Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
My first instinct was to protect myself. There was someone on this plane who wanted to kill me. My second instinct was to search for May and my mother. That turned out to be easier than I anticipated because they were here, standing on a nearby bluff looking out at a sickly green river.
The look on May’s face when she saw me was one for the books. “Are you kidding me?”
I offered an awkward wave. “Hey. How’s it going?”
May floated. Was it possible to stomp float? That’s exactly what it felt like May did as she approached me. “I told you to stay away!”
Well, that answered that question. “So you were in my dreams.”
“I slid in to warn you to stay away.” May was furious. “Why didn’t you listen? Why do you never listen?”
“I didn’t plan to come over here. It was an accident,” I replied. “But there are no circumstances under which I would leave you here.”
Mom — should I call her Emma? That feels weird — pinned me with a dubious look. “Another accident?”
“Right?” May scoffed. “It’s impossible to have two such accidents.”
“That shows what you know,” I countered. “I’m capable of being swept up in two accidents in a single week. Heck, I could manage it twice a day.”
“Lovely,” May drawled.
I jabbed a finger at her. “You might want to be a little more grateful that I’m here.”
“I told you to stay away!” May shouted. “You’re not safe here.”
“I’m not safe over there either. Declan will keep coming for me.”
“Declan is only half the problem,” May said.
“Are you talking about Bogdan?” I asked.
May rolled her eyes but Mom looked intrigued.
“Yeah, we know about him,” I said, more for my mother’s benefit in case May hadn’t filled her in. “We’ve been busy.”
“What do you know?”
Did we have time for this conversation? I looked around. “Where are they?” I asked.
“We don’t know,” Mom replied. She looked me up and down. “You shouldn’t be here. I told you not to come back.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I waved them off. “People tell me a lot of things. I don’t always listen.”
“That’s not a good quality, Hadley,” May snapped.
I scoffed. “From what I hear, you had the same quality.”
May floated straighter. “That’s neither here nor there,” she said. “I told you it wasn’t safe. Why are you here?”
“I didn’t plan to come here.” I held out my hands and shrugged in a “what are you gonna do” response. “We were trying to figure out how you got Wesley back to our plane. It was suggested there was a door in the cemetery.”
“So you just marched through it like a moron?” May was incensed.
“I went to the cemetery with Booker and Galen. Marjory was there too.” I kept my eyes on May. “She had an interesting story to tell about Declan.”
“Ugh. Marjory.” May lowered her eyes and some of the fight went out of her.
“I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about,” I pressed.
“We didn’t know,” May replied. She shot Mom an apologetic look. “We had no idea this was going to happen.”
“You didn’t know what was going to happen?” Mom asked, confused.
May’s expression sagged. “We knew he was a threat.”
“This is a very long story,” I volunteered. “I can’t give you the specifics, but I can say that Bogdan was a dhampir who was locked away in a special plane cage a hundred years ago. Someone helped free him and he ended up here.
“Then, twenty years ago, they knew they had another problem with Declan,” I continued. “They weren’t certain how to deal with him so they built on the previous plan. And, unsurprisingly, he ended up here too.”
“That doesn’t explain what you’re doing here,” May said.
“Oh, let it go.” I didn’t bother to hide my eye roll. “It wasn’t the plan but I’m here.” I looked back at the door, now dormant. “I don’t think I can go back through right now.”
“Not yet,” Mom confirmed. “We’re not leaving, but you’ll be able to go through again. We’ll make sure you do … and stay there.”
I offered up a bright smile but it was all for show. “Just out of curiosity, how long do we have before the door opens?”
Mom hesitated. “Normally it would be another hour or so, but you just used it.”
“And that changes things?”
“It charges it.” Mom looked at May. “It gets stronger after charging.”
The thoughtful look May shot her in response had me adjusting my plan of attack. “What aren’t you saying?”
Mom dragged her eyes back to me. “Nothing,” she replied, but it was clear she was lying. “I was just thinking about how I’m going to get you back.”
I turned to May. “Tell me or I’m going to be angry.”
May scoffed. “What makes you think that matters to me?”
“Because I’m petulant when I’m angry.” I crossed my arms over my chest and looked for a place to sit. The only option was a fallen log, so I took it. “If you don’t tell me what you’re hiding I’ll sit here forever.” I corrected myself quickly. “Or until Declan and Bogdan come calling.”
Mom made a protesting sound. May growled. But I held my ground.
“Fine,” May said after glaring into my eyes. “We were thinking a bit ago that we might be able to cross back over if we had a strong enough door. None of the doors here are strong. Some are fading. If one is charged by people coming over … .”
“You could go back,” I finished. “You could both go back.” This time when I looked at my mother it was with a bit of wonder.
“That can’t be the aim,” Mom said. “You’re the priority.”
I pressed my lips together. “There can be multiple priorities.”
“I believe the word ‘priority’ suggests things have to be organized from least important to most important, so that’s not true. Only one thing can be at the top of the list.”
I frowned. “Yeah, I’ve never been one for rules.” I flicked my eyes to May. “How do we charge the door?”
“Don’t answer that,” Mom ordered.
May proved that we really did have a lot in common. “We need more magical beings to come through the door.”
I leaned back, forgetting I wasn’t on a chair, and almost toppled off the log.
“Don’t put her in this position,” Mom raged. “I asked for one thing from you. I want my daughter to be kept safe.”
“I did what you asked,” May fired back. “I told her to stay away. She didn’t, so now our situation has changed.”
“We have to get her back home.” Mom sounded as if she was about to cry. “We have to.”
“Emma, calm yourself.” May chided. “I understand that you’re upset.”
“Upset? Upset?” Mom clearly had my flair for the theatrical as her voice ratcheted up a notch. “I couldn’t be there for her in life. Not for a single thing. I will make sure I’m not there in her death. How can you not understand that?”
May looked exasperated. “It’s not as if you willingly abandoned her.”
“That doesn’t matter. She was alone.”
“Not alone,” I countered, drawing her attention to me. Her shoulders jolted as if she’d forgotten I was there. “I was never alone. I had Dad, and even though he was a bit bumbling at times, his heart was in the right place.”
“You’re not dying here, Hadley,” Mom growled. “I will not stand for it.”
“I have no intention of dying here,” I assured her. “Galen would be really angry. I’m not leaving you two here either.” I glanced at the green river. “Besides, Bogdan and Declan are a problem. We have to deal with them.”
“I don’t understand why they started in the first place,” May complained. “They had their own thing going here. Why did they fixate on you?”
Mom looked distinctly uncomfortable but didn’t respond. She was debating if she should tell me. I took the decision out of her hands.
“Clive told them about me.”
Mom’s face, even as a ghost, was expressive.
May had once told me that ghosts hold on to all of their human characteristics.
Apparently that was true of Mom. I’d imagined how she might react to some of the stuff I’d done as a kid.
Now I could see it and even though we were in a pickle, I was ridiculously grateful.
May let loose a vile curse and turned her back to me, her ghostly hands clenched into fists. “Of course. It makes sense. Clive came here, ran his mouth, and when he got into trouble he served you up to them.”
“How?” Mom asked. “I had very little interaction with him when he was here — I recognized him from home and that made me curious — but he didn’t mention Hadley.”
“Did he mention a witch who ruined his plans and her merry band of paranormal misfits?” I asked.
Mom hesitated.
I nodded. “That was me.”
“And Galen, Booker, Aurora, and Lilac,” May said. “He hated you all.”
“He mentioned Lilac,” Mom said. “I had no idea who that was. He kept calling her a demon.”
“Lilac Meadows,” May volunteered. “She’s half-demon, and terrifying. She’s Hadley’s best friend.”
“And Aurora?” Mom asked.
“Aurora King,” I supplied. “A siren.”
“A mouthy one,” May said with a laugh. “I like her. She doesn’t fall in line with the other sirens and does her own thing.”
“Booker?” Mom was trying to line up all the players.
“Judy Pitman’s son.” May turned grim. “She helped lock away Declan. Booker is nothing like her.”
“These are the people you’ve surrounded yourself with?” Mom asked me. It was impossible to read her face for a change so I had no idea how she felt about it.
“They are,” I confirmed. “They’re good people.”
“Very good people,” May agreed.
Mom’s expression softened. “I wasn’t suggesting they weren’t,” she assured me. “I just … when I pictured you, you were always a child. I knew you were an adult but you were always little when I tried to imagine you. It’s weird thinking of you as engaged.”
“It’s not weird,” May countered. “It’s gross. They’re all over each other. Galen is handsy. It drives your father nuts.”
That made me smile. Now was not the time for these conversations, although I did have a question. “Why are you a ghost? Why are you here?”
“I don’t know,” Mom replied. “As for being a ghost, that was always my intention. I wanted to watch you grow up. I didn’t care if I delayed my respite. It would have been enough to see you. It didn’t really work out that way.
“There was darkness after I died and at some point I woke up, but I was here,” she continued. “I can’t leave. I’m stuck.”
“Have you tried to leave?” I asked.
“Through the doors. I can get close but not through.”
“But if we charge the doors you might be able to get through?”
Mom nodded. “But I can’t be your concern. We need to get you back across. And your grandmother,” she added as an afterthought.
“Absolutely not.” May vehemently shook her head. “I told you I’m not leaving you.”
“You can’t stay here for me.” Mom looked sad. “I won’t be able to live with that.”
She was already dead, so the statement was a little surreal. I stubbornly pushed it out of my head. “Why do you think she’s here?” I asked May.
“Something we did with the magic in the cemetery affected her soul, which was likely still attached to her body even more than two decades later,” she replied. “I don’t know the specifics. There are others here, souls from the cemetery. I’ve seen them.”
“Then if we can make the door strong enough she can go back when it’s time,” I pressed.
“I can’t guarantee it,” May replied.
I fell quiet, my mind whirling, then I focused on the door. “All we need are magical people to come through the door?” I asked.
“What are you planning?” May demanded, instantly suspicious.
“I know a lot of magical people. My guess is they’re on the other side of this door trying to get through even as we speak. Time moves differently here, right?”
Mom silently nodded in confirmation.
I raised my hands, magic flaring, and placed them on either side of the door. “Here goes nothing.”
“Hadley, wait!” I felt May moving in behind me but I ignored her. I was not going to be dissuaded. Not this time. I pulsed magic into the door and was thrown back as a group raced through the opening and landed right in front of us.
Galen, his chest heaving and his eyes blazing, jerked me to him. “What did I say about disappearing?” he demanded.
“Sorry. You really can’t blame this one on me.”
He held me tight and swayed back and forth.
“I was hoping you guys would be on the other side of the door,” I said. “I need some help.”
“I can see that,” Booker said. He was studying Mom and May. “You must be Emma.” He extended his hand, then pulled it back when he remembered she was a ghost and couldn’t shake it. “I’ve seen you in the cemetery. This is much better.”
“Yes, my mother told me about the cemetery,” Mom said with a grimace as I pulled back from Galen. “It’s a little embarrassing.”
“Meh.” Booker lifted one shoulder. “There are worse things.” His eyes moved to me. “You left Galen a mess and guess who had to deal with it?”
“Hey, this time it really wasn’t my fault,” I insisted. “It was an accident. It … .” I forgot what I was going to say when I realized there was someone else with the group, someone I wasn’t expecting.
Marjory didn’t look upset about where we were. She looked fascinated. I couldn’t understand why she had crossed with the others.
“She refused to be left behind,” Galen volunteered. “She said she’s put too much effort into planning our wedding to lose you now.”
I opened my mouth to say something to Marjory — I had no idea what — but she was fixated on my mother.
“It’s been a long time, Emma,” she said.
“It has,” Mom replied stiffly. She didn’t seem thrilled to see Marjory and yet a small smile appeared. “I hear we’re going to be related.”
Marjory laughed. “I tried to talk Galen out of it. I wanted him to have a nice shifter wife, but he’s set on Hadley.” She looked over to me. “They’re a good pair. I’m fond of her.”
Mom laughed, then sobered. “Maybe we’ll get a chance to talk about that later.” She glanced at the door, then at me. “It’s close. I can’t go through just yet. We need more magic.”
I’d already thought of that. “Then I guess we’ll have to get it from Declan and Bogdan.” I shifted to look at my friends. They were ready for a fight. “They’re here. We have to end them both.”
Lilac took a step forward, her blond hair catching fire as the demon in her took over. “I’m ready.”
“Oh, my,” Mom said as she took in the flames surrounding Lilac in ominous light. “That’s downright terrifying.”
I managed a grim smile. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”