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“I think it wants me for some reason. Or I’m losing it. Probably losing it. It said it would have me. I saw images of what appeared to be some sort of ritual going on, but it was all things I’d seen in my nightmares lately, so it could have just been lack of oxygen to the brain.” I noticed Birdie and Dev share a look. “But then I remembered what you taught us, boss.” I looked at him. “I told it that it didn’t have permission to affect me, and it let me go.”
Dev ran a hand down his face. “You’ve been having weird dreams?” he asked, and I nodded.
“When did they start?”
“Umm . . .” I said, “we were still investigating Arborwood.”
“Right after you came out here the first time?” Birdie asked.
I thought back. “Yeah, I think it was, actually. But I haven’t been feeling all that well, either. I’ve been really tired, and my moods have been all over the place. I was actually thinking I should talk to Harper and go and see my primary.”
“Oh, Sky,” Dakota said and turned away from me, and I felt Padre’s hold tighten even more.
“What?” I asked, looking from person to person in the room.
Dev ran an agitated hand through his hair. “All of that equals signs of oppression, Sky. Once a place is infested, the malignant entity moves on to oppression, both with the place and the people who come into contact with it. It’ll step up its game with physical attacks, sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression, bad luck, troubles at work and at home . . . all sorts of stuff. We need to get to the bottom of what’s going on here. Immediately.” He looked at Birdie and then at Dakota.
“Have you two received anything? Any messages from spirit that could help?” They shook their heads.
“I haven’t gotten anything, either, but my abilities don’t really work that way. However, I just realized that I haven’t seen Wren, Findley, Gunnie, or Desmond tonight. That’s unusual. I wonder if something’s keeping them out of the house.”
“You know, I didn’t even register that, boss,” Birdie said. “I usually get occasional commentary from them during an investigation, too,”—she tapped her temple—“and I haven’t heard a peep.”
“I don’t feel safe,” Dakota said, her voice smaller and quieter than I’d ever heard it.
“I’m not sure any of us should feel safe.” Dev looked at her, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder before pulling Hanlen to him and checking his watch. “It’s two a.m. I don’t think we should stay through the witching hour.”
“Fucking Devil’s hour, more like it,” Aaron said, and most everyone nodded.
“Padre, I think you should take Sky to the emergency room to get checked out. Are you okay to do that?”
I felt Pax move behind me and assumed he’d nodded. I didn’t like how quiet he was.
“Everybody else, let’s wrap things up as much as we can in the next half hour, get as much as we can for the final show—I hate to even say that given what’s going on, but until I can talk to the network, Roch, and the owners, we are still on a timetable—and then get out of here. Aaron, clean up that arm. And use some holy water before you take care of it medically. We need to do some more digging into what might be going on, and I think that Lark and I should perform some rituals in the morning to negate some of this shit.”
Birdie looked at him, a very serious expression on her face. “We might make it worse, Dev.”
He twisted his lips. “Yeah, we might. But right now, I can’t decide what’s the lesser of the two evils there. Trying andmaybehelping with the realization that we could be provoking it; or leaving it alone and letting it get stronger naturally.” He looked around the room. “Let’s get to it, guys. Sky, are you okay to walk?”
“Yeah,” I said and tried to pull away from Pax. He wouldn’t let me go. I turned in his hold again and looked at him. He still appeared in shock, so I put a palm on his cheek again, and he seemed to snap out of it a little. “You need to let me go, Pax. Dev is right. I should probably go to the hospital and get looked over. I don’t feel too horrible, but better safe than sorry, right?”
“Okay.” That was all he said as he moved and helped me to stand, supporting me the entire time. It wasn’t much, but it was something, and given the hellish—literally—events of the night, stuff that my mind couldn’t compute and put into its usual orderly columns, I’d take any win I could get. But it concerned me greatly that I didn’t feel like myself at all. Just thinking that any of thiscouldbe explained somehow, or that it was okay that itcouldn’tbe, should have been a red flag for me.
CHAPTER12
~Paxton~
Idrove in silence, sneaking peeks at Sky from the corner of my eye. She had an elbow resting on the armrest of the door, her head in her hand, and her eyes closed. I still couldn’t believe what’d happened tonight. Replayed visions of seeing her dragged up the stairs, and stills of her lying on the floor with those purple marks around her neck would haunt me forever. I wasn’t entirely sure what we’d tell the hospital. She looked as if she’d been abused. And she had, but not by a domestic partner. Not by anything that could be easily explained to medical personnel. Generally, physical marks inflicted by something not of this world faded quickly, but it wouldn’t be quick enough for the ER.
I refocused on the road and got us to University Medical Center safely. Helping her out of the truck and supporting her, I noticed that the parking lot wasn’t too full. It was the wee hours of the morning, but that was usually a hopping time for New Orleans. Bourbon Street didn’t seem to sleep, and it sometimes felt like the full moons lasted all month.
We got into the emergency department, and I had her take a seat as I took her ID and insurance card and went to check her in. Less than a half an hour later, we were in triage, and they were doing vitals, putting in an IV just in case, taking blood, and doing all the things. We’d lucked out, and I knew the nurse assigned to her case. Jane was actually married to my good friend, Jeffrey, and knew what we did for a living. When I explained to her what’d happened, she’d just nodded and made appropriate notes on the chart, assuring me that she’d assign us to a doctor who would understand, as well. I was sure we’d probably still have to answer a bunch of extra questions, and may get a visit from a hospital caseworker in addition to the normal medical personnel, but we’d at least avoided major drama upfront.
They got us into a private cubicle and took Sky off for x-rays and scans. I could only sit there with my head hung, thinking of how close things had gotten tonight. And we weren’t out of the woods yet. This thing had a foothold and it wanted Sky for reasons still unknown. It baffled me. She wasn’t the most vulnerable of the group. Yes, she was susceptible in a way because she didn’t believe, but that could go either way. These things fed off acknowledgment. If a person didn’t believe that they existed, it threatened the entity, and they lost some of their power. In the same token, however, if you didn’t know what to look out for, you couldn’t protect yourself from it, and a strong enough evil could use that to gain ground.
One thing I knew for certain, I wasn’t letting her out of my sight. She’d probably balk and argue, but either she was staying at my place—which was preferred since I knew my house was blessed—or I was bunking on her couch. There would be no compromise. One or the other. Or I was taking her to Arborwood and having Hanlen and Dev lock her in one of their guest suites as Birdie spelled the door.
The nurse wheeled Sky back into the room, and I took her in. She looked beat but seemed alert. Once she was again reclined on the bed, I reached over and took her hand.
