Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Not all revelations are good revelations.
“Is he undead? Like a zombie?” Dayna wondered as she squeezed Harry’s biceps.
I glared at her. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not a zombie.” I leaned forward on the sofa. “You’re not a zombie, right?”
Harry blinked. “I don’t believe so. What constitutes a zombie?”
“No heartbeat,” Dayna said.
“Check,” Hudson grumbled.
“Was dead, now animated,” Dayna added.
“Oh, dear,” Harry muttered.
“Wants to eat people.”
Harry grinned. “Good news. I have no desire to eat anyone.” His stomach rumbled on cue. He rubbed it. “Although I do have a strong craving for a steak.”
“Bloody?” Rebecca asked. “Because that might count.”
I lurched to my feet and began pacing my apartment. “It doesn’t matter. Zombies aren’t a thing, so there’s no checklist.”
“Then explain him,” Liz demanded. “Because the last I checked, you didn’t have the power to reanimate the dead or bring them back from the other side.”
I halted, pinched the bridge of my nose, and squeezed my eyes closed. Deep in my veins, I could feel Harry but not his life force. I hadn’t performed a miracle.
“He’s still a ghost,” I said slowly. “He’s just the solid kind.”
Everyone looked between us. “Is he the permanent solid kind?” Hudson asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. It’s taking power and concentration to hold this form.” I sighed. “And I think it’s rooted in Donn’s power, not my own, which is temporary.”
Harry’s face fell. To be given a temporary solid form was a cruel gift.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “If I could make this permanent, I would.”
“Are you going to visit your wife?” Dayna asked.
Harry hung his head. “No, I won’t do that to her. She’s already grieved and has even been on a date. Seeing me, if only for a short time, would set her back. I can’t do that to the woman I love.”
The door burst open, and Maggie rushed in, waving the house phone in her hand like a weapon. “It’s Robert. He needs you.”
I took the phone. “What’s wrong?” I inquired, knowing he wouldn’t call just to shoot the breeze.
“The town is under attack, Cora. I need you and whomever you have to come help. Now.” The line went dead before I could ask any probing questions. I guess it didn’t matter.
“White Castle is in trouble, and the sheriff needs us,” I told everyone.
Harry straightened his shoulders and lifted his head in the air. “And on this occasion, I can help.”
“You always help,” I pointed out.
“Did he explain what we’re dealing with?” Hudson asked.
“Nope.”
“Then we take who we can find now.”
I hesitated. “We need to leave some of us behind at Summer Grove House. This has my grandmother written all over it, and I don’t trust that she won’t attack my home while it’s vulnerable.”
“I’ll stay,” Dayna said. “I can bolster the wards.” True. She was an excellent ward caster.
“Sebastian is due back any minute, so I’ll come with you,” Rebecca said.
I paused and stared at the vampire princess. “But you don’t like leaving the house.”
“I’m done sitting on the sidelines while my friends get attacked over and over again.”
My eye twitched. Ezra had gotten to her. Maybe I should kick him in the nuts. Rebecca was not a coward for protecting her peace. “You have nothing to prove.”
“I know that.”
I didn’t have time to psych my friend. I nodded in acceptance. She was wise enough to make her own decisions. She hurried out of the room to get dressed while everyone else prepared to leave.
“We’ll grab the cars,” Hudson said.
“Can’t you just appear?” Liz said with a snap of her fingers.
“Doesn’t work like that. I can follow death and the devil.” Teleportation powers… with boundaries.
Hudson and Dave took off, and we followed behind, Harry looking downward with a confused expression at the thuds his feet made as we hurried down the stairs. We found a gaggle of ghosts waiting for us at the bottom, and I gritted my teeth. Oh, boy.
A freckled red-headed guy who must have been in thirties when he passed hovered closer, glancing at Harry over my shoulder. “How does it feel?” he asked.
“Heavy,” Harry replied. “Tired.” He sounded it too.
“Maybe you should stay here.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
Ugh, everyone was all about pushing boundaries today. The redheaded guy threw a punch at my face, and I instinctively flung my hand out to protect myself from a ghost. Classic.
My palm met flesh, and the man solidified before my eyes. “Oh shit. It worked,” he whispered.
The spirits behind him pushed forward, and I stumbled back. Liz, Dayna, and Rebecca moved in front of me.
The redheaded guy turned his hand in front of his face with fascination.
“Do you have a hankering for steak?” Harry asked from behind me.
The redheaded guy licked his lips. “I’m not sure. Why?”
“Trying to discern if I’m a zombie or hungry.”
“Don’t zombies need brains?” someone shouted.
“I don’t want to be a zombie,” someone else cried. “Count me out.”
An army of terrified zombies. That was totally what we needed.
“Can you make us solid without the scare?” another asked.
“We don’t have time for this,” Rebecca snapped. “The town is under attack. Miss Roberts will take applications for non-zombie solidness when we return.”
My friends and family forged a path to the front door, clearing it of spirits as they went. Harry took up the rear, and I think he growled once or twice at a stray hand. He’s been hanging around Hudson too much.
Ezra jogged up the driveway. “What’s happening?”
“Stay here and guard the house,” Rebecca ordered.
“Are you staying too?” Instead of answering, she slid her ass into the back of the waiting SUV and slammed the door closed. “Fuck that,” he snapped before jumping in the front passenger side. I could hear Rebecca’s groan from here. Guess we had one more shifter coming with us.
Hudson’s SUV skidded to a stop in front of me. Harry and Liz climbed in the back and I in the front, and then we were heading into town.
“I have the emergency supplies we organized in the trunk,” Hudson reminded us.
“That’s good,” Liz said. “Because I have no idea what we are heading into.”
“A trap,” I replied. “I’m one hundred percent sure the only reason White Castle is being attacked is to lure us away. Eloise had a taste of power, and she lost it to me, and now she wants it back with interest.”
“What are they doing?” Harry gasped.
I turned to look out the rear window and found a convoy of spirits following us.
“Did they really not understand the whole poor timing thing? I can’t just snap my fingers and make everyone a real boy again. I am not that kind of fairy.”
“I wasn’t aware of your fairy status.” Hudson snorted.
I rolled my eyes. “Did you not know you were mated to the flame-haired Tinkerbell?”
We fell into an uneasy silence as we hit the town. Hudson slowed and swept his gaze up and down the deserted streets.
“Is anyone else creeped out?” Harry asked. “It’s a lot easier to be brave when you are already dead.”
True, but being alive gave you so much more to fight for.
Dave’s brake lights flicked on, and we both halted. Time to get out and face the grandmother.
We climbed out of the cars and met in a loose circle. Dave pointed at the spookies. “You brought your fan club.”
“Not by choice. Harry, could you let them know I’ll figure out if I can make them corporal once we’re home?”
“Consider it done.” He saluted me before marching toward them with determination in his step.
Storefront glass lay shattered across the pavement. Cars sat abandoned at odd angles, doors flung open as if their owners had simply… vanished. It felt like we were too late to the party.
“Do you sense anything?” Hudson asked.
Liz shook her head. I shrugged. Rebecca lifted her nose in the air and sniffed.
The streetlights flickered and then died, plunging us into darkness.
“That’s not ominous,” Ezra grumbled.
“If you don’t enjoy the weird, you should have stayed home,” Rebecca hissed.
He smirked. “Oh, baby, you know from experience I’m all about the weird.”
Harry rejoined our group. “Good news. They didn’t come to assault you, Miss Roberts. They’re here for support.”
Yay, me. I had a bunch of supernatural cheerleaders in tow.
“We should split up and scout the town,” Hudson said.
“Split up? That’s how we die,” Rebecca muttered.
“Says who?” Ezra asked.
“Every horror movie in existence.”
“This isn’t a movie; it’s real life.”
“And movies are written by people who have lived.”
“Save the bickering for home,” Liz whispered. “My sister is here somewhere, and she won’t have come alone. We should split up, but into smaller teams, not alone.”
Good plan, except I was done sneaking around. There was no way she didn’t already know we were here. She was, as always, just waiting for the dramatic entrance.
“Good plan,” I said. “You guys let me know it works out.”
“What do you mean?” Hudson snapped.
I spun on my heel and started marching down the middle of the street.
“What is she doing?” Dave said. His voice sounded as if he were stuck between amusement and fighting the urge to strangle me.
“Eloise,” I drawled. “I’m here. No need for the dramatics. Stop being a coward and face me like a true Roberts woman. Or have you grown too soft hiding behind those who do the dirty work for you?”
No bite. Fine.
“We should have discussed this so I could have stopped you from being an idiot,” Hudson grumbled from behind me.
I casually flung a wave of Donn’s power into the air. It sizzled as it kissed my flesh and called to the darkness surrounding us. “How does it feel losing the only thing that made you powerful, Grandmother? Your hold is slipping through your grasp, and day by day, I’m becoming more of a threat.”