Chapter 24
“Check the water,” I tell Jacques, stomach churning. We’re at the top of the waterfall, and other than the sound of rushing water, the forest is silent.
Lynn is here, and the wildlife is holding its breath.
“And we’ll check the surrounding area,” Thomas says, taking flight. Gilbert follows after him, disappearing into the clouds above us.
“Ready?” I ask Gemma. She’s holding a flashlight with trembling hands.
“As I’ll ever be.”
I meet her eyes. “Let’s do this.”
Finding a flat section near the top of the waterfall, I set my bag down and open the notebook.
Hasan pours salt in a large circle around me, leaving about a foot open as the door to bring Lynn in.
Gemma sets candles and crystals around the salt circle and steps back, taking another canister of salt from her purse and making a little circle for herself to stand in.
“All right.” I take in a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”
Before I start the summoning spell, Hasan steps over the salt and pulls me close. His lips land on mine and his tongue slips into my mouth. My arms wrap around him, and feeling his body against mine steadies my pounding heart.
“I love you,” he whispers, and kisses me once more. Then he steps back and disappears from sight.
I crouch down on the ground, taking a baggie of herbs from my bag.
“Spiritum meum et vocavi te. Rectae. Veni ad ego,” I whisper, pouring the herbs into a metal bowl.
“Spiritum meum et vocavi te. Rectae. Veni ad ego.” I light a stick of incense and waft the smoke around the bowl.
Inhaling deeply, I hold my hands over the herbs and close my eyes.
“Spiritum meum et vocavi te. Rectae. Veni ad ego.”
The temperature drops several degrees and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I open my eyes and the world around me looks gray.
“Lynn,” I call, looking out over the water. “Cross the veil and show yourself.” I wait a beat and unfold a photo of her. “Lynn. I know you’re here. I summon you to appear before me.”
The temperature drops again and a chill creeps through me, coming up through the ground.
The candle in front of me goes out, and then Lynn appears.
She’s wearing the pink dress, but this time she’s dripping with water.
Leaves are clumped in her wet hair, and her face is streaked with blood and dirt.
I spring up and flick my wrist, signaling for Hasan to come and close the circle. We weren’t sure if he’d be able to see Lynn’s ghost, just like how he wasn’t able to see my mother’s spirit.
“Lynn,” I start, holding out my hands. “Trevor confessed. We know you didn’t fall. We know he pushed you.”
The woman before me gains color, going from a translucent gray to looking like a real flesh and bone person before me. She’s taking energy in, getting stronger and stronger.
And she’s taking that energy from me.
My chest tightens and it takes effort to breathe.
“Lynn,” I repeat. “We know.”
She tips her head, eyes full of tears. My stomach flip-flops from the rapid loss of energy. Now would be the perfect time for that bright light to come from above and for her to move the fuck on.
But she doesn’t, and she rushes forward, hands going around my neck. I stagger back, digging my heels into the earth to keep from falling.
“Ace!” Hasan shouts, appearing from the shadows.
“Don’t…break…the…circle,” I pant, and summon the fire to my hands. I reach up and grab Lynn, who screeches and backs away. She bumps into an invisible wall, slumping down and covering her head to protect herself from the fire.
“Lynn!” I shout again, wanting to get through to her. The woman was murdered and her asshole boyfriend got away with it for years. I’d be angry too. “It’s over! Trevor got arrested. He’ll be held accountable for his crimes. You can move on!”
“The spell!” Hasan shouts. “Perform the spell!”
The fire burning around my fingers is the only thing keeping Lynn from attacking me again. But I can’t open the rift with the fire. I’m running out of energy, and doing magic requires a great deal of it. I clench my fist and the fire goes out.
Lynn advances like a rabid dog, energy rippling through her. I throw out my hand and look up at the moon, trying to bring in energy from somewhere—anywhere—else.
“Pull back the curtain and the veil,” I shout, and imagine the rift just how it was in my backyard. “Open a gateway between two worlds.”
My fingers buzz with electricity, but nothing happens. I’m too weak, and I know if I fail, Lynn will get away. We won’t get to Jared in time.
“Open a gateway!” I repeat, falling to my knees. Sparks leave my fingertips. Lynn comes after me again, slashing her nails over my cheek. Her touch brings a maelstrom of emotions, and I feel everything she went through right before she died.
She was in a fight with Trevor because she found out he was cheating on her. She told him she was going to tell everyone what he did. That he’d be sorry.
Brokenhearted and betrayed, she went to the edge of the water. She wanted to jump, but only for a second. Then her despair turns to anger, and she takes a step back, glaring at Trevor.
Then he darts forward, hands out in front of him, and pushes her over the edge. Things happen in slow motion after that. She desperately tries to regain her footing, but the rocks are too slippery with algae. She throws her arms up, feeling the spray of cool water on her face.
And then she falls, face up to the blinding sun. It hurts the whole way down, and her head hits on impact. But she doesn’t die, and pain radiates through her entire body. She goes underwater, paralyzed from the fall, and isn’t able to swim to the surface.
She drowns and I’m left gasping for air, twisting to move out of her reach.
I squeeze my eyes shut and thrust my hand forward. The electricity leaves my fingers and crackles in the air. The rift is opening.
“Where’s the boy?” I ask Lynn. “He’s innocent. You’re angry at Trevor, and Trevor confessed. We know he killed you.”
Gemma lights the candles around the salt and starts casting the circle, waving a burning sage stick in the air as she chants. The sooner I push Lynn into the rift, the better. Then I can work on closing the thing up.
“Where is Jared?” I ask, trying to keep a level voice. Lynn is a ghost. She’s scared and confused as much as she’s angry. “You took him and now you need to give him back. He’s innocent,” I repeat.
Lynn’s eyes start to turn black. With the rift opening, she’s getting her energy somewhere else. And that energy is bad. I don’t know where Jared is, but she’s not going to tell me. I need to get her in the rift before she fills with dark energy.
Or before something dark comes out.
“I don’t know how much longer I can hold this,” Gemma says, voice shaking.
Swallowing my pounding heart, I straighten up and grab Lynn by the shoulders. Her pain radiates through me and I’m freezing cold, struggling to breathe underwater again. Gritting my teeth, I force myself to keep my eyes open.
I’m not drowning.
I’m not underwater.
Finding a new strength, I shove Lynn forward. She tumbles back toward the rift, and the darkness starts to pull her in. I let go, needing to move away before I get sucked in too.
But she reaches for me at the last second, and I tumble forward and fall into the rift.