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Fiona moved out in front of the others, and the sheer fear on Max’s face was enough to move them all. Fiona carried his two children with her. His whole life stood between him and a vengeful ghost, and he had no idea what he would do if Fiona was hurt.
“Very well,” Clarissa smirked, her gray eyes gleaming with malice. “Let’s see if you can actually accomplish that, shall we?”
Fiona began speaking, her voice soft. “We found your journal,” she said. “We know that you killed Rebecca.”
Clarissa glared at Fiona. “No!”
“We know you did. We read about it. And all the while she held a letter to the baby’s real father in her hand. Oh, how horribly guilty you must feel. I can’t say I understand, but I myself carry twin girls within me. My heart would break if one of them hurt the other.”
Clarissa shook her head, ghostly tears slipping down her cheeks. “No! That’s not what happened!” She put her hands over her ears and whimpered. “I didn’t kill my sister. I loved her beyond anyone else on this earth. She gave me her baby to raise as my own!”
Layla looked at Bella, feeling the ghost’s guilt fill the room. “Clarissa, you must let the kidnapped women go. They haven’t been with Charles. Charles has been dead for more than a hundred years.”
“No! You killed my husband. I saw you do it! You’re all evil murderers. You must have killed Rebecca as well!”
Clarissa crumpled onto the floor. “No. Stop saying horrible things to me.”
As they watched, the coach walked out of one of the side rooms, no longer seeming as if he was controlled. “Where am I?” he asked, his eyes resting on Fiona. “Didn’t I teach you in PE?”
Fiona nodded. “You did, Coach. Go now. Go home to your wife.”
The coach nodded, still seeming very confused, but he left when Fiona told him he should.”
“Where are the other women, Clarissa?” Bella asked softly. “Here? The warehouse?”
Clarissa was sobbing, and for a moment, it seemed she hadn’t heard Bella. Finally, after a long wait, she said, “They are in my bedroom upstairs.”
Bella nodded, smiling. “Thank you for telling us where they are. We’re taking them with us when we go.”
“I’m not playing the game right anymore,” Clarissa sobbed, clutching her knees to her chest. “These women didn’t fornicate with Charles. They’re innocent.”
“One of them died,” Max said softly. “A woman who did nothing has died.”
“I didn’t do it!” Clarissa said, returning to her sobbing. “I didn’t!”
The three women stood united facing Clarissa as the men hurried up to the bedroom to get the women out. Bella felt strong, and particularly brave as she faced the ghosts who had killed scores of women.
“You need to let us help you rest in peace,” Bella said softly.
“I don’t deserve to rest in peace!”
She deserves to rest in pieces,came the unbidden thought into Bella’s mind. And just like that, she felt the power drain from her. She wished she could kick herself. She was full of moon power, and yet she’d let it drain away as she made a joke in her mind. What kind of idiot did that?
She couldn’t let on that she no longer had the intense power flowing through her veins. “You must go, Clarissa. You have no home here. No need to stay and hurt people.”
“This is my home! It’s all I have!” Clarissa looked around her, shaking her head. “My daughter. Where is my daughter?”
Bella answered that easily enough. “Clarissa, the year is 2023. Your daughter has been dead for a long time.” For an instant, Bella wished they’d researched the girl the twisted couple had adopted.
“I was taken from her when she was only six. Who raised her?”
“We’ll find out and bring you back the answer,” Bella said softly. “You should know that before you reach your eternal rest.”
“If you will tell me, I will gladly go,” Clarissa said.
Jake walked into the ballroom. “They’re out,” he whispered.
Bella knew the others were waiting on her to finish Clarissa off, but she couldn’t. Not only did she no longer have the extreme power flowing through her veins, she couldn’t ban Clarissa without giving her the information about her daughter’s life. “We’ll be back to tell you about your daughter,” she whispered softly, and she turned to go out the front door, and back into the moonlight.
