo. “Come on, Sophia.”
“Coming.” She kicked at the pebbles on the ground and watched the two men head for the gate. Was she ready for the showdown? Did she have a choice?
Then she noticed them. Silvery orbs rose through the fog, winking dimly. One from each grave. They hovered close to the ground, partly covered by mist, like a bubble bath on the cemetery ground. Sophia relaxed, her shoulders easing. Arturo didn’t see them, but the ghosts were there.
She and Garren weren’t going to have to fight the demon alone.
Aboveground, the well was nothing more than a circle of stone about three feet high. Moss covered the ancient structure, and the grass around it grew nearly as high as the well itself. The wind whipped her hair into her face and Sophia shivered. The area around the well was not only cold it was frigid. Her teeth chattered and she tugged her sweater close.
When all this was over, she’d curl up in Garren’s arms and stay warm.
Arturo approached the well with sure steps. Sophia backed away, her heart throbbing in her throat. A cold sweat broke out on her palms and she slid her hands down her jeans.
“What are you doing?” Garren stepped close to Arturo, the golden chains moving like silk across the ground. “It’s getting colder. We should go inside.”
A rumbling began, low at first but growing louder, coming from deep underground. Sophia’s breath hitched and she backed up.
What the hell was going on?
Arturo roared and turned, his eyes orange with flame. The ground trembled and shook. He grew taller, more muscular and he began to chant an indecipherable spew of words, guttural and deep. As he spoke, the boards covering the well began to loosen, creaking as they flew away.
The wind picked up, roaring like a near-hurricane, and the ground quivered.
Sophia screamed, “What are you doing?”
Arturo turned to face her, spoke a few indecipherable words, then raised his hands into the air. Leaves and twigs swirled around him creating a vortex that centered over the now-open well. Garren backed away to stand by Sophia.
“What can we do?” She raised her voice against the maelstrom.
“Wait!” Garren took her by the hand and squeezed.
The moonlight disappeared and the flashlights went out again. Sophia dropped hers and held onto Garren. Arturo was too busy orchestrating the opening of the portal to pay any attention to them. He danced and chanted in the dark and then the wind stopped.
Instantly.
The night filled with silence. Not even an insect or night creature sounded.
Was it over? Sophia was sure he could hear the thudding of her heart. What the hell had she and Garren been thinking? They couldn’t fight a demon. They needed to run.
Now!
Whoosh! A beam of bright red light shot up from the well, slowly transitioning to pure white as it leapt into the sky. Sophia shielded her eyes. Arturo continued to chant and the beam of light strengthened until it was as bright as day outside.
He screeched, a piercing sound that struck straight through her, and she covered her ears. Garren held his head and tried to back away.
Arturo grabbed Sophia, yanking her to him, then grinned, his teeth now sharp and pointy and much larger. He raked his fingernail across her cheek, leaving it burning. She touched her cheek and looked at the fresh blood.
Quiet settled over the area again and the ground stilled.
Sophia shrieked and Garren lunged at Arturo. With ease, Arturo knocked Garren into the air, sailing. He crumpled to the ground motionless.
“Garren!” Sophia tried to wrench herself away from Arturo but he held her tight.
“You will help me.” Arturo laughed and swiped a finger of blood from Sophia’s cheek. The cut burned and throbbed and she winced as he wiped the blood off again.
He drew a symbol, somewhat like a triangle inside a circle, on the stone well wall and the ground began to tremble again. Sophia dropped beside Garren. He wasn’t moving.
Oh, God, is he dead?
She screamed, her anger piercing through the night, her heart heavy with the possibility of Garren’s death. The air filled with orbs of all sizes, floating and bobbing in the air. One by one, they swooped toward Arturo and he pawed at the air to get them to go away but his hands passed through them without touching them at all.
Family!
Sophia stood, hoping to be undetected. Arturo was not getting away with releasing Alexandra. Over my dead body. She clenched her fists.
A female voice pierced the air.
Alexandra.
She was coming! The ground rumbled and shook as the orbs continued to strafe Arturo. He swatted at them, and then climbed up onto the well wall to reach the higher ones. His face contorted and he spit, trying anything to get the ghosts to leave him alone.
This is my chance.
Sophia lunged, arms out, and hit Arturo with as much force as she could. He stumbled and fell backward into the well, his body thudding as it hit the walls on the way down.
Adrenaline rushed through her and she steadied herself with a hand on the well. The orbs alighted around her, forming transparent human shapes, then people. Bernadette came forward, reaching for Sophia.
The light from the well flickered. Would Arturo be able to escape? The portal hadn’t closed.
“Sophia,” Bernadette called. “Repeat after me and spread your blood on the stones as you do.”
Sophia nodded, her mouth parched.
“Gates of hell you hold within, close ye now, again.”
Sophia drew an “x” with her finger across the bloodied symbol Arturo had drawn. The light grew red and shrank and lamentation and screams came from the well. The ground shook once, then stopped. The light from the well turned golden. She backed away, shaking, and right into Garren. He pulled her close.
“You did it,” he said.
“You’re alive!”
“Yes.” He kissed her forehead.
“Not yet!” Bernadette and the other ghosts formed a circle around the well and began chanting. “We’ve got to seal the portal gate.”
Hundreds of blackbirds swarmed in from the sky, each dropping a small pebble into the well. The hundreds of birds became thousands and the pebbles rained into the well until the last of the golden light blinked out.
Wings fluttering in every direction, the birds dropped more shiny pebbles till they filled the well to the top. Sophia watched, her mouth agape, as the birds finished the job then flew away, leaving one bird to dance along the t
op of the stones.
He squawked and flapped his wings as he hopped about the top of the pebbles.
“Thank you.” Garren saluted the bird.
The blackbird tipped its head in a bow then flew away.
Silence once again filled the air.
Sophia clung to Garren, her head on his chest listening to the very real beating of his heart. If anything had happened to him, she would’ve been crushed. The ghosts began popping back to orbs, murmuring “thank you” and floating away on the night like bubbles.
Bernadette approached them, touching Sophia softly on the shoulder.
“I knew you could do it,” the ghost whispered. “I knew you would save Blackbird Inn.”
Garren hugged Sophia. “I knew you would, too.”
Sophia smiled. Good thing they had faith in her because she certainly hadn’t felt like much of a savior. “I can’t believe it’s over.”
“Let’s go back to the inn and get some tea.” Garren kissed her on the forehead. “I’m sure Bernadette will be happy to make us a pot.”
“Sorry.” Bernadette cast her eyes to the ground. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” Garren asked. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “Because it’s time for me to move on.”
“No!” Garren reached for her.
Sophia’s eyes filled with tears. She’d barely gotten to know Garren’s great-grandmother but she felt a kinship deeper than family with her. “You can’t leave.”
“I have to. My job here is done. Blackbird Inn is safe for now.” Bernadette began to fade. “I’m no longer needed here.”
“But what about Arturo and Alexandra?” Garren reached for Bernadette but she continued to disappear. “Won’t the portal always be at risk? What if they come back?”
“Until another demon comes for them, they are stuck. Guard the portal. Be especially wary of Samhain…” She began shrinking, light coming from her eyes and ears and mouth in spokes of white.
“I don’t know how.” Garren’s grasp slipped right through the fading Bernadette.
“Sophia will help you.” The last words faded and Bernadette’s orb popped out of existence. “She is a guardian of Blackbird Inn…”
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