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“Whoa!” I raised my hand cutting him off. “Hold up, there. Don’t go spitting out about magic as if it’s normal conversation.”
He sighed, shaking his head at me. “I have a hard time understanding how this is all so unbelievable to you. You see ghosts. Yet, an angel, a protector, and magic that offers a way to guard us is completely mind-blowing to you.”
I gave a firm nod. “Yes, it’s completely mind-fucking blowing to me. What kind of magic is this that you’re talking about?”
“Spells.”
The more he spoke, the more I realized I didn’t know jack-shit about this man. “How do you know about spells?” At his arched eyebrow, I added, “Okay, so you’ve used spells before and they’ve worked?”
“Every single time. I’ve been doing this for years, Tess.” He lifted his chin, widened his stance. “Before I joined the F.B.I., I dealt with things you couldn’t even imagine. And that’s exactly why I’m coming down on you. I know things you don’t. I’ve seen things you haven’t.”
“All right.” Not that I agreed with him, but why push his hot buttons? I reached up, and the necklace was surprisingly warm beneath my touch. Somehow I doubted that would change. “What will this do for me? And don’t tell me Michael the Archangel is going to appear in his ghost form and defend me.”
Dane scoffed. “That’s highly unlikely.”
“I’d be lying if that doesn’t make me happy.” I glimpsed at Kipp. He laughed, clearly agreeing with how freakishly weird that’d be. “What will it do then?”
“It provides you with a barrier of protection. Michael, as he always has, places his shield on your body. No ghost wishing you harm will be able to break through that hold. Meaning, they can’t take anything from you, including your soul.”
I rubbed the necklace. “I think I like this Michael.” I studied Dane, maybe now more interested in listening to him since he knew stuff I couldn’t even fathom. “Have you researched this or something?”
“Over the years, yes. I have a very close friend who is a practicing witch. She tends to offer me a great service with her wealth of information.”
Something flashed across his features. An emotion of some kind that I didn’t recognize, nor trust. “A witch, huh?” Images of a woman riding around on broomstick filled my mind. But I didn’t want to point out how even the witch seemed ludicrous since he’d already chastised me for being so dense. Besides, if he believed in Archangels, his believing in a witch didn’t seem far off.
Dane looked at the medallion for a moment, then lifted his gaze. “You’ll be safe now. If at any time you feel like you’re in real danger, you only need to recite these words to increase the protection, Michael to the right of me. Michael to the left of me. Michael above me. Michael below me. Michael within me. Michael all around me. Michael, with your flaming sword of cobalt blue, please protect me today.”
I snorted. “If I’m in serious danger, do you honestly think I’m going to have the time to remember that, or actually say it?”
“Trust me.” His gaze darkened. “If you’re up against anything that scares you enough, you’ll remember it.”
I doubted that, but I wasn’t about to argue with him. “Okay. I’ve got Michael, my Archangel, a saying if I need a bit of extra muscle, is there anything else?”
Dane smiled, and it held no amusement. “I hope you’ve got the balls that you portray, because I suspect you’re about to face something that’s going to take everything you know, everything you believe in, and turn it upside down.”
Now that, I believed.
&nbs
p; Chapter Nine
The moment I exited the car and approached the house that looked in worst sorts than even Anna’s, I realized Dane was right. I also understood what Holly meant by the wrongness. The odd sensation lingered thick in the air, making breathing difficult. The two-story, red-brick house had no lights on the inside, which only increased the nerves crippling me.
Now with the dark night surrounding us, a worry surfaced. I glanced over at Dane. “Do you have a flashlight—”
He handed me one before I could finish. An odd thing for him to carry, but I figured as part of the F.B.I. he always came prepared. And I was only too grateful. I clicked the button turning it on. Not that it’d help anyway.
If there was a nasty ghost in there, did I really want to see him? But like everything else in my life I had no control over anything, so I followed Kipp and Dane up the porch and tried to portray half the determination they showed.
At the front door, Dane knocked, but as expected no one answered. Even on the front porch, some of the missing wood planks confirmed the house had been long ago abandoned.
Kipp melted through the front door and Dane opened it, unbeknownst to him that Kipp had entered.
The floorboards creaked under my feet as I entered the living room. The scent of burnt wood, mixed with something almost spicy filled the space around me. I scanned out with my flashlight and the second it hit the floor, I skidded to a halt. “Holy shit.”
On the floor, written in what could only be described as blood of something—I prayed not human—was a pentagram. A large circle was around the pentagram and within it were symbols.
Kipp strode around the pentagram studying it, then looked at me with concerned eyes. “Ask what this is.”
