Chapter 22 King
King
Normally, I headed for the pond, especially when I felt off kilter.
Even before I could see or speak with the ghosts out there, it had been a place of solace for me.
But not today. I’d planned to check on the reunited siblings, Bessie and Beau, and encourage Norman to be nicer to Trixie, but my mind was cluttered with thoughts of Sky and what taking on this mimic might mean for him.
When I suggested heading into town and checking The Vault, Gran had vetoed the idea immediately.
With Booker here, she thought it important we all stay close in case he got stuck in his dreams, and we needed to go in and pull him out.
I got her reasoning, I did. Hell, I even agreed with her to some degree.
But the idea of going into the Dream-veil, purposely taking the man who was quickly becoming the most important person in the world to me in there to fight some entity I didn’t understand on his own, wasn’t sitting right with me.
Jetty came into the parlor and sat in the wingback chair next to the settee where I was sitting. “What are you pouting about?” he asked in a teasing tone.
I glared at him. “It’s not funny. This is some serious shit, man.”
Jetty’s face fell into a frown, and he shook his head. “Yes, it is, so what are you going to do about it?”
“What can I do?” Grabbing the back of my neck, my frustration leaked out as I leaned back and glared at the ceiling.
“Gran says this is all going to be on Skylar, so I have to sit back and let her teach him what he needs to know. Pops isn’t even here for me to talk to, which, what the fuck is that? ” I asked, anger burning in my stomach.
I’d worked hard to forgive my grandparents for not telling me Pops was still around and about the whole dreamwalking thing.
I’d done my best to understand their perspective, especially since my own mother’s reactions to her life with them seemed to have a lot to do with why they’d made the decisions they had.
But this was about more than me or them.
This affected Booker and Sky. How could we help the sorcerer if we didn’t know what we were doing?
How did I keep Sky safe if I was basically being given no information?
“I’m not sure, King,” Jetty said with a troubled expression on his face. “This definitely sucks, but I think you need to trust your grandparents. They love you, and it’s obvious they adore Sky. I’m sure they’re doing everything in their power to help.”
There was a time I’d have said the same thing, but right now, I wasn’t so sure about that.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I pulled it out, surprised to see Malcolm’s name on the screen.
I’d shot him a text early this morning that I wouldn’t be in.
He wasn’t normally the type of boss to bother his employees when they called out.
“Hey, Malcolm. Everything okay?”
“Hello, Dreamwalker. I’m calling you as the Lorewarden,” he said, sounding more formal than I’d ever heard him.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“When I came in today, I checked The Vault as I do first thing every morning. A folder was opened on the table. There was no context and no clue who needed it or what I was supposed to do with that information, so I waited. And then Lee came to see me.”
“My grandfather?” I asked, sitting up.
Jetty leaned forward, whispering, “What? Where?”
I put the phone on speaker. “Yes, as a matter of fact. When I left the The Vault, I found him waiting in my office.”
“What did he want?” I asked, confused.
“For me to share the contents of the file, of course,” he said, sounding less formal and a little cheeky.
“My pops asked you to do that? But why didn’t he just—”
I cut off as the man in question appeared on the settee next to me. “Because I can’t remember, and that’s the truth.”
“What?” Jetty and I asked at the same time.
Malcolm gasped, then asked suspiciously, “King, who else is there with you?”
“Sorry, sir. It’s Jetty. My best—”
“I know who Jetty is. He did some work on my house, as a matter of fact,” he said, cutting me off.
“Hi, Mr. Everett.”
“Hello, Jetty. I must say, this is all unusual.” He cleared his throat. “King, would it be alright if I met you somewhere?”
“I’m out at Willowhope Manor. It would have to be here. My gran doesn’t want me leaving.”
“Yes, well,” Malcolm said, sounding a little scattered. “I imagine the High Priestess knows best. I’ll be there shortly.”
He hung up, and after exchanging a bemused look with Jetty, I turned to my grandfather. “What do you mean you can’t remember?”
My grandfather scrubbed a hand down his face, blowing out a resigned sigh. “There’s so much I can’t tell you, kiddo.”
“Because you don’t want to,” I said, my anger spiking again.
“No.” His tone was firm. “Because it’s not there.
” He waved a hand around his head. “Your gran and I didn’t realize until the last few days how much is missing.
Blank spots where there should be a wealth of information.
We chose to keep the dreamwalking from you.
And obviously, we remember doing it. It was our life, and as soon as you came into your gift, we knew there was much for you to learn.
“What kinds of entities are in the Dream-veil, and how some of them I had to eliminate, and others were up to her and her magic. But once she went to prepare more structured lessons for Sky, she got…confused. So I said I’d prepare you, but…
it’s like our thoughts are only half-formed and then they trail away like a thin line of smoke. It’s…disconcerting.”
All the anger I’d been feeling seeped away as I stared into the earnest, slightly panicked face of my pops. His words rang true. I cut a glance over at Jetty, who looked as concerned as I felt. Things in this town just kept getting stranger by the minute.
“Do you want me to leave?” Jetty asked.
Pops shook his head. “No, son. This involves all of us. Gran and I aren’t sure how details are being hidden from us, especially her.
I have spirits I check on and such, so I left early this morning, hoping that visiting my usual haunts would spark something.
” He frowned. “It didn’t. I checked in with my Rosie after you all met this morning, and then went to speak to the Lorewarden in hopes he could shed some light on your current predicament since I can’t remember the part I played while Rosie worked her magic. ”
“I thought the High Priestess said in these types of situations, it’s all up to the magic user. That all the Dreamwalker does is get you both to the Dream-veil. Isn’t that right?” Jetty asked.
Pops nodded slowly. “It sounds right, and there are things I can clearly remember, like doing what you’ve done with the spookies so far, King. But other things are like trying to see through a dense fog.”
I’d come in here concerned for Sky, but now I felt genuine fear.
I kept expecting Gran and Pops to reveal more, help more, but if they were having issues with their memories…
why? What did that mean? A whole new fear cropped up.
One for my gran. It had been just the two of us—as far as I knew—for as long as I could remember.
Could their forgetfulness have something to do with her and her health?
I couldn’t handle something happening to her now.
The idea of living life without her was more than I could handle. I needed her.
Lost in our thoughts, Pops and I were quiet and pensive.
Jetty studied the ground, gnawing on his bottom lip, also lost in thought.
I was glad he’d stayed around today. Between his stabilizing presence and knowing that everyone I cared about was under one roof, helped me.
It didn’t solve anything, but I couldn’t even imagine how antsy I’d be if we weren’t all here.
When the clang of the door’s bell tolled, I stood immediately, ready to hear what Malcolm had to say.
By the time I got to the front door, Gran, Sky, and Elyse were coming in from the main family room.
Chance came trotting down the stairs, with Ego and Booker in tow.
Henry appeared, ushered us all back into the family room, and disappeared to gather the rest of the family.
Sky and I sat closely in one corner of the couch.
With his thigh pressed to mine and the silky smoothness of his palm nestled in mine, I took a deep breath.
We were all here—together. Sky and I weren’t flying completely blind or doing this all on our own.
We had found a family who would guide and support us as much as possible. I needed to hold on to that.
After introductions had been made, Malcolm shook his head, clearly bemused. “I’ve met ghosts in my time, but this is the first time I’ve been in a room with this many.”
“It’s our family,” Buck said proudly.
Macolm’s gaze trailed around the room, taking us all in.
Even Trixie had joined us, which, with her and Stevie’s attachment, that tracked.
A quick look at Scotty showed that he didn’t look particularly worried about her presence, so hopefully, his big brother splitting his attention wasn’t bothering him.
My gran stood up, completely in High Priestess mode, and made eye contact with each one of us as she said, “So Lee and I have some questions. Of all gathered here, at the moment, I’m the most experienced and powerful.
There’s an issue with our memories. I’m not quite able to catch the fullness of what happens across the veil.
I’m also worried about how long it’s been that way.
I feel certain”—she focused on me—“that when King’s gift first manifested, I knew more than I do now. ”
She shook her head. “Whatever, that doesn’t matter. Our first priority has to be helping Booker, which also means giving Skylar and Kingston whatever pertinent information we can. The Nightwell Grimoire had a section on containing mimics.”
“Containing?” Chance asked curiously.
“Yeah,” Sky said. “Basically, I’ll have to trap it.”
“Wow. Okay.” Booker rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you know how to do that?”
My man rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I do now. I’m going to practice this afternoon, but we’ve got this.”
My gaze moved to Elyse, seeking reassurance that he had a right to be as confident as he sounded, and she gave one sharp nod of her head. Well, okay then.
Malcolm hummed. “Yes, so I found that in our records, so I’m glad to have confirmation. While I didn’t find anything specific about the Dreamwalker’s role in this situation, I did stumble upon something interesting that I think you need to take heed of, King.”
He sounded super-serious again. He was using his Lorewarden voice as opposed to my usual laid-back boss at the township. “It’s important that the Dreamwalker stay behind the tether.”
“Why?” I asked. Everything in me balked at the idea of hiding behind Sky. He was mine to protect. The truth of that settled into the very marrow of my bones, and I squeezed his hand.
“From what our records show, the mimic’s only way to exist in this plane is to come through a living vessel. For that to happen, it breaks down its victim.” He frowned at Booker. “Sorry.”
Booker waved him off. “It’s fine. I don’t think there’s a nicer way to say it.”
Malcolm nodded. “So the mimic targets someone who it thinks can be easily manipulated so it can…possess their body, for all intents and purposes. As the name suggests, it mimics the words and the sound of the voice that will hurt its target the most. It can also imitate the look of the person its representing. All of these things weaken the vessel to give it an entry point.”
“Have you ever seen the mimic?” I asked Booker.
He shook his head. “No, and I looked for it when I first started hearing the voice. Since it sounds so much like my stepmom, I thought she’d found a way to stalk me even in my sleep.”
Sky blew out a breath, leaning heavier into me. “I can’t trap it if I can’t see it.”
“So then what are we supposed to do?” I asked, feeling my temper spike. It felt like we were all talking in circles.
“We’ll help Sky with his part, King,” Elyse said reassuringly. She turned to Booker. “I know you’re untrained as well, so we thought you might like to sit in this afternoon while we work with Sky.”
For the first time since we met him, Booker perked up. “Really? That would be awesome.”
Malcolm cleared his throat, drawing our attention back to him.
“As I was saying, Kingston, you have to stay back. Once Sky begins the process of containing the mimic, it will try to flee. You”—he stared pointedly into my eyes—“are the only one it can take with it, and you will be out of our reach and trapped in that plane.”
Well, fuck.