Joyce & Jim Lavene - Taxi for the Dead 02 - Dead Girl Blues (13 page)

I felt better after I’d cried. Jacob used to laugh at me when I cried over silly things like taking Kate to the doctor for shots. He said I was too tenderhearted and then he’d held me his arms.

Lucas was waiting in the bedroom. He’d brought the bottle of whiskey up with him. I bypassed that and an empty glass to settle against him. I closed my eyes as he put his arms around me. He didn’t try to tell me that everything was going to be okay, as Jacob used to. He didn’t say anything.

We made love in the big bed with the constant fire of the hearth throwing red flames on the walls and ceiling. Usually when we came together, I fell asleep immediately after. It was a blessed stretch of blankness—no thoughts, no dreams.

But not tonight.

I was still restless and got up from bed to wander aimlessly through the dark inn. I didn’t see Addie. She was really avoiding me. I only spent a few minutes in Jacob’s room. My mind couldn’t focus on trying to figure out the puzzle of his death.

I ended up in the kitchen again, at the table. I wanted to cry, but there were no tears left. I tried to marshal my thoughts, but they were wild and beyond my reach.

Deciding that I still might fall asleep if I went back to the turret room and lay down beside Lucas, I put my hand on the old wood table—and my hand went through it.

It was probably going to happen to all of Abe’s zombies. Leave it to me to be the last of Abe’s legacy. He’d been doing this for over two hundred years, and it had never happened before.

As I thought about it, I felt a curiously light sensation. I looked down at my body. It was becoming transparent. I’d begun to drift away from the table. It was like being in a dream, soft and gentle. I was changing. No need to worry. It wasn’t a big deal. I closed my eyes and let it happen.

Suddenly something grabbed me. I was still solid enough that I could be held. I opened my eyes and looked into Addie’s frightened face.

“What the hell are you doing? You can’t just disappear. Kate needs you.” Addie said the words to me quickly and then opened her mouth to let out a horrible, shrill call. “Lucas!”

I was out of my dream state by then and frantically clawing at the ceiling, trying to hold on to something. I grabbed the ceiling light, but my hands passed through it. Addie was trying to pull me down to the floor, but couldn’t get a good grip anymore.

“Lucas!” Addie yelled again. “Get your butt down here!”

“Grandma?” Kate was out of bed and scurrying down the stairs. “What’s wrong? Why is Mommy on the ceiling?”

“Go back to bed, Kate,” I said.

No words came out. My mouth moved, but I had no voice.

She started crying, and I forced myself out of the peaceful dream I’d allowed myself to be lulled into. This couldn’t happen to me as it had happened to Mr. Benton. I couldn’t leave Kate. Not yet.

I pushed at the ceiling with my feet, but I couldn’t get away from it. I tried to wrap my legs around the light—nothing. I grabbed Addie’s hand, which was surprisingly strong and real. I kept trying to scream. I couldn’t say anything.

Lucas came down the stairs after Kate. He saw me on the ceiling, and his gaze riveted on me. I wondered if he’d know what to do. We’d certainly found no answer for Mr. Benton.

“Addie, you have to meld with Skye,” Lucas said.

The expression on my mother-in-law’s dour face was almost one of horror.

“Meld with her? What does that mean? Do some magic. Make her solid again.”

“I can’t. Not like this. You have to put yourself inside her. Because I’ve been helping you gain your abilities as a ghost, I think I can help Skye—if you are inside her.”

“I can’t do that.” She glanced at me. “I can’t go inside another person. That’s crazy. Not to mention disgusting. There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t, and there is no time to argue. Look at her. She’s starting to go through the ceiling. If she disappears from the house, there is nothing we can do.”

Addie clearly wanted to help, but not at the cost Lucas was requiring of her.

“Please, Grandma,” Kate asked. “Please save Mommy. I don’t want her to go away like Daddy did.”

I knew Addie couldn’t resist Kate’s plea. Her expression might be something she’d wear as she was contemplating picking up after a dog, but I knew she’d at least give it a try. I wasn’t sure it would work and cursed my stupidity for not telling Lucas what was happening to the other LEPs.

Why did I think I’d be immune?

“Okay. Okay. I’ll try it,” Addie said. “So what do I do? Do I have to go in through her mouth or her ear? Because I’m not going through the other area. I don’t care if she floats into space.”

“No. It doesn’t matter,” Lucas explained. “Remember when I showed you how to get inside the refrigerator without opening the door? That’s all you have to do. Don’t think of her as a person. Just hop inside and stay there for a moment to anchor her.”

Addie screwed up her face and did as he said. I could immediately tell the difference. I started coming down from the ceiling, feeling solid again. I wished Kate would go back to bed. I didn’t want her to see me this way.

“There.” Addie nodded my head. “I’m in her. It’s no picnic so whatever you’re going to do better be fast, sorcerer.”

Lucas smiled as he touched my hand. “That’s fine. You did exactly what I needed. You’re wonderfully strong now, Addie. You could do anything.”

“Quit the BS and get on with it. Have you ever been inside another person? You know I can’t take a shower anymore.”

“I need to talk to Skye so I can understand why this happened,” he said. “You’re the dominant spirit in this form. You’ll have to release some control for her to speak.”

“Sure. The first time I have the edge on her, and you want me to give it up.” She shrugged. “All right. If I can figure out how.”

“Say something, Skye,” Lucas said. “You should be able to speak and be heard.”

I tried to say something again, but nothing came out. I was worried about that last phase I’d seen Mr. Benton go through where he was simply not there anymore. I didn’t want to go out that way.

“Skye?” Lucas shook us.

“I’m here.” I spoke, but my voice was strange and unfamiliar. “I should’ve told you, but there was so much going on. This happened to one of Abe’s people today. He just became invisible and finally disappeared.”

“What did Abe do?”

“We all stood there and watched it happen. He didn’t know what to do. It’s never happened before. Lucky me, huh?”

I wondered if I looked like me or if I looked like Addie. Did I have Addie’s face with my nose? I couldn’t look down and see myself. I’d thought becoming a zombie was the weirdest thing that could happen to me. I was wrong.

“So he had no idea what was causing this or how to stop it?” Lucas’s brows knit together above his green eyes. “It seems to be a curse. It has to be anchored by something all of you share. I may not be able to reverse it. Without knowing the spell, it’s very difficult.”

He contemplated the problem at length until Addie took over the form we shared again.

“Kate, get up to bed right now. You still have school tomorrow.” It was Addie’s voice. “And Lucas, is this going to work or not? I can’t stay inside Skye forever.”

“I don’t want to go back to bed until I see what’s going to happen,” Kate argued.

“Your mother is going to be fine. Now go back to sleep.”

They finally agreed that Kate could sleep on the sofa in the family room. I could see her still watching us through the kitchen doorway.

“Well?” Addie addressed herself again to Lucas.

“I think I have the only possible answer,” he said.

“I don’t care what it is,” Addie said. “Can you fix it or not?”

“I believe so, but it will take some risk.” Lucas stared into our eyes as though he was trying to see me inside Addie. “Let her speak again. She must make this decision.”

It was easier this time trading places with Addie. I found my voice and asked what he could do.

“I think the curse is on Abe’s mark upon your foot. If I remove that mark, you should be back to normal.”

“Normal? Like dead, but not dead?”

“Yes. But there is a chance that if I remove the mark, you will simply die.”

Chapter Seventeen

It wasn’t a difficult decision to make. If I stayed in this ghost form, I would definitely be gone. At least I had a chance with Lucas’s plan.

“Okay. But how are you going to remove it when I’m not solid. Can you remove a ghost tattoo?”

He shrugged. “If you’re asking me how it will work—I’m not sure. Magic put that tattoo on your foot. Magic should take it away.”

“Magic and a tattoo artist. He made the mark first and then Abe put the magic in it. Can you do that? Do we need to get someone from Deadly Ink to remake the mark?”

“I don’t think we have time for that. I shall create a magic mark that should sustain you. Do you want to try?”

It occurred to me again that Lucas had been practicing magic quite a bit more than he was letting on. He had control over what he was doing, even if it didn’t always quite work out the way he wanted.

I was scared, but he was right—I could feel that drifting feeling again even though Addie was inside of me. I didn’t have much time. I had to take a chance on his abilities, and hope he could keep me here.

“All right. Let’s do this. Can you close the kitchen door? I don’t want Kate to see me if it goes bad.”

He closed the door and returned, bowing his head to me. “On my honor, Skye Mertz, I will care for your family if this doesn’t work. I will not allow your daughter to be alone, hungry, or cold. She will not suffer for your death.”

His words were fiercely dramatic and sincere. I knew he was swearing an oath to me in the only way he knew how. I appreciated what he said and tried not to smile at the way he’d said it.

“Thank you, Lucas. I trust you to care for Kate.”

He rubbed his hands together. “Addie, you must leave Skye now.”

I could feel Addie’s fear. Though she’d complained about being inside me, she was worried that I wouldn’t survive when she left.

“It’s okay,” I told her. “It’s gonna work. If it doesn’t, take care of Kate.”

“You don’t have to tell me that. I’m not a nincompoop. Just get on with it. If you don’t come back, give Jacob a hug for me.”

Addie’s spirit disengaged from mine. I saw her standing beside Lucas. I wasn’t floating away again as I thought I might. There seemed to be a green glow holding me in place. I was still becoming more and more transparent, but I wasn’t fighting the ceiling.

Lucas laid his hand on my foot that sported Abe’s tattoo. He closed his eyes and spoke a few words that had no meaning to me. My foot began to glow green too. I thought that I should have called Abe to warn him. He might feel the change when Lucas was finished. He could suffer that bout of weakness again as he had when Mr. Benton had disappeared.

But it was too late.

I looked at my feet and legs. They were glowing bright green, and the color was spreading up to my torso and through both my arms and hands. Lucas was staring at me. My mind was unfocused, fearful. I reached out to grab his hand and was able to touch him.

“I hope she’s not gonna stay green like that all the time,” Kate said from the doorway. “She can’t ever come to school again like that.”

Lucas took both my hands in his and smiled. “I believe we’ve been successful. How do you feel?”

The green glow around and through me was gone. I felt good—solid and human again. I reached out to touch the wall behind me. No problem. Kate ran up and jumped into my arms.

“I’m good.” I held my daughter tightly. “I think you’re right. You did it. Now we know how to reverse the curse. Thank you.”

“Abe will have noticed this,” Lucas warned. “You are not the same as you were before, but you are still here among us.”

“Come on, chicken feet,” Addie insisted as she shepherded Kate to bed when I put her down. “I think you’ve had enough excitement for tonight. I’d better not hear any complaining in the morning when you’re tired either.”

“Aw, Grandma.” But Kate grinned. “Goodnight, Mommy. Goodnight, Lucas. Thank you.”

Lucas gallantly bent his dark head to her.

When we were alone in the kitchen, Lucas made coffee as I dropped into a chair.

“You’re better at magic than you let on, aren’t you?”

“It comes and goes,” he answered. No commitment.

“You don’t have to lie. It’s not like I’m going to kick you out even if you’re a full-fledged sorcerer of universal power.”

He grinned as he poured coffee into two mugs. “I’m not sure what that is, but I can assure you that I mean no harm to you or Kate. I still have moments when all magic deserts me. I can’t make myself remember how I came to be here. But I am stronger.”

“Thanks for what you did tonight.” I took the mug from him. “And what you’ve done since you came. Everything looks great. Is that what sorcerers do to regain their power?”

Lucas sat across from me and grimaced as he took a sip of the coffee. “Sometimes to learn is to start from scratch. Plus, this place needed some aid. I was glad to help.”

“Well I know Addie appreciates it. I do too. I’m just not as enthusiastic about cleaning and pruning as I should be.”

Lucas’s gaze turned serious as he sipped his coffee. “Perhaps you shouldn’t mention this to Abe.”

“I think he’ll know.”

“But he won’t be certain unless you confirm it.”

“I’ll have to tell him if we’re going to help the rest of the zombies. It’s not happening just to his people who are finished with their twenty years. He found a new sorcerer, if you’re worried about him asking you to help him.”

“I know how to say no. I don’t know what his response will be to your new status.”

“My new status?”

He nodded toward my foot. “You’ve changed. I don’t know how much as yet. Only time will tell that.”

I lifted my foot that had the tattoo of a pale blue A in a circle. In place of that was a green mark that was a circle with an L inside it.

It took my breath away at first. Was Lucas’s magic keeping me alive now? What would Abe say if he saw this? I hadn’t appreciated being branded as one of Abe’s people in the first place. I wasn’t any happier wearing Lucas’s brand.