by A. J. Locke
“Are you sure this will work?”
“Not at all,” I replied honestly. Her eyes widened. “I don’t have any promises I can make you,” I said. “Just that I will try.”
Glenda nodded, glanced at her husband once more, and moved to stand next to the Micah and Tielle. Micah looked anxious but encouraging, while Tielle had her usual expressionless mask on. Behind that mask, I knew she was hopeful.
The first thing I did was use rune chalk to draw the runes I needed on Harvey’s body. Then I blew out a breath and slowly slid my hand over Harvey’s. His skin was cool and clammy against the warmth of mine, and it was not particularly pleasant wrapping my hand around his puffed-up flesh. But nothing about this was going to be comfortable. I just had to deal with it.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and connected with my reanimation power. In my mind’s eye I saw all three powers—red, blue, and black—and focused on the red while keeping the other two at bay. It wasn’t easy because the dead magic was quick to respond to any nudge, even if I wasn’t reaching directly for it. It was eager to engulf my reanimation power again, but I kept them separate. The effort was already making sweat bead my forehead, and my skin grew even warmer against Harvey’s.
With more care than I usually used when I harnessed my power, I channeled a stream of reanimation power into Harvey. Almost immediately I felt all of the ghost energy that was trapped within his body.
The dead magic reared its head like a curious cat and tried to follow my reanimation power into Harvey’s body, but I pulled it back. I’d like to say doing so was effortless, but it wasn’t. This power was strong and still foreign to me, and I couldn’t even control it without help. The bracelet Magda gave me almost burned against my skin as it worked to help me keep the dead magic away. Once I had successfully pushed it back, I refocused on the reanimation power I had pushed inside Harvey.
Reanimation could draw a soul out of a living body and put it into a corpse, but could it draw out pieces of multiple souls? Amid the foreign ghost energy, I could see Harvey’s soul. It was wrapped up in that foreign energy, much like my reanimation power had been wrapped up in the dead magic. I tried to attach my reanimation power to the ghost energy so I could draw it out, but was met with resistance. My reanimation power was far more interested in Harvey’s soul, and instead of attaching to the ghost energy, it tried to get around it so it could pull Harvey’s soul free. That would certainly get the ghost energy untangled from it, but it would also kill Harvey.
Damn it, it didn’t seem like this was going to work. At the end of the day my reanimation power was back to its basic form, no evolution of any sort, and it could only do what it was meant to do; pull someone’s soul out. Even if it was evolved, I wasn’t sure it would have worked. I resisted the urge to stamp my foot in frustration.
Then I felt a jolt. I had been focusing so much on my reanimation power that my hold on the dead magic had slipped and a tendril shot into Harvey’s body. It ensnarled my reanimation power and all of a sudden I went from in control to very, very, not.
My power slammed into Harvey’s soul and immediately started to wrench it free. I tried to pull it back, but when I did Harvey’s soul started to come with it. Shit. I stopped pulling and concentrated on untangling my reanimation power from the dead magic, but doing so in someone else’s body was a hell of a lot harder than doing it in my body. It was a tug of war that I didn’t think I was strong enough to win.
But there was no choice except to win. As I did everything I could to get my power out of Harvey without taking his soul as well, all the ghost energy started to swirl, like it was agitated. The dead magic liked that and started darting after every lick of ghost energy inside Harvey. Only problem with that was that the ghost energy was still wrapped around his soul and if the dead magic pulled it out, I was in big trouble.
Distantly I could hear people shouting over the sound of medical equipment making sounds that meant that nothing good was happening, but I kept my eyes closed. I was rapidly losing control. My reanimation power, under the influence of the dead magic, was preparing to yank everything it could out of Harvey and into me.
I tore at the dead magic like a savage, using every ounce of mental strength I had to peel it away from my reanimation power. I swallowed my fear and kept telling myself that I was in charge, that no matter how new or wild this power was, it did not control me. I was aware that I had fallen to my knees, but I kept hold of Harvey’s hand. It took almost everything I had to tear the dead magic away from my reanimation power and swallow it back into my body where I locked it down tight. Immediately after that, I recalled my reanimation power. It didn’t take his soul, but it didn’t take anything else either.
Then I let go of Harvey’s hand and collapsed.
* * *
I didn’t pass out, but I was on the verge of it. Through blurry vision, I saw Micah and Tielle rush over to me. They were shouting things that I couldn’t make much sense of. It felt as though I was hearing them from underwater. I was drained, exhausted, running on fumes. The amount of power that I’d just had to execute was tremendous.
Micah picked me up and carried me out of the room. He took me across the hall to where the doctors worked, and I soon found myself gratefully sinking onto the soft cushions of a couch. Moments later, Micah held a cup to my lips and I drank as though it was the last cup of water on earth. When I was done, he refilled it and gave me more to drink.
Once my dry throat was alleviated, I lay my head back and kept my eyes closed because I had a pounding headache and it made my vision cross. I still felt overheated, but ever so slowly I was coming back to myself. I felt a cool cloth on my forehead. Micah was tending to my feverish skin.
After what seemed like an eternity, I opened my eyes to the concerned faces of Micah and Tielle.
“I failed,” I said. I blew out a breath. “I couldn’t do it. Is Harvey…”
“He’s fine,” Micah said. “Or rather, he’s the same as before.”
“At least I didn’t make things worse,” I muttered.
“I take it your reanimation power was not interested in the foreign ghost energy,” Tielle said.
“No, which was a failure in itself, but things went awry because the dead magic wanted to suck everything out, including Harvey’s soul, and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Dead magic?” Tielle questioned sharply. I forgot she didn’t know this particular development.
“Call you tell her?” I asked Micah wearily. He nodded, then explained everything I had told him happened when Larry showed up at my door. When Micah was done, Tielle’s face showed another rare emotion: shock.
“The attempts on my life were all him,” I said. “I hadn’t given a thought to the fact that he could have crossed back over, but a necromancer circle was used to get rid of him so it makes sense.”
“Unbelievable,” Tielle said.
“Yeah, so that’s why I lost control with Harvey. But it wouldn’t have worked anyway.”
Tielle briefly closed her eyes and I could almost see the burden she was dealing with as though fifty tons were actually sitting on her shoulders.
“This doesn’t leave us with much hope that we can save these people…”
“I’m sorry—” I was cut off when one of the doctors came in calling for Tielle. She seemed a bit overly excited.
“Tielle, you have to see this. In a couple of the patients, the ghost energy is rescinding!”
“What?” That came from me, Micah, and Tielle, and was enough to make me sit up. The doctor, whose name tag read Emilia, handed Tielle a file.
“We were continuing our efforts to draw the ghost energy out with runes,” Emilia said. “Previously none of the patients had improved. Every time energy was drawn out, it was replenished almost immediately. But not this time. The drawn-out energy doesn’t replace itself. Mark and Beth seem to be recovering. It will take a while to get all the energy out, but they’re doing better now.”
&nbs
p; “Remarkable, how—”
“Did you say Mark and Beth?” I asked, cutting Tielle off. “Mark Spatz? And what’s Beth’s last name?”
“Yes, Mark Spatz. And Beth Grimaldi,” Emilia said.
“And do you know the ghost who attacked Beth?”
“It was Larry Bianchi.”
I exchanged a look with Micah.
“That’s the woman whose husband Larry attacked when he was in Ethan’s body,” I said. “Did you know she was here?”
“No,” Micah replied. “I hadn’t been working down here in a few days. That’s why I wanted us to stop here before going to see Ethan.”
“She was brought in two days ago,” Tielle said.
“Larry must have attacked her before he set his sights on me,” I said. Something dawned on me. “Wait, when did Mark and Beth started to get better? Give as exact a time as possible.”
“Uh…” Emilia looked over Tielle’s shoulder at the file. “Yesterday around four-thirty p.m. They both started to improve around the same time.”
“Thanks, Emilia,” Tielle said. Emilia nodded, then left.
Four-thirty. That was right around the time I had sucked Larry’s ghost back down to oblivion, along with all the other ghosts he had brought along. That included Jack Grom, the ghost that had attacked Mark. I was starting to grow excited. It was just a theory, but with what I knew about where Jack and Larry’s ghost were now, along with the improvement shown in Mark and Beth, I felt as though getting excited was the right path to take. I slowly got off the couch and faced Micah and Tielle.
“I think I know how to save everyone.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“I can feel this new power inside me, and it’s terrifying,” I said. “What I did to Larry and those other ghosts was horrible, but it can’t be a coincidence that at the same time he and Jack got channeled back to the In Between, Mark and Beth started getting better. If we send back the crossover ghosts, I have a strong feeling that Harvey and the others will start getting better too. Sending them back breaks the connection to their victims. That’s why the runes started to work; there was no longer a link between Beth and Larry, and Jack and Mark.”
As exciting as this was, it was also troubling for me personally. I now had proof that connections could be broken by crossing from one plane of existence to another. So that meant what Magda told me was definitely true; if Garrus crossed over here, the link between us would break and I’d be dead. But I could freak out more about that later.
“How exactly are we going to gather all the ghosts though?” Micah said. “The PTF has rounded up a good amount of them, but that’s definitely not all. We don’t even have all of the ghosts who attacked those people.”
“That’s where I come in,” I said. “If I unleash the dead magic, it will attract ghosts to me. Then you can have a group of necromancers with an open circle nearby to send them over.”
“Can’t you just channel them down?” Tielle asked. “It’s preferable to avoid opening another circle, due to the risks to the necromancers.”
“I could, but if I do so I would be sending a hearty meal to the ghost I’m connected to. He would get stronger, and they would cease to exist. The In Between is not a glorious place to be, but it still wouldn’t be right to end their existence that way. Larry I can live with, but I hated doing that to those other ghosts.”
“All right, I will make arrangements for a necromancer circle,” Tielle said.
“But what if it draws in other ghosts too?” Micah said. “And what if some of the crossover ghosts are further than your power can reach? You’ll be sending innocent ghosts to the In Between.”
“Well…” OK, so I hadn’t exactly thought this out a hundred percent.
“I know how it can be done,” Tielle spoke up. “We can use runes. Specifically, the runes that cover ghost agency buildings to draw ghosts in. We can channel this dead magic into those runes to make the call stronger. It should bring in the crossover ghosts even if they aren’t very near.”
I was getting excited again. “That sounds like it could work. And if I also attract other ghosts, you can temporarily store them in a rune to keep them out of the fray. Get the PTF involved and have them stationed around the area with runes.”
“A good idea,” Tielle said with a nod. I almost patted myself on the back. Compliments from Tielle were hard to come by.
“All right,” Micah said. “But which ghost agency do we use?”
“Because of our work and investigation there, the Paranormal Sector still has a hold over Affairs of the Dead,” Tielle said. “It would be the easiest location to acquire. I guarantee other ghost agencies would make us jump through hoops and waste time we don’t have to waste.”
“Affairs,” I said blandly. “I’m not so sure it would be that easy to use the building. Jacob McNabb is not my biggest fan. Even if you have some sway with the Sector, I don’t think Jacob will agree so easily.”
“We don’t have much of a choice,” Tielle said. “I will take care of approaching Jacob and securing the building.”
I was sure that would entail far more than a phone call and a politely stated request from Tielle. She would probably have to get documentation from the Paranormal Sector and march up to Affairs of the Dead with several PTF officers.
Hopefully, that would be enough for Jacob allow us to use the building and its runes. I didn’t relish the thought of Jacob witnessing what I would have to do, but he was far less important than saving people’s lives and getting the crossovers back where they belonged.
“OK, then the plan is settled, let’s get a move on.” I felt almost a hundred percent better after that ordeal inside Harvey’s body.
“Slow down Selene, this can’t happen today,” Tielle said. “We have a lot of preparation to do. I have to gather a team and explain this insane plan, then I have to secure Affairs of the Dead from Jacob and have my dead witches work on the building’s runes to they can alter them enough to do what we need. We likely won’t be able to do this until late tomorrow afternoon.”
“Oh.” I felt a little deflated, but realistically I couldn’t just expect something like this to come together at the snap of a finger.
“Go home and get some rest,” Tielle said. “We’ll be in touch.” She called a few of the doctors to come with her, and left the room to get her team assembled.
“I’ll drive you home,” Micah said, offering me his arm. I didn’t really need it but took it anyway.
“I was supposed to visit Ethan,” I said.
“Rest would be better,” Micah said. “You will need your strength.” As we walked to the elevator, I glanced at him. His jaw was tightly clenched.
“You’re nervous,” I said.
“I don’t like that you will once again be putting yourself in a dangerous position.”
“To clean up your mess…”
“Wha—” He stopped himself and shook his head. “You’re right,” he said, voice soft. We were in the elevator going down to the first floor. “For once I want to be the one who saves you. I want to be the one that makes everything all right.”
“I know you do.” I felt a tangle of complicated emotions rise. We didn’t say anything more as we headed out of the building to Micah’s car and he drove off.
Once we were back at my house, Micah walked me to my door.
“I’d stay with you, but Tielle is going to need me…”
“I know. I’ll see you tomorrow at the showdown.” I offered him a smile. Truth be told, I was tired of the perilous situations too, but once again there was no choice but to do the dangerous thing in order to save people.
Micah bent down and kissed my forehead. Heat pulsed through my body at the touch of his lips, and for a moment the tangle of confusion cracked and I wanted to pull him in and wrap myself around him the way I used to. The way I did when it felt like we fit. But I resisted.
Getting close to Micah, then pushing him away was not a habit I wanted to fall into.
If we were ever truly going to mend, we had to start making the right decisions, and a make-out session right now was not one such decision. So instead, I just held myself still until he pulled back. He held my hand and gently pressed his thumb into my palm as those gray eyes bore into mine. His eyes reminded me of storm clouds; there was so much behind those eyes, words unsaid that I knew he was holding back for the same reasons I was.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. He started to walk back to his car, but I called out to him and he turned back.
“You said one day you want to be the one who saves me,” I said, walking up to him. “And I want you to know that you already did. And I don’t mean from the Rot, although technically that did save me too. But you saved me long before that. When you looked past my surface, saw who I really was and loved me anyway…that saved me. Despite where we are now and how broken things feel, I need you to know that.”
Micah’s face was tight with emotion and his hand, which I’d been holding, was balled into a rigid fist. Finally, he made a sound of frustration, pulled his hand from mine, and looked away.
“God, Selene, I love you,” he said. “And I will never forgive myself for how much I caused us to break.” Then he turned and walked back to his car without looking at me again.
It hadn’t been my intention to make him feel hurt. But I suppose that was inevitable with us these days.
I sighed and headed inside to see what I could do about my instructions to rest.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Trying to rest just made me restless so I decided to do laundry instead. Luna wasn’t particularly happy about that because it meant that I was picking up a lot of the clothes that were strewn around my room, which had become fun zones for her. So she decided to pout about it and lay on the bed staring at me as I worked. She was so unhelpful.