Inheritance, p.6
Inheritance, page 6
part #4 of Deadly Curiosities Series
“All right.” She spoke so softly I almost couldn’t hear her. “If that’s what it takes. I just don’t want that awful thing in the house—and I can’t let it hurt anyone else.”
The look on her face as she turned away gave me a flash of insight. “There have been a couple of other strange deaths, recently. Did you or Edward know the people who died?”
Miranda nodded, and her expression was guilt-ridden. “We ran in the same circles—collectors, you know? Either bidding against each other—usually good-natured competition—or comparing our most recent ‘find.’ Shannon Hendricks bought off-beat art pieces for her interior design customers. Brett Langdon was like Edward—he loved the thrill of the chase when it came to bidding on an item. I used to joke about them being the ‘three amigos’ because they would go to estate sales and auctions together and then come home crowing over their trophies.”
“Did they all buy something from the same place Edward got that dolphin?” I felt a cold chill. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Kell had pulled out his EMF meter. Even with the volume turned off to keep it from squealing, the light display flashed all red.
Miranda bit her lip to keep from crying. “Yes. I didn’t pay much attention at the time. It was always something with those three, and I let them have their fun. It was harmless, I thought.” Her voice broke.
“You couldn’t have known.” I offered what comfort I could. Most people could go their whole lives without encountering a cursed object. Haunted items were more common, but even so, ones with lethal mojo were, thankfully, fairly rare. Edward’s taste had been eclectic, but from what I saw, he hadn’t purposefully sought out occult pieces.
No, the fault here lay with whoever sold the statues, just as it had with the dangerous sailor’s valentine. We needed to track down the dealer and find the source of the malicious magic before more people died.
“Do you have a way to track the purchase?” Kell asked. “Credit card receipts? Emails? If we could find where they bought the items, we could shut down whoever sold this to them—and maybe save other people.”
Miranda’s eyes widened. “Do you think the seller knew the figures were dangerous?”
I couldn’t substantiate my gut feeling that the answer was “yes,” so I shrugged. “I don’t know—but if we know who sold the statues, we could find out where they bought them, and track the source. That dark magic didn’t happen by accident.”
Miranda nodded absently, and I couldn’t tell whether she was reconciling our confirmation that magic was real or was just overwhelmed by guilt and grief. “Okay,” she said quietly, and I wasn’t sure if she was talking to herself or us.
She seemed to pull herself together. “I can see what I can find in the credit card records. Can your witch friend come out tonight? I don’t want to spend another day with that awful thing in the house.”
“I’ll find out,” I said. “And when it is cleansed…what do you want done with the item?” Given the rest of the collectibles in the house, I couldn’t imagine the dolphin carving had been cheap. I didn’t want to leave it here, but I couldn’t just take it without her permission.
“Burn it. That’s what they do on those TV shows, isn’t it? Throw it in the ocean. I don’t care how much it’s worth—it cost Edward his life. Destroy it, so it can’t hurt anyone else.”
“All right,” I told Miranda. “When it’s gone, there are a couple of ways to also cleanse the house. We’ll talk about that later, but I thought you’d want to know.”
“That would be good,” she replied and gave a bitter laugh. “Edward and I have never been religious. I don’t think he ever took it seriously when there would be something on TV about a piece having any supernatural power. I guess we were wrong.” She turned before I could answer and headed back toward the front of the house.
“You’re going to call Rowan?” Kell asked.
I nodded. “Lucinda said the ghosts weren’t Voudon or Hoodoo, so they’re not in her wheelhouse. Father Anne could help with a demon or a ghost, but I think this kind of magic is more of a witch problem.” Fortunately, I had a lot of talented friends on speed dial.
Kell and I retreated down the hall, needing to put some space between us and the den. He watched the doorway like he expected something to charge out, and I’ll admit that made me feel better. I wasn’t sure what kind of spell or curse would cause the kind of awful deaths that Edward and his friends had suffered, and I knew that underestimating its power would be dangerous.
Fortunately, Rowan answered after the first ring. Given my friends’ abilities, I never know whether to credit luck or premonition for something like that.
“Rowan, we’ve got a situation that’s killed three people. I think it’s your kind of thing. Sorry to ask on short notice, but can you please come take a look?”
Kell glanced my way, and I nodded to indicate Rowan’s willingness to help. He showed me the address from his phone’s GPS, and Rowan promised to join us shortly. I ended the call and let out a long breath.
“Are you okay?” Kell asked, worried.
“Sort of. Even out here, I can feel that something really bad is in that room.”
“You’re planning to go in there with Rowan, aren’t you?”
Kell knows about my magic, and he’s seen me hold my own in a supernatural fight. Maybe because he understands the dangers, he worries about me, and he’ll protect me if need be, but he trusts me to know my limits. That’s one of the many things I love about him.
“Yes. Rowan’s plenty powerful, but we don’t really know anything about the carving, except that it can kill. So I want to back her up.”
“Do you need me to call Teag?”
I thought for a moment and shook my head. “No. This isn’t his kind of magic. If Rowan can’t handle it, she’ll say so. Let’s not borrow more trouble than we already have.”
Miranda hadn’t returned. I didn’t know if she needed some time to gather her wits and adjust, or if searching through Edward’s purchases was just time-consuming, or perhaps both. Kell and I moved closer to the front door, so we could let Rowan in when she arrived. She must have understood my urgency because she got there quicker than I expected.
We barely said hello before her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Wow. I can feel the magic from here. Fill me in.”
Kell and I took turns telling the story, as Rowan listened intently. “It’s old magic,” she said when we finished. “I can tell by the feel. The power feels odd. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a blend of magical traditions—European and African.”
“That would make sense, if it came from the islands like the ghosts,” I replied.
“Can you remove the magic?” Kell asked.
Rowan frowned. “I’m not sure. But between Cassidy and me, I think we can contain it long enough to put it in the lead box I brought.” She nodded toward a heavy gray metal box by her feet. “At worst, we can let Sorren deal with it.” Sorren had been handling supernatural problems for hundreds of years, and he had connections who were good at neutralizing dangerous items.
“Does the curse transfer to whoever has the box in their possession?” I asked. “Because that would be bad.”
Rowan thought for a moment. “Doubtful, or else who sold it to these folks? And we’re not buying it—we’re removing it. Technically, there is no owner right now. The man who bought it is dead, and his estate hasn’t been settled.”
Odd as that sounded, magic could be incredibly technical. I was willing to trust Rowan’s judgment. Kell looked skeptical but didn’t argue.
“What can I do to help?” Kell asked. I know it bothers him that, without magic, he can’t always be on the front lines. He’s gotten good with a shotgun full of salt rounds and other weapons against ghosts, but none of those items would work against this particular threat.
“Keep Miranda safe,” I said. “Put down a salt circle, and make sure you both stay inside. Just please, both of you stay away from the den. I can’t keep my attention on backing up Rowan if I’m worried about you two.”
I could tell from the look on his face that Kell didn’t like it, but he knew I was right. “Okay. But you both better come back safe,” he said, meeting my gaze. His eyes said everything that he didn’t say aloud, and I nodded, making a silent promise.
“We’ll do our best,” I answered. Then I turned to Rowan. “Ready when you are.”
When I first started channeling my gift with my athame, I got a white blast of power, good for knocking things over and throwing bad guys out of the way. I’ve been working on control—Rowan’s helped a lot with teaching me—and on managing to pin something with the energy instead of putting it through a wall.
Now, I really hoped I could do this right so that I didn’t get us all killed or put a big hole in Miranda’s paneling.
I focused my will, drew on the strong resonance of the athame, and sent a controlled flare of cold energy toward the dolphin carving. It swept the piece off the desk and pinned it to the wall, making a dent but not a hole, containing it within the light. I’d take that as a win.
“Go!” I told Rowan through gritted teeth.
Rowan began to chant a nullification spell, which might not take away all of the carving’s power, but would hopefully reduce it long enough for us to get the cursed statue locked away.
Still chanting, Rowan picked up the box and moved toward the figure slowly, as if it were a wild animal that might bite.
I drew from the good memories and positive emotions that made up the resonance of my athame, which had been my grandmother’s favorite wooden spoon. That’s when I realized that the statue was sending its own impressions and memories back down the energy stream, trying to crowd into my thoughts and flood my mind.
I felt the malice of the person who created the carving, how he layered ill intent into the piece with every cut of his blade. The air around me grew warm like the tropics, and I heard thunder in the distance, a gathering storm. Edward wasn’t the first person this statue had killed, and I sensed that its power grew each time it spilled blood.
“Hurry.” I struggled to hold my focus and keep back the flood of dark images. It wanted to show me the faces of the people it killed, make me feel their deaths. My head throbbed with the effort of holding the assault at bay, and I knew I couldn’t last much longer.
Rowan’s chant had grown louder and more defiant as she closed the distance, and by the time she reached the carving, she was shouting. She positioned the spelled box beneath the dolphin figure, just below where my athame’s blast held it pinned to the wall.
“Now, Cassidy! Let it fall!”
As the energy torrent from my athame winked out, Rowan spoke a command, and the wooden piece dropped into the containment box. She slammed the lid shut, and the sigils etched into the metal glowed as her magic activated the binding spell.
She sagged against the wall, spent from what the magic had cost her. I dropped to my knees, with my head throbbing, exhausted from keeping the killer carving immobilized and also throttling the flow of psychic sludge it tried to throw at me.
“Cassidy! Rowan! What’s going on?” Kell shouted from where he and Miranda waited. I heard the worry in his voice, but he kept his word and stayed inside the salt circle.
“We’re all right,” I called back, although my voice shook and sounded reedy to my own ears. “Stay where you are. We’ll bring the box out.”
I glanced to Rowan. She gave me a tired, but victorious, smile and pushed off from the wall, clutching the spelled box in both hands. “Let’s get out of here,” she said. Despite her bravado, I could see the strain on her face from the powerful magic she’d worked.
“Sounds like a great idea to me.” I got to my feet, took a moment to steady myself, and then Rowan and I walked out of the room together.
“It’s safe to come out now,” I shouted to Kell and Miranda. They walked around the corner a minute later. Kell gave Rowan and me a worried once-over, and I nodded to let him know we were all right.
“I’ll hang onto this until Sorren gets back to town,” Rowan said, looking at the box with distaste. “I’ve got a place to store it that will keep the magic contained.”
“There are two more pieces, like that one,” I told her.
Rowan sighed. “All right. I can help you get rid of them. But not tonight. I need to find more of these boxes and strengthen the containment warding. I’ll call when I’ve got everything ready.” With that, she took the box and headed out.
Kell and I walked Miranda to the living room. “How are you feeling?” I asked. To my heightened magical senses, the house already felt cleaner, as if we had stopped a flood of supernatural sewage.
“Like it’s easier to breathe,” Miranda said.
I nodded. “You can help purify the house by burning sage. If you have a faith tradition, you might want to ask to have the house blessed or cleansed. It will probably take some time before the den loses its stain, but the rest of the house should clear pretty quickly.”
“Thank you,” Miranda shook our hands. “I took a chance, contacting you, but I didn’t know where else to turn.”
“Glad to help,” Kell replied. We turned down payment and assured Miranda that her thanks was all we needed. She promised to contact the other owners of the other carved figures and put them in touch with us as soon as possible. Leaving her house seemed a bit surreal as we waved goodbye at the curb as if we had come over for tea instead of waging a supernatural battle.
Kell didn’t say anything until we were on our way back to my house. “It would have killed her, wouldn’t it?”
I nodded. “If she stayed in the house, near it? Yes. If the curse is linked to the owner, then probably when the estate was finalized, if not before.”
“Do you think Rowan can keep the box safe?”
“I think she and the coven can protect it until Sorren and Donnelly get back,” I replied. Archibald Donnelly was a powerful necromancer, and he had gone with Sorren to handle the problems in Europe. “We’ve never come up against something that the two of them didn’t know how to contain.” And I hope we never do.
Teag called just as we walked in the door. I scooped Baxter up in my arms, juggling the phone, as Kell closed the door behind us and went to pour us both some wine.
“Everything okay?” he asked. I recounted what happened at the Adams’s house, and smiled my thanks as Kell gently took Baxter and handed me a glass of Cabernet.
“That’s a little more excitement than I was expecting,” Teag replied. “I’m glad it all worked out. And I’ll be glad to go along as backup when you and Rowan go to handle the other two pieces. But here’s why I called—I found out where Edward and the others bought the carvings.”
I put the call on speaker and followed Kell and Baxter into the living room, so happy to be safe at home. “Someplace local?” I asked.
“No—a sketchy site on the Darke Web,” he replied. The “Dark Web” was a part of the internet known for cryptocurrency, illegal activities, and content banned from the sections of the web most people visited. The “Darke Web” used ensorcelled encryption to keep itself hidden, catering to members of the supernatural community.
“Interesting. I didn’t think Edward and the others were particularly into occult items,” I mused.
“All it takes is one bad tip,” Teag said. “Anyhow, the site is like a sketchy eBay—if eBay were located in an abandoned warehouse in a bad section of town and everything it sold was stolen.”
“Wow. Edward was really slumming it. Was he a regular?” Somehow, that didn’t fit what Miranda had told us, or anything we had found out about the man and his friends.
“I don’t think so,” Teag replied. “He might have been sent there by a malicious contact. It would be hard to stumble on the site, but maybe whoever gave him the tip thought they could blackmail him, or control him.”
“You said a lot of the merchandise was stolen. Any idea where the carvings came from?” Kell asked.
“Seth and I are still hacking the site,” Teag said. “But the owners aren’t as clever as they think they are. We’ll get in. Of course, everyone is using an alias. But here’s something interesting—the same day that you said Edward bought the carvings, several other pieces also went up for sale. And they all have a Caribbean connection.”
“Do you think they came in from the Caribe Queen?” Somehow, I didn’t think it was that easy.
“No. Because they were uploaded before the ship docked. Maybe the items on the shady site came from the same source as whatever was on the ship that caused the ghosts to appear,” Teag answered. “I’m still working on it. But I thought you’d like to know.”
“Thanks.” I started to feel the events of the day as exhaustion took hold. “Keep me posted.”
“See you tomorrow.” Teag ended the call.
I set the phone aside and sipped my wine as Baxter wriggled his way between Kell and me on the couch. “You know, I’m probably going to be asleep again before the end of the movie,” I warned him as he picked a movie we had both seen before.
“That’s fine,” he assured me, drawing me closer. “We’re here together, you’re safe, and we had a win tonight. Enjoy the moment while it lasts.”
Chapter Four
After all the excitement at Miranda Adams’s house the night before, I was looking forward to a normal, quiet day at Trifles and Folly. Teag and Seth were running programs to crack the encryption on the Darke Web collectibles auction site, but they hadn’t gotten in yet, so we had to wait. Rowan and her coven were preparing the other two containment boxes, but good magic takes time, and they weren’t ready to go get the remaining two killer carvings. Just to be on the safe side, the spouses of the other two people who were killed by the items from the Darke Web site went to stay elsewhere until we could take care of the problem.
I went in to work excited about not having any excitement, at least for a day. The morning flew by quickly with a steady stream of shoppers, and that kept Teag, Maggie, and me hopping and too busy to think about Caribbean ghosts and murderous knickknacks.
