"Sorry--but you rarely come in here without someone else with you. So--" he held out his long thin hands and gestured at the room.
Too much tea.
He laughed. "I think coming from you, it makes sense."
I pointed to the books. So where in here would I find out stuff on ceremonial magic?
"Why in the hell would you want to learn about that? It's a commanding and compelling art. Something you need stay away from."
I crossed my arms over my chest--and then winced at the pain in my arm and uncrossed them. Damned Shadow freaks. Why would I need to stay away from it? I don't do this stuff.
"No, but you being a Wraith makes you more susceptible to their commanding circles. Ceremonials draw a circle to contain and compel, not to welcome in. If you're in Wraith form--I think if you got too close you could get sucked in. Kinda like Dags—only I don't think there's a way to mojo up a invisibility bracelet for you."
Now that was comforting.
That's not why I'm asking. I looked back at the books. The Reverend Rollins somehow made a deal to have a Symbiont--which prolonged his life and his health. Hirokumi was willing to sacrifice his daughter in order to obtain a Symbiont. So, I turned to look at Tim. Would ceremonial magic play into that kind of deal? Because when I saw him today--he felt like a symbiont, Tim. He had all the oogie--but then he didn't.
Tim nodded slowly as if he were thinking. "So you're thinking there's a symbiont inside of Bonville?"
Maybe. I don't know. Or maybe it's just a piece of one?
"I guess anything is possible in this world, Zoë. But I'm far from the expert to talk to. I think you should try and see things with your Wraith eyes. Go with what you know."
I started chewing on the situation. Was I going off the mark? I didn't know, but I was aware of something tingling inside--as if I was guessing right. So I think maybe learning more about Bonville's past might reveal what his motivations are in this? How Maureen got involve?
"I think you need to know that, and what's in that book," Tim said, and I realized he'd heard my musings.
"Zoë!"
That was Rhonda. Tim and I moved from the botanica to the Tea Shop. Everyone had a book--Mom had the big book. Rhonda was motioning me to where she sat. "I know how Maureen is involved with Bonville."
I needed my board.
And as if reading my mind, my Mom got up--still holding the book--moved to the counter over the cakes and desserts display and picked up my dry erase board. Still without looking up from the book she handed them to me and sat back down.
I love you, Mom.
"I know."
For a second I thought she heard me, and then I saw her half smile and knew she'd only anticipated my mental response. Or had she?
I scribbled. OTHER THAN WORK FOR?
"She didn't work for Dr. Bonville. She worked for Alice Bonville--the ex-wife of Dr. Bonville--at the Livery Bar and Restaurant. That's where the "Alice" person comes from. The restaurant is separate ownership--it was something Dr. Bonville couldn't touch," she pointed to the journal. "Maureen says in her diary that she and Alice were usually late at the restaurant cleaning, taking stock, and sometimes sharing a glass of wine upstairs. Alice confided in her one night that the restaurant was the one thing that was hers alone. And that's the place she kept all her secrets."
Dags looked up. "Was Allard taking things from her in the divorce? Doesn't it work the other way usually?"
"Yeah," Rhonda said. "Alice was an heiress. She had the money--but apparently he signed a pre-nuptial agreement. But, he hired a pretty crooked lawyer and was able to find a few loopholes. Where he couldn't touch the family money, he could and did try and take everything they'd worked together on. So she hid most of it--and kept the restaurant by signing it over to Maureen. But for some reason he wanted the restaurant more than anything else--" she looked up us. "You think it has anything to do with the Shadow People in there? Or those documents? Or--maybe he's after the grimoire? Maybe it's buried in there like the papers?"
"I doubt it," Mom said from where she sat with the book. "According to this--" she looked up at us. "I have the Cruorem Grimoire in my hands."
That shut some books. Rhonda sat up. "You're kidding. You mean it was in Maureen's apartment?"
"Yes. The encryption used in this is extremely elementary--I'm surprised you didn't see it immediately."
I looked at Rhonda. She didn't look happy. My mom can be a bit much.
Yah think?
"And?" Dags said as he nodded to the book.
"Most of it is pretty much the ramblings of an idiot--though albeit a pretty evil idiot."
"Are there lots of spells?"
"There are lots of grandfathered spells." Mom held up the book and we all gathered around. There were lots of older pages, worn and smudged, with a very scriptive handwriting as well as diagrams and symbols. But the newer pages in the back weren't as nicely rendered, nor were there any intricate drawings. "As you can see--the front of the book is part of the older Grimoire, and the back is his new stuff."
"So is the spell he used on me for these," Dags held up his hands indicating the circles that were now invisible. "In the front of the book--the grandfathered stuff?"
"Yes. But you're not going to like it." She pursed her lips as she looked at him. "He made you a component of the Shadow Door."
Everyone stopped and looked at her.
The what?
Rhonda licked her lips. "The what?"
Mom held up the book so everyone could see a full page image of a person being sucked through a portal in the air. I shivered. Tim pointed at the book. "That's just wrong."
"A Shadow Door is a man-made doorway into the Abysmal plane. Sometimes they're created by Coyote Flame."
"That's neutral magic," Rhonda said. "That's not right--not even in the ceremonial world. You don't learn that stuff and then write it down for other people to use--you have to go through years of discipline and training to ever learn that level of magic. I mean, if I understand what I'm seeing, this spell actually pulls or pushes someone physically into the Abysmal plane. What in the hell would you use that for?"
"Well, to enter another plane, or to make someone disappear. Great way to get rid of someone so the authorities never find them."
Everyone grew quiet. Finally I erased my board and scribbled. WHAT HAPPENS TO SOUL WHEN BODY IS SUCKED?
I held it up. Dags grinned. I looked at the board, scowled and added IN to the last word.
Jemmy finally spoke up. "That's a good question, there Zoë. No matter how bad you asked it. My opinion on that would be their souls would remain in the Abysmal after the body dies."
"But remain as what?" Rhonda asked, looking at Jemmy.
The elderly woman had a very sad look on her face as she slowly shook her head. "Shadow Folk."
<><><>
Apparently--and I don't pretend to understand any of it--from what everyone read out of Maureen's journals--Alice Bonville confided in Maureen about having stolen a box from her old house, believing it contained her grandmother's china--something she hadn't wanted the bastard to have. The box sat in her basement for several weeks unopened.
But then he arrived one night on her doorstep, demanding the box back. She'd had to call the police to have him bodily removed. She put a restraining order out on him. She'd called Maureen that night and the two of them went through the box.
It wasn't full of grandma's china.
More like a box full of gitchie-goomies from hell. Candles, parchment, black ink with a foul smell (Rhonda figured it was blood) as well as the book and a folder full of the papers found in the loft of the restaurant. Maureen described finding jars of things with odd labels and smells, a bag of incense sticks and a manila folder.
The folder was what freaked both of the ladies out--inside of the folder were four glossy pictures of four different people. Maureen recognized two of them--both working at the restaurant. Alice recognized the other two as having worked at the
hospital.
Rhonda looked up at Dags who was leaned back on the sofa. I was in my usual perch in the pompasan. My arm and thigh were aching and I really just wanted to curl up and sleep. "Your name is listed as one of the photos."
Dags nodded. "Well, if Bonville is Fafner, then it stands to reason that he probably has pictures of each of the Guardians. Four pictures. It also explains why Maureen took a keen interest in me and what I was doing when I wasn't at the restaurant."
"You think she knew what all the stuff was for?" Rhonda said.
Mom spoke up. "No, but I'm sure Alice knew." She didn't have one of the journals in her lap but instead had the Big Book of Everything. "The Cruorem are mentioned in this book as being one of the largest and most powerful ceremonial cults in the New World--and it was believed they were responsible for the disappearance of over eight hundred people in that time. They are also associated with the appearance of Shadow Folk."
"You're kidding," Rhonda ditched the journal, leaving it where she'd been on the floor and moved to mom in her wicker chair. "I didn't see that in this book."
"You didn't look under Rumors and Really Scary Tales section."
Rhonda smirked. "Yes'm." She looked down at the book. "Wow…it says here that the Cruorem were untouchable--especially when it came to the law of the land. Many occult groups--including one of the larger influential Wiccan covens in England--tried to stop them."
Dags said, "I take it they failed?"
Rhonda looked at him. "They vanished."
I swallowed and eye-balled Dags. And you joined these assholes? You let them mark you?
He looked at me. "So like you've never done anything bone-headed in your life?"
Uh. Well. Hrm. I wasn't gonna pursue that one. I know when to pick my battles. Or so I fooled myself into thinking I did. But what I wanted at that moment was to call the hospital and see how Daniel was doing. I'd tried to get mom to do it earlier but she said Cooper had called and said there was no change.
But Daniel was in the same hospital that this wacko practiced in--and what if said wacko figured out who I was? And what if he did some mean ho-jo to my man?
Well--I'd kick his ass that's what.
Zoë...
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I thought I heard my name.
Come here Zoë...
I sat up. There it was again. And I knew on some weird level that it wasn't anyone in here.
"...somewhere in the past fifty years or so the Cruorem lost their power," Rhonda was saying as she read over mom's shoulder. "It is believed that within the family line several known believers were born and protested that the family "business" of cursing and running amok was a bad idea. When Nora Wynne took over as the head of the family she obliterated the group in one night--and over twenty core members vanished. She was deemed a hero by the locals and went on to settle in North Georgia and became an entrepreneur."
I have the answers...
Shit! That was my voice! Sort of--it had a distinct male timbre to it.
"So how does Alice Bonville fare into this? Why do you think she knew about it?" Dags said.
I promise not to bite...
And abruptly I felt a sensual gnawing along my neck. And much to my unhappy thoughts, it made me bothered in all the wrong places.
Mom sighed. "Because Alice is Nora Wynne's daughter. Alice is the inheritor of the Cruorem."
Rhonda's jaw dropped. "So--if Alice is the head of the Cruorem--what the hell is Allard doing?"
"My assumption is that Alice was following in her mom's footsteps--by putting the whole magical thing behind her. And it was her husband that dredged it all up. From the reaction that Maureen talks about," Mom shook her head. "I'd say either Alice did know what Allard was up to or she was turning a blind eye, until the reality was right in front of her."
I looked at the windows. The wind was blowing and I didn't have to be outside to know it was cold out there.
--even though you like it.
That did it. I knew who it was--and I was both terrified as well as a little curious to see for myself. But there was only one other being in the world that had my voice besides me.
"Nona--" Rhonda said. "This could be bad. Do you think Allard used this door to get rid of Maureen and Alice to get to the grimoire?"
Mom nodded.
"Oh….damn. I'm not feeling so good. You think he knows we have that book now?" Dags sat up.
They're all wrong--but I can give you the answers--you want to protect your little cop, don't you?
I moved out of the Botannica. I somehow knew the voice--my voice--was outside. And I also knew I needed my coat. I grabbed it out of the closet in the kitchen and slipped it on.
"Where are you going, Zoë?" my mom called out.
I walked back into the Botannica and pointed outside and mouthed, "Need air."
"Need air?" Rhonda frowned at me and I noticed Tim was looking at the windows. "It's freezing out there."
I waved at them and stepped outside.
Frigid wind slapped me in the face and I was somewhat happy that I had my hair down--though that was up and whipping about. The front of mom's house is a classic porch that wraps around the house, and she'd decorated it like every other southern woman in Georgia would decorate it--she'd put white wicker chairs to the right of the door and a table between the two.
In the shadows outside I could see him, sitting in one of those chairs, rocking slowly back and forth, his long coat splayed over the arm rests.
Trench Coat, TC, aka, The Archer, smiled at me, and a cold icy shiver raced down my back. "Hello, Zoë. Miss me?"
*****
CHAPTER NINE
The cold outside was nothing compared to the paralyzing fear that abruptly gripped every inch of my body. It was different--thinking of him when he wasn't around. And maybe in a small way, romanticizing his almost--almost--knight in shinning armor emergence that helped me defeat the Symbiont in Rollins.
Romantic? A small part of myself--you know, that little mother look-a-like that sits on your shoulder with the wings--growled at me. You cannot be serious.
I flicked it away like a stray piece of lint. I didn't want that kind of grief right now--this wasn't the time.
You said something about protecting Daniel?
He cocked his head to the side and smiled again. "You need to act fast--destroy the Betrayer."
Why should I believe anything you say?
He shrugged. "Because as you misfits sit around in there and eat your food and talk, the Betrayer has already discovered who you are--and what."
The icy feeling along my back froze my entire body solid. Fear like nothing I could remember before had me in its grip. You mean…you mean Bonville knows what I am?
"Would I lie to you?"
Yes.
I wasn't in the mood to argue who had what minions at that moment. I took a step closer--and he backed up. I mean the spook literally vanished from the chair and reappeared behind it.
Wha--?
His expression didn't tell me anything about what he was thinking. But--was he afraid of me?
TC held up the index finger of his right hand. On it he wore a silver ring with a skull on it. Typical. "Cautious."
Stop reading my mind.
"Stop thinking so loud, Wraith." He held out his hands, palms up. "Do you want to hear how we can be mutually beneficial to one another?"
Gimme back my voice first.
He shook his head. "No can do, lover. Are you open to hearing my offer?"
His use of the word lover just pissed me off. And I knew he was goading me on purpose.
And then something dawned on me. I'm usually the first person who will admit to being a secret blonde--I don't always follow the obvious. And sometimes I see things no one else sees which irritates the hell out of Rhonda on more than one occasion.
As I looked at TC, and I mean really looked at him, I realized he didn't seem to be as menacing as he had been before. He seemed al
most diminished--like there was a vital piece of him missing. Had it been my Wraithy Wail that did this to him? Or something else? Making the deal with me--had he broken some--
You're in service again, the thought came unbidden, but I knew I was right.
The look on his face told me I had nailed it. TC the bad-ass Archer wasn't an independent anymore, but a Symbiont in service to the Phantasm. Just like he'd been in the beginning before his encounter with me had set him apart.
What's wrong with you?
He straightened up, and seemed to grow in size. "There is nothing wrong with me!"
When I didn't move or flinch, standing on the porch with my hands in my pockets, he calmed down. "When our connection was made, the Phantasm wasn't aware of it and I was able to separate long enough to grow strong."
Ahhh…but when you made the deal with me the Phantasm knew--he was there.
"And he took advantage of that," he looked away and I could see his profile. Yep, Vin Diesel. "I have been in his service ever since."
And you think by me helping you--
Hunh. Helping him what?
He looked at me and took a step closer, his duster flaring out about him and he clasped his hands behind his back. "The Betrayer is the same as before--not in identity but in greed. They sought a contract with the Phantasm--wishing eternal life and wealth. And as you know, the Phantasm can grant such things."
Yadda, yadda.
I made rotating motion with the index finger of my right hand. Speed it up.
TC glared at me. Like that was new? "They were given a Symbiont and a contract set. Only the Betrayer wanted even more. So the Phantasm offered them eternal life--"
He can do that?
"Ever heard of the undead?"
Never mind.
TC moved to the edge of the porch and looked up at the moon. It was full and cast his face in a blue hue. I realized then he wasn't wearing his shades.
Wait…where did the moon come from? And where had the wind gone? Too late I realized everything around us had calmed. Still. As if frozen in time. I couldn't hear the others either.
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