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Now it was Jason’s turn to look like he was the one ready to bolt for the door. “Yes.”
“Tell us everything.”
As Granny Mabel made another pot of tea, Jason and Cassie took turns telling the three women what had happened that night. Jason told them about the graveyard tour, and Cassie finished the story—only hesitating for a moment before telling them everything. Including the part about the shadowy figure on the other side of the veil.
“Sabine wants you to call her to have tea this week,” Jason added.
Granny Mabel scoffed under her breath, but she pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a note. When Cassie peered over her teacup to look at the message, all it said was Call S.D. ASAP. It was underlined three times.
Mama T left the room and returned a moment later with two more chairs. Jason sat close to Cassie, while Granny Mabel sank into her seat across from them. All three women exchanged a look that made Cassie think they’d just made a collective decision.
Jason must’ve caught it, too. “What’s going on?”
“The women in our family are special.
” Granny Mabel patted Jason’s cheek by way of apology. “We have a strong intuition.”
“You’re psychic, too?” Cassie asked.
“Not quite.” Granny searched for the words. “We don’t see visions or commune with the dead.”
“Rather, we get powerful feelings,” Auntie Kay added. “For lack of a better explanation.”
Granny nodded. “If you’re the sharp part of the knife, then we’re the blunt end of the hammer. We usually hit our target after a couple of tries.”
“How did you know—” Cassie could barely get the words out. She was only just getting used to saying it out loud to the people she trusted, never mind people she’d only met ten minutes prior. “I mean, how could you know I see—that I can—”
“That you’re gifted?” Granny Mabel frowned. “There’s a quality that hangs around people who can see what you can see. A heaviness to them. Even in a house full of people mourning, your sadness cuts through like a blade.”
“I’m so sorry.” A tear dripped down Cassie’s cheek, but she didn’t bother wiping it away. “I don’t know how to stop it. If I could—”
“Your empathy gives you strength.” Granny leaned forward, and her eyes locked onto Cassie’s. “Don’t be ashamed of it. You’re powerful. More powerful, perhaps, than even the Delacroix sisters.”
“Sabine said you should’ve taught me to see them. Psychics, I mean.” Jason looked at his mom. “Why didn’t you?”
She shrugged. “You can’t close your eyes once they’re open to something like that. It’s as much a gift as it is a burden.”
Cassie knew that burden all too well. Helping people—solving their murders—was a gift she was proud to have, but it wasn’t easy. And it didn’t mean she never had a sleepless night or a close encounter with someone who’d rather see her six feet under. “How did Sabine control the spirits in the graveyard like that?”
“The Delacroix sisters have their ways.” Mama T’s mouth was tight as she spoke. “They’ve made bargains. They know what herbs to infuse into a tea that pushes the limits of what they can do.”
“I take it you don’t approve?”
“We see the world differently.”
Cassie heard the finality in Mama T’s voice and didn’t have any interest in overstaying her welcome. But she had one last question she needed the answer to. “The man covered in shadows. Who was he? Why did he look like that?”
Everyone looked to Granny Mabel, who sighed and set down her teacup. She added another spoonful of sugar, ignoring the way Auntie Kay pinched her eyebrows in response. “Sabine helped you see through the veil to the other side. We don’t know what lives there. The Shadow Man could’ve been who you think, your friend David, or it could’ve been someone else entirely. Something else. What she did was unnatural. If the Shadow Man needed your help, he would’ve come through the veil. Unless something was stopping him.”
“What would have the power to do that?”
“I don’t know.” Granny shook her head and took another sip of tea. “It’s beyond me.”
Cassie felt disappointment and relief in equal measures. “I appreciate your help. I’m still getting used to saying all this out loud. It feels nice to know I’m not alone in it.”
“Does your family know?”
“They do.” Cassie smiled at the memory. “They took it well, all things considered. I’m not sure it’s something my parents and I will talk openly about, but my sister and I are closer now than we’ve ever been. She’s in my corner.”
