AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He sighed but lived up to his status as my most favorite father. “Alright, I’ll go calm Aisling down. Be careful during the summoning and call me once you’re done.”
My lips curled as I responded in a teasing tone, “Aye, Captain Keane.”
9
Aurora
After the phone call with my Dads ended, Alpha Owen got Chief Perez to discretely transport Angelique’s body from the coroner’s office to a dark basement room in the police station from which Levi and I were going to summon and speak to Angelique’s spirit.
While we waited for the body to be transported, Chief Perez allowed Levi and me to see the pictures taken by forensics at the scene of Angelique’s murder so we could confirm that as they’d determined, claws of some sort had been used for the dismembering.
When everything was set for the summoning, Alpha Owen insisted on watching with his family and Chief Perez. At first, I wanted to disagree, but then I agreed after considering the possibility of Levi and I needing some help or support during and after the summoning.
When we got to the basement room, Angelique’s body, which had been reassembled and wrapped, was placed on two tables pushed together. The room was dark, and we all shuffled into the room using the dim lighting from the candles arranged in a circle around Angelique’s body. Along with the candles, there was also the clean scent of sage in the air because Levi and I had requested some sage scent sticks not just to make the summoning smoother but also to calm Angelique’s spirit.
Once everyone had chosen their standing positions, I grasped Levi’s left hand, and we started the summoning. We stood with the table holding Angelique’s body between us and held our clasped hands over Angelique’s chest as Levi placed his right hand on Angelique’s wrapped forehead.
There was no need for any spells because summoning the dead was Levi’s instinctual magic. The reason we usually worked as partners when he summoned the spirit of the dead was that my instinctual magic made every summoned spirit tell the truth, just like it did with regular people.
Even if they had any inclination or motive to lie or they’d made some sort of blood oath or contract, the second half of my instinctual magic made everyone tell the truth and shielded them from the consequences of any blood oath or contract as long as they were telling the truth with my first instinctual magic pushed behind the second and my palms touching their skin or touching Levi who was anchoring the dead’s soul to our world.
Once Levi started summoning the dead, the warmth in the air started to seep away, leaving behind a familiar icy feeling.
When that icy feeling started to feel almost painful, like the moisture in my body was drying out, I knew it was time to start asking questions even before Levi said, “She’s here. Aurora, we have two minutes . . . five minutes tops with this one. Ask your questions fast.”
We locked gazes for a second and I nodded before looking down at Angelique.
“Angelique?” I asked because it was always a good idea to confirm before we started asking questions.
“Aurora? Where am I? And why can’t I see?” Angelique asked, staring up at the ceiling blindly. “What did you do to me? Is this because I spread those rumors around school about you or because I warned everyone not to speak to you? You have gone too far, Aurora. Keeping me here against my will, do you know who I am? I—”
I interrupted her before she started going on a tangent about irrelevant stuff. “Wait . . . I want to ask you some questions.”
“Questions? Why should I give answers to the questions of a nobody like you? Let me out of here, Aurora!” As she got angrier, the air grew icier until it felt like I was lying on a bed of snow on a chilly night.
I tried to stop her. I had never done this with someone I knew and I was just realizing that it would have been better to interrogate Hank than to interrogate Angelique. “Wait—”
Unfortunately, Angelique was no longer listening to me, and time was running out.
“My father is a pack council member and I’m going to be the next Luna of the Crawford Pack!” She continued, “A commoner like you has no right to speak to me. When I get out of here, I’ll have you expelled from Crawford University and—”
“Angelique.” It was a single word, but Angelique’s tirade ended as soon as she heard Alpha Owen call her name.
Her voice shook as she answered, “Alpha . . . Owen?”
“Yes. Do you remember how you died?” Alpha Owen asked.
If I was close to Alpha Owen and not in a summoning circle with my hand clasped in Levi’s as he held Angelique’s spirit in the human world, I would have covered Alpha Owen’s mouth with my palm to stop him from speaking.
Didn’t he know better than to ask the dead how they died? Especially when we were dealing with someone who died as traumatically as Angelique had.
“No, don’t ask her that. She’ll go . . .” crazy.
I didn’t get to finish my sentence because Angelique started yelling. “Monster! Get away from me! Get it away from me! I beg you, just let me go this one time! I won’t do it again! No, no, no!”
“Angelique, calm down. Take a deep breath, exhale, and tell me what you see. Come on, inhale, exhale . . . If you do this, time will stand still. So inhale and exhale again . . .” I took over the questioning because I knew Angelique was now lost in the memories of her death or the moments before her death.
While this was the most turbulent way to ask for answers, we had no other choice. Levi wouldn’t be able to summon Hank’s spirit for the next few days after summoning Angelique’s because every summoning wiped out his magic reserves, and it took several days for his reserves to refill. By then, Hank’s spirit would have been long gone. So I knew I had to get some information out of Angelique now.
