by Morse, Jayme
And maybe he was. Seth never told her the truth about his whereabouts after he’d changed into a werewolf, either. Maybe her cousin was keeping things from her the same way her brother had.
Sighing, Samara turned to her pack members who actually were present. “I guess we can do this now. I’m thinking that only Luke and I should move the game piece because it only worked when it was just the two of us last time.”
Emma nodded. “That seems like a smart idea. And I have a notebook and a pen here, so I’m ready to write whatever the ghosty says.”
“Ghosty? You make it sound like we’re trying to contact Casper the Friendly Ghost,” Colby chuckled.
“Well, it’s Matthias the Friendly Ghost,” Emma replied happily. “At least, he seems to be friendly enough. Hopefully, he’ll be more talkative this time so we can actually figure everything out.”
“Okay, quiet guys,” Samara whispered, pressing a finger against her lips. Sitting down on the floor and lightly resting her fingers on the indicator, she glanced up at Luke.
He sat down next to her and covered his hand with hers, sending that icy, fiery spark through her body that she felt every time they touched. Closing her eyes and hoping that this was going to work, she whispered, “I summon the spirit of Matthias.”
“Do we know his last name?” Luke asked her quietly.
Samara shook her head. “No, we don’t.”
They waited . . . and waited.
After a few minutes had gone by, Samara sighed. “I don’t think he’s going to come back today.”
At that moment, she felt the indicator moving beneath her fingers. She met Luke’s eyes, and he nodded. He felt the indicator moving, too.
Samara watched as their hands were dragged to the ‘S’ and then to the ‘T’.
“S-T,” Emma read out loud, scribbling the letters down as the piece moved over them. “A-Y-A-W-A-Y.”
“Stay away,” Colby whispered.
“From who?” Samara asked.
The indicator began to move again, this time dragging quickly to each letter. Samara watched as it spelled out VYKA.
Chapter 16
“Matthias?” she questioned, even though she already knew from the tone of the spirit that it wasn’t him. This spirit somehow seemed different . . . and darker . . . than Matthias had seemed the last time they’d communicated with him on the spirit board.
The indicator was dragged over to NO.
“Maybe it’s Joe McKinley,” Emma suggested, twirling a piece of blonde hair around her fingertip. “Maybe he heard you summoning him the first time we did this, but he couldn’t respond to us until right now for some reason.”
Before Samara could ask the spirit anything, the indicator slid over to NO.
“Who are you, then?” Luke prompted the spirit.
The indicator moved to the B and then to E. Emma wrote the letters down and once the game piece had stopped moving, she glanced up at them all. “Bennett?”
“Bennett, do you know anything about black magic?” Samara asked the spirit, crossing her fingers.
The indicator moved over to YES.
Samara breathed a sigh of relief; at least this spirit knew about black magic, too. Maybe there was still a chance that he could tell them something that would help them.
“Do you know anything about the Trusted Ones?” Luke questioned. When Bennett moved the indicator to YES, Luke met Samara’s eyes with a look of hopefulness.
“How do the Trusted Ones fight against black magic?” Samara asked. She read out the letters that the indicator moved to and when it stopped, she glanced over at Emma, who pieced the string of letters into words.
“By killing it?” Emma wrinkled her nose in confusion. “How would a trusted one kill magic? That doesn’t even sound possible. I thought magic was just, like, air.”
Samara felt the indicator dragging her fingertips across the board again. This time the indicator spelled out WITH CANDLES.
“With candles?” Luke asked, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. “How do candles kill black magic?”
The indicator moved to a string of letters.
“Crimson candles?” Emma asked, cocking her head.
In response, the indicator moved across the board quickly. Once it was done moving, Emma read, “They summon bad spirits.”
“How?” Samara asked, turning back to the board.
SACRIFICE.
Samara felt a knot twist inside her stomach. She recalled that Colby had once told her that he’d read that werewolves who used black magic to fight had to make a human sacrifice once a month during the full moon. Even though it had left a sour taste in her mouth, she had pushed it into the back of her mind. She hadn’t heard people in her area being killed that often. And if Colby had been right, it would have meant that her brother and Declan were involved in something far darker than she wanted to believe they were capable of.
But after seeing this spirit say that sacrifice was used to summon bad spirits with these crimson candles, Samara had to wonder if what Colby had read had been true all along. The Vyka really were involved in human sacrifice.
When no one said anything, the indicator began to move on its own again.
“Human blood is used to invoke bad spirits,” Luke said out loud once it was done. “What do these bad spirits that you’re talking about do? Why are they bad?”
The indicator spelled out the words: THEY KILL.
Samara felt a lump form in the back of her throat. “Who do they kill?”
WEREWOLVES.
“Okay, I’m gonna be honest. This shit is really starting to freak me the hell out,” Steve said. “Are you sure neither of you are moving that thing? Don’t play games like this with us. It’s not making anyone laugh.”
“We’re not moving it,” Samara replied without even bothering to look at Luke to see what his answer was. As his mate, she was able to sense his emotions at times . . . and right now, she could feel the fear that was running through his veins, the same way it was through her own.
“Do you know if the Vyka pack has used these crimson candles to invoke bad spirits?” Luke questioned.
Samara was expecting the spirit to say ‘no’, but the indicator quickly slid over to YES. Next, she asked, “So, let me see if I understand this. The candles are what they’re using to practice black magic. Is it the only thing they’re using?”
CORRECT.
“How do we find the Trusted Ones?” Luke asked. “We need to find them.”
The indicator noisily slid across the board.
“Easy,” Samara said, piecing together the letters. “I am one.” She felt her own face go white, as she glanced up at Luke. The look in his green eyes mirrored the surprise and hopefulness that she felt.
“Can you help us beat the black magic the Vyka are using?” Luke questioned.
Bennett moved the indicator, slowly moving from letter to letter. Once the indicator finished moving, Emma said, “Give me a minute. I need to figure this one out.”
After a few moments of piecing the letters into words, she read out loud. “Light a few white candles. I’ll wait here while you get one.”
Samara didn’t even bother to question why they had to light a candle; she trusted that this spirit was going to tell them the truth. Turning to Colby, she asked, “Do you have any white candles we can light?”
“Only the warm vanilla sugar scented ones from Bath and Body Works,” Colby replied hesitantly. “Is that okay?”
Pressing her fingertips on the indicator again, Samara watched as it was moved to the YES. “Yup, warm vanilla sugar candles work.”
“Sweet,” Colby said, strolling out of the room and down the hall.
“This is so exciting,” Emma commented, her eyes full of wonder. “I love talking to spirits. Maybe we can try contacting Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley next.”
Samara laughed. “This Ouija board can be used to contact werewolves only. We can always pull out my old human Ouija board, thoug
h, if you want,” she said, just as Colby came back into the room, his arms full of white candles.
“Hey, Colby Jack, what are you doing with vanilla scented candles, anyway?” Steve joked. “Do you light them up when you’re taking a bath to make yourself feel all sexy?”
“No . . . they’re my mom’s,” Colby replied, sheepishly.
Emma burst into laughter.
Samara shot her a glare, as she began to place the candles in a circle around the Ouija board. “Please tell me you’re not making fun of him right now, too. This is some serious stuff. We don’t have time to make fun of each other.”
“No, I wasn’t making fun of him,” Emma replied. “You should hear some of the thoughts that run through this kid’s head sometimes. It’s kind of amusing. He could probably be a comedian.” Emma turned to Colby. “Yes, you are just a kid, Colby Jack,” she said, apparently in response to one of his thoughts. “You still live with your mom. You’re not an adult yet.”
Huffing, Colby plopped back down on the couch that he’d been sitting on, and handed Samara a box of matches.
She stared at the matches that she held in her hands for a minute. She’d always been afraid of lighting candles . . . and having candles lit, in general. When she was a child, her mom had caught one of the curtains on fire once when she was trying to light Seth’s birthday candles.
But, now, as Samara lit the candles, she didn’t feel afraid of fire anymore. Even if it lit the house on fire, the fact of the matter was that it couldn’t kill her or any one of her pack members. Somehow, knowing that made her feel stronger and more powerful than the tiny little flames that the match produced as it touched the candles’ wicks.
Once all the candles were lit, Samara turned back to the Ouija board. “Now what do we do?”
The indicator swiftly moved across the board. It spelled out: SUMMON THE TRUSTED ONES.
Samara glanced over at Luke nervously. Were they going to be talking to more than just Bennett now that they were going to be summoning the Trusted Ones (which implied that there would be more than one spirit)? This could get to be really confusing.
Luke nodded at her encouragingly. It will be okay, don’t worry. I have a good feeling about this.
Quietly, Samara said, “I summon the Trusted Ones.” When nothing happened, she repeated herself, this time more loudly.
All of the walls in the room began to tremble, the lights flickering. Books, board games, and other items were sent to the floor in an earthquake-like rumble.
“What’s happening?” Emma shrieked, jumping into Colby’s lap, just as all of the candles that were lit were blown out by a gust of wind, leaving them in darkness.
Reaching for Luke’s hand, Samara watched as three glowing figures formed in front of them.
Chapter 17
“Someone beckoned us?” the woman, who was standing in the center of the three spirits, asked as the room stopped shaking. Her body was transparent, and she had long, dark hair and delicate features, but it was easy to tell from her toned body that she had once been a werewolf.
“Nadia, I thought we already went over this. Young people of today don’t use the word ‘beckoned’,” the short, stocky man standing next to her said impatiently. He turned to look at them. “Do any of you even know what ‘beckoned’ means?”
“Of course we know what beckoned means,” Emma replied matter-of-factly.
“You do?” Colby asked, glancing around her shoulder.
Emma just rolled her eyes at him and huffed before moving out of his lap.
The third spirit, the tall man on the right, smiled at them and bowed. “Hello, I’m Bennett. It’s an honor to meet you.”
“I’m Nadia,” the woman said, “and this is Dante.”
“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Samara replied with a smile. “I’m Samara, and these are my pack members—” she started to say, but Dante interrupted her.
“There’s no need for you to introduce yourselves. We already know all about you. We’ve actually been residing in this house for years now. It’s nice to finally see some life around here for once. It makes our lives . . . or should I say deaths . . . much less boring.”
“So, you’re ghosts then?” Luke asked.
“We prefer to be called spirits,” Nadia replied matter-of-factly. “We lived many years ago.”
“Did you know my grandfather?” Samara asked. “His girlfriend owned this house before she died.”
Bennett nodded. “We used to help him, back when he used to fight against the Vyka and other practitioners of black magic.”
“Do I dare say that Joe McKinley wouldn’t have been half the werewolf he was without our help?” Dante asked, placing his hands on his hips confidently.
Nadia bobbed her head in agreement. “You speak the truth.”
“Okay, I gotta be honest. I don’t really care that you guys made Joe McKinley powerful,” Steve said. “I’m just dumbfounded we can really see you. I never thought ghosts existed.” He had a scared expression on his face; he was afraid of the spirits that stood before them.
Dante laughed. “Don’t worry, son. We’re bona fide spirits.”
“Bona fide? You mean you’re spirits without bones?” Emma questioned.
Colby chuckled. “Bona fide means genuine. I think that means that they’re good spirits. Right?” he asked, turning to Bennett.
Bennett nodded. “Yes, you can say that about us. We are called the Trusted Ones because we are honest and true. We don’t take part in the dark arts, like the spirits the Vyka have been conjuring.”
“Are you the only ones who are trusted?” Emma asked, quietly. “I mean, are there others out there like you who we can trust, too?”
“Of course there are others,” Nadia replied with an eye roll. “We’re all over the world. Most of us spend our days sleeping, though. Or people watching. I don’t think any of us have been conjured since Joe needed our help to fight the Vyka.”
Samara felt a wave of relief wash over her body. It somehow made her feel calmer knowing that these spirits—these Trusted Ones—were the same ones who had helped her grandfather ward off black magic. It made her feel like she could trust them even more. “Can you tell us how you can help us?”
“We’ll kill the other spirits,” Dante explained.
“Or we’ll try to, at least,” Bennett agreed. “Have you ever witnessed anyone using black magic kill someone?”
Samara nodded. “Yeah, Jason has killed in front of us before.”
“Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?” Bennett asked.
She hesitated; when he had killed Lilly, it didn’t seem like there was anything different about her death than any other werewolf fight. “No, there wasn’t anything weird or unusual about it if that’s what you’re asking.”
“That’s probably because he wasn’t actually using black magic during that kill,” Nadia explained. “What normally happens is the fighter using black magic calls upon the bad spirits—or the dark spirits, as we sometimes call them—and then they do all the work for them. The wolf can kill without even touching who they’re trying to kill.
“Of course, the fighter does need to feed the spirit, if you will, which is why they must make human sacrifices regularly . . . during the full moon. After the dark spirits kill someone, they are usually very hungry. Feeding the spirits keeps them happy enough to keep coming back and killing again. It also makes them a lot stronger, though. The more often they’re fed, the stronger they’ll get.”
Samara felt a sick feeling form in the pit of her stomach. How could Declan and Seth knowingly be feeding these monsters?
“So, even though these spirits are really strong, you can kill them?” Luke questioned. “I mean, wouldn’t that have to make you extremely strong and powerful, too?”
“I don’t want this to sound like a cliché, but it really depends on how much the wolves we’re helping believe in us,” Bennett replied. “It’s sort of like fairies. In order to conjure
then, one must believe that they exist in the first place. When you need our help, you must put all of your faith in us.”
“What Bennett’s trying to say is that we are as strong as you believe us to be,” Nadia explained. “If you don’t believe, we won’t be able to do very much to help you.”
“During a fight, all we’d need to do is think about you?” Chris asked, leaning forward, seemingly interested in what the spirits had to say. “And you’ll just be able to show up and chase away the bad spirits or do whatever it is you do?”
“Well, that’s mostly all it requires,” Nadia replied, nodding in agreement. “The other part is you will need to light white candles. And then we will need to either outnumber or be strong enough to conquer the dark spirits that we’re up against. We’ll then go on to either kill the fighter you’re trying to beat if we believe that you’re unable to do so yourself, or we’ll at least ward off their powers—so to speak—enough so that you will be able to kill them yourself.”
“You won’t see us during that time, though,” Dante chimed in. “We’ll remain invisible, just like the dark spirits will. That’s mostly so that no outsiders see us, but it also gives us a one up. You see, the dark spirits are unable to see us when we’re not visible. They, on the other hand, form a red cloud-like aura that only we can see. It helps us know where they are, even though they can’t see us.”
Luke cleared his throat. “There was this one time when Jason kind of disappeared into thin air. Did that have to do with black magic?”
Bennett nodded. “Yes, he was likely shielded by one of the spirits. If we wrap ourselves around you, you won’t be visible to anyone else.”
Samara hesitated. All of this sounded sort of simple, but she had a feeling that there was a complexity to it that she didn’t understand yet. “So, this is what made my grandfather so powerful? Just calling on you guys for help?”
“Well, that’s the only thing that we know of that he did,” Bennett replied with a shrug. “There may have been more explanations for his powers, but he never let us in on any of them if there were.”