The Medium (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium Trilogy #1) (34 page)

George swiped at
his sweaty brow and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "He's already
dead."

I stared at him
in horror. "He may not be alive but he exists. He has thoughts and
feelings just as if he were alive. If the demon extracts his soul he'll be
nothing."

He shook his
head. "There must be another way."

Jacob shouted
again. Then he became silent. His mouth fell open in an empty scream and even
in the darkness I could see him writhing on the ground, the demon's hand buried
inside his chest. Everything around me went still. My mind cleared. I felt like
I was floating in a bubble, not quite part of the world anymore but still able
to see it, feel it. I had the most startling, amazing clarity all of a sudden.

I knew what I
had to do.

I grabbed the
pistol, aimed and fired. Finch fell down. Dead.

"Jesus,"
George muttered. He crossed himself.

The demon sat
back on its haunches and looked around, its hand still buried in Jacob's chest.
Jacob kicked out, toppling the demon. He got to his feet but his shoulders
sagged. He rubbed his chest.

"The
amulet," he rasped as the demon righted itself. "Hurry."

I ran to Finch's
body and rummaged through his pockets, trying to concentrate on my task and not
look at the blood pooling around him. I pulled out a few coins but nothing
else. I rolled the body over and tucked my hand inside his shirt. My fingers
touched sticky, warm blood and the cool metal of the amulet. The brass felt
heavy and solid, reassuring.

"Anytime
soon," Jacob said then grunted as the demon slammed its fist into his
stomach. He doubled over, clutching his middle.

I pulled the
amulet out but didn't remove it from Finch's neck. There was no time. I began
to chant the curse Celia had taught me. As if I'd struck it, the demon stopped
fighting. A strangled growl bubbled up from its throat. Then it ran towards me.

I paused.

"Don't stop!"
Jacob shouted.

The demon kept
running, straight at me. I could just make out the dark swirls of shadow where
it should have had a face. It still wore the servant's livery but the clothes
were ripped, the torn fabric flapping uselessly. I kept chanting.

The demon ran
right past me and I groaned in frustration. If it got away the curse wouldn't
work. It needed to be close. How close, I didn't know.

Jacob swore and
began to run but he was either in pain or exhausted and couldn't catch it.

The demon passed
George and I just hoped he would shout a warning to his driver to get out of
the beast's way. He didn't. He dove at the creature and together they tumbled to
the ground. George grunted a loud
oomph
as his shoulder connected with
the stones.

I uttered the
rest of the curse and prayed I had it right, prayed the demon was near enough
for it to be effective.

A strong breeze whipped
at my skirts and monetarily separated the thin curtain of fog only for it to
re-settle around us when the wind died. George sat up, blinked. His glasses had
come off and his eyes were huge. He was alone.

"Is it
gone?" I asked.

Jacob came up
beside me. "Yes." He looked worse than the last time he'd fought the
demon but again his clothing quickly returned to the way it had been before and
his skin healed, erasing all evidence of the fight. He grasped my shoulders and
turned me to face him. "Are you all right, Emily?" He looked down at
me with an intensity I was now used to.

I nodded. "You?"

"Of course."
He let me go and strolled over to George, still sitting on the ground. He
looked dazed, the poor thing. I suppose reading about demons is quite different
to encountering one.

Jacob searched the
immediate vicinity then found what he was looking for—George's hat and glasses.
He held them out. George stared for a moment then accepted them.

"Thank you,"
he said. He stood and brushed himself off then slapped his hat on his head. "Shall
we go?"

"Gladly."
I glanced back at Finch's body. "What shall we do about him?" I
didn't want to leave him there for the rats to eat.
Ugh.

"I'll have
my butler contact the police when I get home," George said. "They'll
take care of it."

"Good idea
but have him do it anonymously," I said. "None of this is your fault
and there's no need for you to become involved any more than you are."

"You'll get
no argument from me," he said on a heavy sigh.

The three of us made
our way back down the lane to the carriage. The driver still sat on the box,
the pistol in his hand. He looked immensely relieved that his master was alive.
No doubt Mrs. Culvert would have dismissed him if George had wound up dead from
this adventure. He hopped lightly down to the ground and opened the door.

George took my
hand to help me in but I removed it and turned to Jacob.

He wasn't there.

The most awful
feeling of dread swamped me. The demon was banished which meant Jacob had
finished his assignment. There was no need for him to see me anymore.

It might even
have led to his finally being able to cross over.

No, Jacob,
please. Not yet. Don't leave me.

Somehow I didn't
cry as I climbed into the carriage. It was as if my body couldn't make any
tears. It was too empty. It felt like I'd just lost a part of myself. A big
part. The best part. The most vital part.

And I hadn't
even said goodbye.

CHAPTER 15

I managed to
sneak back into the house and return to bed without waking Celia or Lucy. Already
the sky was turning gray as dawn crept up on London with its usual stealth. I
lay in bed for what felt like an eternity before my room finally lightened. I
spent every single one of those minutes thinking. Waiting. Hoping Jacob would
do his old trick of suddenly appearing in my bedroom.

And then he did.

"Jacob! Thank
goodness." I tumbled out of bed and threw myself at him, not caring how I
looked or what he thought of my unladylike display. I was just so blissfully
happy to see him.

He caught me and
circled his arms around my waist, holding me tight as if he would never let me
go. The hard muscles in his shoulders and chest shifted, flexed. Then loosened.
He pushed me away and held me at arms' length.

"He was in
bed."

It was not what
I'd expected him to say. Not even close. "Who? Finch?"

His hands
dropped to his sides, severing all touch entirely. "No, Blunt. When I arrived
at the school last night he was asleep."

My chest
clenched. My mind reeled. This was not the conversation I wanted to have with
him. I wanted to find out what happened now, would he leave, and what was
troubling him. I wanted to know what was in store for us. Did we have a future?

But those
questions would have to wait. Jacob seemed keen to tell me something about
Blunt so it must be important.

"I, uh..."
I gave my head a little shake to clear it. "It is a little strange now
that you mention it. Surely he must have suspected we would be coming for him
after what he witnessed at Belgrave Square. Unless he was very certain of Finch
and the demon's victory."

"Nevertheless,
if I was him I'd have left London immediately and destroyed all evidence
linking me to the demon."

I twisted a
strand of hair around my finger, thinking. It only made sense if... "What
if it wasn't him at your parents' house?"

He nodded but
said nothing. He didn't seem surprised by my conclusion.

"Who could it
have been?" I asked.

"I don't
know. Are you sure you saw someone?" He shrugged. "The light was
poor, you were afraid... Could it have been a spirit?"

I sighed and brushed
the end of my hair over my lips. Jacob's gaze followed it. "I suppose so. I
don't know. Oh Jacob, what if we're wrong? What if Blunt wasn't to blame?"

He licked his
lips and lifted his gaze to my eyes. "Don't think it, Emily. We were
right. He confessed and all evidence points to his involvement. He's guilty. But..."

"But there
might have been someone else," I finished for him. "Someone with a
deeper involvement."

He nodded. "I
think Blunt orchestrated the thefts, using Finch and the demon. He targeted the
servants and the houses, gathered the information, but I don't think it was his
idea. He doesn't seem cunning enough to me."

"He doesn't
seem to want to get his hands dirty where the supernatural is concerned. That
explains why he got Finch to control the demon. But if there was another
involved, then who was it?"

He shrugged. "With
Finch dead and Blunt gone, we won't learn the answer to that." He sighed
and rubbed a hand over his chin. "And I've been wondering about one other
thing."

"What?"

"My family
was home when the demon entered the house. For the first theft, the house was
almost empty. If I was organizing a burglary, I would ensure no one was home
first, especially the family themselves."

"Maybe
Blunt or Finch made a mistake."

He suddenly
looked ill. If his face was capable of turning white it probably would have. "Or
maybe the purpose was for my family to be home at the time of the break-in."

"Wh-what? But
why?"

He shook his
head. "I don't know. I really don't."

"No." I
shook my head firmly. "No, that's ridiculous. Don't think it. It was a
simple burglary." Even as I said it, a small doubt formed in my mind where
I couldn't dislodge it. But if he was right and someone wanted to harm his
family...why? Why go to so much trouble? It didn't make sense. "At least
the demon has been returned," I said, trying to reassure him.

"But how
long will it be before another is summoned?" His jaw hardened and he
grunted in frustration. "I should have questioned Blunt more. Or Finch."

"You were
fighting a demon! Besides, at the time neither of us thought anyone else was
involved." I stepped closer and touched his arm to reassure him. He tensed,
his muscles knotting, and I rubbed to alleviate some of the anger simmering
inside him.

"Don't,"
he whispered and stepped back, out of my reach.

"No,
you
don't. Don't leave. Not yet." If he blinked himself off to the Waiting
Area without resolving any of the tension between us I was going to scream
until the Administrators made him return. "We have something we need to
discuss."

To my surprise
he nodded.

I waited but he
said nothing. The tension seemed to have vanished from him, but he certainly
didn't appear relaxed. He shifted from foot to foot and looked everywhere
except at me.

Finally, when
neither of us spoke to fill the growing silence, his gaze met mine. Shock
rippled through me. There was a shine in his eyes that wasn't usually there and
a tightness to his lips as if he was pressing them together on purpose.

"Jacob? Say
something."
Tell me you won't go, tell me you'll stay forever, tell me
you love me
.

He took my hand
in his and drew little circles over my knuckles with his thumb. "I want you
to know what happened back there, in Belgrave Square."

Finally. Finally!
But now that the time had come I was afraid. Absolutely terrified. A lump
clogged my throat and my mouth went dry. I wanted to know the reason—of course
I did!—but a feeling of dread swamped me. I was drowning in it. Against every
instinct screaming for him not to speak, I nodded at him to go on.

"I warned
you," he said. His voice sounded thick and hoarse. "I tried telling
you I was dangerous, that you shouldn't develop feelings for me."

"I can't
help it! Jacob, I love you—."

He smothered the
rest of my words with a light, airy kiss. "Let me finish," he chided
gently. "I'm dangerous to you because...because I love you too."

My heart
swelled. I think I saw stars. Those beautiful words were exactly what I'd
wanted to hear. Nothing,
nothing
could ever be wrong again now that he'd
admitted it.

Then the bubble
burst. The stars vanished and my heart collapsed in on itself. "What do
you mean? Why does that make you dangerous?" But I knew. I knew.

"Do you
remember that day Maree Finch tried to stab you at Culvert's house?" I
nodded. "I knew before then that I loved you," he went on. "From
the moment we met in fact. It was like...your breath filled my lungs,
your
heart beat for mine. But it wasn't until the incident at Culvert's that I
realized how much I loved you." He watched me with a kind of ferocity, as
if he could persuade me of his feelings by a single look. "When Maree ran
at you with the knife it was like I was dying all over again. I hated watching
you in pain, the fear in your eyes...it was horrible. I was consumed by you in
those few terrible minutes...by everything about you. I knew then that I wanted
to be with you. Forever." His thumb circled faster. "Do you
understand what I'm saying?"