Reapers of the Dark (Cora Roberts #4)

Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Everybody thinks they want to see a ghost… until they do.

“ W e are going to need a lot more sage,” Lenson grumbled.

“That only works for dispersing them from a building,” Rockhard replied.

That was correct. So how does one rid a parking lot of ghosts? Carefully, was the answer. If we fucked this up, they’d probably disappear into White Castle residents’ homes. Then, we’d have a panicked town on our hands and some very energetic shadows who enjoyed grabbing asses. Karen’s ass, to be specific.

“We could probably weave a quick spell to hide them from view so late-night wanderers don’t freak out,” Dayna suggested.

“Good idea,” Liz agreed.

“Do we have the four elements for a shielding spell of this size?” Rockhard checked. Every elemental learned those as a child. It was part of the 101 toolkit, so that we could cover our tracks quickly and protect our existence. But a shielding spell of this magnitude would require all the elementals here to feed it.

“I have water covered,” I answered.

“Air,” Aunt Liz said.

“Fire,” Dayna muttered.

“And Lenson can cover earth, while I stand in the center as your conduit,” Rockhard said.

We spread out around the edges of the shadows, keeping our emotions in check to ensure they stayed chill. A few times I spotted faces forming in the swirling masses, their distorted features twisting my stomach. Rockhard picked his way to the center, grimacing as the shadows slithered around his calves and tested his emotions.

“Ready?” Aunt Liz called from her position across from me. We all shouted our agreement. Harry, Sebastian, Dave, and Hudson stood in The Pit’s doorway with wary expressions.

Rockhard began the spell, and we all followed, raising our hands and calling on the elemental power we were born with. Power flooded the area, spilling from the four elements that were a constant in our world, no matter your faction. The cool water kissed my skin with a caress, a steady reminder that the element was at my command.

Fire shot from Dayna’s raised hands, air wrapped around the water suspended above me, and the ground rumbled beneath our feet as Lenson dragged power from the earth.

Rockhard took in our power and shouted the final words to conceal the shadows. The air shimmered, and then there was a loud pop before a burst of gold glitter exploded. My knees sagged as the weight of the magic left us, and I sucked in slow, deep breaths. When I looked up, it was to find the lot free of shadows. Oh no.

My gaze darted around. No Harry. He was next to Sebastian before the spell, and now he was gone. My brows lowered as I bit my lip. That wasn’t right. A whisper of something against my ear had me whipping around, but there was nothing there.

“It worked,” Rockhard said with a smile. “I can’t see them.”

“Nor I,” Dayna agreed, followed by everyone else here. They turned to stare at me expectantly.

My hands fisted at my sides. “I can’t see them.”

“What?” Liz snapped. “That’s not right.”

“Oh shit,” Sebastian muttered.

“What about Harry?” Hudson asked, moving toward me.

I spun in a circle, checking for my ghostly sidekick, and shook my head as Hudson grabbed my arm. “No one.”

“What does that mean?” Dave asked, stalking to meet us in the center.

“It should be just the ghosts here she can’t sense,” Rockhard said with a nod.

“For how long?” Hudson asked.

Lenson and Rockhard shared a look. “Could be permanent.”

“Unacceptable,” I snapped.

“Can you reverse it?” Sebastian asked as tears gathered in my eyes. Harry would be freaking out.

“Harry, I will fix this. I promise,” I whispered. A cool caress against my nape had me squeezing my eyes closed. I was aware of him, at least.

It wasn’t a supernatural disaster if we didn’t end up in the town’s pharmacy run by Lenson and Rockhard. They were good friends and the best spell makers in the country. I counted myself lucky to have them in my corner and not Eloise’s.

I sat on a stool in the back room as they fussed and debated the various permutations of the spell needed to unblock me from seeing the dead. It was a rash and stupid decision to involve me at The Pit; if we’d paused for a second, the consequences would have been obvious. Hudson, Dave, and Dayna had joined me, while Liz and Sebastian returned to Summer Grove.

Dave twisted the lid of a glass jar filled with lilac paste and sniffed it. His eyes watered, and despite the seriousness of the situation, I found myself laughing at the nosy chief of security. He replaced the lid with a glare at me. “A little warning.”

I shrugged. “You shouldn’t stick your nose in other people’s pots without permission. And doing it in world class spellcasters’ mixing rooms? You should know better.”

“At least we aren’t in the underground pools,” Hudson said with a shiver. I didn’t have the heart to tell him this was the prelude. Rockhard and Lenson were formulating a plan, but they would execute it downstairs. It was the best way to contain the magic, and we didn’t want to accidentally make everyone in White Castle ghost seers.

“Okay, we have it,” Lenson said as he tied his pretty pink apron on. “We aren’t giving you the power to see spirits, since you already have it. We just have to remove the block.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed. “What’s it going to cost me?” They never asked for money as they had no need of it, but there was always a transaction. Lenson tapped his index finger on his chin and stared at the ceiling. Oh boy.

“Spit it out. I have a sensitive ghost who needs me.”

Rockhard grinned as he dragged on his leather gloves. “He wants to be in your wedding party.”

“You already have guaranteed invitations. What do you mean?”

“No,” Lenson said with a shake of his head. “I don’t want to come to the wedding—I want to be in the wedding.”

“You want to marry, Hudson? I don’t think Rockhard will be impressed.”

“I have the perfect position for you,” Dayna said with a little clap of her hands. My eyes narrowed. I’m pretty sure I stipulated a small and quiet wedding.

She rolled her eyes at me. “Don’t worry, Cora. All you have to do is turn up.” That was a positive. I could manage that. “I’ll send you the details,” Dayna added to Lenson.

He nodded, looking far happier than I did at the thought of my impending nuptials. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to marry Hudson; I did. I just could do without the fanfare. Also, there was something niggling at me. So small, so inconsequential, really. He hadn’t proposed. He’d sort of announced it, and I’d agreed.

“Fantastic. Cora, follow me.”

I slid off the stool and started after the pair of spell casters. Footsteps sounded behind me, with Hudson hot on my tail. Not surprising. I’d had to warn him about following me to the bathroom—the man lacked boundaries. But Dave and Dayna were taking up the tail end of this little train, determined not to be left out.

“What are you doing?” I asked at the top of the stairs, leading us into the basement filled with pools of water and crystals.

Dave raised a brow. “Where he goes, I go.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out an exasperated breath.

“And I felt left out,” Dayna added.

I sighed and dropped my hand. Looked like I had an entourage.

Hudson hissed the second his feet hit the water. He hated it. Well, his prehistoric tiger hated water. Dave undid his leather coat, folded it, and placed it on the stairs before following us in. Dayna’s pastel rainbow maxi dress floated around her as we waded after the spellcasters, deeper into the flooded catacombs until we reached the central one.

“How does this work?” Hudson asked curiously. It was a far cry from back when he saw all elementals as untrustworthy. Now, he was mated to one.

“Everyone but Cora has a natural shielded state from the dead,” Rockhard said, as he tipped a blue liquid from a flask into a glass with a peach crystal. “So we need to return everyone to how they were. It’s a simple spell, really. We aren’t trying to force nature to do something it wasn’t already doing.”

“But the ghost problem is still happening, right?” Dave asked. “They haven’t disappeared. We just can’t see them.”

Where was he going with this?

“Well, you could see those remnants because they’d separated from the wandering or free soul. Harry, for example, is not someone you can see because he doesn’t exist on this plane,” Rockhard explained.

“Can you make us see them?” Dave asked.

Everyone went still and the temperature of the water seemed to cool a couple of degrees. Lenson tilted his head. “Why would the pack’s chief of security want to see ghosts?”

He had met Harry at the Serpents of the Dawn meetings, so it couldn’t be simple curiosity.

“Leaving Cora to face these ghosts alone seems a little shortsighted. I’m just seeing if there is a way to support her.”

Support or spy? Dangerous Dave strikes again, but his act fooled no one.

“You want to see what she sees?” Lenson checked.

No, Dave, you don’t. Trust me.

“Yes.”

I groaned and massaged my temple.

Rockhard and Lenson shared a look. Tell them it isn’t possible. Please.

Lenson frowned. “We can’t give you the same power as you aren’t an elemental.”

“But that’s not her elemental power, is it?” Dave said as he folded his arms.

I glanced at Hudson. A little help? He smirked. Oh, he was in on this. Wonderful.

“We could potentially filter it through Cora and into you, but it would mean you’d be a drain on her strength.”

“Her angelic strength, not her elemental one,” Rockhard added, like that was better. It wasn’t.

Indigo raised her head and eyeballed the spellcasters. They froze. “They want our power,” she said.

“No, they want to see what we see. ”

“That’s easy. Tell the spellcasters to restore your sight, and I will do the rest without endangering your power . ”

I relay the conversation between myself and Indigo. Dave huffs but falls silent as Rockhard and Lenson work their magic. A quick cast, some weird dark green paste spread on my forehead that I wasn’t sure did anything besides make me look ridiculous, and they declared me fixed. I glanced around and found Harry hovering at the edge of the cave. His gaze caught mine.

“You can see me?” he whispered.

Warmth filled my chest, and I nodded. A wide grin spread across his face, and he flung himself at me, passing straight through my body in his excitement. I rolled my shoulders to shake off the weird sensation, making Hudson grin at me.

We trudged up the stairs, dripping water everywhere. Lenson handed us a towel each and a hot cup of peppermint tea. Harry stared at me like I hung the moon and the stars. I felt a stab of guilt that I was his entire world. Perhaps expanding that to encompass more people was a wise thing for his mental health, and I wouldn’t feel this constant pressure to interact and ensure he was getting the social support he needed to stay sane.

Rockhard leveled me a stare. “Can I give you a piece of advice?”

“You can, but she’s not great at taking it,” Hudson muttered.

“Sure,” I answered with a side glance at my mate.

Rockhard rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. “I think you should consider doing your family tree.”

I snorted along with Dayna. “The Roberts family tree is well documented,” Dayna answered.

Lenson’s lip twitched. “Your females might be, but the males are a patchy account at best.”

With good reason in my case. “Why?” I asked.

“With what Eloise is trying to achieve, it might be a good idea to figure out who you could draw to your side.”

My grandmother had been relentless in her quest for a gang of strong female offspring, which is why I have so many aunts. But did I know who their fathers were? No. Did they? Not sure. It was a fair point to raise.

“Lines are being drawn, Cora,” Rockhard said, as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “It’s time to find out who will fight for you.”

“And who is against you,” Lenson finished.

Dayna blinked. “It’s coming, Cora. Your future, your fate, your freedom filled with death, darkness, and decay.”

My blood went ice cold.