Chapter 20
Stepping outside Maggie’s ward was one of the harder things I’ve done. The level of personal hate from the ghost hit me in the face. Forget frissons — fire ants were crawling all over me. Gritting my teeth, I set off for the parking garage.
Haris met me a block from the parking garage. Strain lined his eyes and mouth. Today, there would be no dimple. “I couldn’t stand to wait any closer.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d be here. I’m glad you are.”
“What, your personal stalker give up a chance to lurk for you?” But the humor was missing.
“How long have you been waiting?” I hadn’t seen or felt him on my way to Maggie’s, but I’d also rushed past the parking garage as fast as I could.
He shrugged. “Ten minutes?” He faced the structure. “Let’s get this over with.”
Wordlessly, I walked next to him. It took all I had to force my steps against the tide. The anger had strengthened with time, and it was almost a physical force. Glancing to either side, I didn’t see anyone else nearby, and I wasn’t surprised when, as with the one near my home the other day, the garage itself was empty of cars. People might not know why, but they were doing their best to shun this place. I wondered where they were finding to park and imagined the number of parking citations being given had probably soared recently.
“This way.” I assumed that the maintenance room would be in the basement again and headed down.
A tap of my finger opened the electronic lock, but I hesitated rather than opening the door. I wasn’t ready for this.
“It’s only going to get harder.” But he didn’t open the door, either. Following my lead, or feeling as oppressed by the magic as I was?
I held my breath and turned the knob. Holding my breath didn’t help; the reek still hit me like a punch in the face, and I regretted the cookie I’d had at Maggie’s. I was about to lose it all over the floor, and the buzzing of flies around the dead body didn’t help any. Through the cloud of flies, I saw black hair draped over the face of the victim, touches of personal embroidery up the side of her pants that said she liked flowers and pretty colors.
“I can’t do this.” I didn’t realize I’d said the words out loud at first, they were so quiet. Then I repeated them. “I can’t. I don’t have the power. It’s too strong.”
He touched my shoulder, lightly, just enough to reassure me that he was there. “You’re not alone. You can do this. We can do this.”
Easy for him to say. I glared at him.
“Unless you think it would be easier to evacuate Boston to get away from the ghosts?”
Rage burned inside me, and I wanted to let it all out, frying everything in my path. How dare he!
“Good,” he murmured. “Now, focus.” He grabbed my face and turned it toward the decomposing body on the floor.
At his touch, I was flooded with an awareness of him beyond what I’d felt so far — heat and power and creativity flooding all of my nerve endings. Focus on anything else? Impossible!
Yet there was this rage and anger, this vile thing in front of us that wanted to disrupt everything. That couldn’t stand. I reached out with my magic, an arc of power, not the mere trickle I’d used on the first ghost.
The power was waiting for me. Correction — the power was lying in wait for me. It slid to the side, sinuous and smooth, leaving me reaching for nothing, falling forward unsupported. Then the power crashed on top of me, not a wave, but the pressure of the deepest trenches of the ocean, crushing and holding me, pushing me in on myself. My vision went black, and I tasted ocean. I gasped for air, but it didn’t matter. I was drowning in magic.
“I’m here.” A whisper, barely audible over the pounding of blood in my ears, but enough. I wasn’t alone.
Forget about the air. Yes, I could drown here on land, just as the original victim had, but I had two things that she didn’t — my own power, and an ally. Just hold my breath and focus on those two things.
I sent creeping currents, scratching at the scales that coiled around me, seeking the voice I’d heard. There, warmth, go toward that.
Haris grasped my hand, and I felt it even through the pressure surrounding me. “Draw on me.”
His voice and power were symphonies in my ears, dance steps along my nerves, warmth and heat and fire and the promise of more to come. Hope flared in me, pushing back against the crushing anger that tried to put me in my place.
My place? My place was where I wanted it to be! I focused my wrath to laser-like focus. Laser-like? No, I was a technowitch, and electromagnetism was my toy. My magic was a muse-powered laser, and I cauterized sea serpent coils with the force of my will.
I hurt the power wielding those coils. Part of me regretted it — this power, this patron, already wanted to crush me. I was only antagonizing it by fighting back. The rest of me knew that I had to fight back or we would all suffer.
It withdrew, the slow drawing back of the ocean from the shore as a devastating wave built up, ready to crash down on the unsuspecting. The crash did not come — Haris and I had won the battle, but only because this patron was preparing for our next encounter, one that would be even harder to stand before.
Light and air returned. Slowly, I realized I was lying on the concrete floor with Haris still holding my hand. This was really not how I’d imagined our first touch going. I’d expected something more … intimate.
He smiled that smile that told me he knew what I was thinking. “We are alone here.”
“Yeah, just us, the dead body, and thousands of flies.”
He looked over at the body. “Hundreds, maybe. Not thousands.”
Right. That was the important part of that statement.
I tried to push myself up, and he leaned forward to catch me around the shoulders with his other arm. He braced me in a sitting position.
“Easy. That took a lot out of you.”
He was right, but I argued anyway. “Not as much as warding the shop the other day.”
“Which means you didn’t have as much to draw on today.”
“Except for you.”
If I hoped that would lead anywhere, I was disappointed. Haris dropped my hand, and I felt warmth ebb out of me.
“Something had to be done. Come on, I’ll help you out of the garage.”
I didn’t get it. Haris had been pursuing me, stalking me, since we first met. Now, he was walking off without a backward glance.
Maybe he’d seen something when we touched that he didn’t like. Maybe he’d satisfied his curiosity about me. Hell, maybe he was behind these ghosts and he just wanted to judge my strength before he created more.
No, that wasn’t it. His magic felt nothing like the briny coils of hate that had held me so tight. Whatever his motivation, he wasn’t the one killing these women.
That didn’t mean he didn’t have a hand in what was going on, just that his hand didn’t do the deed. Something to keep in mind the next time I saw him. No matter how warm he made me feel.
Sour grapes? Possibly. I didn’t let that bother me as I turned back to the Central T stop to go home, doing my best to ignore the pounding in my skull. Tired and headachey — a wonderful combination.
If I had been empty Monday, I was at negative values of magic now, more mundane than the people around me, grounded in reality. And dead tired. I hoped I didn’t fall asleep and miss my stop.
First, though, I had to navigate the station — which meant bumping into a troll again. My head was down, and I was just focused on getting to where I could catch the train. I didn’t see the troll standing still in front of me until I ran into him.
I looked up and up, to the shaggy brown head towering over me. The same fear that had gripped me last time tried to freeze me in place again, but it paled in comparison to what I’d felt so recently in the parking garage. I took a step back to give myself room and to make it easier to look at him.
“What did I do now? You are still watching me, right?”
“Indeed.” Again, that rumbly baritone. “You have been busy. It disrupts things.”
Great. So it wasn’t just the witches who were going to blame me for everything; the trolls were going to get in on the act. Another day, I might have taken it, but today, this week, I was just too wrung out to care.
“I’m not disrupting. I’m fixing.”
“You are only doing half the job, and it is not enough. Repairs must be made. You are making holes in the city.”
He stared at me, willing me to understand the gravity of what he was telling me.
I rubbed my head, trying to put things together. “The ghosts leave holes behind? Are you saying they belong here?”
He rumbled, and I winced at the noise. Was he angry?
“No. They are … an imperfection introduced into the bedrock, a corruption of what was there. You are separating them out, leaving cavities and cracks where everything may shatter.”
“Banishing the ghosts is a problem? I can’t bring them back to life and magically make everything better, you know.”
This time, the rumble was unmistakably a chuckle. “Magically making everything better is what you are trying to do.”
I couldn’t help it; I laughed, the exhausted laugh of someone on the edge who just needed a release. I was so punchy, it took me a couple minutes to stop, even though what he’d said wasn’t that funny. Finally, “Okay, you’re right. But there are still limits. Even if I could put a spirit back into a week-old corpse, I wouldn’t. Pretty sure that would break things right there.”
“Most likely. I cannot tell you what to do; your ways are not our ways. I only know you must do something to fill the holes.”
“Great. I’ll figure out some magical spackling paste later. Right now, I need to go or I’ll miss my train.”
“As you say.”
I had a lot to think about on the train. Too much, even if my head hadn’t hurt so terribly. I missed my uncomplicated life where I left work at work, hung out with my best friend for movies or shopping once or twice a week, and spent the rest of the time with my family. Extended family, most of which wasn’t mine. And there was the magic. Still, it was simple.
Now? Not so much. Single mothers weren’t supposed to have imaginary creatures expecting them to save the city.
At least the time talking to the troll had focused me. My thoughts no longer started and stopped in half a dozen different directions, blown about with me unable to follow any of them because I had no energy left. My lips twitched. The troll had grounded me.
It had also weighed me down with more work. Hard enough to banish the ghosts, cutting off the patron’s power from the corpses. But now there were these magical holes I couldn’t even see that the trolls expected me to somehow fix as well. I wondered whether touching the troll would help me see the holes as they did, but reluctantly dismissed that idea. I had bumped into this troll, and if there had been any transfer, I’d missed it. I was as blind to what he was talking about as ever.
Which got me back to needing to find somebody who knew something about ghosts. I pulled out my cell phone and called Carole. The other passengers looked at me oddly, and I realized I might be the only one who had a signal down here. Inasmuch as I worried about a signal from a tower — my calls would piggyback on whatever was available in order to reach their destination, as long as it was some form of electric tech. Which, in this case, probably meant the rails that the T ran on. Whatever.
“Pepper. Can I call you back?”
She’d hang up even if I said no, so I said, “Sure. I need to talk about our friends in the T.”
“Don’t antagonize them.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
Chapter 21
I hadn’t even put the phone away when it rang, prompting more dirty looks from the other passengers, as if half of them weren’t playing games or reading downloaded content on their devices anyway.
“Pepper!” Beth, and entirely too hyper for my current mood. “You never finished guessing the other night.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Oh, c’mon, Pepper! It’s been a while since I had a new guy in my life. You could at least be happy for me.”
“I am happy for you,” I said, teasing. “Blissfully, ecstatically happy that you discovered you were dating the wrong guy ten years ago.”
She giggled. “Who would have guessed that we were both dating the same wrong guy?”
“Clay, probably. Have you asked him why he didn’t say anything then?”
“Pfft. Who remembers why they did anything in college? What matters is that we’re happy now!”
I remembered a lot of why I did things in college, from picking my major to dating Brian, to deciding not to follow in my mom’s footsteps. This wasn’t the time and place to tell Beth any of that, though. Especially the bit about Brian.
“Fine. I’m happy for you. Is that all? It’s been a long week.”
“You don’t sound happy.”
“Look, Beth, you caught me at a bad time. I told you, it’s been a long week, I’ve got a lot of pressure from work, Matt’s pushing me about the kids, my mom’s pushing me about a career, everyone’s pushing me about something, and I just do not have the energy to be all giggly college girl with you about your latest crush. Deal with it.”
Silence came from the other end of the phone. had I made her mad enough to hang up on me?
“Just because you’ve taken vows of celibacy—”
“I have not! And my personal life isn’t the topic of discussion.”
“You might as well have.” She ignored my second sentence. “Seriously, when’s the last time you got laid?” Her voice dropped. “I saw the way Matt was looking at you on Friday. I’m sure he’d be happy to do something about that.”
He totally would. Had I not said that Matt was one of the ones pushing me? I sighed. Loudly. “That’s your answer to everything, isn’t it? Just get laid. Don’t worry about how it might affect my kids or my relationship with his family” — or the relationship I’d like to have with Haris — “just run out and get laid, and it’ll solve all my problems. Because that’s worked so well for you, hasn’t it?”
“I can’t believe you said that.”
Neither could I. Beth and I had very different views on physical intimacy, but I thought we agreed to disagree on that. I must be even more fatigued than I thought, saying things like that, things to deliberately hurt her. I considered taking it back.
Meanwhile, I ignored the scandalized look from the one woman who was covering her son’s ears — I couldn’t blame her for that — as well as the hopeful look from the (separate) overly muscled guys wearing shirts branded with rival gyms. Oh, and an interested look from a delicate chica next to the opposite door, too. So Matt wasn’t the only one who’d be willing to do something about me getting laid. Nice to know I had options, even if I was completely uninterested in hook-ups with strangers.
“I called to tell you that I won’t be around to go to brunch with you and your parents this Sunday. Can you apologize to your mom for me? Clay and I are going to a resort for the weekend.”
Beth always came to the monthly brunches, so this had to be serious. I couldn’t begrudge her that.
“A weekend getaway? Where are you going?”
“It’s out on the Cape, a new place Clay knows about.”
“Should be lovely, as long as you’re not overrun by tourists.”
“Everywhere is overrun by tourists in the summer. That’s just life.”
“True enough. So when are you heading out — Saturday morning?”
“No, he’s going to pick me up at lunchtime tomorrow.” She giggled. Again. “Don’t tell my boss I’m ducking out early.”
“You? Never!”
Her laughter echoed in the car, and several passengers looked over. I grimaced apologetically and turned to face the windows.
“I might even call in sick on Monday. How long can I make one weekend last?”
�
��I believe your record is sixteen days, starting the weekend before spring break.”
“Eighteen. I didn't go back to class until Wednesday.”
And Brian had been “out of town” another two days. Just long enough that I wouldn't be suspicious of the pair of them.
Now, I chuckled softly, glad I'd escaped with no more than my pride injured. “I wouldn't try to break your record.”
“Yes, Mom. I'll call you Sunday to let you know I got home all right.”
I blew a raspberry at her, but said, “Do that. Or I might have to come looking for you.”
“As if!”
In the darkness past the windows, lit by the light of our passing train, I saw a pair of trolls. If I'd blinked, I would have missed them. Even now, I couldn't be positive that I'd really seen them. Perhaps it was simply expectation playing on my nerves. The one troll I'd spoken with had said they were watching me. Of course I would look for them.
“Earth to Pepper?”
“Sorry. Thought I saw someone I knew. What were you saying?”
“Give my apologies to your mom and tell her I'll come next month for sure. I'll even stop at a farmers market to get some fruit. And I'll call you in the evening to let you know how my weekend went.” She paused, and I could picture the leer on her face as she continued, “Well, maybe not all the salacious details.”
I only answered her last comment. “Thank goodness!”
She chuckled, having gotten the response she was after. “Don't forget to tell your mom. I have to go now if I'm going to sneak out early for the weekend.”
I let her go, smiling at her enthusiasm, but remained staring out the window. I didn't see any more trolls, although I was looking.
My thoughts hadn't settled any by the time the train pulled in to the Chinatown stop. Haris’s actions still bothered me, but it wasn't as though I could've talked about it with Beth with everyone in the train car listening in. Although … would I talk to Beth the way she talked to me about Clay? What was between Haris and me felt too nebulous for that.
Ghost Garages_A Boston Technowitch Novel Page 14