Chapter 14 #3
“You still get to be Scottish,” Skye says consolingly. “And if you want, you can say that you bought the haunted house because you’re a wannabe author who wanted inspiration.”
“Good idea.” Josh smiles, seemingly happy to have a backstory for his fake self, and I kiss him again.
“Awww.” Skye puts his hand over his heart. “You’re so cute together.”
“That’s one word for it,” Daniel mutters, and Skye’s eyes narrow.
“What other word would you use?” he asks dangerously… if a kitten with unicorn hair can be considered dangerous. Fortunately, Kieran intervenes again.
“Stay on topic,” he reminds them. “Josh is going to message this person and hope they have more information we can use. In the meantime, now that the honeymoon suite is up and running—eternal gratitude to you all for everything you’ve done, with special thanks to Skye—” We all clap, and Skye stands and gives a half bow.
“—but now that it’s up and running, we need all the help we can get trying to find information. ”
Daniel grimaces. “I’m not great with the internet.”
“Unless it’s a hookup app,” Skye mutters, and Dan grins.
“True.”
“There’s still a bunch of books to go through that you could help me with,” I offer.
“We’ll leave the online searches to people who know what they’re doing.
” I’m also not great with the internet. I can handle social media sites and basic searches, but anything that requires more than a surface-level Google search is beyond me.
“You found this site,” Josh protests. “I’d say you know what you’re doing.”
“Thanks, but it was a total fluke. I was looking for exorcists.”
Kieran closes one eye. “You searched for exorcists and a site about summoning demons came up?”
“Yep.”
He nods slowly. “Sounds about right. Anyway, I’ve been buying all the quartz I can find. We’re reinforcing the barrier in the basement, and I’ve also put some in the Garden Suite. If anything else tries to come through the vortex, hopefully the salt and quartz will contain it.”
“Some of the other staff are asking questions,” Skye says. “Especially the housekeepers, who know very well there aren’t any plumbing issues in the Garden Suite.”
“I know. What have you been telling them?”
“That you’re the boss and I have no idea how your brain works.” He grins.
“Thanks,” Kieran replies dryly. “Okay. Okay, I’m going to tell them we wanted to get the honeymoon suite going before the summer season begins, but that we’re only licensed to operate a certain number of rooms and I had to close one to do it until approval comes in for the extra room.”
“Is that true?” Josh sounds dubious.
“Fuck no. And it’s got more holes in it than swiss cheese if you really think about it. But hopefully nobody cares enough to think about it that much.”
Josh and Skye, who spend the most time with the house staff, look doubtful.
“What about the vortex?” Joe demands. “Are you going to ask the demon person about how to close it?”
Josh pulls a face. “I’m hoping they’ll mention it as part of their answer.
Like, maybe it’s normal for a vortex to open when a demon is summoned?
But because Emma died, it never got closed.
Hopefully the instructions on how to banish the demon will also close the vortex.
If not, I’ll figure out a way to ask. I don’t want to be too memorable, though, in case the vortex is actually a separate thing from the demon that Emma somehow managed to do. ”
“There are no notes about the vortex in the diary?” Daniel asks. We talked about this before, but he was busy eating.
“Nope. Nothing that sounds like it at all. She talks a lot about her vengeance and a bit about the things she needs for the ‘ritual,’ but the focus is definitely on the demon, not anything else.” Josh’s frustration is clear in his voice.
Finding the diary and the diagram killed our earlier theory that the demon came through the vortex by chance, so as far as the vortex goes, we’re back at square one.
While the diary was a fantastic find and has helped us, it would be even better if Emma had meticulously documented everything she was planning to do, why, and how.
And where she got her information from. Still, it’s hard to be angry with a woman who died fifty years ago and had her soul eaten by a demon. Even if she did summon that demon.
“Let’s leave it there,” Kieran decides. “We’ve covered the new info and our next steps. There’s no point rehashing everything over and over until our brains explode.”
Skye pops up out of his chair and begins stacking plates. “Yay! I’ll help you clean up and then I’m outta here!”
“Hot date?” Josh teases as the rest of us get up and start clearing the table.
Skye laughs. “Not tonight, but some friends are meeting at a bar. Hey, wanna come? You’ll like all of them. Tom’s coming.”
Tom? Who’s Tom, and why does Skye say his name like Josh knows him?
Josh hesitates and flicks a sideways glance at me.
“Actually, Josh and I have plans,” I say, only feeling a tiny bit bad about it. I know he hasn’t had a chance to make any local friends outside of us yet. That tiny bit disappears when Josh smiles.
“Josh and Ewan, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…”