The Sixth Ghost: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 6)

by Tamara Geraeds

  “It did. It took him two years to find us, and then he broke into the wrong house. Our neighbor killed him. Self-defense.” She shrugs. “So he got what he deserved. Sort of.” Her face turns from mid-thirties back to seventeen-ish. Her hair gets longer, changes color and falls against her cheek to hide her eyes. I don’t think she even notices. She’s wrapped up in memories. “But it was too late for my father. He had nightmares about him. Kept thinking he saw him in the street, checked the locks every five minutes when we were home. He was afraid to leave our side.” She wipes her eyes. Her jeans and top are replaced by the short dress. “He died in his sleep. Cardiac arrest.” Tears fall onto her bare legs. “My mother was never the same after that. She blamed herself, kept saying she should’ve known. That her father probably killed her mother too.” I grab her hand and squeeze it. She lets me. “I told her she was too young to realize it, but she didn’t believe me. She started drinking, and that helped a bit. At least she felt good when she was tipsy, and I guess she forgot all of her problems when she was drunk. I wanted to experience the same numbness, so I followed her example. I didn’t drink as much as she did, since I was the only one left to take care of her. But one day, I went too far. I drank too much and was punished for it.” She tilts her head back until it leans against the head rest. “And now I’m here to do some good.”

  There’s a long silence while I process her story.

  “I’m really sorry,” I say eventually.

  “Thank you.” She relaxes a little, which gives me the courage to ask another question.

  “Do you know what happened to your mother after you died?”

  “Yes, I saw her.”

  “In Heaven?”

  She smiles. “No, she’s still alive. She met a sweet man who helped her through everything. She’s quite happy.”

  I breathe out slowly. “I’m so glad to hear that.”

  She pulls back her hand. I forgot I was holding it and blush.

  “So that’s my story. Pretty sad, but there were good times too. I saw my father, and he’s at peace. I’m fine with how it turned out, really. And I’m grateful for the opportunity to mean something to the world.” She nods at the keys in the ignition. “Can we go? I can’t wait to meet the rest of the Shield.”

  I clear my throat. “There’s one thing I forgot to tell you.”

  “What is it?”

  “They don’t know you’re coming.”

  She giggles. “Well, I’ve always liked surprises.”

  “I can only hope they feel the same way.”

  “From what you told me about them, I don’t think you’ve got much to worry about. They want what’s best for the mission.”

  I give her a sideways look while I start the car. She might be a good addition to the team after all.

  “Shall we go find out?”

  She gives me the thumbs up, and I smile. She’s already growing on me.

  After a couple of turns, I steer onto the road that leads to Darkwood Manor.

  “This is a nice place to live,” Kessley comments, taking in the trees and wildlife. “Really nice… Wow!” She pushes her body against her seat and pulls her knees up. “Wow, wow, wow! Stop!”

  I hit the brake and follow her gaze. “What? What did you see? Was it a demon?”

  “That… the…” she stutters. Her hand slowly moves up and she points at the mansion. “You don’t see that?”

  I squint and lean forward for a better look. “See what?”

  “The house! It’s… it’s alive!”

  CHAPTER 14

  With a frown, I look from her to the house and back. “It is?”

  I roll down my window and stick my head out.

  Kessley grabs my arm. “Be careful!”

  I pull my head back in. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Can you describe what you see?”

  She wraps her arms around her knees. “Well, it’s staring at me, and not in a friendly way.” She shivers. “And its mouth is open. The vines are reaching for us… It’s horrible, can’t you see that?”

  Her voice rises at the end of the sentence, and I pat her arm in comfort, ignoring the fact that her dress has crawled up to reveal red lace panties. “I’m sure it’s only a trick of the light or something, but I’ll call Mona, just in case, okay?”

  “Great,” she says without moving a muscle.

  “Mona? Can you come out for a sec?” I ask calmly.

  Almost immediately, the fairy godmother appears in a cloud of golden sparks. “You did it!” She walks to the passenger side and pulls it open. Her smile wavers when Kessley goes rigid, and she shoots me a questioning look.

  “Tell her what you see, Kess,” I say.

  The girl repeats what she told me. I still don’t see it, but Mona lets out a relieved sigh and throws some sparks onto Kessley to make her feel better. “There. You can stop worrying, honey. The house won’t try to eat you. What you’re seeing is the way it appears to non-magicals. It’s a protection put up by the previous owner, and Dante’s father decided to leave it. Keeps out nosy people.”

  I wave a hand at my new ghost. “But Kessley is magical, so why is she seeing it?”

  Mona stares at the ghost girl for a moment. “When did you die?”

  Kessley lets go of her knees. “About a year ago.”

  Mona nods. “That’s probably it. In the first year after people die, they are more subjective to impressions than they normally are. Which means you sometimes pick up things you would otherwise never have seen.”

  “And, of course, I couldn’t have picked up something nice,” Kessley grumbles. “It had to be scary.”

  I bite my lip, thinking of all the demons we’ve fought. If this frightens her so much, what will happen when we’re facing true evil? Will she react the same way?

  “Don’t worry about this too much,” Mona continues with a smile. “It’s not easy being pulled from Heaven to serve the chosen one.” She winks at me. “Even when he’s as cute as Dante.”

  Warmth creeps up my neck. “Mona!”

  Kessley giggles. “Well, she does have a point.”

  That doesn’t make it any better. Now I’m sure my cheeks are the color of ripe tomatoes.

  “I’m kidding!” Kessley laughs, poking me in the side playfully. “You’re cute and all, but you’re not my type. Besides, you’re with Vicky, and I hate girls that steal other people’s boyfriends.”

  “How do you know I’m with Vicky? I didn’t tell you that.”

  “Oh, come on!” She throws back her head and laughs even louder. “It was written all over your face when you spoke about her. You were practically drooling.”

  “I wasn’t.”

  Mona chuckles. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Dante. You two are crazy about each other.”

  “Okay, I think it’s time to go inside and introduce Kessley to the others, don’t you think?” I get out of the car before the two of them turn up the heat even more.

  To my relief, Mona and Kessley follow me without comment. There’s movement behind the window of the study, but when I look closer, there’s no one there. Were they spying on us?

  Not that I would blame them. After all, I took off quietly and without explanation, and when I got back, I stayed in my car with an unknown girl.

  “Guys?” I call out as soon as I open the front door. “I want to introduce you to someone.”

  They’re all sitting at the kitchen table, just like I left them.

  I clear my throat and look at them one by one. “I’m sorry I took off without telling you or talking to you about my intentions. I don’t have a good excuse for it either. I acted on instinct.” And I listened to my father, but I leave that part out. I’m the master now, so I need to take responsibility for my actions. “The truth is, I wanted you to have a bit more carefree time.” I cough and follow a scratch in the table with my finger. “Okay, and I was afraid of a discussion that would take too much
time. We needed more power, so I went and got some.”

  When I look up, I expect to see angry faces. Disappointment too.

  When Vicky opens her mouth, I brace myself. “It’s fine. Mona told us you needed to do this on your own.”

  Maël pulls her cape closer around her. “Whether to expand a Shield or not is a master’s decision and his alone.”

  I scratch my head. “Well, normally, sure, but in our case…”

  “It’s fine,” Vicky repeats. “We’re not offended.”

  “We’re grateful for the help actually,” Taylar adds, leaning forward to peer past me into the hallway. “So, where is our new Shield member? It did work, didn’t it?”

  I breathe out slowly and straighten up. “I…”

  “Well?” Charlie asks.

  Still surprised about their indifferent response to my sneaking off, I turn to see where Kessley is. She’s hovering near the front door with Mona waiting patiently beside her.

  I mouth a “thank you” to the fairy godmother and raise my arms. “May I present to you… the sixth member of our Shield… the one… the only… Kessley!”

  My cheerful announcement spurs her to step inside. With a wide smile and a twirl, she enters the kitchen.

  The others cheer and applaud.

  “Welcome!” Taylar says, hopping from his chair and holding out his hand.

  “Thank you!” Kessley says, shaking off her nerves and pulling Taylar into a hug.

  “We’re sort of family now, right?” she says when he doesn’t respond.

  The white-haired ghost grins and wraps his arms around her. “We sure are.”

  It’s strange to see Kessley changing back into her half-drunk state so suddenly, but I kind of like it. It helps break the tension that has hung over all of us for too long. I can’t help but smile when I see the others’ faces. They have their doubts about her, like I did, but I’m confident they’ll warm up to her soon.

  “Kessley is a shapeshifter,” I explain.

  Taylar’s mouth falls open. “No way! That is so cool!”

  Kessley blushes. “Thank you.”

  I rub my hands together. “So, are we all reenergized and ready to go see Gisella’s aunt?”

  As if on cue, Taylar vanishes and reappears in the same spot.

  “Are you okay?” I ask him when he shakes his head vigorously.

  He shoots me a guilty look. His face is even paler than usual. “I’m weakening again.”

  “Weakening?” Kessley asks before I can respond. “Why? What’s wrong with you?”

  I gesture at the chair next to Maël. “Have a seat.”

  She does, and when Maël glances at her bare legs, she pulls her dress down as far as it will go. Which isn’t very far.

  I clear my throat, and all heads turn back to me. “I’ll have to give you the short version. Remember our talk about unfinished business?”

  Kessley nods.

  “Well, Taylar has some of that, and it will be the end of him if we don’t do something about it. We stored one of Taylar’s memories in a magical pocket watch. Now we’re going to copy it to a flash drive and deliver it to the police.”

  “Why?” Kessley asks excitedly. “What’s in the memory?”

  I glance sideways at Taylar. Maybe he should tell her that.

  The young ghost shifts in his seat. “It shows a gravity pixie killing my brother. The man who ordered the kill was never punished.”

  “Wow,” Kessley says.

  Taylar smiles at her. “Yes, definitely wow. He needs to pay.”

  “I agree.” Her forehead wrinkles. “But will the police take you seriously if you hand them footage with a magical creature in it?”

  Dumbfounded, I stare at her. I can’t believe I haven’t thought of that.

  Gisella laughs. “Don’t worry, the watch will turn anything magical into something more acceptable for non-magicals. All you have to do is push one button to activate that function.”

  I relax again.

  Kessley sits up straighter. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Not with this,” I say, “but we can use all the help we can get for what’s next.” My gaze moves around the table. “Can you guys fill Kess in on Kasinda and our plan? Be ready when Vicky and I come back.”

  “Of course,” they say in unison.

  Vicky is already on her feet, the pocket watch in her hand. “We’ll take care of this, Taylar. Don’t worry. We’ll get him.”

  Taylar gives her a grateful nod. “I know.”

  “We’ll be back as soon as we can,” I say. “If you have any time left, do some training in the circle. And if there’s an emergency, summon me with the spell.” I turn to walk out of the kitchen but change my mind. “That’s an order,” I add, smiling to take the edge off my words.

  “Yes, master,” they all say in unison, Kessley loudest of all.

  With a chuckle, I take Vicky’s hand and pull her along as I walk upstairs to my room.

  Although I’ve been sleeping here for a while now, it still doesn’t feel like mine.

  “You should put something on the walls and bring over more personal stuff,” Vicky comments after obviously reading my feelings. “When you have time, I mean.”

  I snort. “Which will be never.”

  “Don’t be so gloomy,” she says, dropping down onto the bed and taking my laptop from the nightstand.

  I huddle up next to her. “I’m not. I’m being realistic.”

  “That’s not realistic. It takes a couple of days for us to save each soul. We’ve got four more souls to save. That means it could all be over in about two weeks.”

  I kiss her in the neck. “It could be, but I doubt it. Think about what Dad said. They have another way of opening the circles of Hell.”

  She pulls her head back and looks at me. “And you think it’ll take weeks again for them to do that? No way.”

  I tear my gaze away from her lips. “A plan B is always harder, isn’t it? That’s why it’s a plan B.”

  She shrugs. “Sure, but I have a good feeling about this. It’ll be over soon, no matter what the outcome.”

  I lift her hair with my hand and trace the outline of the mark in her neck with my finger. She shivers. I bring my mouth close to her ear and whisper, “We’re going to beat him.”

  Before she can answer, I take her earlobe between my teeth and pull softly.

  She giggles and pushes me away. “Stop that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’ve got work to do.”

  With a loud moan, I drop backwards onto the mattress. “I hate it when you’re right.”

  She’s still smiling. “No you don’t. You love how smart I am.”

  I grab my head theatrically. “Oh, I hate it when you know exactly what I love.” I scoot closer again and run my fingers up her side.

  “Stop that!” she chuckles. “We’ve got important things to do here.” She turns to face me and pulls my head closer with one hand. “You can have one kiss. Then we’re going to finish this. Think about Taylar, okay?” She presses her lips against mine shortly, but I won’t let her pull back. I grab her and ruffle her hair while our tongues intertwine. My other hand slips under her black top. She swats it away, and I let go.

  “Oh, come on!” I call out when she places a hand on my chest to keep me at a distance. “How can I concentrate with you looking so hot? This is so unfair!”

  She grins. “I can’t help it. I died this way.” With a smug look on her face, she turns back to the laptop. “Now keep your hands and mouth to yourself for a couple of minutes so I can finish this.”

  “Only for a couple of minutes?” I taunt, folding my arms. “I can do that.”

  Carefully, I bring my head closer to hers. “Do you need help?”

  “No, your father taught me a thing or two about computers. I can do it.”

  “Good.”

  I lay back with my
hands folded behind my head and watch her every move.

  Then a thought hits me. “Wait. Why are we handing this evidence over to the Blackford Police Department? Taylar’s brother wasn’t killed here, was he?”

  Vicky turns her head to face me. “You’re right. But Taylar lived far from here. We’ll need a way to get there quickly.”

  “Or…”

  She throws her hair over her shoulder. “Or what?”

  “Maybe Shelton Banks lives closer. Do we have an address?”

  Her hands fly over the keys of the laptop. “We’re in luck. He lives in Mulling, which falls under the Blackford Police Department’s domain. They’ll take the case.”

  I rub my face. “Thank goodness, that’ll save us a lot of time.” I wave at the pocket watch lying beside her. “Sorry for the interruption. Please continue.”

  She pulls a cord from the nightstand drawer and connects the pocket watch to the laptop.

  I frown. “It has a USB port? That’s convenient.”

  She shakes her head. “No, but you can insert any kind of connecting device into it, and it will follow the cord to the device.” She holds up the pocket watch to show me the inside before clicking it shut. The cord seems to melt with the watch, and the laptop lights up.

  I wish I’d found something like this years ago. It would have saved me a lot of frustration about cords that didn’t fit or didn’t work. The watch itself would’ve come in handy too. There are lots of things I’d like to forget, such as the first day of primary school, when my belt snapped, and my pants dropped to my ankles in the middle of a game of tag. Or that time I confessed my love to Daisy from next door, and she laughed in my face.

  My heart suddenly stops. I push myself up so quickly my head spins. “That’s it!”

  Vicky’s hand flies to her heart. “Jeez! You scared me!”

  “Sorry.” I rub her back. “But I’ve got a brilliant idea.”

  “Yeah?”

  Hope crawls up from my toes and fills my whole body with pleasant warmth. “Yes. I know how to get Trevor off my mom’s back.”

  CHAPTER 15

  While I wait for Vicky to finish the transfer of Taylar’s memory, I try to summon D’Maeo and Jeep to me. It doesn’t work, just as I expected. The magic that’s holding them is too strong.