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“Do you still want to come tomorrow? You don’t have to.”
“Course I do. Gotta look after your mate. I’ll be here.”
And he was, perched on the porch rail when they arrived back at the house at daybreak.
CHAPTER 22
Wendy clung to Damian’s hand as they stepped up onto the porch. She was convinced they were doing the right thing, but that didn’t prevent the nerves making her stomach churn. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Damian and he raised a brow.
“Are you sure? We don’t have to do this.”
“I’m sure.”
“Very well.” He gave Cody a stern look. “Your only concern is to keep Wendy safe, understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
The brownie grinned when they both stared at him and shrugged.
“Didn’t seem like the right time for dude.”
She was still smiling as they followed Jessica over the threshold. Damian had told her that the place didn’t look any different, and he was right, but the tiny hairs of the back of her neck stood up all the same.
Jessica smoothed the line of salt back in place, then led the way into the kitchen. Wendy hadn’t been enthusiastic about performing the ritual in one of her favorite places, but she’d reluctantly agreed that it had the strongest connection to the hidden cellar.
Jessica drew a chalk design on the floor, then ringed it with salt as they all took their places at the four points of the compass. She wished she’d been close enough to Damian to hold his hand, but he was still a reassuring presence to her left. Even Cody’s nonchalance helped calm her racing pulse.
Jessica arranged several items on the ground in front of her, and lit a candle. She began chanting something under her breath, her face serene, but for at least ten minutes nothing happened. Then icy fingers drifted across the back of Wendy’s neck as the temperature in the room dropped significantly.
A figure began to form in the middle of the circle. A woman, perhaps her own age, but she was not what Wendy had expected. She had sharp features, her mouth pursed into a discontented bow—and small white hands. She was suddenly quite sure that this was the ghost who had pushed her into the cellar. From the malicious smile on the ghost’s face when she looked over at her, she thought the ghost remembered it as well.
“It is time for you to move on,” Jessica said calmly. “Your work here is done.”
“No, it’s not,” the woman hissed. “I’m not leaving until he pays.”
“Until who pays?”
“My bastard husband. This is his fault.”
Another figure began to manifest, a man this time. A big man with a kind, tired face. He looked sad. Jessica focused on him for a long moment before turning her attention back to the female ghost.
“It’s all his fault,” the woman repeated, pointing a long finger at him. “He was going to leave me.”
The sadness turned into a mixture of resignation and disgust.
“You can’t blame me for everything that went wrong in your life, Alexis. You were the one who had the affair with my brother. I warned you that he was dangerous, but you didn’t listen. You never listened.”
Wendy desperately wanted to know what had happened, but Jessica gave her an almost imperceptible head shake.
“You let him kill me!” Alexis shrieked, and an icy breeze swirled wildly through the room.
The man sighed. “I tried to stop him, and I paid the price. You have to accept some responsibility for your own actions.”
“I hate you!” Those malicious eyes traveled around the circle. “I will make all of you suffer.”
As she finished, she threw up her hands and the icy wind intensified, whipping Wendy’s hair into her face. The candle in front of Jessica flickered, but then Jessica began to speak. Wendy couldn’t understand the words, but the incantation was low, lyrical, and melodious. The candle flame grew stronger again. Alexis pressed her hands against her ears, a horrified expression on her face, while the male ghost looked almost… hopeful.
Alexis began to transform, as if she were melting in the rain. Her body grew distorted, her face almost unrecognizable, and she shrieked in wordless rage. The screams escalated, her howls echoing around the room, but Jessica merely regarded her calmly as she finished her incantation.
