Taylar nudges me from the left. “Just kill it, Dante. They’re not leaving.”
“No!” The White Horseman stands up and holds up both hands. “We will leave. Don’t kill him.”
“Alright…” Slowly, I lift my finger again. “You leave first. We’ll send the horses after you.”
“What? I’m not leaving without him!” the Black Horseman roars.
I shrug. “It’s either that or no horses at all. We can’t trust you.”
He snorts. A weak sound coming from a small nose with barely any skin on it. “And we can trust you?”
“Of course you can,” Kessley says, folding her arms across her chest. “We’re the good guys. We keep our word.”
Maël’s body slouches slightly, and Taylar rushes to her side to hold her up. She won’t be able to keep the horses in slow motion for much longer. If she collapses, the real white horse will stand up, and the Horsemen will know we tricked them.
“You know what,” I say with a sigh. “This is all taking way too long.”
I slam my hand into the bowl.
“Herbs of power, three times three…”
The White Horseman grabs his brother’s skinny arm and pulls him from his horse as he walks back. “Don’t! We’re leaving!”
The road opens up behind them, and they jump into the hole.
The Black Horseman’s raw voice carries out to us. “We’ll get you later!”
I bite my lip. He’s right. If we let the horses go now, their riders will come after us later. We won’t be able to trick them again, I’m sure of that. They won’t give us the time to do that.
“What are you thinking?” Vicky says as she approaches.
I nod at the two animals. “We should kill the horses. If we do, the Horsemen will also die. This might be our only chance to beat them.”
A Kessley on my left grabs my arm. “We can’t do that! The horses aren’t evil, are they?”
I stare at the white horse that changes back into Kessley. “Maybe not, but I see no other way.”
All the Kessleys melt into one again, and she walks past me. “Go ahead then, but I’m not watching.” She crosses her arms with a stubborn expression on her face. Taylar hesitates but stays by Maël’s side.
“I don’t want to do it either,” I say, “but sometimes we have to make tough decisions.”
When she doesn’t respond, I look at Vicky. Her eyes are sad, but she nods. “Let’s get it over with.”
As we approach the black horse, the white one becomes visible again too. It’s on the ground with a dazed look in its golden eyes. It moves its head an inch to the right, then stops, then moves again.
“I cannot… hold them… any longer,” Maël says, and before I can respond, she collapses.
Gisella rushes over to catch her.
When I turn my eyes back on the horses, they have gotten up. With a loud snort, they shake their bodies like wet dogs when they step out of the water.
Vicky and I move in, but we’re too late. They jump gracefully into the hole behind them, which closes over their heads faster than I can walk.
I slam my fist into my hand and curse.
Kessley joins us, with a big smile on her face. “You should be happy that you didn’t get a chance to kill those beautiful, innocent creatures.”
My fingers burn with the force of clenching them. “I am, but I’m not too thrilled that we’ll run into the Horsemen again. They are almost impossible to beat, Kess.”
“Well,” she says, still smiling brightly, “almost impossible is still possible.”
Vicky laughs out loud. “She’s got a point.”
Shaking my head, I walk away from them to check on Maël.
She’s sitting on the road, leaning heavily on Taylar and Gisella, while Charlie keeps her talking.
“How is she?” I ask him.
“Resisting the strength of the Horsemen and their horses drained most of her energy, but I think she’ll be fine.”
I place my hand on hers. Ripples go through it, and I frown. “Is this normal? Don’t ghosts usually get more see-through when they’re ill?”
Charlie holds up his hands. “I’m no expert. You know more about this stuff than I do.”
“No,” Maël whispers.
I lean closer to her. “Do you know what it is?”
“I have felt… this… before.”
A chill grabs my neck. “When?”
“In… the Shadow… World.”
CHAPTER 21
The cold takes over my entire body as flashes of memories appear before my eyes. Maël, captured by the black tree in the Shadow World. The branches almost ripping her apart. Her head slowly disappearing into the mud below.
“What do you feel?” I ask her.
“Something…” She takes a second to think. “Crawling around… inside me.”
Vicky crouches down next to me. “Part of the black tree?”
I look down at Maël’s arm. The ripples are turning darker, black dots fill her fading skin. “That’s it. The black tree must have left something behind inside you.”
“And it woke up when your powers collided with those of the Black Horseman,” Vicky finishes my thoughts.
“What?” Charlie asks with a frown. “What does he have to do with it?”
“Each Horseman is connected to a tree in the Shadow World,” I explain. “Didn’t I tell you?”
His frown deepens.
“That’s how we got rid of the Red Horseman,” Taylar says from behind Maël. “We tied him to his tree so he couldn’t leave the Shadow World.”
Finally, Charlie nods. “Oh yes, I remember that.”
Maël’s natural color is returning, and I gently rub her arm. After a couple of deep breaths–force of habit–she’s back to her normal transparent state. Her tiny curls catch the sunlight again, and her eyes shine.
“What happened?” Taylar asks. “Did it leave?”
With an un-queenlike grunt, Maël pushes herself up. “No, I forced it back to where it came from.”
Taylar takes her in from head to toe. “Where’s that?”
The ghost queen taps her chest. “Somewhere inside. I put it back to sleep.” She looks down at my hand, that still rests on her arm. “You can let go now. I am fine.”
I pull in my hand. “I’m glad to hear that, but what if it happens again?”
“Do not worry. I got overwhelmed because I needed to resist the Horsemen’s powers and control the remnant of the black tree simultaneously, and because it was the first time the remnant woke up. Now I know what to do.”
Kessley jumps up and down excitedly. “This is brilliant! You can fight the Horsemen using their own power!”
I open my mouth to object, but Maël is faster. “Yes, I think I can.”
“Wait, you can?”
My mouth must have fallen open, because Kessley points at me, laughing hysterically. “You should see your face!” She does a silly imitation of it and snorts with laughter.
“Yes, thank you, Kess. I don’t think this is something to laugh about. This remnant inside Maël can be very dangerous. Not just to her, but to all of us. What if it takes over, like the black void inside D’Maeo or the ghosts trapped inside Jeep’s tattoos?”
“I’m sorry,” Kessly hiccups. “I can’t help it. Sometimes my drunk state takes over.” She swallows a couple of times and wipes the tears of laughter from her eyes. “I know it’s not funny. Really.”
Taylar steps around Maël and whispers in her ear, loud enough for me to hear, “His face was pretty funny actually.”
Kessley giggles softly.
Deciding to ignore both of them, I turn back to Maël. “As soon as we’re back at Darkwood Manor, we can find a way to get it out of you.”
To my surprise, Maël shakes her head. “No, Dante, we should leave it where it is. I can control it, trust me. This happened for a reason. We can use it to defeat the Hor
semen.”
Thoughts of doom build up in my head, followed by visions of the Four Horsemen lying dead at our feet. For the trillionth time, I wonder how I am supposed to decide on things like this. I’m only sixteen, and I have barely begun to understand half of all the magic in the world.
“Vicky?” I say after a long silence. “Would you mind?” I gesture at Maël and step aside.
The two of them stare at each other for what feels like forever.
“She’s right,” Vicky finally says. She sounds as relieved as I feel. “The remnant of the black tree is in there, but it’s under control. I sensed a vague desire to obey.”
“What about evil? Did you sense any?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing.”
Kessley pushes hard against my shoulder. “See? I told you it was party time!”
Back at Darkwood Manor, I walk straight through to the back garden and beckon the others.
I feel like a football coach when I address them. “I’m so proud of all of you. Even without D’Maeo and Jeep, we accomplished two things today that seemed impossible.” I let my gaze move from one ghost to the other. “We finally got rid of the curse on Vicky by defeating one of the most powerful witches on Earth. And we chased off two of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”
Vicky nods with a smile while Taylar is almost glowing with pride. Kessley is hopping excitedly from one foot to the other, and Charlie throws his blond hair over his shoulder as if to say ‘I know we’re awesome’. Both Gisella and Maël have lost their serious expressions.
“I am pleased with how well we all fought together and particularly proud of Gisella and Kessley,” I continue.
While a wide smile forms on Kessley’s face, Gisella looks away with a shrug.
“I’m serious,” I say. “Absorbing those dark powers wasn’t easy, Gisella, let alone controlling them. You are much stronger than you think and look at the way you steered the shadows when we were fighting the Horsemen! That was amazing!”
“Yeah!” Charlie yells, making Gisella jump. He looks at the others. “I’m always telling her how great she is, you know.”
I smile as the werecat’s cheeks turn red. It’s so funny to see how difficult it is for her to take a compliment. Her usual confident demeanor is replaced by an awkward shuffling of her feet and an inability to look me in the eye.
“You deserve a big compliment, Gisella,” I say, “and so does Kessley, for blending in so easily and taking control when no one else could. I’m glad I decided to summon you, and I’m glad I was thinking about needing more than one extra ghost too. Your duplication ability is…” I search for the right word.
“Brilliant?” Kess suggests.
I nod. “Exactly.” I let out a satisfied sigh. “I’m starting to believe that we will actually be able to pull this whole thing off, guys. Even with all our misfortunes, we’re still standing. Sure, we’ve lost contact with two members of the Shield, but we will get them back. Our progress is slow, but we’re getting there. Eventually, we will come out as winners.”
“Hear, hear!” Vicky yells, and the others join in. Cheering fills the air, and warmth floods through my body. I hate the reason why we’re all here together, but I like the company. I wouldn’t mind if they all stuck around for the next forty years or so.
When the cheering dies down, I conjure a lightning bolt in my hand. “I expect the next Cards of Death to turn up soon, so I suggest we do some training. Even though it went really well today, it can’t hurt for us and Kessley to get used to each other and for Gisella to practice with her new powers.”
Kessley slams her fist into the palm of her hand. “Brilliant! I can’t wait!” She’s hopping up and down feverishly again, and I chuckle.
“Okay, you’re with me.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Gisella says.
“Shoot.”
“Since we normally don’t fight one on one, wouldn’t it be a good idea to train in groups?”
Maël nods. “I agree. We can fight two against two. This will also train our abilities to combine our powers.”
I hold up my thumb. “Great idea.”
We walk into the protective circle. “So, how’s this?” I tap my chin in thought. “I fight with Taylar against Vicky and Gisella. Kessley, you fight against Charlie and Maël, since you’re more than one person.” I wink, and she grins from ear to ear. “Next time, we can switch.”
Everyone takes in their positions, and soon, sparks and grease fly everywhere, and the relative silence is broken by huffing, yelling and the clang of iron against iron.
Our fighting is more fierce than usual. I can tell we’re all feeling reenergized, not only by our short break, but also by our recent victories.
Sweat pours down my temples. I get knocked down several times, but I don’t mind. I could do this for hours.
In the end, we do train for hours. We even forget to eat, so when the sun sets, I call everyone into the kitchen and order pizza. That’s when I realize there’s been no word from Mona. I hope she’s okay.
Before I even finish my thought, yellow sparkles appear next to my chair.
“Everything okay?” I ask as Mona comes into view, her hair and clothes as pristine as ever.
“Everything is fine. Shelton Banks is still at home.” Her expression changes to one of disgust. “I don’t think I like this man very much.”
I laugh. “I can’t say I’m surprised. He’s a first-class ass…” I cut off my sentence when she gives me a stern look. “Jerk,” I say quickly.
“That’s an understatement,” she says.
“Well, I wanted to use another word.”
“Which would still be an understatement.” She steps back to the kitchen counter and leans against it. “I overheard some of his phone calls, and I’ve seen the way he treats his staff.”
“He has a staff?” Kessley asks, her mouth slightly open in awe.
“Sure,” Mona nods. “He’s extremely wealthy. He’s got a house full of slaves, basically. I’m surprised there hasn’t been any kind of revolt yet.”
“There probably was, years ago,” Maël says. “But if you punish someone hard enough, no one will dare to stand up again.”
Mona is still nodding. “True. But anyway, I should get back. I‘ll tell you more as soon as the police come and pick him up. I hope to see you all soon again! Stay safe!”
“You too,” I say, and I blow a kiss at her vanishing form.
Shortly after that, the pizzas arrive, and I’m happy to see that even Maël takes a slice. Diving into her memories really was a good thing. Showing me her past and the reason why she hated food gave her some peace. One by one, the ghosts in my Shield are resolving their problems, with a little help here and there. Soon, we’ll be an unbeatable team. Or so I hope.
CHAPTER 22
The house is silent when I wake up, but there’s movement beside me. With a yawn, I push myself up until my back rests against the headboard. Vicky is sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, all kinds of stuff spread out around her.
I rub my eyes and frown. “What are you doing?”
She looks up with a surprised smile. “Oh hey, you’re awake.” She crawls over her stuff and kisses me on the lips. “I was pulling some forgotten things from my endless pocket.”
I grab her wrist when she backs up. “Can’t you do that later? Come and lie down with me for a while.”
“Don’t you want to see what I’ve found so far?”
I let go and look at her with my best puppy eye imitation. “I’d rather examine you than your pocket.”
She giggles and bends over me again. Her hands rest on both sides of my chest. “You can examine my lips if you want. But only for a minute.”
With a soft moan, I pull her closer. “You’re such a tease.”
I kiss her and let my hands slide under her shirt. Electricity shoots from her waist to my fingertips, and I shiver.
Vicky pu
lls herself free and places a kiss on the tip of my nose. “Okay, enough for now. I want to finish tidying up my pocket.”
“Oh, come on!” I protest. “That was way shorter than a minute!”
She sticks out her tongue.
I settle back against the headboard and watch her silently for a while. She rearranges some of the things that are already on the bed. An old book, half a bag of sweets, some pencil stumps, an eraser that almost crumbles to dust when she touches it, a pair of glasses, a glowing feather and some stuff I don’t recognize. Her hand slides into her back pocket, and she stares past my head. After several seconds, she retracts her hand and shows me a small ball.
“What is it?” I ask, leaning forward for a closer look.
She turns it around and around, then bounces it on the ground. “I think it’s just a ball.”
I catch it when she throws it at me. “Then why were you carrying it with you?”
She shrugs. “You never know when you come across a dog that wants to play. And it’s also useful for family visits when there are small children.”
“Sure,” I say, rubbing some sand off. “If you clean it first.”
She holds up her hand, and I throw it back.
“I think I’ll keep it,” she says, before digging into her pocket again.
“So how does this work exactly?” I wonder out loud. “You said that you need to think of a certain object to be able to pull it from that pocket, right? How do you find these if you don’t even know they’re there?”
She presses a finger against her lips. After a short, concentrated silence, she pulls something out again.
“I literally think I want to find something that I lost or I wish to find something that I forgot about. And then I do.” She unfolds her fingers and shows me a small bottle, filled with a brown-greenish liquid.
We move closer to it at the same time so fast we almost bump heads.
“It’s that liquid the ent gave to you before we left that strange world the Beach of Mu took us to!” I say excitedly. “What was its name again, of the tree that saved us?”
The Sixth Ghost: a supernatural urban fantasy action adventure (Cards of Death book 6) Page 14