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The moment we set out to investigate, hell, the moment we stepped out of our barriers, he was ready to fight.
It was hard to breathe or think in here. The negative energy was pushing against us all and we hadn’t even reached his door yet.
Even worse, every time we’d see a flicker of any other ghost, it was immediately extinguished, like he was forcing them into submission. He was taking their energy, not allowing them enough to even exist.
It was making him stronger and tonight he was desperate, selfishly extinguishing their flames to ignite his own.
Instead of an investigation, tonight we were eradicating a spirit. Thank fuck we’d brought stuff up here earlier.
“I wonder if having both of us here is what triggered this,” Hale said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come.”
“No, I’m glad you’re here,” Lincoln argued. “Not only is it going to be nice to have two people to watch our backs while we deal with this, but now we won’t have to hunt him down to get rid of his ass.”
As if Patrick was listening, the rug was yanked out from under our feet, sending us all tumbling forward. There was no way to catch ourselves when we were being hurled off a rug.
I landed right on top of Ethan’s legs, who slammed into Ryker. Hale was pinned under Lincoln’s big body and Ben was slammed into the wall as we collapsed into one big pile.
“I’ve never had anything attack me like this.” Hale sounded terrified now and I couldn’t blame him.
“What exactly are we looking for in here?” Ethan asked as we crawled toward the doors. Ben had come here earlier to try to make sure that we were in the right place, but he couldn’t get in.
Margaret had found us a skeleton key and it was clutched in my palm. I was glad I hadn’t lost it yet. Then again, I was holding it so tight that my hand was starting to ache, but I refused to let it go.
One moment of distraction, and it would be gone.
“Get Brea to the door, she can get it unlocked,” Lincoln said, pushing me ahead.
We’d already set up our trap. Everything but this hallway leading into this room was protected.
We even went as far as borrowing a ladder from the groundskeeper and putting some of the few smaller pieces of black tourmaline on the eaves outside of his wing.
The guys worked together, surrounding me with their bodies, protecting us as we inched closer to the room.
A screech echoed in the hallway, ear-piercing and forcing us to cover our ears. The disembodied yell was horrifying, filled with something dark and angry. It had every hair on my body standing on end and goosebumps erupting on my skin.
“He’s losing control,” Ben muttered. If they could hear it, then he was stronger than I had anticipated.
When I finally reached the door, I tried my best to shove the key into the lock. It took four tries before I managed to make contact.
It felt like the door itself was fighting against me. I was using all my strength to turn it and it wouldn’t budge.
Finally, Lincoln reached over me to help. I moved my hand as his gripped the key, forcing the lock to click.
The moment it was no longer engaged, the door flew open. We scrambled inside and closed the door behind us, saving ourselves from the death trap the hallway had become.
I doubted it would offer much protection. This was the hub of it all, if we were right. Judging from the storm we just passed to get here, I definitely thought we were on the right path.
“Tear this room apart. Find what is keeping him here. It’s not going to be something simple like clothes,” Lincoln ordered. “The Witches said to look for something that holds sentimental value. Something nostalgic. And if you see even the hint of runes or anything like that—ripped wallpaper, anything—call out!”
He had to yell so his voice was heard over the noise outside. Patrick was banging on the door and pelting things against it. The constant explosions of stone and plaster had me on edge the entire time.
My teeth gritted together as I searched the room, my muscles aching with how tense I was.
I just wanted this hell to end.
We all split up and I went for the large bookshelf, grabbing for one of the thick books.
“Stop!” The loud voice was deep and angry, reverberating off the walls as the book I was searching was ripped from my hand and slammed against the other wall, nearly taking Ben out in the process.
