Shadow Keeper (30 page)

The collective fear showing in their eyes made me cringe. Remorse set in. These weren’t football players, and I wasn’t a coach. I set aside the pep talk and held out my hand to Oscar. “Do you want some help getting up?”

He barely moved. I shoved my hands under his arm pits and hauled him to his feet. His wobbly legs didn’t hold him, so I plopped him in a chair. I glanced at Charles. “Do you need help with anything?”

His head moved from side to side as if in slow motion.

I took a couple steps toward William. “How about you?”

“I think I wet myself.”

I held up both hands and backed away. “Sorry, but you’re on your own.”

I grabbed an upturned chair and positioned it near Charles. “Do you have any idea what that was?” I sat in the chair and waited for him to gather his thoughts.

The blank look in his eyes lessened and his tongue flicked across his lips. “I need a drink.”

“Water?”

“No. Something stronger.”

“Crap!” My frustration had reached its limit. “I see that scary thing every night in my dreams, and I haven’t turned into an alcoholic.”

“I’m sorry, but my throat is too raw to talk.”

I grumbled all the way out the French doors. “I need three glasses and a bottle of wine,” I yelled to no one.

While I waited, I put both hands on the table and leaned closer to Lisa. “How’s your mom doing?”

Her shoulders shrugged. “She’s on her third glass of wine.”

“This is only my second.” Monica lifted a full glass of white wine as if making a toast. “And I’m right here, so quit talking about me like I’m not in the room.”

My cranky mood jumped a notch higher. I ignored her and talked to Lisa. “Hope your mom is doing better than the others. I think Oscar and the vampire both need to change their underwear.”

Mama Dubois touched the back of my hand. “How is my son?”

I dialed down my response. “He’s doing all right. The smoke is still thick so we have to air out the room. It’s probably a good idea if nobody else goes in there right now.”

I glanced at Monica, hoping she’d catch on to the story I wanted Lisa to believe. “How are you doing after the little fire? Any lingering effects from the smoke?”

Her eyes rolled up in her head before she took another swig from the glass.

Zorro set a wine bottle on the table and scooted it toward me. He placed three empty glasses upside down next to my hand. I wondered if he was a butler or waiter, and not a guest.

Monica flicked me on the arm with the back of her knuckles. “I hope you’re not drinking. We’ll need a driver if we’re going to make it home tonight.”

“I’m not.” I changed my voice to imitate an actor I’d seen in an old western. “White man’s firewater no good for injun.”

“You’re Native American?” Her eyelids narrowed as she looked me over. “That would explain it.”

“Explain what?”

“That look you’ve got going. The tall, dark, han—”

My laughter burst out before I could stop it. “See that,” I said to Lisa. You’re mom thinks I’m handsome even if you don’t.”

Lisa gasped. “I never said that.”

“You said I wasn’t cute like a baby,” I teased.

“And you’re not. You’re very masculine.”

“That’s the same as handsome?”

“Yes, silly.”

“Okay.” I kissed her on the cheek. “And don’t call me silly.” I grabbed the bottle and threaded my fingers through the stems of the glasses. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

William had somehow managed to crawl to the table and was trying to climb into a chair. I filled the wine glasses and set one in front of each man before taking a seat at the head of the table. “Well, Charles, have you figured out what that thing was?”

After several gulps of wine, his attention focused on me, but his eyes still had a dazed look. “It wasn’t real.”

Maybe he was just trying to convince himself, but I didn’t buy into it. “It felt real enough to me. The ugly thing almost bit off my head.”

“No. If it was real, it would have killed us all.”

The trembling from Oscar and William made the solid wood table shake, but I ignored them and studied Charles. “How about you? Are you for real? Do you have any psychic abilities?”

He nodded. “But my power is not as strong as yours. Not even close.”

“If that thing wasn’t real, then what was it?”

“It was the manifestation of a demonic force.”

“Why did it jump out of the burning hair?”

“That was Stratton’s hair,” Charles clarified.

“So what you’re saying is, if somebody set fire to Stratton’s hair or blood, that ugly looking creature would pop out?”

His head shook. “It was created by the psychic energy in the room—your energy. It’s threatened by your power. This was an attempt to frighten you away.”

“He did a damn good job. I
was
scared. But what’s he trying to frighten me away from.”

“Kyle Stratton. His body is possessed by the demon.”

“Come on, Bishop,” I said a little sharper than I intended, but I was impatient for an answer. “It doesn’t take a psychic to figure that out.”

His eyelids narrowed as he studied me. “Your aura is in disarray. You feel out of body. Angry, even hostile.” He clasped his hands together as if to pray and touched his fingers to his forehead, then pointed outward. “Focus. Channel your psychic energy, and your ability will grow stronger. You could be a powerful force against the demon world.”

“Oh, no.” I leaned back in the chair to distance myself from his suggestion. “One demon is about all I can handle. Besides, my mom said I could deny it and refuse the gift.”

Charles jerked forward in the chair. “Your mother has the gift also?”

Crap. I hadn’t meant to blurt that out. But maybe it wasn’t so bad that he knew. If he actually had some ability, he might be able to help. “Not my mom. My dad, but he died when I was a kid.”

“So you have no idea how to channel your energy?” He settled back into the chair. “I could help you—teach you.”

“You could teach me?” I snorted out a sound of disgust. “About the only thing I could learn from you is how to drink a full glass of wine in two gulps.”

“You can trust me.”

“Oh, yeah?” Trusting my life to a stranger didn’t seem like a wise choice—especially since I figured ninety–nine percent of what he’d tell me would be bogus. I summoned all my agitation and focused it on him. “Well, I know this. If you’re not for real, if you feed me a line of crap and that ugly, stinking demon gets me, I will channel all my energy at you. I’ll hunt you down and find you. And when I do, I’ll tear you apart.” I didn’t know if that was possible, but Charles bought into it because his entire body trembled.

After a moment, he calmed down. “I won’t mislead you. I have some ability, but what I lack, I make up for in knowledge. I have resources and know other psychics. Whatever you need, knowledge, information, I’ll try to help.”

“Good. Then tell me how to get rid of this demon.”

“He’s very powerful.”

“Does that mean he can’t be killed?”

“Demons are almost impossible to destroy, but they can be driven out of the body they possess. A weak demon can be vanquished with a simple ceremony, or by the touch of a person with a unique power, which I suspect you have. Stronger demons are harder to expel, but when he is driven out, he seeks another soul unless he’s contained.”

Charles paused to chug more wine. “If the demon is powerful, like the one I believe possess Kyle Stratton, you may end up killing him as well as the demon. I don’t think you want to chance that. But if you do succeed in driving the demon out, and you don’t contain him immediately, he could invade your body no matter how strong your soul is.”

“How do I contain him?”

“Salt. Demons are earth bound. If you sprinkle a circle of salt on the ground, you can contain the demon. He can’t cross over. Dig a hole, drive the demon into it, and cover it with salt.”

“You make it sound real simple.”

“I’m certain you understand it’s not. When the demon departs the body, he’ll manifest himself as he did tonight, only he’ll be real. If you make the slightest misjudgment, deviate from my instructions in any way, he’ll destroy you and anyone around you. My advice is to not attempt this.”

“And if I do?”

“Exorcists believe strongly in a higher power, but even the best of them have some source of protection in the form of a sacred religious object or talisman.”

“I have a strong belief, but I’ve never put it to a test. There is something I would trust with my life. The love I feel from my father and grandfather. It’s all around me.”

“Love can be powerful, but you need some sort of symbolism to channel your belief.”

I loosened my tie and unbuttoned my shirt. “Do you know what this is?”

Charles leaned over the table and stared at the scar on my chest. His eyes widened as he sucked in a deep breath. “How did you get that?”

“It doesn’t matter. I know what it means, but what does it do?”

“I’ve seen that symbol on medallions, but never on the skin. The mark you have will protect you from all evil. No demon can enter your body, nor can it control you.” He leaned back in the chair. “No wonder the demon is threatened by you. You have a powerful presence, not only from your psychic energy, but from the power of the protective symbol etched on your chest.”

Chapter Thirty–Seven

“Okay, Monica.” I laid her purse on the table. “Time to go.”

“Wait.” She grabbed my wrist. “The séance. I have to find out what that was…what all this means.”

“We found out all we’re going to for one night.”

“But what of Kyle? That
thing
was in his hair—his blood.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. She was smart enough to know an overturned candle wasn’t what shoved her mother to the brink of hysteria, but I didn’t want to worry her with the details. If Monica was going to ramble, I didn’t want her doing it in front of Lisa. I needed a distraction.

“Will you pull your mom’s car around so she doesn’t have so far to walk?”

“Sure.” She grabbed the purse and searched around in it until she found the keys. “Will you be long?”

“We’re right behind you.” I tried to give a reassuring smile. “Wait for us in the car.”

When she left, I turned to Monica and tugged the wine glass from her fingers. “Ready?”

Apparently not, because she propped her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. “What was that creature?”

“I think you already know.”

Her head turned and she stared at me through the openings between her fingers. “Was that the demon possessing my husband?”

“Something like that.”

“I have to talk to Mr. Bishop.” She climbed from the chair, but lost her balance and fell back into it. “Get him for me, please. I need his help.”

“Bishop isn’t going to be much help with this. That thing terrified him.”

“But he has to. Kyle needs him. He has to purge that creature from my husband.”

“That’s not going to happen tonight.” I stepped behind her and slipped my hands under her arms so I could lift her to her feet. “Come on, Monica. Lisa is waiting.”

“What am I going to do? I can’t leave Kyle like this. I need him. I can’t live without him.” She glanced over her shoulder at me. “What of Lisa? What am I going to tell her about her father?”

“You’re not going to tell her anything.” I turned Monica to me so I had her full attention. “By the time we reach the car, you’d better get it together because I don’t want you scaring Lisa with what happened tonight.”

“You’re right. She doesn’t need to know.” She smoothed her hair behind one ear, and her shoulders straightened. “Get me out of here.”

I kept one arm around her until we got to the car. After I strapped her into the back seat, I scooted behind the wheel. I glanced at Lisa riding shotgun and flashed a brief smile. “We finally get to sit together.”

She didn’t say anything, just stroked her hand down my arm. She glanced into the backseat. “How are you feeling, Mom?”

“I’m doing much better, dear. But before we get on the freeway, we need to stop so I can get something to drink.”

“Sorry, Monica.” I glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “No open containers in the car.” I swear I felt her hard breath ruffle the top of my hair.

“I meant coffee,” she said between clenched teeth.

“Okay, Mom.” Lisa stuck her hand into the backseat to pat her mother’s knee. “It’s a long ride home, and I’m kind of thirsty too.”

An hour and a half later, I steered the car into the driveway. The large jolt of caffeine seemed to have the opposite effect on Monica because she slept most of the way home. I helped Lisa get her mother into the house.

Holding one of Monica’s arms, I pulled her in the direction of the hallway where the bedrooms were, but Lisa yanked her toward the living room.