The Trouble with Ghosts (Here Witchy Witchy Book 3)

by A. L. Kessler

  “I promised you that I would come. I told Nick that I was coming. Besides, I’d rather be out of the house than there alone, thinking about it. I still have three cases on my plate and another partner I’m working with until these cases are solved. Tonight, I’m going to attempt a trace spell with a consultant that the police brought on scene.” I tried to smile. “I’m going to be okay. Just let me handle this my way, okay?”

  She nodded and hooked arms with me, pulling me towards the backyard of the house. “Then tonight we drink and be merry in Nick’s memory. Except you’re performing magic tonight, so not too much to drink.”

  I laughed a little bit. “A beer at most.” I promised. “I’ll save the hard drinking for when the cases are over.” Or to chase the nightmares away tonight. One or the other.

  She opened the chain-link fence that led into the back yard. A few people stopped and stared at me. I didn’t know them, so chances were they were trying to decide if I was a stranger or if I was actually part of the coven. I was registered as a member, my picture was up on the website and everything, but I didn’t know if anyone actually paid attention to that.

  “Relax a little bit, Abby.” Clarissa whispered in my ears. “Remember, they can sense how tense you are.”

  I forced a smile at the people staring at me, until Jack stepped in front of me. His brown hair had grayed a little bit. Last time I had seen Jack, I’d screamed at him for sideswiping my car and setting off a magical bomb. “Hello, Jack.” I bowed my head out of respect, knowing he still held a priest rank in the coven.

  “Abigail, I’m surprised to see you tonight. I saw the news. We were all worried about you.” He gave a pleasant smile.

  “Clarissa convinced me to come since my birthday was last week and all. Something about me needing community.” I kept my voice light. “We lost some good people in that attack today, I was lucky I wasn’t one. Thank you for your concern.”

  “How is business with PIB, I imagine they keep you busy.”

  “They keep everyone busy, not just me. I just happen to get some pretty tough cases.” That I had a partner to help with this last year. My voice caught in my throat and Clarissa tugged me towards a table.

  “Enough talk about work, you came here to relax and enjoy. We’re celebrating all the birthdays this month, but first, let’s get some food and then we’ll worry about cake.”

  Her cheerful voice was welcoming. I knew she wasn’t just pushing Nick’s death off, but she was the type of person who was there to defuse uncomfortable situations. She would be my rock when I allowed myself to break down.

  We picked through the food on the table, gathering hamburgers, chips, and junk food. I reminded myself that I was going to need to run tomorrow after all of this crap food. I grabbed a beer from the cooler and Clarissa led me to a fairly empty table.

  “So,” she started out by drawing the word. “Any word from Simon?”

  I snorted. “He came in and chewed me a new one for unwarding his bar and threatening his second in command.”

  “That’s not the way to win him back.” Clarissa hid her smile.

  I shook my head. “I’m not trying to win him back. I was trying to do my job and his second stood in my way.”

  “But he came to you to yell at you? That’s got to mean something.”

  I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t; other than that he was pissed. I don’t think things are going to work out. New subject please.”

  “Okay, fine. How’s staying at the parents’ house?”

  I shrugged. “Quiet. Though Levi installed an updated television so I can at least watch that. I think I might make it my permanent home. Insurance is still working on the house.”

  “Have you been to your house since it…imploded?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ve been too busy. Why? I don’t think there was anything that survived.”

  “You can try to figure out what kind of magic did it at least. Give you an idea of what to protect against. Doesn’t it worry you that someone imploded your house?”

  It had at first, but the case had gotten so weird that I didn’t really have time to focus on it. “It should, huh?”

  “Yes, it should. Why don’t you and I check it out tomorrow afternoon? Assuming nothing pops up with the case.”

  I thought about it. I needed to start taking care of personal stuff instead of pushing it away. Nerves curled in my stomach and I took a sip of the beer. “Okay, fine. Just a quick look around to see if there’s any signs of what actually happened.”

  “Just a quick look, promise.” She nodded and took a bite of her burger.

  Jack came and sat with us and I tried not to grit my teeth at the unwelcome jerk. “It’s nice to see you at a coven event when you’re not in trouble or trying to track down one of our own.”

  It’d only happened twice and no one was going to let it go, were they? “Life gets busy when you’re working high profile cases.” I shrugged one shoulder.

  “You can’t always be working.” He suggested. “What about when you take vacations?”

  I had taken a couple vacations in the last year. One, Simon had sent me to Florida to relax, and one was a book fest that dealt with a demon. “I don’t tend to stay in town for vacations, they tend to turn into working vacations.”

  “Even then,” Clarissa pointed out. “Some of them still turn into working vacations.”

  She’d been there with me when dealing with the demon. The only good thing that had come from that trip was a date.

  “You’re going to work yourself to death, Abby.” Jack shook his head. “You’re too young for that.”

  “Most PIB agents do, Jack.” I dropped my burger onto my plate and took a deep breath. “I lost my partner today, he was only a year older than me.”

  “Nick.” Jack whispered. “In the attack?”

  I nodded. “So thanks for bringing death up.” I stood. “I’m sorry Clarissa, I’m going to go. I don’t really want to be here right now and I’m not in the mental state to force niceties out of my mouth.”

  I ignored the look of astonishment on Jack’s face and kept walking. Clarissa stumbled after me half muttering an apology to Jack and half trying to stop me. I didn’t pay attention to her. I gripped my bag and headed towards the gate to get out. I didn’t want to deal with people I didn’t like. I’d rather deal with Merick and ghosts than the coven right now.

  “Abigail, wait.” Clarissa put a hand on my shoulder and I turned around.

  “What?”

  She took a deep breath. “Jack didn’t mean it.”

  “Jack should keep his mouth shut. I appreciate that you want me to celebrate with the coven, but honestly I just want to finish this case and go home.” I tried to keep my voice gentle.

  She nodded and then gave me a hug. “I’m sorry. You need time.”

  I returned the hug and gave her an extra squeeze. “I’m going to be fine. Everything is going to be okay.” It sounded like a lie, even to me, but sometimes we tell ourselves comforting lies to get through rough times.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow?” She stepped back.

  “Yeah, about noon? I have a feeling I’m going to be up most of the night.” I threw my bag in the Hummer’s back seat.

  “You be careful working magic tonight. Your emotions are high; we don’t want an accidental disaster.”

  “I’m working with a consultant, he’s more seasoned then I am. I’m sure he’ll be able to keep the power in check.” It’d been a long time since I’d lost control of anything. My elemental abilities made me keep everything else in check since it was something I wanted to keep hidden.

  “Anyone I know?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I gave her another quick hug and climbed into the Hummer to leave.

  When I arrived at the crime scene, no one but the officers were there. Merick was no longer dealing with whatever ghost problem had arisen. Mason was probably still at the station dealing with the suspects, and I
still had about an hour before the sun even considered sinking for the day. I pulled my bag out of the car before heading to the house. Nick had told me the ghosts found me friendly now, so they wouldn’t bother me, but I didn’t want to go back into the basements until Merick was with me.

  There was one other place I wanted to check out without other people. The decrepit home that we found all the vampires in. If their maker was around, then he was still held captive by the sun. I sent Merick a text to let him know that I was able to make it earlier than we had planned and left it at that. Shoving my phone in my pocket I headed towards the older house.

  There was something peaceful about walking through a less populated area. A lot of witches went back to nature to relax. It was something I enjoyed, but rarely did. Last time I’d really done it for a magical reason it was to be cleansed from the hex. It’d been about a year since then. A gentle wind wrapped around me as I made my way to the house, making me almost forget about the fact that I was heading to where a nest of vampires had been. Until I approached it.

  Yellow caution tape surrounded the house and a single police officer stood guard. I pulled my badge out and showed it to him. “I’m Agent Collins, I’m the lead PIB agent on the case.”

  “Good evening, what can I do for you?” She held her hands folded in front of her. Her light wavy hair had been pulled back enough to keep it from her face, but not enough to tame the volume of it.

  “I just want to take a look around while it’s light out. That’s all. I didn’t really get a chance to examine the house while I was here earlier.”

  She nodded and stepped aside. “Let me know when you’re done.”

  I ducked under the caution tape, watching my step to make sure my foot didn’t find any more rotten boards. The house looked bigger now that there weren’t vampires sleeping on the floor, but it was still a single room shack instead of a full blown house. I wasn’t an expert on development, so dating the house wasn’t going to happen. A wood stove sat crooked on the other end, the floor beneath a fourth of it gone.

  Nothing in the shack stood out. Just an old rotting building that had been used to hide a small horde of vampires. Shadows slowly formed across the floor as the sun started to make its descent from the sky. I walked out of the house and nodded to the officer at the door. Nothing there, nothing to look at.

  A small click of magic went through me, warming me from my toes to my head. It was the magic from the Pack lands, from when I forcefully took over the circle to help save the pack. It was my land, mine to protect from other magic and enemies. To warn humans away and welcome wolves that belonged to it. Every full moon I could feel the energy from it, no matter where I was it made me smile.

  I glanced at the sun and then my watch. I’d miscalculated the time for sunset, but it wasn’t a big deal. Levi would go to interrogate the other vampire soon and I was sure that Ira was long gone by now. Far away from where we’d be able to get him with executioners or by whatever means Levi had.

  Merick was sitting on the porch of the house when I got there. “That was really quick.”

  “I was just down the road getting dinner. Did your coven meeting end earlier than you thought?”

  I debated on my answer for a moment. “Kind of. I decided that I didn’t want to stay and be forced to socialize when I wasn’t feeling up to it.”

  “Always a wise choice.” He stood and walked into the house. “The ghosts were upset earlier because their bodies were removed. They are hushed now because they are understanding that they will get a proper burial and will get to move to the afterlife.”

  Hope. We’d managed to give fifteen poltergeists hope. That was something new, even for me. “And the woman?”

  “I haven’t seen her since my first visit here. She seems to be pretty shy. What are we setting out to accomplish tonight, Abigail?” His back was to me as he looked over the living room.

  “A few things that I’m hoping are possible with a trace spell. To find out who broke the runes and who might have buried ten skeletons out in the yard.”

  He turned to face me. “Lofty goals for a spell you’ve never performed before.”

  “That’s why I needed help. Nick…he wasn’t willing to help me. You want this case solved as well. I don’t know what your motives behind solving it are, but you’re invested in it.”

  “I am.” He agreed, his voice soft. “So you turned to me for help, trusting me.”

  “Am I making a mistake?” I took a step back, putting my hand on my gun.

  “No, no you’re not. Despite what everyone thinks and your first impression of me, I’m not out for your life, Abigail. Quite the opposite, I’m trying to make sure you stay alive.”

  I chuckled. “So really, it’s not the case you’re invested in, but me. Why? Last year you were threatening to kill me if Devon lived. What’s the point now?”

  “I can’t tell you that.” He motioned towards the kitchen. “Let’s get this done. I’d rather not be here longer than we have to in case the maker of the vampire horde shows up.”

  “So doing a trace spell there is a no?” I added as a second thought. “I’d like to see who made them.”

  He glanced at me. “We could, but I don’t know if I’d recommend it.”

  “I don’t really care what you recommend, what I care about is if it helps us solve the case.” I put my hands on my hips. “I’m ready for these cases to be wrapped up and done with.”

  “Always so impatient.” He laughed. “We’ll do one there, but that’s it. And whatever you see there, you must promise not to act rashly.”

  I raised a brow. “You know something that I don’t. What are you hiding?”

  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” He dropped his duffle bag on the floor of the bedroom. “I know you can conjure a circle without a physical guide, but for this spell we need to make sure we have a physical guide just in case.”

  “For the record, I don’t just perform random magic without a physical circle, I just use one when I need it to protect me quickly.”

  “Then you’re a smart witch.” He smiled and tossed me a piece of chalk. “Draw us a circle, please?”

  I nodded and drew out a circle large enough for both of us to stand arm length apart. I didn’t mutter anything to close the circle and enact the magic, not until he was ready. He ruffled through his bag before going to the fallen door. He used a screw driver to pop the hinge off. He brought it over and put it in the circle.

  “To connect us to the past.” He said easily and I nodded. He pulled out a knife next. “Blood to ground us in the present.”

  Blood magic was one of those things that could be seen as questionable. It could strengthen the spell, it could be used for good and evil, it could be used as something symbolic, like in this case, and it could be strengthened by emotions. I hesitated. “Both of us?”

  “It keeps us grounded so we don’t get lost in what we see. What has you worried?”

  “I’m emotionally charged on a full moon.” I kept it simple. He didn’t need to know what all had my emotions high.

  “I’ll be here to guide it all. It’ll be okay. If anything, it’ll make the images clearer to see.” He held the knife out. “Just a prick of the finger after we close the circle.”

  I took the knife by the handle and wait for him to step in the circle. Together we welcomed the elements of the directions to aid us in our spell. The magic snapped around us with a shock of power. A red streak crossed Merick’s eyes and I couldn’t stop the gasp that came from me.

  “Don’t be frightened Abigail, I have no intentions to harm you.”

  I wasn’t sure what to think, I’d never seen the effect before. The circle was partially mine, so I knew that his intentions were true. “I swear to you, one wrong move, I gut you.” I poked my finger with the blade and let my blood drop to the ground. The magic pulsed once and I felt it reach out to the room around us.

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” He reached out for
the knife and I gave it to him. He pricked his finger, giving us the same effect. “Are you ready?”

  I nodded. Foreign words fell from his lips, a language I wasn’t familiar with, but it didn’t mean the magic wasn’t there. Hair on my arms stood to attention as a thrill ran over my body, over my spine, and up my neck. The air thickened as objects around us seemed to move.

  I watched as images of Merick and I played through the room as ghost-like figures, playing out what we had just done only backwards. It was like watching a tape rewind.

  “Now, think of the time between your visit and Nick’s visit.”

  I closed my eyes and did as he asked. I didn’t have to open my eyes to get the sensation of the room spinning. His hand grabbed my wrist. I opened my eyes and met his gaze. Around us the runes were glowing again. Fifteen see through figures sat around the room and I realized I was seeing the poltergeists lounging in the prison that Merick had originally created for them. To see the faces of the victims just added to my nightmares.

  I looked over as the door opened and Jerry walked in. I tilted my head to the side. “That little asshole.”

  “You know him then?”

  I nodded. “We have him at the station on charges for assisted manslaughter. He’s working with a vampire. But how did he know that you had meant this for me?”

  “He has the sixth sense.” He nodded. “Look at him speaking to the ghosts.”

  The words were muted to me. “I’d love to overhear what they are saying.”

  “It’s just a whisper to you. Close your eyes and concentrate on the sound of his voice. You should be able to hear that. You won’t be able to hear the ghosts.”

  I closed my eyes and remembered the sound of Jerry’s voice.

  “The goal is to make sure she’s unable to function. I don’t care how.”

  There was something that sounded like radio static.

  “Both of them. If you have to kill them, that’s fine. If you fail, I won’t be laying you to rest.”

  More static, this time louder as if all of them were speaking at once. I resisted putting my hands over my ears.