A Stitch on Time 5 (6 page)

“Yes, it was the demon.” Gareth turned away as he added, “The demon was the one who had feelings for Sierra, and made me act on them.”

Papan didn’t look convinced. “I’ll still be keeping an eye on you.” He took my hand and led me up the path, past the porch and into the house.

“Oh my God, you’re both all right!” Willow ran down the hallway and threw her arms around Papan and me. “I was so worried. You said you’d call but when you didn’t…”

“I couldn’t.” It was close to the truth.

“Why do you both smell like smoke?” She wrinkled her nose and stepped back.

“Will, I need to tell you something first. Where’s Oren?”

“He’s in the kitchen with Lavie and Saul.” She looked past us, a beaming smile on her face. “Hey Gareth, didn’t know you’d rocked up too.”

“Hello, Willow Tree.”

I led Papan into the kitchen, where Saul motioned him to one of the chairs. He sank into it and I sat next to him, holding onto his hand. I didn’t want to end the physical contact.

Gareth greeted Oren and Lavie after Willow called, “Oren, look who else is here!”

“What happened this time?” Oren pressed a hand to my shoulder and I covered it with mine. “What do you need me to do?”

I sighed. “I need to tell you something.”

Oren withdrew his hand and made his way around the table, until he was standing in front of the cabinets. He leaned back and waited, a position he seemed to be making a habit.

As soon as everyone was settled around the table, I took a deep breath and slid my hand from Papan’s. The pain of loss swept over me all over again, taking my breath away as tears stung the backs of my eyes. I bit my lip to keep them at bay.

“Sierra, are you okay?” Willow asked, concerned.

I shook my head and took another breath, releasing it slowly. “There’s no easy way to put this… Ebony’s gone.”

“What do you mean,
gone?
” my sister echoed, her face darkening with a frown.

“Maya killed her.”

“What are you talking about?” Papan’s eyes were wide. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

I sighed, meeting his eyes. “There was no right time to tell you. You nearly died yourself.” A tear slid down my cheek and I was surprised I had any left. I looked down at my hands, only to watch Papan’s fingers wrap around them. “She’s gone. Maya took her soul.”

“No,” Willow whispered. “It was her, wasn’t it? When I passed out in the car, it was because Ebony died.”

“That does explain what happened,” Oren said. He wore his poker face, but I could see the pain buried deep in his light blue eyes. Ebony said she’d fallen for him, and I thought it was probably mutual. No age difference was going to get in the way of a true connection, and he had to be breaking up inside. “Excuse me.”

“Oren,” I called after him but he’d already left the kitchen. “I’ll be back in a minute. I need to talk to him.”

Papan nodded and let go. I made sure Willow was okay, and left Lavie holding her as she wept. I would comfort her soon, but first I had to speak to Oren. I raced out of the room and caught him reaching for the front door. “Oren, where are you going?”

“I need some air.” He didn’t say anything else, just stepped outside.

I followed him, leaving the door open behind us. Oren sat on the top step. I joined him, sitting close enough that his bony hip pressed against mine. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.” I didn’t know where else to start.
I’m sorry
wasn’t going to cut it, but I had nothing else.

Oren scanned the dark front lawn, still as a statue.

Minutes seemed to tick by. “Say something. It’s not good to bottle things up.” When he didn’t say anything, I added, “She told me she really cared about you. She said your connection went beyond the need to perform a ritual.” I sighed. “Ebony was in love with you.”

That got his attention long enough to glance my way, before he turned back to the quiet suburban street ahead. “Sounds like the delusions of a young girl trying to humor an old man.”

“No. She really cared about you, and I know you cared about her too.”

“You don’t understand.” He shook his head, sending the white braid over his shoulder. “When you get to be my age and you’ve had a taste of love and happiness only to have it ripped away, you never expect to experience it again…certainly not with a woman young enough to be your granddaughter.” He paused long enough to sigh. “Ebony believed herself to be damaged, but she didn’t realize how good she really was. She was of pure heart, even her aura. But she never trusted or believed in herself. I was hoping to change that, to make her see her self-worth, and now she’s gone.”

“You’re an honorable man, Oren McKee, which is probably why she fell for you in the first place.”

He didn’t say anything for a short while. “That Maya took her wasn’t your fault. I didn’t leave the kitchen because I blamed you.”

“Why did you leave?”

Oren turned to look at me, his gaze intent on mine. “I didn’t want anyone else to see my grief. You might know and accept what was going on between us, but it wasn’t something Ebony and I advertised. Now that she’s gone, I’d rather it be kept private.”

“Conrad knew,” I said. “And Saul seems to know everything, so he probably did too. Lavie was with me the night I saw you two, so…”

A chuckle escaped him, but it sounded bitter.

The landline phone rang, startling me.

“You better get that,” Oren said. “The phone has been going crazy all night.”

“Are you sure? I can let the machine get it.”

“No, go and answer it. Whoever it is hangs up when the machine answers. Besides, I need a few minutes alone.”

I nodded, draped an arm over his shoulder and gave him a quick squeeze before jumping to my feet. I grabbed the phone before the answering machine kicked in. “Hello?” Static filled my ears. “Hello?” I repeated.

“Si…er…ra…”

“Yes!” I could barely hear whoever was on the other end. “Who is this?”

A second before I was about to hang up, a female voice said, “Sierra, is that you?” Her words were tinny and echoed down the line, but I knew who she was.

“Yeah, Lee, it’s me.” Lee Huang was a fellow spook catcher I hadn’t seen in years, but we’d kept in touch via email. Until recently—when she stopped replying.

“Oh, thank god you answered. I’ve been trying for ages,” she said, paused and added, “I need to make this quick, before he figures out I called you.”

“Lee, what’re you talking about? Where have you been?” Lee had been good friends with Mara and Daisy, who’d both recently died because of the Council. After finding a bunch of catchers in danger of having their souls ripped out of their bodies, I discovered Lee hadn’t been one of the girls who’d perished. She was on Roe’s MIA-catcher list, and we hadn’t been able to find a single person yet. “I’ve been trying to call, and emailed you heaps of times—”

“Sorry about that, I’ve been in hiding.” She lowered her voice to a hiss. “I tried to approach you a few weeks ago but you’re hardly ever alone, girl. And now, it’s too late. I can’t go anywhere.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

She sighed. “Look, I’m not sure if you know what’s been going on at the Tower, but the shit’s really hit the fan and I need your help.
We
need your…now—”

A crackling noise resonated down the line, distorting the sound. “What was that?”

“That’s why I’m calling.”

“Lee, just tell me what’s going on.” I was starting to get a really bad feeling about this. The fact she claimed to be hiding, coupled with the distortions and her jumbled words made me nervous.

“I snuck into the building about three weeks ago to grab my stuff and instead got caught.” Her breathing became heavy, voice sounded distorted—like a dodgy long-distance connection. “Did Henry get in touch with you?”

“Yeah, he did.” My head was starting to spin. Henry had tried to talk to me about the dangerous spook energy trapped inside the Tower. He didn’t get the chance to reveal much before Vixen shot him in the head, silencing him forever.

“Why haven’t you come then?” Her words were muffled. “And why didn’t he come back? He was supposed to make sure this didn’t happen to me.”

“You were working with Henry?”

“Sure, I tried to help him sort this out, but I’m not strong enough. I got myself…” The crackling swallowed up the rest of her words.

“Lee, are you still there?
Lee?
”

She continued, as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “Sierra, we’re stuck. And I mean,
really
stuck. We need your help.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll come and get you.”

“Shh,” she hissed. Silence filled the line between us for several moments, before something like the sound of a fax machine cut in. “Oh shit!”

I pulled the phone away from my ear until the noise cleared. “What’s going on?”

“These assholes, they keep…” Her voice trailed off.

“Lee!” This phone call was beyond frustrating.

“Okay, listen to me, Sierra.” Her voice was suddenly so crisp it felt like she was standing right beside me. “I don’t have time to explain, all I can ask is that you come to the Spook Catcher Council to help us.”

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get you out—”

“No,” she interrupted. “You need to get into the building, and go straight to the councilor offices, okay?”

“What…why?”

“Just promise me you’ll go straight to the councilor’s office floor!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go.” My hair stood on end. I looked around because the prickling sensation made me feel like I wasn’t alone in the hallway anymore.

“Good. Don’t forget you promised…”

“I won’t, but I don’t understand why you don’t want me to get you guys—”

“We do, but before you can help us, you have to help
them
.” Lee hung up, leaving me staring at the handset in confusion. What just happened? So many questions spun inside my head.

“Is everything all right?”

I placed the handset back into its cradle and looked up to find Oren standing in front of me. I hadn’t even heard him approach or shut the front door.

“Sierra?”

I shook my head. “You know things aren’t all right, and I doubt they ever will be.”

“Is this a general comment, or in relation to the phone call you just took?”

I opened my mouth to tell him, but decided to leave it for another day. We had plenty to deal with already, and I had no idea how I was going to handle this. Maybe my best option was to call the police, and since an officer was currently in my house… I had to talk to Gareth about this, but doubted we’d get any alone time without upsetting Papan. Still, he was the only one who could go to the Tower and check things out.

“Let’s get back to the kitchen.” I looped my arm around my grandfather’s and led him in the right direction. In spite of everything, I was glad to have him here. He wasn’t just valuable for his witchy support, Oren always made things better.

As soon as we stepped inside, the aroma of coffee filled my nasal passage and I welcomed it. “I hope there’s a cup for me!”

“Coming right up,” Lavie said, turning back to the coffee machine.

I headed for Willow and when I reached her side, she leaped out of the chair and clung to me. I couldn’t help but feel like the worst kind of guardian. Sure, she’d come into my life after she ran away from home and was trying to understand what turned out to be her necromancy power. But Willow had been through a lot. She’d been used for a ritual, her father had died, she’d been bitten by a black dog, and forced to befriend people she now considered friends…only to lose them.

I patted her hair. “Oh, Willow, I’m so sorry for dragging you into this.”

She pressed her face into my shoulder. “I’m going to miss her so much.”

“I know you are. I am too.” But before we could miss her, I needed to find Maya so I could finish her once and for all. She wasn’t keeping Ebony’s soul. “Why don’t you drink the rest of your coffee?”

Willow shook her head as she untangled her arms from mine. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go to my room. I need to call Michael.”

I nodded. She squeezed my hand, waved at the others and disappeared down the stairs that led to the bottom level of the house.

Oren was back in his spot by the cabinets, making a special blend of tea. Saul and Papan were chatting at the kitchen table, while Gareth sat on the other side. He seemed uncomfortable, out of place. So when he met my gaze I offered a small smile, which he returned. When I looked away, I found Papan glaring at Gareth before he directed his attention back to me. I guess he didn’t truly believe what I’d told him earlier.

I sighed. It didn’t matter. I’d have to come clean soon enough. Not that I’d done anything wrong.

I made my way towards Lavie and grabbed the mug of coffee she offered. I wrapped both of my hands around the ceramic, enjoying the heat flowing through me. I sniffed the brown liquid I loved so much and took a tentative sip. Bumping my hip against hers, I said, “You didn’t lace this with Saul’s blood, did you?”

She flashed a toothy grin. “You’d never know if I did.”

I took another, longer sip. The coffee slid down my throat and filled my empty stomach. I hadn’t eaten for hours, but didn’t feel hungry either. “Thanks Lav.” I headed back to the vacant chair on Papan’s other side. “Are you feeling any better?”

Papan shrugged.

I thought he might be angry with me, but when he took my hand and kissed my knuckles, I relaxed. Too many bad things were happening, and I kept expecting more.

“Gareth,” I said. “Do you know when they’ll release Ebony’s body?”

“They’re performing an autopsy on her first, so I’m not sure.” He averted his eyes. “Her parents have been notified.”

I nodded. She hadn’t gotten along with them because they didn’t appreciate her lifestyle, but they still talked. I knew that much. “Will they be clearing out her apartment?”

“Most of Ebony’s stuff is already at Roe’s,” Saul said. “She’d been moving bit by bit. There’s only the bigger stuff like the couch, dresser and bed. The lease runs out in a few weeks.”

“Are you taking it?”

“Nah, you know I’ve already got a place. I was just house-sitting for her.”