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“Because I can read,” I bit back. “And there is this thing called Google search, in case you weren’t aware.”
“Yes, but you often have to search through mountains of chaff before you get to the wheat.”
“Left or right,” Aiden said, as the truck reached the end of the parking area.
I closed my eyes for a moment, studying the pull of evil. “Left. It’s not in the immediate area. It’s more distant than that.”
“Meaning it could be after Lance.” He glanced briefly in the rearview mirror. “Will the shield you placed around his house hold the spirit out?”
“Combined with the salting and the clove chain Elizabeth advised him to do, it certainly should,” Ashworth replied.
“Speaking of which….” I handed him the final silk bag. “I made this for you, just in case.”
Energy surged as he accepted it—his magic, testing and probing the protections around the bag and the contents within.
“You didn’t find this spell on the Internet.”
“You’d be surprised what you can uncover on the net if you sort through enough of the chaff.” I hesitated as the trace of evil shifted. “Left again at the next street, and continue on the highway.”
Aiden obeyed, then flattened his foot and hit a switch. Blue light flashed and the howl of the siren bit through the air. “Let’s just hope we get there in time to prevent another murder.”
Amen to that, I thought, and returned my attention to Ashworth. “So you think this spirit is a Nachzehrer?”
“I think it’s likely to be a kindred spirit, so to speak. The Nachzehrer is but one regional legend, even if it is the main one that now appears in any search. The one thing they all have in common is the tolling of the church bell when it’s hunting.”
“Is it actually a church bell?” Aiden asked.
Ashworth shook his head. “It’s a spirit bell, and it’s said only those who can talk to the dead or who are about to get dead can hear its ring.”
“Ah,” I said, “that explains it.”
And then felt like slapping myself. I didn’t need Ashworth knowing anything about the true connection between Belle and me. Not when the realization that we were witch and familiar would lead him straight to my family’s doorstep.
“Explains what?” Ashworth asked.
“Why I can hear the bell.” I somehow kept my voice even. “It’s a by-product of my psychic powers.”
“I wasn’t aware communing with spirits was one of your gifts.”
Meaning he’d been checking up on us. “It’s not a strong part of them, which is the reason Belle does readings rather than me.”
“Interesting.” There was something in his tone that suggested disbelief. But then, Anna hadn’t believed me, either. The RWA didn’t employ fools, even if they weren’t the most powerful witches Canberra had ever produced.
“Left at the next street,” I said.
Aiden frowned. “Meaning we’re not going to Lance’s.”
Not when the road ahead led to a semirural housing development on the outskirts of Castle Rock rather than to Rayburn Springs. “Given the frustration, maybe he’s given up on Lance and gone after someone else.”
“Unlikely,” Ashworth said. “If Lance was its target, it would have kept assaulting the protections until it either got through or dawn came. It would have no other choice.”
“Why?” I said. “I thought soul eaters were able to run amok once they’d obeyed the bidding of whoever called them into being?”
“They quite often do, but there’s something else going on here,” Ashworth said. “It’s unlikely that frustration you felt was the soul eater’s, as they simply don’t d
o emotion. And that means whoever bought it here was close enough at the time to redirect its actions.”
“Has the containment barrier you raised around the ranger station in any way been tested?”
