Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Erielle screamed as the roof gave way beneath Samson.
Cautiously, she lowered herself onto the roof, placing her feet cautiously on the metal supports, trying to figure out how she was going to get through that jagged opening without cutting herself.
She couldn’t see a space she could even hold on to.
Below, Samson pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. He locked eyes with her, determination tightening his jaw as he moved closer to help her through the opening, away from the fragmented glass. Relief poured through her. He was okay. He was still fighting.
She edged toward a section where the glass hadn’t splintered as badly, then stiffened. The air shimmered behind Samson, Millicent flickering into view, her form pulsing between solid and transparent.
“Samson—” The warning caught in her throat. She couldn’t let fear paralyze her.
Taking a deep breath, she dropped into the room.
And found herself floating to the ground, like she was buoyed by water. What…?
She looked around and didn’t see anything. Didn’t feel anything but a strange warmth that dissipated her terror. Peace. Love. Joy.
And her grandmother’s scent, that lavender and vanilla combination she loved.
Once her feet were on the ground, she whipped around, looking for any sign of her grandmother, hoping for a glimpse of her, something, but she got nothing but the scent.
“Gigi,” she whispered, an acknowledgment, a question. Then, remembering why she’d leapt, she turned to Samson. “Behind you!”
He pivoted as Millicent lunged. He thrust out a hand, punching into the ghostly form. Millicent bowed away from him, folding back onto herself before disappearing in a swirl of light. He reached the same hand out to Erielle, and she felt the packet Leslie had made him in his palm.
Limping a bit, he headed toward one of the broken windows of the solarium, kicked out the remnants of glass, hopped down through the tall grass that grew up against the house. Turning back, he wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her down.
Once her feet hit the grass, she hesitated, her gaze snagging on the house. What if her grandmother lingered, just beyond sight? What if she could manifest, the way Millicent had? The longing tugged at her until she found herself drifting back toward the broken windows.
“What are you doing?” Samson’s voice was raw. He seized her arm and pulled her away from the house..
She turned reluctantly. In the dim light, she saw a darkening stain on his shoulder, and she snapped back to the present. She stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder, feeling the sticky warmth beneath her touch. “You’re hurt!”
“Ah.” He reached up, his fingers brushing hers. “I caught some glass going through the ceiling.”
She thrust out her hand. “Give me the keys to the truck. We’re going to the hospital.”
“I don’t know if it’s that bad.” But he put the keys in her hand and staggered a little as they turned toward the driveway.
Once they were in the truck, she couldn’t help looking back at the house, hoping to see her grandmother.
But the house remained dark.
If Hattie was surprised to see them sitting in front of the diner when she walked up at six in the morning, she didn’t show it. She unlocked the front door and beckoned them inside.
“Come on. Sit. I’ll make you some breakfast.”
“It has to be today,” Erielle said, her voice rough from lack of sleep. “We have to bind her today.”
“You tell me what happened after I get breakfast going.” Hattie detoured toward the coffeemaker, filling it like this was any ordinary morning.
Instead of choosing a booth as she regularly did, Erielle dropped to a stool at the counter.
She sat hunched, her eyes were hollow, the skin of her face pulled taut with anxiety and strain, more fragile than he’d ever seen her.
Sam reached for her hand, needing the contact and thinking she would as well.
But she pulled away, ostensibly to reach for the menu.
Okay, he got it. He’d told her while they were waiting at the hospital that he was leaving, going to Baton Rouge with his parents.
Taking more Family Medical Leave he couldn’t explain.
“My mom’s a witch, and she needs me to hold her together”—yeah, that’d go over real well with HR.
And he didn’t know when he’d be back. If he’d be back.
At least he was being honest with her, right? He understood why she was putting distance between them, but he was at least being honest.
Hattie returned to the coffee maker once the scent of sizzling bacon filled the air. She poured all three of them a cup and slid two across the counter before leaning on it herself, pinning them with her gaze.
“What happened?”
Erielle spilled out the story, her voice a little choked with emotion as she described the ghost, their escape, his fall.
“Gigi was there,” she murmured. “She protected me. Us, I think. From Millicent. I know she was there. Hattie.” Erielle reached across the table for the other woman’s hand. “If we bind Millicent, are we binding Gigi, too? I can’t do that to her.”
“We need to set your grandmother free,” Hattie said. “She doesn’t want to be in that house any longer. We can’t set Millicent free because who knows where she will roam. But Angeline, yes, we need to free her before we bind Millicent.”
The devastation on Erielle’s face had Sam reaching for her again, and this time she didn’t resist, leaning into his good shoulder.
“And you?” Hattie asked him. “You’re all right?”
“Seventeen stitches, nothing broken.” He would have shrugged but didn’t want to dislodge Erielle. “I’m all right.”
“We can’t let you go back into that house. You rile her up. But here’s what we have to do.” She straightened, taking a deep breath, holding his gaze. “We need your mother.”
“Absolutely not.” The words snapped out of his mouth. “You saw what happened to her yesterday. We’re leaving Phantom Bayou because it’s too dangerous for her to be here. And you want her to go into that house, face that thing?”
Hattie remained stoic. “We need five. We have Erielle to replace Angeline, but we need your mother. She’s powerful, Sam.”
“But she’s not strong.” He shook his head. “No. If Erielle can stand in for Angeline, I can stand in for my mother.”
Hattie’s eyes widened. “No. No. Absolutely not. You make Millicent more dangerous. For you and for all of us.”
He leaned forward, muscles tight, pain throbbing through his shoulder. “I will do whatever you say. You can wrap me in every spell, every charm you’ve got. But I’m not sacrificing my mother to that house.”