Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
When we arrived back at the office I called an immediate meeting. I opened up a Meet-Me room and texted Lazenti and Orik, asking them to join our chat. The moment they were online, Carson and I told them what we found out about Rowan.
“Until we know that she’s locked away, everyone in this office needs to take extra care.
I don’t care how safe you think you are, keep an eye out.
The psychologist thinks she’s dangerous to others as well as herself.
I really feel for her husband, but he needs to get the hell out of that marriage.
” I turned to Dante. “And you, my friend, aren’t going anywhere without one of us with you. You can sleep on my sofa, if need be.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said. “Remember, she’s banned from my building. I’ll just ask security to keep a tight watch.”
“I’ll come back in tomorrow,” Orik said. “Hilda will be good with it, and her mother’s doing so much that my presence isn’t a necessity most of the time. Hilda will understand. I’d offer you a place to stay, Dante, except with the new twins, I think my mother-in-law would kill me.”
“Not a problem,” Dante said. “But if Hilda needs you, don’t sweat it?—”
“Trust me, everything’s fine,” Orik said.
“If Dante needs to stay anywhere, he can stay with Penn and me. Rowan might be a witch, but I don’t think she could tangle effectively with my demon. Now, let’s hear what you found in the file that Philip gave me.” I turned the meeting over to Dante.
Dante sighed. “It seems that our talented young witch knew more spells than was good for her. In fact, I suspect that she used what is called a death wish spell . Or rather, curse.”
I suddenly remembered Philip’s request. “By the way, we promised that we’d never discuss the curses on that piece of paper with anybody else outside this office. Otherwise, Philip will have my hide.”
“I wouldn’t know what to do with them if I even tried,” Dante said. “The Romalies sound like a fun-loving group, and I hope to hell we never meet any of them. The curses printed out on a piece of paper were enough to make me gag.”
“They weren’t squeamish, I’ll tell you that,” Penn said. “From childhood, they taught the stark realities of life. They’re trained to fight dirty. So, what is the death wish curse?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but it seems to involve sparking off an energetic tick-like creature.
After infusing it with energy, you send it toward your intended target.
This is all done on a mental level, there don’t seem to be any components needed.
If the girl was that strong at age twelve, I dread to think what she would have become if she had grown up. ”
“Oh?” Carson asked.
“Maybe a Mother Teresa, only magical. Or a Baba Yaga, if she went the other way.”
Penn reached for the page of curses. Dante handed it to her and she glanced over at the spells. A few moments later, she looked up, her face pale.
“I cannot imagine wielding this much power. It’s basically like putting your finger on the button to electrocute somebody, and then making that choice. Absolute power corrupts, and the power to kill on a whim, corrupts even more.”
“So you agree that’s probably what Riana used?” I asked.
Penn nodded. “I think Dante’s right. Once the tick—I think it’s called a death wish beetle—is implanted with its target, there’s no stopping it.
They’re extremely hard to spot, they can hide just about anywhere, and they can phase in and out.
My guess is that she formed it during her last minutes, and sicced it onto Christopher.
It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes for the beetle to burrow into his aura and cause major disruption.
That’s probably what caused the heart attack.
Once the task has been fulfilled, the beetle vanishes and there’s no way to trace it. ”
“All right. So could this curse be affecting the haunting?” Dante asked.
“No,” Penn said. “The curse is focused on one person alone. My best guess is that Christopher Longworld’s spirit is tied to that house.
For one thing, everything he prized was there.
The remains of his kills, the memories of his torture, all that made his house sacred ground.
And so he stayed. He was mentally disturbed, and a sociopath.
That doesn’t end when you die and revert to spirit form. Not always, at least.”
“All right, where do we go from here?” I asked.
“I need to make a trip to the magic shop,” Penn said.
“I don’t have all the components I need in my own inventory.
Then we can set up a cleansing force field that, if we’re lucky, should drain the negative energy, and release the spirits.
Think of it like tossing the house into a giant washing machine.
The spin cycle spins all the negative energy out of it. ”
“All right, we have our next steps, then. If you could go to the magic store tomorrow and pick up the components needed, I’d appreciate it.” It felt good to have a plan of action.
Penn nodded. “Of course. By the way, nobody should be in the house when I set off the spell. The spirits will have time enough to realize what’s going on and, at least Longworld’s spirit will fight back. I can fend them off but…I can’t protect you while doing so.”
Lazenti cleared his throat. “I’ve got a couple texts coming in in. Hold on,” he said turning off his camera and microphone.
“I’ll contact Konstantine while we’re waiting, and tell him he needs to make arrangements to stay out of the house for a couple more days.
” I moved away from the table, feeling conspicuous.
By now, everybody knew that he was my uncle, but I hadn’t talked about it.
I still needed to process everything, and I needed to talk to Seton.
Before I texted Konstantine, I phoned Seton Anthony.
The demonologist answered immediately. “What’s up Kyann?”
“I need to make an appointment. Tomorrow morning, if you’ve got an opening.”
“What’s going on?” Seton asked.
“What’s going on? Well, in the past couple days I just met my uncle, and I found out about my mother and her past. I need to process this. And there’s another issue I’d like to pick your brains about.”
Seton paused for a moment, then said, “How about tomorrow morning at 7:30?”
“I’ll be there. It’s early, but the earlier the better.” I jotted down the time on my planner. “I’ll see you then. And, Seton? Thanks.” I hung up, relieved to at least get that out of the way. Then, I put in a call to Konstantine.
“Konstantine?” I asked the moment his voice hit the line. “This is Kyann.”
“Hey, I wondered what was going on. Get my house clear yet?” But he laughed as he said it and I realized he was joking.
“Oh sure, we had Ghosts-R-Us come in and clean the place.” I sighed, then added, “Tomorrow we’re going to set up for a plan.
We’ve been researching and we might have an answer.
I just want to make sure that you don’t go home before then, because it could be dangerous.
Actually, nix that. It is extremely dangerous and I don’t want you there. ”
“Not even to pick anything up? I think I left a couple books there I’d like to have,” he said.
“Konstantine, I’m serious. Just buy them new or go to the library.
I don’t like to pull rank, but I’m going to now.
Stay away from that house . I don’t want to lose my only living relative now that I’ve found you.
If we’re lucky, your house may be clear by tomorrow night.
If not, then we’ll see where we go from there. ”
Konstantine hesitated, then said, “I’m touched. I haven’t meant anything to anybody since my mother died. Thank you, for caring. All right. I give you my solemn word that I won’t go back home until you give me permission. I thought we might meet for dinner —”
“That’s right,” I said, remembering his earlier suggestion.
At that moment, Lazenti came online again. “Kyann? Something’s up. I need to talk to you.” He looked distressed.
Sighing, I turned back to my phone. “Let me get back to you about dinner. Something’s just come up at the office and I need to deal with it before making any plans. I’ll text or call you soon.” With a quick goodbye, I hung up.
“What is it?” I turned to Lazenti, leaning forward toward the camera.
Lazenti frowned. “The demon I told you about is back. He’s at a bar near my office. I have a friend who works there and he called me. Do you want to come down here now? I can take you to see him?”
I knew that I had to meet this demon.
“On my way. I’m bringing Dante with me.” I hung up, then closed the laptop and turned to Sophia.
“Please, can you contact my uncle Konstantine and tell him that I can’t meet him tonight?
Ask him if tomorrow will work for lunch, or dinner if that’s better.
” I motioned to Dante. “Come on. We’re headed down to Lazenti’s office. ”
“I wish I was there,” Orik said, his voice booming from Sophia’s laptop.
“We’ll see you tomorrow, if you really want, but don’t feel like you have to rush things. For one thing, I don’t want Hilda mad at us for dragging you back into work early.” I ducked into my office and grabbed my backpack, tossing my tablet inside.
As I passed Sophia’s desk, she said, “Konstantine said lunch tomorrow will be fine. He’ll meet you at Garbo’s Steakhouse at noon.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Put it in my planner on my desk, would you?”
Dante joined us. He had changed out his white fluffy coat and leather pants for a leather jacket, ripped jeans, and a simple tank top. He’d also taken off most of his bling. He looked infinitely more dangerous, and with the shades he put on, he could easily pass for a gangster.
“How’s this?” he asked.
“You look good,” I said.