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“I lost a friend to one.” He grimaced. “You cannot alter the past without altering the trajectory of the present.”
“The void doesn’t encompass the entire house, though, so surely we can simply avoid the areas in which it sits,” Mom said.
“We’re on a countdown,” I replied. “And that means we really can’t waste too much time on a search that may well be fruitless.”
“Then we try the garage,” she said. “Lawrence keeps a selection of watches in a lockbox in the trunk of his car. There should be something there that holds his resonance, surely.”
“It’s worth a try,” I said, and motioned her to lead the way.
“While you’re doing that, I’ll ring Black Lantern,” Samuel said. “They’ve people who can dismantle the void.”
“Can I suggest we don’t do anything until we know for sure I can find something with Dad’s resonance?” I countered. “It might end up being our only option to make the deadline.”
Samuel hesitated and then nodded. “I’ll still call it in, because the void will need to be dealt with even if we do use it.”
I headed off after Mom. Though the house appeared to be two stories from the front, there were actually three, thanks to the radical slope of the land. It allowed a six-car garage and a large granny flat to be built underneath. Not that any of my grannies had ever stayed there. Not in my time here, anyway.
Mom rummaged through her purse, found the remote, and opened one of the doors. We strode past a variety of Jags and Porsches until we reached a rather ugly-looking black BMW. Once Mom had opened the trunk and the lock box, she stepped back and motioned me to proceed. There were seven watches inside, some of them brands I recognized, some I didn’t. All of them looked expensive.
I flexed my fingers then reached for my psychometry and carefully ran a hand just above each watch. Mom watched me, her gaze heavy with expectation, a weight I could feel rather than see.
One watch held the faintest flicker, but the connection wasn’t strong enough to follow. Disappointment stirred, but in truth I wasn’t really surprised. It was inevitable we’d have to do this the hard way.
Or, in this case, the wraith’s way.
My gaze rose to Mom’s. I didn’t need to say anything. She instantly knew.
“Well,” she said softly. “That’s it then.”
“No, it’s not. We’ll head inside and see what I can find there.”
“And if there’s nothing?”
“Then we keep all things crossed Cat gets back to us with an address.”
The words were barely out of my mouth when I felt her presence. The wash of relief was so fierce it threatened to buckle my knees.
You won’t find anything inside holding Dad’s resonance, she said. Not without going into either his bedroom or study, and the void spell encompasses both.
I guess that was unsurprising, but it was still fucking annoying. I scraped a hand through my hair and repeated what she’d said.
Mom’s eyes widened. “She’s here. Cat’s here.”
Tell her that I love her, Cat said. Tell her that I miss her. Tell her that we will save Dad from this monster.
I repeated the message, and Mom blinked rapidly. “Dear God, this is… this is all too much. I don’t… I can’t…”
I hesitated, then wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a fierce hug. She stiffened for just one second, then relaxed into my embrace. Her tears fell silently, dampening my jacket.
I looked over Mom’s shoulder to my sister. She was so real and solid-looking, I just wanted to reach out and draw her into my embrace with Mom. She was the epitome of a powerful young witch just reaching her prime, except now it was as a spirit guide rather than a member of the High Witch Council. There was a bit of me that envied the witch that got her as a guide. She might not have life experience behind her, but her knowledge of spells and history had always been vast. More so than even Dad’s.
I get the feeling, I said, that the “we” you mentioned is just us two, not everyone else.
We have to go through the void if you wish to save Dad. The wraith has chosen his location well—you could not get there in time from here.
Has he set traps at the other end?
Of course, but they will not work.
