I held up my hands before me and imagined the oil reaching out from my pulse points and traveling through the air, encircling her. “Drop the weapon, Barbra,” I said, enunciating each word. My body was still drained, owing to my concussion, and the added concentration was definitely difficult. But, it appeared to be working because she hesitated and in her eyes, I could see her self-doubt. She was frightened—that much was obvious by the tempo of the rise and fall of her chest.
I could feel her energy sparking against me, trying to break the cage of my magic, so I focused even more deeply, clenching my eyes shut tight.
“Release the gun,” I said again.
Barbra dropped the firearm, and it rattled as it hit the ground. I could see her fighting to break my control, but I kept my arms raised towards her, keeping her spellbound. Marty looked at me with shock in his eyes, apparently realizing it was my mojo that was influencing her.
“That’s good,” I said as I took a few hobbling steps forward and then reached out with my leg, kicking the gun away from her. Then I faced Marty. “Record this with your phone.” So we could take it to the police later—I could just imagine this turning into a breaking-and-entering story gone awry.
I faced Barbra again and called on the potion to do its work, pulling the oils from my skin and ordering them to penetrate the air as they encircled Barbra. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep her under my spell. “Why are you here?”
“Waiting for you,” she said simply, her eyes narrowed and angry as she brought a hand to cover her mouth, as if to stop herself from speaking.
“We’re here to help,” Marty started.
“We only want to make contact with Danny,” Henner added. “To find out why he’s haunting you, your sister and your girls.”
Barbra shook her head, dropping her hand. I could feel the pull of my magic continuing to surround her. Just as surely, the energy was leaving my body and I could feel myself starting to tire.
“You think you’re helping but you’re not!”
“Why are you here, Barbra,” I began again.
She never took her eyes off Marty, who was now recording her with his phone. Her eyes screamed murder, but she was still under the thrall of my potion. “I overheard your conversation with my sister and knew you planned to have the medium channel my brother-in-law, Danny, tonight. And that… can’t happen.”
Her thin smile crept up an inch, and a light touched her eyes. The feverish, frightening sort of light that crept onto a zealot’s face when they talked about a divine plan.
“Why can’t that happen?” I asked.
“Because,” she answered. “No one can know the truth.”
“The truth about what?” Henner asked.
“You haven’t figured it out yet?” She glared at me and I could feel her pushing against my magic, trying to defeat it. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep the power going, especially when I could feel my own energy dwindling.
“I want you to tell us,” I answered, and it was then that the light caught the red of a large jewel she was wearing around her neck, attached to a silver chain. The gem was deep red, and I’d seen it before… in my nightmare visions. “Where did you get that necklace?” I demanded.
“I…” Barbra started, but then swallowed the words as she fought against my control. I had to close my eyes and concentrate even more deeply, sending my magic to ensnare her will. “I… took it from my sister.”
“It was you,” I said, breathing in a gasp. “You were the creature from my dream. You were the one who killed Danny… it was never Layla.”
“I’m not a creature,” she hissed, apparently not wanting to defend herself from any of my other accusations, probably because they were true. “I’m a Wendigo.”
“The same thing I saw in my vision?” I demanded as my mouth went dry.
“Yes,” she hissed.
“And… you were the woman I first saw in the graveyard? And you turned into the Wendigo.”
“Yes.” She laughed, and it was an acidic sound. “And I was waiting in the crawlspace for you.”
My hand flew up to my mouth as I realized the furry thing I’d seen in the crawl space had been the monster. And then I remembered the tug on my ankle. The ghostly tug. Danny hadn’t tried to kill me. He’d been trying to save me.
“Barbra, things don’t have to go this way,” Henner said and his tone was one of… familiarity?
“You were after something in the ceiling… whatever was in that white bag,” I said. “And you were the one who was responsible for all the holes in the backyard and throughout the house? You were searching for something.”
She nodded.
“What was in the bag, Barbra,” I continued, calling on the potion that still infused the air.
“Gold,” she answered.
“Gold that belonged to Danny?” Henner continued. Marty looked at him with drawn brows, as though he was just now realizing Henner knew more than he’d been letting on all this time.
“Guess you could say I found the Leprechaun’s treasure,” Barbra answered with a snicker.
“The Leprechaun’s treasure?” I repeated, shaking my head because I was lost.
“Do you want to tell them, Tayir? Or should I?” Barbra demanded of Henner.
I looked at Henner, who just shook his head. Then I faced Barbra again and called on the Fiery Command Oil, hoping I had enough mojo left—just for a little while longer. “You tell us, Barbra,” I said.
“Danny was a Leprechaun,” she answered. “A conniving and cheap son of a bitch.”
Leprechaun? Gold? To think, I didn’t imagine this night could get any stranger. Maybe I was having a very elaborate nightmare. Or maybe I was in a coma. Sad that it was actually a comforting thought at the moment.
Barbra pursed her lips and examined each of us in turn.
“Tayir will report me to Ophelia without batting an eye, the obnoxious little toad,” she spat and I felt her power building. The claim I had on her through the Fiery Command Oil was waning.
“Tayir?” I repeated, wondering who the hell she was talking about. Henner? Henner was going to report her to Ophelia? I was starting to realize Henner was more involved in this whole situation than I’d previously realized, and from the expression on Marty’s face, he was coming to the same conclusion.
“I don’t have to tell the council anything, Barbra, if you come with us peaceably,” Henner answered.
“Go with you?” she cackled and shook her head. “No. I’ll claim you burst in and startled me. Of course, in the wake of my brother-in-law’s death, I was distraught and not entirely in possession of my faculties. I think I can get away with justifiable homicide, don’t you?”
“You forget I’ve captured everything in audio,” Marty spat back at her, holding out his phone as proof.
“You were subduing Danny, weren’t you?” I demanded as I glared at her. “You wouldn’t allow him to come through to Bailey or me.”
She just nodded with an especially evil-looking smile as she faced me.
None of us had an opportunity to say or do anything more, though, because the door snapped inward with another sharp crack and missed Barbra by inches. She skittered back with a yelp and swung around toward the intruder.