Witching Hour: A Wild Hunt Novel, Book 7 Read online

  “Be a good boy, Raj. I’ll let you in when I wake up.”

  I locked the door, then returned to the sofa and curled up, pulling a throw over me. The walls still looked a mess from the party, but at least the sofa had dried out. The rain had saturated two of my chairs, and I had the feeling that my loveseat was going to need to be professionally cleaned, but the sofa had been far enough out of range that it only taken minor damage. But I wasn’t about to start cleaning house tonight. Making a reminder to myself to call a professional cleaning company, I curled up, and fell asleep.

  Studor Memorial Park was a private cemetery, but the gates were open when I arrived at midnight. I drove through, following the directions I had found online. It was amazing the things you could find nowadays, such as who was buried where. Finally, I arrived at a row of gravestones. I stepped out of the car, grateful that the rain had backed off. My bag was filled with the necessary spell components, along with my skull and dagger.

  It didn’t take long before I found Frank’s gravesite. The headstone seemed like a mockery to me, with its inscription of “Loving husband and faithful partner” that Mary had ordered. I kind of hoped that Frank would haunt her once he was free, but he probably just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge and stay away, and I couldn’t blame him for that.

  First things first. I pulled out the blightwort and crumbled it into a censer, over some self-igniting charcoal. Given the wind, I didn’t want to leave any sort of sparkler going, though it was so wet that stray sparks probably wouldn’t do any damage.

  I set the censer atop the headstone and touched my finger to the charcoal. I whispered, “Spark,” and watched as a spark flew from my fingertip to the charcoal and set it ablaze. The fire burned down, leaving it a glowing red. The blightwort began to smoke as a misty haze rose around me. That meant it was doing its work, all right.

  I sprinkled a line of powdered silver around Frank’s gravesite, then a line of devil’s tongue. I had brought along a small rubber mat, and I unrolled it, sitting on it beside the grave. I placed the skull on top of the grave, and then placed the dagger in front of the skull. A sprinkle of purified graveyard dust from the headstone to the bottom of the grave, and I was ready to go as I set my hands on either side of the skull.

  Spirits lost will now be found,

  spirits trapped will be unbound.

  Spirits cursed, remove the hex,

  free to leave, or free to vex.

  Franklin Prince, fly you free,

  the Keeper’s Seal, I remove from thee.

  By earth and air, by fire and water,

  I command, as Arawn’s daughter.

  I poured the uncrossing water on the grave, and there was a sudden push, as though something rushed out of the earth and flew into the sky. I waited, and then, a moment later, I saw someone walking toward me through the graveyard. It was Frank.

  He saw me and dashed over, a joyful look on his face.

  “It worked! I’m free!” He whirled around, then paused, staring down at the grave. “Is that my grave?” A shadow crossed his face, then suddenly he collapsed beside me, staring at the ground. I could see through him, but I was used to that.

  “Yeah, Frank. It is.” I knew exactly what was wrong. I’d seen this before with some spirits. When they were trapped by something like a Keeper’s Seal, they were so focused on getting free that the impact that they were truly dead hadn’t fully hit them yet.

  He chewed on his lower lip. “It’s real, isn’t it? I’m really dead?”

  Again, I nodded. “Yes, you are. I’m sorry. I know it’s hard to take in.”

  After a pause, he cleared his throat. “What do I do now? I’m not sure where to go, now that I can go somewhere. Do I just wander around until I meet other spirits, or is there some clearinghouse where I sign in? Does heaven or hell exist?”

  “Many heavens exist, and many hells, and other worlds that are all part of the afterlife. It very much depends on what you believed during life.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know if I believed much of anything. I just figured I’d find out when I got there. Well, now, I’m here and I still don’t know.”

  I glanced over his shoulder. There, behind him about ten yards away, stood a tall woman, a blonde. She had a Samoyed with her, and they were slowly making their way toward us.

  “I think somebody’s been waiting for you, Frank.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  I nodded toward the woman. “Do you know her?”

  As he turned, a look of disbelief swept over his face, then it turned to joy. “My mother—that’s my mother, Raven! And Danny—my childhood Samoyed! He was my best buddy!” He started to stand, then hesitated. “Do I need…is it really them?”

  At that, I smiled. “It’s really them. Go ahead. They’re waiting to help you along your path. Have a bright and brilliant journey, Frank.”

  He paused. “I can’t thank you enough. Oh, the accounts I mentioned? If you go down to the Redmond YMCA, you’ll find a locker there—#A7. The combination lock is left 33, right 22, left 11. Inside, you’ll find my account information, and the charities I want the funds distributed to. When I suspected Mary was trying to kill me, I made sure that everything was taken care of, just in case.”

  I texted myself the information. “I’ll take care of it, Frank. You can go on with a light heart now.”

  “Well, I hope Mary gets what she has coming to her someday, but yeah, I’m ready to go.” He turned back to his mother and the dog.

  I murmured good-bye, but I doubted he heard me. He was so focused on his mother and on Danny that he had eyes for no one else.

  I stood, watching him head toward them. As they embraced, with Danny excitedly jumping around Frank’s legs, I raised one hand in a half-wave, not expecting them to see me. But Frank’s mother beamed a happy smile at me, and Frank gave me one last glance, grinning ear to ear. They both waved, then moved off toward a stand of trees, and vanished.

  I gathered up my gear and blew out the blightwort. The day had been a good one, though tiring. Every time I helped someone like Frank, it made me feel more in touch with the world around me. I gathered my things and headed for home, where I crawled into bed and, deliberately not setting the alarm, I fell asleep as my head hit the pillow.

  I was still in my robe, having just eaten breakfast, when the doorbell rang. I had already fed Raj and was making a second mocha for myself. I hurried to the door. When I opened it, I was surprised to see Wager standing there.

  “What are you doing here?” I suddenly stopped, realizing how rude that sounded. “I mean, I didn’t expect you. Come on in. I’m fixing a mocha. Would you like one?”

  Wager gave me a broad smile. “Actually, that sounds good. I was running late and started off without enough caffeine.” He followed me into the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe as I took out another mug and added more milk to the steamer.

  “It won’t take long. So what brings you here today?” I glanced at him, then realized my robe was hanging half open. I quickly cinched it together and tightened my belt. At least Wager was gentleman enough not to stare at my boobs.

  “I found out some information on that house, and more. You really need to hear what I discovered, and I didn’t want you to have to go all the way to downtown Seattle.” He gave me a quick wink. “I know the Catacombs aren’t your favorite place to hang out.”

  I laughed, pouring three shots of espresso into the second mug. Then I steamed the milk and added it—along with chocolate sauce—to both mugs. Stirring briskly, I pulled a can of whipped cream out of the fridge and added a dollop to each mug, then handed Wager one of them. “Hope you don’t mind a triple,” I said, carrying my mug to the table.

  “Not at all,” he said, following me.

  “Thanks, by the way. While I know a number of vampires, and we get along all right, the Catacombs really aren’t my favorite place to visit.” I sipped my mocha, closing my eyes as the chocolate and coffee went to work
.

  Wager followed suit. Then, after a pause, he cleared his throat. “All right, here’s the thing. Your friend’s boyfriend? He’s got quite a history behind him. I have no idea whether your girlfriend knows about it or not, but if I were her, I’d get out now.”

  That didn’t sound good. As far as I knew, Lana thought Tag could do no wrong. She made excuses for him for everything, so I wasn’t sure whether telling her whatever it was that Wager had found out would do any good.

  “Okay, let’s have it. What did you find out about Tag and the house?”

  Wager pushed back his plate and pulled out a tablet. He brought up the document, and glanced at me before starting to read from it.

  “First of all, did you know that Tag was married?”

  I stared at him. “No, and I don’t think Lana knows either. Is he divorced? Still married?”

  “Well, that’s a tricky question, because his wife vanished and was never seen again. I dug and dug but I couldn’t find any information that leads me to believe he filed for a divorce. Legally, after so many years, he could do so. But there are a lot of questions around his wife’s disappearance that were never answered.”

  I set down my mug, staring at Wager. “Oh my gods, I’m positive that Lana knows nothing about this. What was his wife’s name? When did she disappear?”

  “Back in 1979, Tag was married to a woman named Alicia. They lived in that very house. By the way, you do know that he owns it?”

  I shook my head. “Lana was talking about how Tag told her he got a good deal on rent, and that he didn’t want to bother the landlord about something. You say that this was back in 1979? Tag doesn’t look that old.”

  “Given he’s hiding the truth right and left, this shouldn’t surprise you either.” Wager let out a muffled laugh. “Tag’s one of the magic-born.”

  I blinked. How could I have missed the signs? “You’ve got to be kidding me. Tag comes off as human. He even smells human.”

  “There are glamour spells that can accomplish that. Apparently, he’s trying to pass in society for some reason. But no, he’s one of the magic-born. So, in 1979 he and Alicia were living in the house, and she vanished. There were some investigations into it, but nobody could find any trace of her. She was never heard from again. Tag insisted that she ran off, that she was having an affair and disappeared with her lover. Without any evidence to the contrary, there was nothing the police could do.”

  “Crap. This has certainly turned into a can of worms. What about the house? Does it have any history of being haunted?” A dozen thoughts were running through my mind right now and I didn’t want to entertain any one of them. If Tag was one of the magic-born, then he was dangerous, and I’d have to watch my step around him. The Ante-Fae were powerful, but some of the magic-born were incredibly strong. The Force Majeure, the cream of the crop of the magic-born, were close to being demi-gods.

  “I looked into the house. It used to belong Tag’s parents, until they moved across the country. They deeded it to him, and he’s lived there ever since. I asked around a couple of the neighbors, and they say they steer clear of him. Apparently he’s worse than the crotchety old man who screams to get off the lawn.”

  “Any history of haunting?”

  Wager shook his head. “Not that I can see. I looked back in the records. Tag’s family had it built in the 1930s. There may have been a couple deaths there, but nothing that seems out of the ordinary.” He set down his tablet. “I get bad feelings from this one, Raven. You need to be careful.”

  I finished my mocha, nodding thoughtfully. I’d have to think over everything, but one thing I knew. Lana had to be told about Tag. I couldn’t consider myself a decent friend unless I made sure that she knew what she was dealing with. And my news just might end the friendship, if she didn’t want to hear it.

  After Wager left, I wandered into my bedroom, trying to figure out what to do. I glanced in the mirror, frowning. How the hell was I going to broach this to Lana? Was it best to just blurt it out, or should I show her the research? Wager had promised to email me copies of what he found, and he also promised to continue to look into Alicia’s disappearance. Irritated, I let out a sigh. Part of me wished I hadn’t got involved, but I had, and now I couldn’t just look away.

  Opening my closet, I poked around until I found my black satin skirt with an asymmetrical hem. I slid it on, then pulled on a black lace top and fastened a kelly green corset over the top of that. Adjusting my boobs so they set firmly on the shelf, I pulled on ankle boots with a kitten heel, then brushed my hair and fixed my makeup. Once I was dressed, I sat down and reluctantly pulled out my phone.

  Lana answered almost immediately. “Raven, how nice to hear from you. What can I do for you?”

  That was strange. She’d been worried that I was mad just yesterday, but today she sounded friendly, but aloof, like she was surprised to hear from me.

  I cleared my throat. “Hey, Lana. I was wondering if you could meet me for coffee today. I’d like to talk to you.”

  Her voice took on a cheerful tone that sounded very unlike her. “About what?”

  “Oh, this, that, and the other. Just wanted to touch base. We could meet at Jona’s Sugar Shack.” I didn’t even want to venture near the topic of Tag until we were face-to-face and she couldn’t run away.

  After a pause, she finally said, “All right. Let’s do lunch!”

  Let’s do lunch? I’d never heard her say “Let’s do lunch” before. Lana was cheerful, but not trendy.

  “All right, then. I’ll meet you there at noon.”

  She murmured an assent and then hung up without saying good-bye.

  I stared at the phone. Something felt off. Even if she had truly changed her mind about the investigation, there was something going on. I was still staring at the phone when it rang. Startled, I dropped it, then scooped it up again. I glanced at the Caller ID. No name, just a number, and one I didn’t recognize.

  “You’ve reached the Witching Hour, may I help you?” I half-expected it to be a robo-call, but amazingly, a person answered.

  “What did you do?” The voice was scolding, and it sounded somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

  “Excuse me? Who’s calling?”

  “Mary Prince. You read my cards the other day.”

  I groaned. Of course, Mary. Frank’s wife.

  “What do you mean?” I asked innocently. If she didn’t know about the Keeper’s Seal, how did she know I’d done something?

  “I feel…” She paused, and I could feel her searching for the right words. She was trying to cover her tracks. I knew it. “Something feels off since I visited you. Did you cast a spell on me or something?”

  I grinned. “I had no reason to do anything like that. Why do you ask?” I really wanted to hear her try to talk her way around asking if I’d broken the spell that had kept Frank tied to her.

  Silence. Then, after a pause, she said, “Because I feel like I’ve…lost something.”

  “Well, I’m sorry about that. Was it an earring? Could you have dropped something in the shop?” I stifled a laugh. Leave it to victimizers to play the victim.

  “No, it was not an earring, young woman! I just—I…” She waited for me to speak, but I kept my mouth shut, letting her flounder. If she wanted to play the waiting game, I’d bite. And I could outlast her without even taking a breath.

  After a moment, I finally said, “I don’t know what to tell you, Mary. I really have to go. Good luck finding whatever it is you’ve lost.” I punched the End Talk button, bored.

  Strolling into the living room, I stared at the walls. The ectoplasm had hardened, and now it was everywhere. I’d pulled some of the pieces off, but it still made the room look like shit. I crossed to the desk and looked up the names of local cleaners. Finally, I found one run by the Fae.

  I put in a call and told them I had some residue cleanup to be done from a haunting, and after a bit more back-and-forth, they agreed to come out on t
he weekend to do a thorough cleaning of the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The kitchen really didn’t need it, but it seemed like a good idea to add that in. Then I transferred Frank’s account info from my phone to my computer, locking it with a password.

  I was gearing up to go meet Lana when there was another knock on the door. Opening it, I saw my loony tunes neighbor standing there. He was carrying a box, which he shoved into my arms.

  “This is yours.” He glared at me.

  “Dude, it’s a package. Misdeliveries happen. Lighten up, it’s not like I sent this to your place on purpose.” I glanced at the package. It was addressed to me, all right. I had ordered a new corset and the mail carrier had obviously dropped it off at the wrong house.

  He narrowed his eyes. “You really have some nerve.”

  “Thanks, I do have a lot of nerve and I’m proud of it. In fact, I’ve got the best damned ovaries around—I’d say balls, but they’re so delicate. All it takes is one good knee to the nuts and boom, you men are down for the count.” I gave him a broad smile, slightly threatening, I hoped.

  He blinked, sputtering. “Just what kind of freak are you? I know you’re not human but what the hell are you? You one of those shifter types?” His eyes fixated on my bust.

  I quietly set the box on the table near the door, then turned back to him. Holding out my hand, I conjured another ball of fire, and was gratified when he jumped back.

  I lowered my voice, inserting an edge into my words. “Do you really want to know how hard I can play? Because I’ll show you, babe. And trust me, you won’t be quite so eager to ask questions then.”

  He stared at me another moment, then abruptly turned and headed back next door without another word. I watched him go, deciding that it was high time he and his family moved out of the neighborhood. They were bad news for everybody, and I had no problem taking care of matters. Shutting the door, I decided to pay a visit to Llew’s shop for a few spell components. At least this was one problem I could take care of. With that, I gathered my things, made sure Raj had something to entertain him, and then headed out for town.