Romancing The Dead (23 page)

Benjamin. He was in full attack mode. I’d totally forgotten to warn him that there’d be company.

“Garnet,” Max said, tugging my sleeve. “What is it? What’s going on?”

I raised my hand. “I’ll take care of it. Everyone just needs to calm down.” Not that anyone heard me, though Max did start letting people know that I had some kind of solution. I only hoped I did.

Closing my eyes, I exhaled a slow, steadying breath. I rose into the astral plane. Having forgotten to sit down first, I felt my body fall face-first onto the Persian rug. The pain of smacking into the floor nearly jolted me back into my body, but I held on.

“Smooth move,” said a voice that was more growl than words. I opened my magical eyes and saw Coyote. Superimposed over Micah was the image of a coyote-headed man wearing a traditional beaded buckskin robe. Black eyes glinted with mirth and mischief. His long snout lifted in a slight sneer, showing sharp yellowed canines. The tufts of fur at his ears were gray and coarse. He looked old, but very much like a God. I shrank back a bit in awe. I might even have fallen down on my knees in supplication had not Benjamin chosen that moment to toss another book.

Benjamin picked up another pile of books, shouting, “Get out. Get out of my house.”

Several coveners rushed over to where I’d seemingly passed out on the floor. Marge shook my shoulders gently and called my name. I ignored them. I had a poltergeist to deal with.

“Benjamin,” I said quietly, but firmly.

Book raised over his head, he stopped. Bringing it down slowly, he stared at William’s skull like he still desperately wanted to do him bodily harm. “Garnet?”

“These people are here to help me find Sebastian.”

“Interlopers.” He shook his head, as though he didn’t believe me. “I only like dead things in this house. The dead . . . and you.” He glanced at me with a glint in his eye I wasn’t especially comfortable with.

O-kay. Sebastian had told me that Benjamin got crazier the closer it was to full moon.

“Um, well, that’s sort of sweet.” And sort of odd. Best not to dwell on the implications of that. I cleared my throat. “They’ll only be here for a few hours. You want Sebastian back, don’t you?”

Benjamin’s shoulders drooped and he let the book drop to the floor with a bang. Everyone in the room jumped, except Micah, who sat in Sebastian’s chair with his feet up on the table, watching the exchange between Benjamin and me.

“Out,” I commanded Benjamin as I’d heard Sebastian do many times before. Then, on impulse, I added, “Please.”

“All right,” he said. “Since you asked so nicely.” Benjamin walked past Micah and said, “You’re not welcome here.”

Micah smiled sweetly, though I saw his astral tail twitch. “I was here long before you.”

Benjamin stiffened and I thought he might give in to another tantrum, but he simply narrowed his eyes at Micah and stalked out. He pushed the kitchen door open forcefully, and then went outside and slammed the back door shut like a petulant child. I lowered myself back into my body slowly. The hardwood was cool against my cheek. Inhaling, I came back into the sensation of the heaviness my body. I felt the weight of skin and bones and all the pressure of all the little aches I’d been subconsciously carrying with me over the past few days—the dull throb of my swollen, burned neck, bruised knees, and skinned palms. My head was partially propped on someone’s knee. Craning my neck, I noticed it was Max. Marge knelt over me, though her attention, like everyone else’s, had shifted to the noisy retreat of the ghost. Max, however, looked ready to administer CPR.

“I’m okay,” I told him, pushing myself up on my elbows. “Really.”

“Lifeguard training in high school. I guess it all comes back to you in a crisis situation, eh, Garnet? ” A beat. Then he added, “Jeez, was that a real ghost?”

We had the attention of the whole room, many of whom, no doubt, had the same question on their minds.

“Poltergeist,” I said. I pulled my knees up to start the process of sitting up. Marge scooted out of the way and a few others stepped back to give me room. With more effort than I would have preferred, especially given the audience, I got my feet under me and myself upright. “I’m sorry about him,” I said, rolling my shoulders to ease the sting from falling. “Benjamin kind of came with the house.”

“You live with a ghost?” Griffin asked unbelievingly. “On purpose?”

“Sebastian does,” Mátyás said from his spot on the staircase. “Garnet just sleeps over.”

I shot Mátyás a glare. What was with the sudden hostility again?

“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your new friend, Garnet?” Micah asked from where he lounged in the chair.

“Uh, everyone,” I said. “This is Mátyás Von Traum, Sebastian’s son.”

There was a chorus of ohs and heys and nice-to-meet-yous. Mátyás stood up and edged a little closer to the group. Since Mátyás stood there looking somewhat at a loss as to what to say next, I introduced each covener by name. Plus, this way Mátyás could connect names and faces to all the people we’d put on our suspect list. I saved Micah for last.

“
Enchanté
, I’m sure,” Micah said with a tip of an invisible hat.

“Et vous, júckal,”
Mátyás replied.

“Now, now, no need for name-calling. You hardly know me,” Micah said with a lazy smile.

“It’s kind of mystic, isn’t it?” William said to no one in particular. “There are always twelve of us. Sebastian goes missing and Micah joins us. Blythe dropped out and now Mátyás is here.”

“Yeah, what happened to her anyway?” Xylia asked. “She was kind of cute.”

“Cute?” Mátyás mouthed to me. “And she’s been missing how long?”

“She’s been AWOL since Sebastian disappeared,” Marge said, stepping closer into the two of us uninvited. She gave me a sheepish glance and added, “I kind of figured they ran off together, honestly.”

“No,” Mátyás and I said simultaneously and with nearly the same vehemence.

Marge took a step back. “Oh, well, I thought he was a vampire and that maybe she, well, you know, thought that was cool.”

That seemed like just the sort of thing someone might suggest to try to cover up her part in Sebastian ’s disappearance. I was just about to call Marge on it when I got cut off.

“Wait a minute,” said Xylia, joining in the conversation that I ’d originally intended to be private. “Are you saying we’re doing a ritual to find a guy who’s off having kinky vampire sex with Blythe?”

“Sebastian ran off with Blythe?” someone at the far end of the room repeated. “Seriously? When did this happen?”

Mátyás continued to act as though he were only talking to me. “She could have,” he said. “Maybe she’s the one who put the spell on him.”

The door opened. Every head in the room turned to watch Blythe walk in. She had a motorcycle helmet under her arm, and she shook out her long blond hair. “Hullo, everyone! Sorry I’m late.”

9.

Uranus

KEYWORDS:
Electricity, Magic, and Rebellion

The room was silent for a heartbeat as we waited to see if Sebastian would stroll in behind Blythe. Necks craned to see around her, and Blythe started to have that concerned look you got when you thought you might have a piece of broccoli stuck in your teeth or your fly might be open. “Um,” she said, “am I missing something here?”

“We were all just talking about you,” Micah said from his spot on the couch. “By the way, did you kidnap a vampire?”

“Actually, I think that was
you
,” Mátyás said.

“Oh God,” I heard Marge say. Her face drained of color and her eyes darted toward the door. She couldn’t have looked guiltier if she’d tried.

“Right,” Mátyás added. “And you.”

“What is this, Miss Marple?” Griffin asked. “Who is this guy who comes in here and starts accusing people of vampire-napping, anyway?”

I had to admit this wasn’t exactly what I’d hoped for from our plan to draw the bad guy out, but if anyone could irritate someone into expressing their guilt, it would be Mátyás. Still, I wasn ’t sure what he was thinking, poking at a guy who harbored not one God, but two. I could only hope he had some kind of ace up his sleeve.

“Mátyás is my friend and”—I started to say that he was Sebastian’s son, but Sebastian was my fiancé, not just some guy I knew. That made Mátyás—“family. Besides, I think he’s right.”

Micah stretched his arms over his head languidly, as though he were getting ready for a nap. Scratching the back of his neck, he smacked his lips together. “Well, isn’t this exciting,” he murmured sleepily.

Marge, meanwhile, had inched her way closer to the couch and now stood beside it, watching Mátyás and me with wide, wary eyes. She pulled nervously on her fingers and clutched herself for support.

Micah stood up slowly. Despite everything, the room veritably crackled with the threat of his movement. In response, the rest of the coven seemed to huddle closer to me and Mátyás, as though closing ranks. Griffin came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. He gave me a reassuring squeeze and I could feel his magical strength adding itself to mine. “So, is it true?” Griffin asked. “You got the lady’s boyfriend stashed somewhere?”

“Fiancé,” I corrected quietly.

“Fiancé,” Griffin repeated louder.

Micah’s gaze swept the group as though he were measuring his ability to take us on collectively. When his gaze lit on mine, I had no doubt he could. I squared my shoulders anyway, bolstered by the hand on my shoulder and the nearness of the others. Micah seemed ready to respond when lightning struck the house. A sizzling crackle made my hair stand on end, followed by an explosion of light. Someone screamed. A loud boom, like standing in the middle of thunder, shook the walls. Plaster dust fell from the ceiling. Several people ducked, including Micah.

The lights went out.

Lighters flicked on around the room. William and Mátyás switched on keychain flashlights. Neither Marge nor Micah had taken the opportunity to disappear dramatically. In fact, both of them looked surprised and startled. Marge whispered to Micah, “Did you do that?”

A cold breeze tickled my eardrum. “The house is under attack,” it seemed to say. Benjamin. Mátyás either heard Benjamin or intuited the same conclusion. “The second party has made their move,” he said. Xylia and a couple of other people with lighters lit the decorative candles around the room. Soon we were bathed in a soft, flickering glow. “It’s weird,” William said, after lighting a kerosene lamp Sebastian had on his mantel. “There’s not even any rain, but the sky is kind of green. Only right above us.”

I peered out the window into the inky darkness. Mostly I saw my worried reflection on the glass, but William was right. I could make out a strange swirling greenish light over the house.

The airs on my arm prickled. I looked down to see the fine hairs sticking straight up. It was happening again. Dropping the curtain, I shouted to everyone, “We’re under magical attack. We need to counter this, now.”

I held out my arms indicating that people should join hands. Griffin, Xylia, William, Mátyás, and the others quickly linked up. Marge and Micah stood outside the circle. I could hear a buzz, like the buildup of static, and I knew the next strike was imminent. We could do the spell without them, but . . . Micah was a God. “Get in here,” I said, letting go of Mátyás’s hand to reach for Micah. Though surprised, Micah stepped up to take it. “Who is it?”

The lightning stuck again. The floors trembled. William, who held my other hand, nearly crushed it in shock. Everyone made a nervous noise of some kind, even Micah. “I don’t know,” I said. “But let’s stop this before it gets too serious.”

I felt something cold settle in directly behind me, like when you wander into a chilly spot in a lake. I knew it must be Benjamin. Apparently, he decided there was safety in numbers too.

Normally a coven will take months to get to the point where they can work together seamlessly. We didn ’t have time. Luckily, magic on the fly was kind of my specialty.

The wind rattled the windows.

The room hummed with anticipation. The candles flicked with each exhalation, so that the light pulsed in rhythm with our breath. When we were perfectly harmonized, I began to cast the circle. Starting in the east, I slowly moved in a clockwise direction behind the group, making sure to include Benjamin. I visualized a sphere of dark amber light, like the color of the center of Sebastian ’s eyes, forming behind me. At each cardinal direction, I called a guardian. Normally, I brought forth aspects of Lilith, but I could feel Micah’s eyes on me, so instead I chose Hecate, Queen of Witches. In the east, she appeared as a warrior maiden, leaning casually against a two-handed sword. When I reached the south, I met a Hecate with hair the color of fire and bright embers flashing in her eyes. She was full-bodied with the swell of pregnancy, stirring a cauldron in the west. At the north, I saw her as the crone, bent with age, leaning on a staff.

I went around again. As I passed each covener, I could feel their energy join in the circle. Individual colors swirled in the amber sphere that surrounded us, like the oily sheen of a soap bubble.

Micah’s energy joined subtly at first, like a tingle at the edge of my fingertips. I wondered at first why he didn’t lend his full strength, but then I felt a familiar presence.

Lilith.

She was still with Micah. My heart quickened at the thought of her so near. Mentally, I reached out and was rewarded with the sensation of invisible, icy fingers stroking my hair lovingly. My body ached with longing. I wanted her inside me again. Lightning crashed the roof again. The sound of shingles sliding from the roof ricocheted across the ceiling.

“Seems she wants to bring the house down on you,” Micah said in his usual droll tone. “You certainly have powerful enemies.”

“She?” I asked. I quickly rejoined the circle. Taking Micah’s and Mátyás’s hands, the circle was complete. Normally, I’d say some kind of pat phrase to mark the moment, but the energy was tight. I felt the hum of the others the instant my fingers linked. Benjamin’s presence was like a cool breeze at my back. I could sense Lilith ’s nearness, but her energy was somehow muted. I wanted to search for her, call her in, but I could feel the other building up another electrical attack.