Ghost of a Summoning

by J E McDonald

  “No. It’s okay. I understand.” She cleared her throat. “Sometimes the good memories are the ones that hurt the most.”

  Swallowing against the lump in her throat, Aubrey nodded, even knowing Abigail wouldn’t see her agree. But right now, she couldn’t talk. Stella came to sit beside her and grabbed her hand to give her support.

  “So, you were asking about your biological parents? And if you had any siblings?”

  “Yes,” Aubrey managed to say.

  “I looked over the old file. It was as I’d told you before. You were an only child and your parents died in a car accident.”

  Aubrey closed her eyes, wondering if Finn could be wrong about her having a brother.

  “But,” Abigail went on, and Aubrey lifted her head at the tone. “There was a strange notation at the bottom of the form. This was on the scanned original, not the digital one someone typed into the computer. It was a phone number for another social worker, but without any context, I’m not sure why it’s there. She’s retired now, so I wasn’t able to get ahold of her quite yet, but when you left your message you sounded…a bit frantic. Is everything okay?”

  “I’m not sure. I’d just really like to find out if I had any family.”

  “That’s understandable.” She heard shuffling papers on the other end. “I’m looking into it and will get back to you.”

  “Thank you, Abigail.”

  “Absolutely. Not a problem. You know, I’d love to hear from you more. Catch up. Find out where you’ve ended up.”

  Aubrey swallowed at the concern in the woman’s voice. “I’d like that. But not today.” She glanced at Stella. “It’s been a long one.”

  Abigail sighed. “Of course. Another time. I’ll give you a call if I turn anything up with this other social worker.”

  “Thank you.” Ending the call, Aubrey stared at the phone in her lap.

  “You okay?” Stella asked after a minute.

  “Yeah. I’m just really tired, and I think I’ll head to bed early.” This happened often after a stint of high emotions. Either she’d be wrung out like a rag or have an unnatural burst of energy that was hard to get rid of. With a weary sigh, she stood up. “Are you okay to finish the dishes?”

  “For sure,” Stella said, standing too.

  Numb with exhaustion, Aubrey went through her regular nighttime routine without paying attention. In cruise control, she showered, blow dried her hair, and climbed into bed.

  But even as her body knew it needed sleep to recover, her mind wouldn’t stop.

  Was Finn still at Celeste’s place? He wouldn’t come here because of the wards on the house, but she also realized he hadn’t come back to the store. Or had he been there but hadn’t made his presence known?

  Heat rushed through her body. What if Finn had seen her and Roman together?

  To keep her sanity, she had to believe he hadn’t.

  Not only was she worried about Finn’s whereabouts, but she also needed answers about her brother. Abigail might not be able to provide any new information. Searching on her own might be the only answer. She’d never tried to look into her history before because she believed she was alone. And now that wasn’t the case.

  Roman had said her brother didn’t own that house, but maybe the people who really lived there knew him. Maybe they’d know something. Maybe they’d know where he’d gone. She wouldn’t search for him on her own, of course. Finn’s story had made her too cautious for that, but maybe she could point the police in the right direction. Maybe she could help find justice for Finn.

  With ideas and plans running through her head, Aubrey only dozed until the sun peeked over the edge of her bedroom window.

  25

  Roman spent another sleepless night watching Aubrey’s house. He couldn’t leave her on her own. Not when her brother was still on the loose—a person who was prophesied to bring hell on Earth and would perhaps have enough skill to end Roman’s life. The man could be his reckoning.

  Those pictures of Aubrey in that house haunted him. Protecting her was the most important thing right now, and he wouldn’t shirk the duty. Not for anything—including his need to make her pant and moan.

  Fuck, she was gorgeous when she came. Bringing Aubrey to orgasm had become his new favorite hobby. Her eyes sparkling, her skin glowing, the little sounds she made—he couldn’t think of anything better.

  And the way she’d licked her own damn juices off his fingers…

  The memory sparked an erotic shudder down his body. He was losing focus and had no way to stop it. Now that he’d tasted her, he wanted more. Every time he thought about their interlude in her stockroom, then their kiss in the alley, he’d get hard all over again. The worst case of blue balls in history.

  Rubbing his forehead with two fingers, he tried to get a grip on his libido. He needed a cold shower, but there was no way he was going to leave Aubrey on her own. Thoughts of the danger she was in helped cool his lust somewhat. He’d hoped Finn would make an appearance and give him a clue as to where Aubrey’s brother had gone, but the front window didn’t fog up.

  So now, with the sun breaking over the horizon, and Moe curled up on the floor snoring, he watched, alert and waiting for her brother to make his move. Human or not, Roman wouldn’t hesitate to take him out if Aubrey’s life was threatened.

  Movement near the cream colored house made him straighten. Someone came out the front door. It was too early for it to be Aubrey going to the store. The earliest he’d seen her there was a little before nine o’clock.

  But as the form clad in a light jacket and jeans headed to the blue Civic in the driveway, he realized it was indeed Aubrey.

  Where could she be going this early in the morning?

  She backed her car out of the driveway, then headed down the street away from him.

  As soon as Roman started the truck, Moe woke up and hopped on the seat. “A new job? Yes?”

  Roman didn’t answer, his fingers clenching on the steering wheel. She didn’t head toward old downtown. And when she hit the south highway, he knew exactly where she was going. He swore. What could have possessed her to do something so foolish?

  “Out of sight,” he said to Moe. The demon had spread himself out on the dashboard. Once he was hidden, Roman hit the gas, pulling up close enough for his truck to appear in her rear-view mirror. He honked.

  Aubrey’s eyes met his in the mirror, and he waved to the side of the road for her to pull over.

  Instead of pulling over, she sped up.

  She had to have seen him. Now she was just being belligerent. Without having any choice but to follow, he ground his teeth together and gripped the steering wheel tighter. She didn’t slow down until she turned the corner for the last road to the estate house. Jaw clenched, he followed her all the way to the driveway, then to the house itself.

  There weren’t any firefighters today, just a pile of rubble with the burned-out car in front. In an accidental fire, the flames would travel from one side of the house to the other, and some of it would still be standing in the aftermath. This one was completely destroyed, the destruction even, without a wall left standing.

  Aubrey pulled to a stop well away from the debris. Barreling out of his truck, he was at her door before she’d turned off her car.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he shouted at her window, anger and frustration shooting through him in equal doses. How could she willfully put herself in danger like this? What if her brother had been here, but Roman hadn’t been?

  She shut off the engine and opened her door with jerky movements. “Are you following me?” Her eyes shot sparks at him from under her furrowed brow.

  “Yes!” he shouted. “And you didn’t answer my question. What the hell are you doing here?”

  She stood up to him, toe to toe. “You said you didn’t think he was here anymore!” she shouted back. “You said he was gone!”

  “Thinking and knowing are two different things!”

  “Stop yelling
at me! I don’t like it!”

  “I’m sorry!” he shouted back. “I care about you and don’t want to see you hurt!”

  Whatever thing she’d been about to shout at him left her lips in a huff of breath instead. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair pressed against her face as the wind picked up, and her chest rose and fell with deep, gulping inhalations. After obsessing about her all night, having her stand in front of him looking all fired up was near torture.

  She’d put herself in danger, and all he could think about was kissing her. This was ludicrous. He needed to get his head on straight.

  Fisting his hands so he wouldn’t haul her against him, he made sure his voice was level when he spoke. “Finn said you were in danger. Why come out here on your own?”

  “I needed to see…” Her voice trailed off as she shoved her car keys in her front pocket and focused on the remains of the house. “Did he die in the fire?”

  “I doubt it. Your brother was probably the one who started it to cover his tracks for whatever he was doing here.”

  Aubrey closed her car door with a slam and walked toward the ruins.

  Roman didn’t add that the place would still be crawling with cops if they’d found a body, because he didn’t want to send her into a panic. If a body turned up in the wreckage, it would be the homeowner’s, not Shawn’s.

  They surveyed the rubble. A blackened picture frame poked through part of the shingles, the remnant of the kitchen sink a few feet away from that. All around them, the scent of burned wood and metal assaulted their senses. It would take a lot to get the smell off their clothes. If he’d been properly attired, he might have searched through the remains, looking for evidence of a demon presence, but he wouldn’t do it with Aubrey as a witness. From the way the car was burned, it looked like it had caught after the blaze had started and hadn’t been doused with gasoline like the rest of the place.

  “I can’t believe we stood in this house the other day with all its beautiful things,” she whispered, her hand pressed against her chest. Then she turned on him. “Why are you following me?”

  He looked away. “I can’t leave you on your own when your brother is after you.”

  “You were watching my house?”

  He met her eyes and nodded.

  “Like, outside in your truck?”

  He nodded again, waiting for her to freak out.

  Eyes widening, she crossed her arms. “Wouldn’t it have made more sense to, you know, come inside the house to do that instead of watching it outside like a creepy person?”

  He tipped his head at her, wondering why she wasn’t pushing him away. “Probably?” he asked.

  “I mean,” she went on like he hadn’t said anything at all, “I stayed awake most of the night, horny and unsatisfied, thinking about you. There’s only so much my vibrators can do. To know you were that close and not in bed with me is pretty disappointing.”

  He blinked, waiting for her to ask if she’d said that out loud, but she didn’t. She’d meant to say it.

  And she’d successfully rendered him speechless.

  “Unless I read you wrong last night? Maybe you didn’t enjoy having your hands down my pants and your face in my—”

  “I enjoyed it,” he said quickly, cutting her off.

  She tipped her head to the side. “Maybe you’re still leery of spending time with Stella.”

  He didn’t answer, not wanting to admit that was a small part of it. But really, it had more to do with him being bad for her. Aubrey deserved a nice guy, someone who’d do more than finger-bang her in a stockroom.

  “Here’s what I’m going to do,” she said, moving back to her car and opening the door to fish out her phone. “I’m going to text her right now and tell her you’re spending the night tonight and she should spend the night at Lucas’s. Deal?”

  Focusing on her text, she didn’t lift her head until she finished. Before she hit send, she raised her eyebrows at him. “Or is this a thing you do regularly? Watch women’s houses in your truck?”

  He shook his head.

  “Okay, then,” she said, hitting send. “That’s all decided.”

  He stared at her, wondering how she could be so calm about everything. The woman would have a panic attack if she were a passenger in a car, but having someone watch her house all night barely fazed her.

  The wind picked up, pushing strands of her hair against her face. Resisting the urge to tuck them back where they belonged, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “This doesn’t address why you’re here in the first place, on your own.”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her about the pictures at the demon house, that he suspected her brother’s obsession ran deep, but she was already dealing with enough. He’d stick to his original plan and stay as close as possible. From the look on her face, she wouldn’t be out searching on her own again.

  Phone in her hand, she crossed her arms over her chest. “It wasn’t like I was going to confront him. I wasn’t even going to pull up this far until I saw the house destroyed.” Her eyes went to the detached garage fifty feet away and the shed farther along, both untouched by fire. “Do you think he left anything behind that would let us know more about him?” She moved toward the garage.

  He’d been wondering the same thing. Falling into step beside her, he tried to figure out a way of making her leave. Who knows what we could find? But from the determined set of her jaw, he knew asking nicely wasn’t going to work here. And unless he wanted to throw her over his shoulder, they’d better do this together.

  Quickly, he glanced at his truck. Moe wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and he let out a relieved breath. If he wanted to spend more time with Aubrey, he was going to have to be honest about Moe at some point, but now wasn’t the time.

  His eyes scanned the whole property as they walked. What he really wanted to do was get a look in the basement, but that wasn’t possible now. And maybe that had been the point of setting the fire. But if there had been a nest like the one in the other house, he would have felt it. His scar would have burned. The man had put him on edge, but there hadn’t been any evidence of an infestation.

  With the door to the garage down, Aubrey popped up on her toes to peek in the window on the side. Looking over her shoulder, Roman surveyed the empty interior. There weren’t any cars, reaffirming Roman’s guess that her brother was long gone. He’d had to have parked his van in here the other day for them not to notice it. The garage had two work benches on either side, tools hanging on the back wall, and one set of tire marks in the dirt floor.

  “Empty,” Aubrey murmured, dropping back on her heels.

  Roman walked farther along and tried the door. Locked. If Aubrey hadn’t been here, he would have forced his way inside to take a closer look—another reason to get her back home.

  “What about the shed?” she asked, moving away from the garage to cut across the long grass in the yard.

  The door was padlocked shut. The bolt cutters in his truck tempted him. Aubrey tried to wedge open the door to see inside, but the lock stopped her.

  “I wish we could break in,” she murmured, shaking the door.

  He opened his mouth to mention the bolt cutters, when the wind picked up. In that moment, he scented it—the distinctive sulfur smell that had nothing to do with the burned-out house behind them. Every part of him tensed. He took his blade out and scanned the woods behind the shed.

  “What’s going on?” Aubrey asked, her tone nervous and her eyes glued to his knife.

  “Wait in your car,” he said, moving around the shed and stepping into the woods. He wanted Aubrey as far away from here as possible. The deeper he crept into the woods, the more he expected his scar to burn. But it only itched.

  Demons might not be here now, but they had been.

  It took her about half a minute to decide to follow him.

  Aubrey tried to keep quiet as she jogged to catch up, but it was impossible with all the dead leaves and underbrush under her feet. Bi
rds chirped their cheery songs as she tromped by. She wove in and out of the trees, searching for Roman. When she found him, he’d turned around to watch her progress, a scowl on his face.

  “I told you to wait in your car.”

  “I didn’t listen,” she replied, stopping in front of him.

  “I can see that.” He looked away from her when he said it, his eyes searching the surrounding area, his head tipped to the side. When his gaze returned to her, his eyes were stony. She rubbed her arms. This deep into the woods, the trees blocked the sun’s warmth. Trudging back on her own held no appeal. The only way she was going back to the car right now was if he threw her over his shoulder and carried her.

  Not wanting to give him ideas, she didn’t say it aloud. “What are you searching for?” she asked instead.

  Without answering, he continued on. As she kept pace beside him, her eyes strayed to the knife he held, then back to his face.

  They kept walking and walking. Aubrey might have asked more questions except for the look of pure concentration on Roman’s face.

  Their pace didn’t slow until they came across a dilapidated shack. Flies and other insects buzzed around it. No birds sang their happy songs nearby. A rotten smell and the scent of fresh-lit matches became more intense the closer they got.

  Roman put out a hand to stop her from getting any closer. “Stay here,” he ordered, then advanced.

  With her arms wrapped around her middle, she watched as he skulked forward, more silent than she could ever be while walking on dead leaves. He circled the shack before stopping in front of the door. His knife still in his hand, he pushed it open a gap, then wider. After staring a moment, he stepped inside.

  Her feet propelled her forward. The door swung inward, allowing her to see inside. Daylight brightened the interior. She gasped, a lightheaded sensation swimming in her mind as the blood left her brain.

  In the center, a black circle was burned into the dirt floor, like the one she had in her living room. Dead rodents were piled up on one side, and rust-colored symbols covered the walls. But what made her step back was the body topped with a white head of hair. Clad in feminine clothing, the limbs were bent at odd angles, the person bloated with rot.