Chapter 322: Enforcer Assistance
Pender's breath whooshed out as he nodded slowly, though he looked afraid now.
"Very well," he said. "She will be our anchor."
I knew the gist of what they were doing. Necromancy at least had been creepily fascinating enough I paid attention when Mom tried to teach me. Drawing out the soul echoes of the dead was only possible with a minimum of two people-one to do the searching and the other to act as an anchor to the real world. It wasn't the full soul they brought back, only a glimmer of who the person had been in life. The best part, the ghost was unable to lie, as though whatever they did in their time alive was imprinted permanently on the echo.
But it had been a creepy lesson in my family basement. This was the real thing in the bowels of a mansion obviously built by those of power, whoever the maji were. Gram didn't give me time to think about it much longer, but wrapped her energy around me and, digging in her mental hooks, flung herself into the dark place between life and death.
I felt the pull of the virus again, the whisper of it, though it was easily controlled. I made myself focus on that detail, on keeping it under control. It was easier to do than think about what my grandmother was doing.
Who she was looking for.
The evil witch, sister of Odette and leader of the ill-fated Purity coven, was the reason Gram spent seventeen years buried in insanity and why I spent my entire life hating magic.
The old bitch had a lot to answer for.
Getting mad helped too.
Gram breathed a sigh, as though from a great distance before her eyes snapped open and met mine.
"Perfect," she smiled, "it's working after all."
So not helpful. "You had doubts?"
She shrugged, but didn't answer.
Lovely.
I didn't have time to be angry. The next moment the air next to Gram rippled and we were no longer alone.
Naudia Purity wasn't as evil looking as I expected. She just seemed petulant, like a little girl who hadn't gotten her own way. She glanced around, saw Gram, scowled.
"Why have you brought me here?" Her voice was as much an echo as her image, but she was clearly conscious of us.
"You are here for my benefit," Gram laughed. "Finally."
The ghost wailed in anger. "Never!"
But she was already compressing, folding in on herself, turning to a mist before being sucked into Gram's mouth almost as if she'd swallowed the old Purity.
Gram staggered, leaning against the podium. Pender reached for her, but she shook him off. When she straightened she wiped her mouth with her sleeve, a grim look on her face.
"Next," she growled.
He handed her a skull, horror on his face. "You can't carry two."
"I can," she snapped. "And more." The grinning face looked back at Gram as she went after the next echo.
I'd never seen him before, but his face was as familiar to me as my own. It hurt to look at Grandfather Ivan, to know he'd betrayed us all. But worse, because I now knew where my looks came from, where Mom's beauty was born.
He was so handsome, breathtaking really. When he met Gram's eyes, he didn't say anything, his echo simply watching her with great sadness. Gram grunted and inhaled his essence, her body shuddering as if the two ghosts inside her jockeyed for some kind of position.
"Next." Her voice was hoarse.
"Gram." I glanced at Pender who looked very concerned. "That's enough."
She grabbed my arm, squeezing so hard I cried out, her face a mask of rage. "It will never be enough," she hissed. "Now, give me the next skull!"
"Ethpeal." Pender handed her one. "You can't continue like this."
Her cackling laugh sent shudders through me, as much as the look in her eyes. "Why?" She grated. "Because it will drive me crazy?" She hummed softly to herself for a moment. "I've been there, done that, worn the straightjacket." One faded blue eye winked at me suddenly. "I think I can handle it."
I felt better all of a sudden, though I had no idea why. She was doing the impossible, but my faith was restored with her one wink.
"Just shut up and help her," I said. "No one underestimates my grandmother."
She grinned at me like it was funny.
I just wished it was.
Gram grunted when Pender set the skull in her hand. "There are a pair."
He sighed and nodded, handed her the second. Within moments, a handsome couple wavered before us, their echoes achingly familiar.
I'd seen a picture of them before, a long time ago. Clutched in Quaid's hand.
David's frown looked just like his son's. "Why are we here?"
"Your children are in danger," Ethpeal said. "Quaid and Mia need you."
Clare cried out softly, reaching for Gram. "We'll do anything you say," she said.
They didn't have to be ingested, but went willingly into Gram.
This time it took her longer to recover.
"That will have to be enough." She was breathless, clutching her chest. "I can't hold any more."
Pender shook his head, easing her gently aside, taking my hand. "You have shamed me, Ethpeal Hayle," he said. "I will do what I can to complete this for you."
Sandra Crossman wept openly and went to him willingly. Martin and Louisa just smiled at me and told me they loved me before Pender took their fresh echoes into his body. His pale skin looked translucent for a moment, eyes flaring with white fire. But he recovered after a moment, though he had acquired a tremor in his right hand.
"I don't know how long I can hold them inside," he said. "But I will follow your lead."
Gram grunted.
"Now what?" I sealed off the vampire virus with more of my family's spirit magic and sighed in relief when it fell silent again. "We just let the ghosts go and sic them on the Council?"
"No," Gram said. "Not tonight."
Pender groaned softly, but nodded.
"You need to go back." Gram shoved me toward Charlotte. "We will remain until it is time."
"Gram, I won't just leave you here." Not looking like death warmed over, no pun intended.
"I will send my people to her," Charlotte said. "We will guard over them, I swear it."
Gram bobbed her head. "Syd, you have to go. You must be there when Council reconvenes."
It could have already. But no, I'd signed the paperwork. If it was starting again, I'd have felt the pull.
There was still time.
I forced myself to turn away, felt the vampire virus pulse once, heard someone breathe in my ear as the place between life and death gaped, still open. Pender had failed to close it. I reached out, using my power to seal it.
Only to feel someone latch onto me, pulling herself across, sobbing and clinging as if I could save her.
Oh no.
Alison.
***
