She sniffed. “I would shatter Zinny’s heart if I did that.”
Zinnia Rose was Eerie’s animator. The story was long and convoluted and a very sad one, and though Eerie had found purpose and meaning in her life, truth was the memories of that night long ago still remained. And even the sadness too, though not like it had once been.
I thought of Eerie swimming up from the pool and looking dead the other night. Time hovering over her, and I knew in that moment that as much as I thought I’d known my friend there were parts of her life she kept secret from all, even still.
“Maybe I’m not brave enough to know, Eers,” I whispered my one true shame to her.
Fact was a part of me had always wondered whether I’d failed to move on because of my cowardice. The night of my death was almost completely gone from my memories.
And I wasn’t sure whether the crime had erased the memories from me, or whether I’d buried the truth so far down deep that it was me holding me back. But anytime I even tried to scratch at the surface of what had been done to me, I’d grow sick and soul weary. So eventually it had become easier to just stop thinking about it altogether. I’d chained and locked that night away, throwing away the keys, and shoving it deep into the darkest corner of my mind. Never tempted to stare upon it again. And eventually it’d gotten easier and easier to do until one day I no longer even had to try because it was almost all gone.
Except for the darkness that still lingered outside my home. That great evil that caused me to shrink away and do everything in my power to pretend like it did not exist. Only problem was it hadn’t vanished at all, and now it was threatening Dante.
This was no longer just my problem. It was now his too, and that wasn’t fair. To him, or to me.
I swallowed hard. “Do you really think I can do this, Eers?”
Her smile was soft but genuine. “Of course you can, Annabelle. You’re one of the strongest women I know. It’s not easy holding back the afterlife. You’ve fought to stay here for some reason, and it’s time to let go now, my friend. I promise, you can do this. Besides, you were hit by the Aunts’ love spell, right?”
I snorted.
“Well, there can be no hanky-pankying of any sort with you being a ghost and all.”
I laughed. “Unless my mate is dead himself, there can be no hanky-panky, at all.”
Eerie didn’t respond, but a secret smile whispered over her lips as her colorless eyes danced.
“What?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing,” she said eerily. “Nothing at all. But I really have to get going and so do you.”
I nodded reluctantly.
“And remember,” she said, “be brave.”
My stomach hurt thinking about what was to come. “Brave,” I muttered. Unlike Eerie I didn’t believe I had a brave bone in my body, but maybe she was right.
Maybe it was time to face the facts, once and for all.
When I looked down to where Eerie had been sitting, all I saw was a depressed section of weeds. She was gone, moving between the veil already.
“Brave,” I whispered to the darkness. And for just a second I could have sworn I heard the chill of dark laughter echo back at me.
Dante Martin
WE WERE ALL THREE SITTING in the kitchen, sipping on a mug of tea, waiting on Annabelle’s return.
My stomach was in knots wondering where she’d gone this time and whether she’d ever return.
Hyacinth, a mint green-skinned and silver-haired witch, had followed us back. On her broom. Her flying broom. I was surprised she’d not worn the pointy witch hat, but then maybe she’d left it back home on her dresser.
What the heck did I know?
I was shocked how easily I was coming to accept the stranger aspects of this place without batting an eyelash at it. I wasn’t sure why exactly. But when I’d seen her flying beside us, I’d simply looked at Blue and she at me and together we’d said, “Hm.”
That was it.
We’d gone to the Golden Goose to get one of the Aunts as Annabelle had asked us to. Neither one of us had known where the witches had their cottage, but we’d definitely known that Zinnia could help us find more of her kind.
So, Blue and I had agreed by tacit consent to say no more about it. We’d driven back from the Golden Goose in silence, both of us thinking our own thoughts. Me, I was torn on going back to the house at all.
I’d have preferred never to step foot inside the place again, but then there’d be the issue of not getting to talk to Annabelle.
Six nights ago, that idea wouldn’t have even factored in as a priority to me. Now, I was becoming consumed by the idea of not just a ghost, but Annabelle herself.
From the very second I’d spotted her something inside of my body had clicked. Like a light had been shut off and suddenly it was blazing to life. But it only ever happened when I was with her. Even that weird song I’d heard the first night she and I had locked eyes. Everything in my body was aware of her. When she moved. How she breathed. Talked. Laughed. The pull was maddening and unrelenting, and I didn’t mind it one bit.
“Maybe she’s not coming back today?” Blue said.
“She’s coming,” Hyacinth and I said at the same time.
She lifted a pencil-thin brow at me and looked like she’d just bitten into a lemon, her lips were pinched tight. I cleared my throat and looked away guiltily, wondering why I should feel guilty at all.
“She’s definitely coming,” I said again, a second later. “She promised.”
“Then why isn’t she here yet?” Blue asked to no one in particular. “Do you think the darkness is holding her ba—”
Hyacinth scoffed. I was quickly learning that the youngest of the three elderly aunts wasn’t a very jovial kind of person. In fact, she was downright prickly. Already she’d insulted Blue’s decorating style—it was awful but geez, who was rude enough to do that after a first meet—glared the entire time while sipping her tea, and had rolled her eyes so many times I was surprised they’d not popped right out of her head yet.
It was a miracle that she was the one to stand and come with us since it was apparent to me she really didn’t have much use for either one of us. I’d have much preferred the blue-haired Aunt, or even the scatter-brained one to this one. But Hyacinth had given her sisters the death glare, snapped her fingers at us, and barked, “Well, are we going or what?”
And so we’d gone, but I wasn’t exactly feeling positive about things at the moment. I wasn’t gonna lie.
“Ghosts are flighty at the very best of times,” Hyacinth said, reaching toward the pot and pouring another generous serving of the chamomile tea. She’d curled her nose disdainfully the first time she’d sipped at it. I was honestly surprised to see her go for another serving of the stuff. “She’ll come though.”
This she said looking dead at me with one of her pinch-eyed glares, as if I’d done something terrible to her. I glanced at Blue and she at me, looking exactly how I was feeling.
Confused and baffled. My twin’s brows were lowered and she was biting onto the corner of her lips. Hyacinth took a long sip of her tea, before primly setting it down and brushing her fingers down the sides of her stiff-looking, indigo-colored corset. Of the three sisters, she actually had a flare for style. She looked exactly like what a stereotypical witch would, with striped stockings, heeled Victorian boots, and a gown with a bustle.
“Well,” Hyacinth sighed, “I reckon while I’ve got a wee bit of time. I’ll do a quick study of the grounds inside and out. There’s bad energy in this place, and that bloody sage stick isn’t gonna do anything.”
She sounded personally offended as she said it and looked pointedly at my sister.
Blue squirmed on her seat, and I almost wanted to chuckle. Rare was the day that Blue would be cowed into silence by anyone. But especially not by an octogenarian in heels.
Tipping up her chin with her nose pointed high in the air, Hyacinth marched primly past us and up the stairs.
r /> “Freakin’ A,” Blue said the second the witch was firmly out of earshot. “She’s mean.”
I laughed. “You could say that. Prickly was what I was thinking, but...”
“God,” Blue shivered, “she’s like one of those nasty school marms or something. I had the insane urge to apologize for everything.”
Snorting, I shook my head. “I sorta wish we could have gotten one of the other sisters to come with us.”
“Yeah, but if she freaks us out this bad, imagine how much she might freak out that darkness. I can’t conceive that anything scares that old bat.”
“You might be right,” I said as I ran my hand up the back of my neck and rubbed.
“Oh, you’re here already.”
At the sound of Annabelle’s husky drawl, my heart raced like horses’ hooves in my chest and I twirled on my heel. Feeling as if I stared into the sun the second I saw her, my body flared, my skin prickled and tingled.
I heard Blue cough, but I ignored it.
“You’re back,” I said dumbly, sounding pleased and excited and a little mortified by my violent reaction to her presence.
I’d never been like this with Lili. All hot and cold at the same time. Feeling weightless and yet firmly cemented to the ground. To be honest, Lili hadn’t given me much reason to smile.
Annabelle’s smile was like the burn of the sun upon my flesh, and I shivered.
“I...I couldn’t stay away.”
What did that mean? Her smile was gentle, even cautious, and I opened my mouth but no words escaped me.
“We brought Hyacinth. Sorry,” Blue piped up. I glanced over my shoulder.
My sister was standing now.
Annabelle chuckled, the sound of it was melodious and raspy and it made my body burn. “Ah, no wonder you both looked so put out. But she’s wonderful.”
My sister gave her a doubtful look, and again Annabelle laughed.
“Believe it or not, Hyacinth is the best at parting the veils. You definitely brought the right sister along for the job. Where is she?” she asked, peering over my shoulder.
I pointed behind me with my thumb. “Touring upstairs. She said sage was stupid.”
Annabelle covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter, and my lips twitched. “I can imagine she did. She’s not very tactful, but she’s smart. Dizzyingly so.”
A second later Hyacinth came clomping into the kitchen with her hands planted firmly on her hips and that perpetual scowl screwed on tight. “Aye, you’ve a haunting and that’s for certain. Dark, dark energy ripping through the third floor. Won’t be but an hour, two tops before it returns to get back to what it was doing. What changed, spook? How’d it get in?”
Annabelle was biting onto her bottom lip and her eyes briefly lit on mine before flitting off. “I...I...opened the door,” she said softly.
“Bloody foolish ghost ye are, ye ken better than to invite the devil into yer home. No hope for it now, we must cleanse the place of it. I’ll be needing to get back to me cottage for a few bits and baubles to make sure the job gets done right. No bloody sage can cleanse this demon gone.”
“Demon!” Blue squeaked and clutched at the sleeve of my shirt.
Hyacinth rolled her eyes again. “No, a demon per se, mortal. A memory. A violent one.”
“What does it want? Why is it here?” Blue, undeterred by Hyacinth’s bitterness, pressed on.
“Cuz, ye wee silly ghost let it in, that’s why.”
I frowned and looked at Annabelle, wondering what Hyacinth meant by let it in.
Blue, clearly on the same path as me, looked at Annabelle and said, “What? On purpose?”
Annabelle shook her head, but it was Hyacinth that answered. “No, I doubt it. Spooky’s been staving that demon off all her undead life. It’s why it’s grown as big as it has. No, something broke her concentration long enough for it to slip past her defenses and into this house, and I’m fairly certain I ken what. Or, should I say, who.” When she said that, her dark eyes pinned mine.
I swallowed.
“You,” Hyacinth pointed at my twin, “are coming with me. Get ready, Spooky. When I return, we’re banishing that demon straight back to Hell where it belongs.”
And with those blood-chilling words she twirled on her snappy heels and clacked off. A second later she cried, “Woman. Come!”
Blue startled, looked at me then at Annabelle, and then said, “If I don’t make it back, Dante, then know I loved you, and you can have my collection of bongs.”
I snorted. “Great. Just what I always wanted. Be careful, Blue.”
She hugged me, and that’s when I felt her shaking. She was making a joke, but my sister was definitely nervous.
“Hey,” I said softly, “You don’t have to do th—”
“No, yeah. I do.” She cupped my cheek, and for just a second I felt the bond between us. Neither one of us was prone to showing our true feelings with each other, but the fact was Blue was my sister and I was her brother. We’d do anything to protect each other, and we often had.
When it came down to it, we’d always have each other’s back.
“Whatever that thing is upstairs, I don’t want it hurting you again.”
I nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah. You will be.” Then leaning up her toes, she kissed my cheek.
“Mortal, I grow weary of this wait!” Hyacinth screeched from outside.
“Guess that’s my cue. Better run before she turns me into a toad,” Blue grinned impishly and then ran off muttering, “Coming, evil fairy godmother. I’m coming!”
“Bah!” Hyacinth screeched back. “I’ll show ye an evil fairy, ye bloody imp!”
The screen door squealed as she shoved it open and cracked loudly against the frame like a deafening boom when it shut. The gentle hum of the fridge and the metrical ticks of a kitchen clock were the only sounds I heard now.
I looked at Annabelle and she at me, and we both smiled.
“Think they’ll kill each other?” she asked softly.
I snorted. “Couldn’t say, but don’t let Blue’s stature fool ya. She’s like a rabid wildebeest when pushed to it.”
Annabelle laughed, and I was glad I’d made her smile, even if only for a moment. The silence stretched between us, and my head swirled with questions.
There were a million things I could say, but none of them came out except for, “You let this thing in by going outside?”
She wet her lips. “I...I didn’t mean to. In fact, I didn’t even know it was me until she asked it. I promise I would never want anything to happen to you or your sister.”
I shook my head. I didn’t doubt that, but I also didn’t really understand how that was even possible. “I don’t get it. What is this thing exactly? A memory shouldn’t be able to choke me that way.”
Annabelle thinned her lips. “It’s a memory, but it’s not. It’s a haunting.”
“So Hyacinth said, but this is so beyond my understanding I’m going to need you to dumb this thing down for me. How can it be physical enough to touch me but you can’t?”
She blinked and I realized what that must have sounded like to her.
“What I mean is—”
She smiled. “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain it to me. I understand what you meant. Have you ever walked through a graveyard?”
“At night?”
She shrugged. “Anytime?”
I licked my lips, remembering the last time I’d walked through one. “Yeah. A few times.”
“And how did it make you feel?”
I frowned. “What?”
She rolled her wrist as she glided toward me. “I’m not trying to pry, I promise. I’m trying to explain.”
She smelled of frost and flowers, and I sucked in sharp greedy breaths. Why was this woman getting to me like this? Had I totally cracked after getting fired? Was I that hard up for a woman’s attention that even a ghost could rev me up this way?
But I knew th
e answer to those questions. Absolutely not.
I might not be the most attractive guy in the world, but there’d been women interested in me besides just Lili. And I wasn’t that weak-minded that getting fired would send my life into a tailspin.
So what was this? And more importantly why with her?
Yeah, the heart might want what the heart wanted, but I was alive, she was dead. Maybe I needed to get out more, socialize with women other than my sister or a ghost. Maybe this was nothing more than being lonely and practically alone for far too long.
By the end of things with Lili, we’d barely had time to see each other once a weekend, and we’d long since stopped sleeping together months before that. Which should have been my first clue that we weren’t going to make it, but then, I’d not really cared all that much when she’d dumped me. Other than wounded pride it hadn’t hurt, not really. I’d felt numb, which shouldn’t have been the overriding emotion after seven years together.
I’d never been a romantic guy. I didn’t need it. Didn’t really want it.
Or so I’d thought, until I’d looked into Annabelle’s eyes, and I’d wanted to do things with her I’d never done with anyone else.
I wanted to know her. On a visceral level. Wanted to see what made her tick, what she loved, and what she hated. I wanted her to be real and not superficial. The feelings had come on so quick though that I felt whiplashed by it. Then I remembered my father saying almost the exact same thing; that when he’d seen mom, he’d just known she was it for him. They’d married three days later in an act of impulse that would have been shocking to anyone who’d known my mother. And yet, it had worked for them for fifteen glorious years.
“I don’t know. I didn’t like it. It felt cold and empty,” I said quietly. I’d never even told Blue how sick I’d gotten walking to mom’s funeral, and why after we’d buried her I’d never gone back again.
I’d told myself that if there were such things as souls and an afterlife she wouldn’t have been in the ground anyway, but in reality the place had made me feel sick and uneasy and I’d never wanted to go back.
Her smile was sad. “That’s because not all souls can move on. Some remain trapped there, that’s the unease you felt. Not the ones who moved on and were at peace, they are naught but shells in the ground. But the ones who can’t let go, for reasons only they can know...their memories can haunt you. Sort of like how it felt when I let you into my spirit the other day.”