Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Erasmus
Trinity Holy Cross was just how I’d remembered it. The last time I’d been here was when I’d brought Antony Livingston’s soul back. That little trip from beyond the veil hadn’t gone like his grandchildren hoped. I stared at Antony’s headstone. I could feel the gentle echo of his soul far beneath the ground. The man was content. Possibly more so after I’d brought him back and he’d gotten to have a final say. I also knew there was a small fortune hidden in the lower portion of Antony’s casket, safely out of his greedy grandchildren’s lives.
I briefly wondered what Antony would think if he knew that his grandson Bart’s soul had been decimated—shredded to the point that there was nothing left. I think he’d be sad. I also think he’d understand and realize that Bart had reaped what he’d sowed in life. Unfortunately, those actions bled into Bart’s afterlife.
Inhaling deeply, I pulled the scent of freshly turned soil deep into my lungs. Graveyards were my second home. There were a few select graveyards I visited simply for the peace they granted me. Trinity Holy Cross wasn’t one of those cemeteries, but it wasn’t migraine inducing either. I hadn’t chosen one of my favorite graveyards for the same reason I didn’t ask Janet Meeker to meet me at my home. Those patches of earth weren’t meant for business.
Crouching, I ran my fingers over the soft petals of a lavender rose. I doubted the flower was left by any of Antony’s relatives. More likely, Alexandra Randolph had left it. I hoped that were the case. Alexandra’s grandfather, Theodore, had a close friendship with Antony. It was nice to know the man wasn’t completely forgotten.
Pushing back up, I patted the top of Antony’s gravestone while swallowing down my earlier anxiety. Franklin had been in a shootout today. I didn’t know the details, only that he was fine.
Fine , I reminded myself on repeat. Franklin was fine. He hadn’t had a lot of time to talk, but Franklin said he was shot but the wound was minor. He’d successfully captured Boggs and Billy was safe. Franklin said some of Pops’s charms helped, but he hadn’t gone into specifics. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear those details. I’d thought my heart was going to explode through my chest. The only thing that kept me sane and coherent was the fact that it was Franklin and not someone else that was relaying the story.
He’s fine .
My fingers trembled as they danced along the top of Antony’s headstone. “Franklin’s fine,” I said out loud, as if the spoken words might make me finally believe it. I’d wanted to dash to the precinct, but Franklin wasn’t there. He was still processing the scene. Franklin said he’d text me later with an update.
I’d been so mixed up with fear and relief that I hadn’t remembered to tell him that Janet was coming to me and where I was going. I’d considered sending him a text but didn’t want to bother him. Franklin was busy and his mind needed to be on the case at hand. This was just a run-of-the-mill job for me.
“Necromancer Boone?”
I jerked. I was so lost in thought I hadn’t heard anyone approach. Turning, I plastered a smile on my face and nodded. “I assume you’re Ms. Meeker.” I kept my hands inside my pockets. Knowing very few wanted to actually touch a necromancer, I didn’t typically offer my hand.
“I am.” Janet Meeker smiled brightly. She had a large urn tucked under her arm and a deep purple jacket with an embroidered tiger head over her heart with the letters LSU below. The hood was pulled up hiding her hair. Large sunglasses were perched on top of her nose. I didn’t think it was cold enough to warrant the hoodie and while it was sunny out, the pale winter shade wasn’t bright enough to bother my eyes. Maybe Janet’s eyes were more sensitive.
“Thank you for driving all this way.” I shifted so my back was to Antony’s gravestone. “I’m sorry you felt the need to do that.”
“Nonsense.” Janet waved off my concern. “It wasn’t a hardship. In fact, I think this might be for the best after all.” Janet’s gaze traveled around the cemetery. A few families were scattered about, but they were far away and grieving in private. I had no intention of interrupting their mourning.
Janet’s eyes darted behind her, and I asked, “Are you looking for someone else?” I’d heard her speaking to someone else while we were on the phone and thought she might bring someone with her.
“Hmm? Oh no, not really.” Janet turned her megawatt smile back on me. Her teeth were unnaturally white against equally unnaturally tanned skin. “Um, where would you like to do this?”
I spread my hands wide. “Here is fine.”
Janet’s lips pursed and she looked around again. Finally, her eyes rested a short distance away. “Do you mind if we step over there? I hadn’t really expected so many people to be here, and I’d like some privacy.”
Janet and I had different opinions on what constituted so many people , but I wasn’t one to judge. With a shrug I answered, “Sure, I don’t mind.”
I hadn’t realized Janet was tense until her shoulders eased and she said, “Thanks. That would be great. That tree over there by the mausoleum should be good. Granddaddy loved trees and was fascinated by architecture. I think that would be the perfect place to bring him back.”
Janet and I walked over together. The area wasn’t far. Tucked behind a giant oak tree and the limestone mausoleum, we were hidden from nearly everyone else’s view. It wasn’t a bad idea, really. If someone did look over to see a swarming pile of cremains, it might be a bit unsettling.
“I’m assuming that’s your granddaddy,” I said while nodding at the urn. My necromancer senses were distracted. There were at least two inhabitants of the mausoleum that were not even remotely content. Our close proximity was playing havoc with my senses and my head was already starting to ache. I wanted to ask to go somewhere else, but more than that, I just wanted this over with. I wanted to get to Franklin. I decided then and there that even if Franklin wasn’t back at the precinct by the time I was finished, I’d head there anyway and wait for him. I couldn’t fathom going back home without laying eyes on him.
“Oh yes. This is him. Should I just set him down there?” Janet asked while looking at the two steps leading into the mausoleum.
“That sounds like a good idea.”
She moved forward, setting the urn on the steps. It rattled back and forth a little. While the step wasn’t exactly even, I’d never seen an urn do that before. They were typically heavy enough that they didn’t easily tip. It was…odd.
I started to reach out with my necromancer abilities, but my phone rang. Concerned it might be regarding Franklin, I apologized and reached for my phone. “I’m sorry, but I need to answer this.”
Janet fidgeted with the sleeve of her jacket while nervously looking around. “That’s fine,” she assured me, even though I didn’t think that’s what she thought. I’d had nervous clients before, so it wasn’t all that unusual.
“This is Erasmus,” I answered. I’d recognized the number as belonging to Franklin’s precinct.
“Boone, this is Officer Becks. Am I catching you at a bad time?”
“No. Is Franklin okay?” Maybe his wound hadn’t been as insignificant as Franklin made it out to be. That would be just like him, not wanting me to worry.
“Oh hell, I should have thought that’s what you’d think this was about. Franklin’s fine. Last I heard, he’s on his way back. I’m sorry if I worried you. This is about the footage Detective Cardoza sent me. I just wanted to let you know the program I ran on it finally finished. I’m not sure if it will help, but the computer program managed to clean the image up enough that we can get at least an idea of what it is.”
I nodded even though Ebony couldn’t see me. “What is it?”
“It’s a little speculative but looks like some type of animal. Most likely a tiger or lion. Maybe a jaguar head. My guess is it’s a school mascot. Like I said, I’m not sure that helps much, but it’s a start.”
It was and yet I agreed with Officer Becks, it wasn’t much to go on. “Thanks for letting me know.” I glanced back at Janet. Her foot was tapping and she offered me a tense smile. “Listen, I need to go. I’m on a job.”
“Oh, damn. I’m sorry I interrupted.”
“No, it’s fine and I appreciate everything. Please let me know if anything changes with Franklin.”
“I will, and Erasmus…what Franklin did today was good. I know it’s scary, but—”
“But it was necessary,” I finished for Ebony.
“Yeah,” she reluctantly agreed. “As much as I hate it, that’s the truth. We’re all proud of him.”
A hint of warmth pushed at the cold that had taken over ever since finding out Franklin was in danger earlier. “Thanks, Ebony. I’m proud of him too.”
“Take care. I’ll get busy on this list of necromancer mother names just as soon as I can” Ebony promised.
“I know you will. Bye, Ebony.”
“Take care, Erasmus.”
The call ended and I inhaled deeply, trying to recenter myself. Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I turned and headed back to where Janet was impatiently waiting. The tapping of her foot had picked up speed and if anything, she seemed even more anxious than before.
“I’m sorry about that, I—”
“Can we just get started? Hanging out in graveyards might be your thing, but it’s not mine.” Janet’s words were clipped.
My good mood soured. I’d never met a person who could flip their disposition as quickly as this woman. “I can bring him back now.”
Janet inhaled and just like that, her sweet smile was back. “Thank you. I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.”
While I could understand that sentiment, Janet Meeker’s demeanor was wearing. I wanted this job done ASAP. Centering myself, I pushed away the echoes of unhappy souls and concentrated on the ashes of the man I was supposed to bring back. I already knew the man’s name but when I tried to connect with the soul, there was…nothing. No string attaching what was in that urn to anything—alive or dead.
Something was terribly wrong, and I was going to have to be the one to break it to Janet Meeker that her granddaddy’s ashes were not in that urn. No ashes were. In fact, I doubted there was much of anything beyond air or sawdust inside.
Shifting from foot to foot, I debated what to say. I’d come across a lot of situations doing this job but nothing like this. My gaze flicked from the urn to Janet. Even in the shaded area of the mausoleum, she still wore her sunglasses and her hood remained settled over her head. We were out of the wind and the temperatures were comfortable. There was no reason for her… My eyes landed on the symbol decorating her sweatshirt.
A tiger. The letters LSU underneath.
I swallowed hard as unease settled into my gut. There were a lot of graduates of LSU. Hell, it was probably one of the largest, if not the largest, universities in Louisiana. There were thousands of LSU alumni out there. Just because Janet Meeker was standing in front of me, possibly wearing the same symbol as the person who’d run me off the road and shot at me didn’t mean anything. Did it?
My mind quickly tumbled over all of our previous conversations. How hot and cold Janet was. How she’d known I’d been run off the road and shot at. I’d never given her that bit of information and there was no reason Franklin or Detective Cardoza would have reached out to Janet Meeker. So, how did she know precisely what happened?
I took a step back and my hands immediately dove into my pockets, reaching for one of Pops’s charms. I never had a chance to activate it. Heavy hands grabbed my arms, pulling my hands from my pockets and scattering Pops’s charms on the ground. Those same hands hauled my arms behind my back, wrenching my shoulders. I tried to scream but the other hands clamped over my mouth and nose.
I struggled, throwing my body this way and that. I would not go down like this. I had no idea why Janet was doing this, but her motive didn’t matter. All that did matter was that someone was trying to kill me.
Janet stared at Pops’s charms now littering the grass. “You’ve always got something up your sleeve, Necromancer.” Janet spat my species name, her lips twisted with disgust. “We weren’t about to make the same mistake again.”
“Help me, Susan,” a gruff voice said from behind, his warm breath ghosting across my ear. “This fucker’s strong for his size.” I threw my head back, smashing it into my captor’s nose. The resounding crunch followed by a litany of curse words was rewarding for the three seconds it took for him to retaliate by wrenching my shoulders even more.
“Fucker,” he hissed again. “I’m gonna kill you slow for making me bleed.”
“You’ll be fine, Titus.” The woman I knew as Janet Meeker, the same woman the man behind me had just called Susan, came running over while pulling a zip tie from her coat pocket. “Here, put this on his wrists.” Susan’s head turned this way and that. She’d picked the spot well. We were truly hidden from any eyes that could offer salvation.
My wrists were bound and the zip tie tightened to the point I couldn’t feel my hands. It was most likely more retribution for the headbutting… My brain finally caught up. Titus. Titus McMahon . He was supposed to be dead. I hadn’t known if he was or not, only that the bones recovered beneath his headstone weren’t his. Looked like Titus McMahon was well and truly alive and ready to take another life.
I was pushed to my knees and the hand covering my mouth disappeared, leaving me heaving for breath. “Titus McMahon,” I coughed. I looked up at the woman before me. While I couldn’t see her eyes, her lips were twisted into an ugly sneer. “You’re the wife.”
She huffed. “I would have been the wealthy widow if it weren’t for you.” Susan stepped forward, pulled on a glove, and slapped me across the face. I’d been hit with more force before, but it still stung. Removing the glove, she tucked it back into her sweatshirt pocket. “I’ll have to burn this glove now, but it was worth it if I got to hit you.”
I wasn’t sure if she needed to burn it to get rid of evidence or my supposed necromancer cooties.
“Detective Cardoza already knows everything,” I said. “Killing me won’t stop his investigation.”
“True,” Titus McMahon said as he rounded my body, coming to stand in front of me. Given that I was on my knees, it was difficult to judge height but I imagined Titus was a formidably tall man. Probably taller than Franklin. Broader too. I’d seen photos of the man, but he’d clearly changed his hair color and grown a beard. It wasn’t the best disguise. Titus McMahon had been born with very distinctive features that weren’t easily hidden.
“Then what’s the point?” I was desperately trying to buy time. Maybe I’d get lucky and someone would come to visit a gravesite this far out.
Titus’s grin stilled my heart. The man’s eyes held no remorse, no regret, and certainly no empathy. “Call it retribution. Also, I’m not exactly sure what Thomas’s returned soul told the police. The man knows more than even he’s aware of. The more his soul is questioned, the more he’ll let slip. I can’t take that risk.”
“ We can’t take that risk,” Susan added as she stepped beside her husband. “Do you think those insurance policies are all we have riding on Titus’s death?” Her smirk made her large sunglasses twitch. “We’re leaving the country and we are not leaving any loose ends behind.” She crouched down so she was at eye level, her smirk never wavering. “My friend Janet was a lot of help. She was so torn up about losing her granddaddy.” Janet rolled her eyes. “And you should hear the drama going on in that family regarding the will. I have no idea what old Eugene was thinking when he drew up his last will and testament.”
While I didn’t have all the puzzle pieces, the picture started taking shape. “You impersonated Janet to get to me.” A new concern hit me. “Is Janet—”
“Oh, she’s fine. Alive and well and completely oblivious. Goodness, one would think you’d be a little more concerned about yourself than someone you’ve never even met.” Susan’s grin morphed into a full-blown smile, her too-white teeth nearly blinding in the late afternoon sun trickling through the clouds. That burst of sunshine cast shadows on the ground. With the lack of wind, those shadows remained still as the branches casting them remained motionless.
Except that wasn’t true. The shadows weren’t still; they were moving. My eyes widened. Logically, I couldn’t be seeing what I was seeing. Like snakes dancing across the dormant grass, those elongated shadows crept forward, licking at Titus’s feet while slithering up his ankles. The same was happening to Susan and neither one of them noticed.
“Get the bag,” Susan ordered. “It’s time to end this so we can hop on a plane. Belize is waiting.” She stood but didn’t step away. Her head tilted Titus’s way. “Come on, baby. Let’s finish this.”
Titus leaned forward and planted one hell of a kiss on his wife’s lips before pulling out a plastic bag.
My heart sped, thrumming with fear. There could only be one use for that plastic and it wasn’t to carry produce. Scrambling back, I fell on my ass as I began wiggling, attempting to get away.
“Get back here, you little piece of shit.” A single step left Titus looming over me. The plastic slipped over my head and cinched around my neck. The world blurred through the haze of the plastic covering my face, nose, and mouth. I sucked in a breath, but that only flattened the plastic against my face. Air was in short supply and diminishing by the millisecond.
Panic hit hard and fast. Momma and Pops’s faces flashed through my mind before Franklin’s loving eyes settled before me. Deep in my heart and soul, I knew this was it. While Franklin might not be physically here with me, he was the last thing I would see while on this side of the veil.
Black spots littered my vision, creeping in from the sides and tightening the narrow window of light. My body sagged and I would have fallen to the side if Titus’s hands weren’t continually tightening the bag and inadvertently holding me upright.
And then I was falling. My body tilted to the side and my shoulder hit the soft ground. The bag around my neck loosened, but that barely improved my plight. The plastic was sucked down over my mouth and nose. I wiggled, rubbing my head on the ground. I managed to get it loosened a little, but it wasn’t my actions that freed me. Just as suddenly as I fell over, the bag was torn from my head.
With the plastic gone, fresh air rushed into my lungs in great, heaving mouthfuls. Along with that breath came grunts and muffled screams. My head was dizzy, and my vision took longer to return than I would have liked. Lying on my side tilted the world at an odd axis. When I could finally see again I wasn’t at all certain my brain had fully come back on board because what I saw was insane.
Lifted off the ground, Titus’s and Susan’s bodies were wrapped in dark tendrils, constricting them like a boa. Bones popped and cracked, their screams muffled by the black shadows covering their mouths. While most of their faces were covered, their frantic, fear-filled eyes were on full display. I shuddered at the well of pain and disbelief radiating within them. They were dying.
A final crack and Titus’s head lay at an odd angle, all life fading from his blown pupils. Less than a minute later, Susan followed her husband’s fate. The McMahons were no longer dying. They were well and truly dead.
I lay there, watching as their bodies were lowered to the ground. The shadow tentacles slipping away and disappearing into the darkness, leaving no trace that they’d ever been there.
My mind was a flurry of activity and yet I couldn’t seem to settle on a single thought. I felt like maybe I was losing my mind. My body felt too heavy. My head groggy and my eyelids carried the weight of the world. I needed to move. I needed to get help. I needed to do something. My body disagreed. Apparently, what it needed was to pass out.