“I’m sure he took great pleasure in that,” Millie says with a sigh. “And how, exactly, is he doing this?”
“He’s stronger than ever before,” Brielle says. “He’s taking his victims’ energy. He’s growing stronger each day. And the eclipse is still a week away.”
Suddenly, we’re submerged in darkness. I can’t see the others. I can’t even hear them.
It’s as though I’m alone in a pitch-black room.
“More parlor tricks?” I ask loudly. “More scare tactics?”
And then I remember. Recite the spell. If the others are doing it, too, then we can cast him out.
I take a deep breath and do my best to remember it all.
“Lord and Lady, lend me your might.
Guardians of the watchtowers, make this—”
I only get two lines in when the darkness disappears, and we’re all standing in my shop, looking at each other.
“Wow, that spell is powerful,” Brielle says. “We barely got any of it out before he was gone.”
“Same,” I say, nodding. “It worked.”
“No.” Lucien’s voice and face are both grim as he shakes his head. “No, it didn’t work. He’s playing with us.”
There’s laughter all around us, and then the darkness descends again, even blacker than before.
I can’t see the others. I can’t even sense if they’re nearby.
So, I start the spell once more.
“Lord and Lady, lend me your might.
Guardians of the watchtowers, make this right.
Ancestors and guides, hear my plea…”
Suddenly, I hear loud, maniacal laughter—as if he’s heard the funniest joke of his life.
“Do you think that works on me?” he demands in a booming voice. “Lord and Lady, lend me your might.”
He’s mocking, using a high-pitched singsong voice.
“You’re pathetic. I could simply kill you where you stand. And I should. Because you’ve defied me at every turn.”
Oh, Goddess, I’m drowning. I can’t catch my breath. I can’t get to the surface of the water. I thrash about, searching for relief.
And just when the edges of my mind go dark, I’m free.
I fall and struggle for breath, gasping. I blink at the bright light coming in through the windows.
“Are you okay?” Jackson asks as he hurries to gather me up. “Daphne, are you okay?”
“He was drowning me,” I say at last.
“I was on fire,” Brielle adds. “It felt like someone set me on fire.”
“Hanging,” Millie says, rubbing her neck. “I was hanging from a noose.”
Lucien swears and pulls his wife close. We’re all embracing, trying to regroup.
“I was being stabbed, over and over again,” Jackson says.
“I had my throat slit,” Cash adds.
Everyone turns their eyes to Lucien.
“Stoned.” He clears his throat. “I was being stoned to death. Crushed.”
“What in the hell?” I demand.
“It’s how we’ve all died in the past,” Lucien explains. “In different lifetimes, we died that way. I don’t understand how he knows that, but he’s showing it to us.”
“A threat?” Cash asks. “A way of saying: ‘If you don’t do what I want, I’ll just do this to you again.’”
“Maybe,” Millie says.
“How did it stop?” I ask. “What made it all stop and drive him away?”
“It could be that he ran out of energy,” Jackson suggests. “But one thing is very clear. The protection spells and crystals don’t work this time. He’s too strong. And even though we’re formidable when we’re together, it’s not enough.”
“I won’t lose,” I say, shaking my head. “I will not let him win this time.”
“We have one week to get ready,” Lucien says. “We need to study, and we need to be with others who may know more than we do.”
“Looks like an impromptu witches’ conference is about to hit New Orleans,” Brielle says. “Because that’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”
“I’m scared.” It’s a whispered admission in the dark as Jack and I lie in bed. We spent the day telling the story of what happened this morning over and over again, trying to pick it apart and figure out what the next moves are. “And I’m not alone. I saw the fear in Miss Sophia’s eyes today, and she’s never scared, Jack.”
“She’s worried.”
“She’s afraid. You can’t deny it.”
“I think we’re all uneasy about this,” he says and rolls me onto my back so he can look down at me. He brushes my hair off my cheek. “It makes sense that this third round is the most difficult. That he would escalate like this. It sucks, and it’s not fair, but I don’t think anything about this is exactly fair.”
“No. It’s not.” I lightly brush my fingertip over his Adam’s apple.
“You’re formidable, Daphne. You’re smart, you have a gift, and you have it in you to defeat this monster. You do,” he insists when I start to shake my head. “You just need your confidence. Stop second-guessing yourself. Stop letting him scare you.”
“If you’re not scared, you’re not human,” I insist.
“I’m just saying. You’re the boss here. You are. Not him. The next time he shows you your father, kick some ass. The next time he tries to bully you, kick him in the balls.”
“There’s a lot of violence in this pep talk,” I say but smile and kiss his chin. “I get it. Stop cowering and stand up for myself. Stop giving in to the bully.”
“Yeah. Exactly. We can do this. And we’re about to gather all the tools and weapons we need to win not only the battle but also the war.”
“I guess we’d better get some sleep then, huh?”
He kisses me softly. “We have a little time.”
And in the dark, he reminds me of who we are together.
Chapter Seventeen
“I saw the light over the confessional, and the voice said: That’s the person to kill.”
-Herbert Mullin
“If you want something done right,” he says as he stalks around the living room in the body he’s inhabited, his hands fisting, his breath coming fast, “you have to do it your damn self.”
He’s been using this one anyway. As an errand runner, mostly. He hasn’t used him for energy because he needs this toy to be strong.
How else can he deliver corpse gifts to his Daphne? The photos?
Yes, this toy has done well. He’s a man, much stronger than that little bitch he used before. And the link he has to the girls isn’t lost on Horace.
It only makes it that much more fun.
He walks to the mirror in the dirty bathroom and grins at himself.
Yes, he recognizes the face.
And so will the girls when the time is right.
“We have much to do,” he says to his reflection. “We have to punish them first. They’re so obstinate right now. But, I suppose, kids will be kids. Still, we need to show them discipline, and punishment is part of that.”