by A. J. Locke
Kyo nodded. “Their magic would have depleted and their bodies would rot like any other corpse. The dead witches’ supply of warlock magic has drastically dwindled, but there are still many of us out there. I’m still around, which means my body and my magic is intact.”
“Incredible. So in your time the rest of society just thought the dead witches wiped all the warlocks out. But why are there no historical records of you today?”
“It’s not that hard to alter history,” Kyo said. “Paranormal history is notorious for being poorly recorded, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but…”
“So three hundred years ago they got rid of us. Everyone else from that time thought we were killed off, just like reanimators were. I’m fairly certain the dead witches’ next move would be to systematically erase us from the scant history books and make sure each generation pushed us further and further into obscurity until there was nothing left to speak of.”
“This is going to take a while to digest,” I said, rubbing my temples. “But what did you mean you want me to help? How can I find your body for you?”
“From what I’ve learned about you, you seem particularly skilled at overcoming difficult obstacles.”
“And almost getting myself killed doing so,” I said. “Look, I’m not agreeing to help but I’m also not saying no. What I am going to say is that we have to focus on the more immediate issue which is that when everything goes down tomorrow you will be sent back to the In Between.”
“Not if you store me in a rune,” Kyo said.
I opened my mouth, closed it, and thought about it as I stared at Kyo.
“I suppose I could do that, but…I…”
“You aren’t sure if you should trust me. My story sounds too crazy, and you’re wondering if I’m crazy myself.”
“Well, you did spend a few centuries in a place that I think would have driven me crazy in about a week. And yes, your story does sound crazy; these just aren’t the kind of things you ever hear about.” I released a breath. “Then again, I already know that what I’ve known of the paranormal world all this time has only been what’s on the surface. There are deeper things hidden below. I just am not sure I want to find those things.”
Kyo leaned closer and put his hand on my knee, staring at me intently. “Selene, I am not here to put your life in danger or make your issues seem trivial compared to mine. I have spent a long time in a horrible place and I am eager to recover my body again. I would not want anything to happen to you, especially with all that you’ve been through, but I really need your help. This modern world is extremely foreign to me, and there’s no way I can navigate it on my own. I just need to know if my body is still being used. I can’t continue on like this. Will you help me?”
I stared at him for a long time. He seemed sincere, and his plight reminded me of Ethan’s. But everything he had told me—that was heavy shit.
Did I really want to go and get tangled up in centuries-old issues involving dead witches and the warlocks they supposedly did away with? No, what I really wanted was to wrap up this business of sending the crossovers back and saving those people. Then maybe book a nice, long trip to some tropical island with money I didn’t have to spare, and lounge in a hammock enjoying frosty beverage after frosty beverage.
But as appealing as that was, I knew that I would never make it to any hammock-lounging fun in the sun. If what Kyo had told me was true, it couldn’t be allowed to continue. I couldn’t walk around with this knowledge and do nothing about it.
Damn it, people really had to stop telling me things like this.
“Selene?”
I realized I’d just been sitting there staring into Kyo’s inky black eyes. He looked slightly unsure now. I sighed and looked away.
“I’ll store you in a rune,” I said. “And I’ll try to help you find your body. But if what you said turns out not to be true, I will not hesitate to send you back…”
“Trust me, please.”
I didn’t know if I should. But it looked like I was going to try.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Around five-thirty the next day, everything was ready for me to try and gather all the crossover ghosts and channel them back to the In Between.
Tielle had called me several hours ago and told me what time to show up, so here I was, feeling uncertain and nervous about whatever was about to go down. There were more Task Force members on the scene than I could count. They had closed off a five-block radius around Affairs of the Dead, and officers were positioned everywhere around the building. There were also officers inside on every floor, and on the roof. Tielle was taking no chances with the wrong ghosts getting sent to the In Between. All of the officers had multiple absorption runes along with the charms that would be able to detect which ghost was a crossover so they could leave those to me and snatch up all the rest.
I hadn’t seen Tielle since I’d arrived. Or Micah. They both knew I was here, but were busy making whatever final preparations they needed. I stood near the entrance to Affairs of the Dead, looking up at all the runes that covered it. Their appearance hadn’t been altered, but from what I understood, the dead witches had made adjustments that would allow me to connect to the runes and channel my dead magic into them, thus sending out the magnetic call to all the ghosts.
Once they were back in the In Between, Harvey and the others would finally be on the mend. I’d heard that Beth and Mark had improved even more, which made me sure that sending the crossover ghosts back was the key. It was a good thing Kyo hadn’t attacked and infected anyone or I could not have let him stay. Right now he was at my house, inside an absorption rune.
“Hey.”
Micah was coming out of the building, followed by Tielle. Micah gave me a smile, but I could see the anxiety behind that smile.
“Are you ready?” Tielle was all business and did not seem anxious in the least.
“All I had to do was show up, so yeah I’m ready.” I didn’t realize how tightly I was hugging myself until I let go in an effort to try and relax. Micah wasn’t the only anxious one.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, while Tielle turned her attention to a few dead witches from her team who had come up to her.
“Well, it’s no deadly showdown with a ghost monster and the madman controlling it, but I guess it will have to do,” I said. “Besides, there’s no alternative. Those people’s lives depend on it.”
“I know,” Micah said. “It just doesn’t make me happy to see you put yourself in a risky position yet again.”
“Then you should stop being involved with things that end up with me having to do so.” My words were a bit harsh, as was reflected by the hurt look on Micah’s face, but they were also true.
“Selene…”
“I don’t want to hear I’m sorry again and there isn’t really anything else you can say.” My tone was softer because it wasn’t my intent to start a fight and start flinging out all my grievances with him right now. I sighed. “My nerves are a bit on edge. I just want this to be over so I can be sure everyone will be OK.”
“I understand.” The hurt tone was still there. I took Micah’s hand and gave it a squeeze, which surprised him because he tensed up for a moment before he relaxed.
“When this is over, what’s say you and I enroll in some couple’s therapy?” I tried to keep my tone light, but the weight of everything that was dividing us was too heavy, too real, and we both knew that for us to even attempt to work through things we would have to take drastic measures.
“I’m in,” Micah said softly. Then he bent down and kissed my forehead.
“We’re ready,” Tielle said. Micah and I let go of each other’s hands and turned to her. Some feet behind her, just a few yards away from the door to the building, about a dozen necromancers were getting ready to activate a circle. That was more than what was usually needed for a circle, but the more necromancers, the stronger the circle would be, and there would be less impact on each
person involved.
I switched my focus back to Tielle, who handed me two runes. They were triangular in shape and a dull, burnt sienna color. They were already active. The energy that ran through them thrummed into me.
“Those runes are connected to the runes on the building,” Tielle said. “Once you connect to them, you will be linked to the building’s runes as well. Then I suppose you’ll know what to do from there.”
“Yes.” I was not as confident as I appeared to be about opening up the dead magic, given that I had lost control of it when I was attempting to help Harvey, but I would do my best.
“Good,” Tielle said with a nod. “The runes on the building have been modified to both accept your power, and increase the distance they are able to reach out to ghosts. The reach has been amplified to be about a hundred times stronger.”
“Damn, that’s a lot. I might be calling ghosts from Antarctica.”
“We made it as strong as possible to try and ensure we did this right the first time around,” Tielle said.
“Sounds good,” I said. “Let’s do this thing.”
“Good luck.” Tielle walked away to confer with the necromancers who were part of the circle. Micah swept me into a tight, fierce hug. I felt more on edge than I wanted to feel right now and tried all the calming techniques I knew but nothing worked.
I made sure my hold on the dead magic was still strong, then slipped off the rune bracelet Magda had given me and handed it to Micah.
“I need to be less in control, so hold on to this for me.” Being without the bracelet made me even more nervous, but I knew that in order for the dead magic to unleash as much as it needed to, I had to give up some of my control over it. I couldn’t say I believed in myself one hundred percent, but now was not the time for doubts. I could do this because I had to. Micah slipped the bracelet into his pocket.
“Here goes nothing,” I whispered. The necromancers were ready to activate their circle. Micah retreated to where Tielle and the rest of the team were off to the side behind several Task Force officers. All the officers were ready with their runes. Everything was in place, now it was my turn.
I closed my eyes and envisioned the dead magic and the tight grip I had on it. I slowly eased that hold, just enough for a tendril to snake out, and directed it into the runes in my hands. Once the dead magic touched the connecting runes, my body jolted and I almost stumbled forward, but managed to keep my footing. It was only a small amount, but it was powerful, even more so when it attached to the runes that covered the building.
When I opened my eyes and looked up, the runes were glowing, which was not unusual since they always glowed. But instead of their colorful glow, they glowed black.
I channeled more dead magic. I had to do this slowly or else I would be overwhelmed and lose control.
As I sent more dead magic into the runes, their glow intensified. My body felt electric. Tremors went all though me. I felt as though I was standing on top of something that sent constant vibrations through me. The dead magic was rough and intense. It was like trying to traverse extremely choppy waters while in the middle of a storm, whereas my reanimation and necromancer magics were more like dealing with waves lapping against the shore.
Then I felt them. The ghosts were coming. I hadn’t even channeled the full strength of the dead magic into the runes, but it was already drawing ghosts in. I opened my eyes in time to see light shoot up around the necromancers, which meant their circle was open. And around me, other necromancers who were not part of the circle started moving to greet the ghosts and draw them into the circle. Some of the necromancers had the runes that contained all of the crossovers that had been captured by the PTF and they were released into the circle first.
The arriving ghosts looked bewildered and no one gave them any explanation. The necromancers cast a net of power over them, and then drew them to the circle and back into the In Between. I noticed the PTF officers capturing a few non-crossover ghosts in runes.
Along with the ghosts from the runes, three others were sent over. After that there was a lull. By my estimation, about twenty minutes passed with no more ghosts. I was starting to get discouraged but knew that logically not all the crossover ghosts were in the immediate area. Tielle had said the runes’ pull had increased a hundred-fold, which was extremely, extremely strong. I just had to be confident in the runes and my power to draw ghosts in, no matter how far away they were.
Sure enough, more ghosts started to float up and the necromancers were once again ready to net them and escort them to the necromancer circle. The PTF officers captured those who weren’t crossovers.
The first three had been too confused and bewildered to say anything much, but this batch was a lot more vocal and there were curses and cries of indignation along with a lot of scared pleading once they saw themselves faced yet again with a necromancer circle. I didn’t feel good about banishing them back to the In Between, especially when not all of them were criminals or responsible for the people who were on the verge of death due to their encounters with them, but nevertheless they all had to go.
An hour or so passed in this fashion. Ghosts would show up, a few or a lot at a time, and the necromancers would get the ones who had to go through the circle. At this point I had lost count of how many it had been, but I was surprised that this many ghosts had escaped. Then there would be a lull, then it would pick up again. I spent most of the time with my eyes closed so I could concentrate on not losing control of the dead magic.
The arriving, confused, wailing ghosts, plus all the activity with the necromancers was distracting, and I needed to maintain total focus. It was exhausting. My legs burned from standing for so long, and my body was covered in sweat from the effort it took to stay in control of this power. My throat was begging for a drink of water that I couldn’t offer it yet, plus the strain was giving me a headache. I really hoped all the ghosts showed up soon. Surely none of them would be coming from too far. Else I’d be here all night.
Another hour passed. I was growing alarmed because my exhaustion was jeopardizing my hold on the dead magic. I could feel it slipping from my grasp. How many more ghosts were there? For the past twenty minutes or so, they’d been coming in a steady stream.
The strain was overwhelming, and it was as though the dead magic knew it. One minute I was in control, then before I knew it a surge of power went through me so strongly that I fell to my knees. My control broke. The dead magic was still being channeled through the runes I held, but it also rose off my body like a black wave and ensnarled every ghost that was close by and started to drag them toward me.
“I’m losing control!” I yelled. I struggled to get to my feet but it was a losing battle. “Don’t let the ghosts get to me!” Not for my sake but for theirs—although ultimately I guess it was for my sake too. The necromancers started scrambling to keep the ghosts away from me, but this dead magic was much stronger than their power. It wasn’t long before the first ghosts slammed into me. They were wailing before, but now they screamed in terror as the dead magic sucked them into my body.
Each time a ghost sunk into me, it felt as though I was being scorched with a ball of fire. It was all one huge, burning pain, and I couldn’t see a thing because the dead magic had manifested into a black curtain that wrapped around me. I was trapped inside a suffocating box of searing, blinding magic.
I tried to focus so I could regain control, but nothing worked. The dead magic was unbound and free, and what was even more terrifying was that the more ghosts I sucked in, the more I could feel the bind to Garrus. I heard his voice snarling in my head, felt his power pulling at me greedily. He was hungry for more and his strength was making the dead magic’s pull even stronger.
It all hurt so much, was so horrific, and my body was already wiped out from the hours I’d spent trying to hold on to the reins of this power. I was not sure how I could stop this without sucking down every last one of these ghosts. I didn’t want to continue making Garrus stron
ger, but I had no idea what to do.
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I thought it was a ghost, but a familiar scent of cologne hit my nose and I realized it was Micah. I was still lost in a blinding vortex, but Micah was trying to combat it, even though the dead magic was doing everything it could to keep him away. He grabbed at my hand, but was pulled away a few times before he could manage to keep his hold.
When I felt something slip around my wrist, I realized what he was doing. He’d placed the bracelet back on. A surge of strength went through me and the dead magic immediately downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm.
But it wasn’t completely back under my control yet. The bracelet helped, but the rest was up to me. I felt stronger now—I could do this. I focused on the dead magic and started calling it back from the runes on the building. It didn’t want to recede, but my pull was insistent and growing stronger as the bracelet helped me regain control, and before long it started detaching from the runes. I channeled it back into my body.
Slowly, very slowly, the dark curtain started to disappear, and the magnetic pull that was drawing the ghosts to me decreased. I couldn’t see what was going on because I’d closed my eyes, but I didn’t feel any more ghosts slam into me. I hoped that meant that the necromancers had been able to keep them away, not that I had taken in every ghost that had been here.
The dead magic was a wild animal that did not want to be tamed, but it had no choice. I willed it back into the cage I had built for it, and the effort was not without its price. My body was weak; I was in physical pain as though I’d just been beaten senseless. But I was alive, and the dead magic was back under wraps after what felt like an eternity.
I slowly opened my eyes. The world around me was deathly quiet. I startled, and fell back onto my butt, because Micah was kneeling inches away and I had not been aware that he was still close to me. He looked scared as hell, but relieved once he saw me blinking at him. He reached for me and I willingly collapsed into his arms, letting him hold me because I had no strength to hold myself up.