Chapter 21
Olivia stood gazing out of the bedroom window, hearing Theo snoring softly in the bed behind her.
She gazed down at her fingertips where a tiny little pulse of blue appeared beneath her skin like a spark of electricity before disappearing again.
She could feel the low thrum of power beneath her skin, and it felt like she was wired into the mains.
Maybe that was why she couldn’t sleep. She felt different somehow.
She’d known the minute she’d pulled a bow of pure fire out of thin air, and it was like her body was struggling to adapt.
Releasing a quiet breath, she turned her gaze back to the woods, which were illuminated under the bright half-moon.
The sky was clear, and the stars burned like tiny pinpricks in the vast darkness, but it was the woods that held her attention.
She knew now what it was that called to her.
It was the demon. Even now, he stirred in his prison, and soon he would wake—after the first snowfall if Theo’s dream was correct.
She shivered and jolted in surprise as she felt Theo’s arms fold around her and pull her against his warm chest, his chin resting on her shoulder.
“Why aren’t you in bed? It’s freezing in here.” His voice was rough and sleepy.
Breathing in the familiar scent of him, her body relaxed. She glanced over at the small fireplace in her bedroom that had burned down to embers. Reaching out, she gave it a little nudge, and once again, it burst into flame. She could feel Theo smile against her shoulder.
“Why aren’t you in bed?” he asked again.
“Couldn’t sleep.” Olivia sighed. “Ever since I conjured Hellfire, it’s like it supercharged my body. I’m full of restless energy.”
“It’s more than that, though, isn’t it?”
Her gaze was drawn back to the woods once more.
“I just feel like I’m missing something important.
I have all these jigsaw pieces in front of me, the murders, the killer, my father, the pale-haired man, Hester, the demon, you.
..” She shook her head. “I just can’t make them all fit together. I can’t see the big picture.”
He turned her in his arms, tilting her face up to his.
“We will find the answers,” Theo soothed. “I am also frustrated by recent events. I have given much thought to the purpose of the demon seal.”
“And?”
“I wonder why it is branded into the bodies of the victims? What is its significance?” he replied thoughtfully.
“In my dreams, I have seen the devil’s trap open, and Nathaniel escape his imprisonment.
I know the last victim was there with his heart cut out.
I suppose the victims could be some sort of sacrifice. .. some means of raising the demon.”
Olivia thought over his assumptions carefully.
“You could be right,” she concluded. “I don’t know anything about raising rituals except that, like most spells, there are many variations.
Each spell is almost tailor-made to the person or situation.
In order to understand how the killer plans to raise Nathaniel, we need to know how Hester trapped him in the first place. ”
“An impossible task, Hester’s secrets died with her.”
“Maybe not,” Olivia murmured. “Every witch keeps a record of her magic, every spell she has ever written or performed. This record is known as a Grimoire, or sometimes a Book of Shadows.”
“Then we look in Hester’s Grimoire?”
Olivia shook her head. “There’s just one problem.
I don’t have it. I have been through every single one of Hester’s journals.
She talks about her magic, but there is no mention of Nathaniel or of her Grimoire.
I’ve been slowly searching the house, but I haven’t yet come across it.
She would’ve hidden it, but after three hundred years, it’s been lost.”
“In my time, when a person died, they were buried with their most prized possession. My father was buried with his Bible. Could Hester have been buried with her Grimoire?”
“It’s certainly possible,” Olivia conceded. “But the thing is, she wasn’t buried in consecrated ground or in a marked grave. As a witch, she would have been placed directly in the earth so that her body could become part of the wheel of life again while her soul passed on to the summer lands.”
“The summer lands?” Theo repeated curiously.
“It’s like heaven, where we meet our loved ones and pass on to the next life.”
“I see.”
“The problem is, I remember my grandmother telling me that Hester was buried in the woods and a tree was planted over her bones. But I have no idea where, the woods stretch for miles around the lake. She could be anywhere. Besides, even if we did find it, we can’t exactly rip out a three-hundred-year-old tree to get to her grave. ”
“True.” Theo frowned, pulling her closer. “Perhaps a solution will present itself, but one thing is for certain, we are not going to discover all the answers tonight.”
“I suppose,” she answered quietly as her eyes locked on his.
Unable to help himself, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her softly.
Unlike before, when the fire burned hot and bright, consuming them both, this time it banked, warm and content, and when he took her under, his kiss was soft and sweet, filled with promises that she wasn’t ready to acknowledge.
Suddenly he broke away and turned his head.
“Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Olivia asked in confusion, but even as the words left her mouth, she heard the sound too.
It was a scratching sound, followed by a whimper.
Pulling on his jeans and sweater, he disappeared from the room.
Olivia grabbed her robe from the nearby chair and wrapped it around her body as she turned to follow him.
Padding down the stairs, she could see him at the door, glancing through the peephole.
After a moment, he unlocked the door and stepped out onto the porch.
She followed him out into the bitter night air and scanned the nearby darkness, but when the sound came again, directly behind her, Olivia spun around in surprise. She saw a small cardboard box tucked against the side of the house. There was another small whimper and the box shook.
“Olivia, don’t!” Theo warned.
“It’s okay, Theo,” she replied absently, her gaze firmly fixed on the box.
She folded back the open flaps and peered in.
A small bundle of fur lay curled up and shivering on a blanket.
Carefully picking up the box, she stepped back into the house and headed into the library.
Theo cast one more wary look around outside the house then followed her back in, making sure to lock the door.
Olivia dropped down in front of the fireplace, and with one glance, the fire flared up, bathing her with light and warmth.
Reaching back into the box, a head popped up and a pair of dark eyes blinked back at her.
Gently lifting up the little ball of golden fur, her face broke into a smile.
The puppy shivered as she held him close to her chest to give him some of her body heat.
“Poor thing,” she murmured. “He’s freezing.”
Theo dropped down onto the couch close to her and frowned.
“Why would someone leave a dog on your porch in the middle of the night?”
But Olivia had a fairly good idea who would do this and why. She’d known the minute she’d lifted the puppy from the box and got a good look at him. He looked exactly like her dog, Truman.
As he began to warm up, he wriggled in her arms and stretched up to lick her face. Stroking his head and long soft ears sent the puppy into a paroxysm of delight. He rolled in her arms, treading all over her with soft paws.
“I wonder what breed he is?” Theo murmured, leaning over to stroke the puppy’s head.
“He’s a cocker spaniel,” Olivia replied.
Noticing the red collar he wore, she twisted it round to get a good look at the tag hanging from it.
TRUMAN.
She blinked back the sudden tears, and tried to swallow past the hot, hard ball of emotion caught in her throat.
“Olivia, what is it?”
She unbuckled the small leather collar and handed it to Theo, who turned it over in his hands and read the name tag.
“Truman?” he asked in confusion.
“Truman was my dog when I was a kid. My dad brought him home for me not long after my seventh birthday. We were inseparable. He was always with me, Jake, and Louisa. The night my mom died, Truman was curled up on my bed. When I heard the shouting downstairs, he followed me. It’s a bit hazy, but I remember the house being on fire and Truman jumping up at me, barking.
I picked him up and wouldn’t let him go.
When my dad grabbed me and dumped me in the car, I was still holding onto him, but when the cops finally caught up with us and my dad was arrested, I was put into foster care.
Truman was taken away from me and rehomed. I never saw him again.”
“I’m sorry,” Theo said softly.
“I tried to find him when I was old enough, even though I knew it was a long shot.” She shrugged.
“But by that point, ten years had passed. I managed to find the family who’d taken him in.
He’d died an old dog, happy and contented.
They were a good family, and it was obvious by the pictures that he’d been well loved, so I have to be grateful for that. ”
“That still doesn’t explain why this dog was on your porch.”
“My father.” She let out a heavy breath. “This isn’t the first time he’s left me a little reminder of my childhood.”
“What?” Theo’s voice was flat, and his expression hardened.
She climbed to her feet, still holding onto the puppy, and headed over to the desk. Pulling open the top drawer, she retrieved the doll and handed it to Theo.
“This was mine,” she told him quietly. “I was holding this the night of the fire, and those blood stains are my mother’s blood. He left this on the porch for me a while ago.”
“And you are only just mentioning this now?”
“I wasn’t ready to talk about it.”