Grave Danger (33 page)

“
You’re telling me, you’re like a femme fatal
or something,” he scoffed. “Let’s be clear about all this.” Jackson
leaned forward, his arms braced on his knees. “What are you exactly
and who is this guy you’re obviously heart-struck for and is
apparently in the same precarious position with you? You know you
haven’t even been in this city a week and already everyone knows
who you are? And I think you and I both know your name isn’t
brought up to compliment your stylish fashion choices. By the way,
is that my old back-pack?”

Clarissa glanced down at the ratty old back-pack
she’d put on the floor near the recliner. “Yeah, is it,” she
answered. “You left it here and I thought I could borrow it. It’s
really not so worn out. I just had to put a safety pin in one of
the straps and I used a pair of tweezers to bend back the broken
zipper teeth. And the worn frayed part on the front pocket could be
covered with a decal sticker or a stitch on patch. Really there’s a
lot you could do to spiff it up and make it almost new again.”

“
Is that a thing you do all the time?” Jackson
criticized with a half grin. “Steering people away from
uncomfortable conversations all the while making people think
you’re that nice simple human woman who’s always apologizing for
things. I’m sorry that’s not going to work for me. Don’t forget
I’ve already seen that dark spot inside you.”

“
Then if you know, then you know why I make
such a point not to show it.” She rubbed her hands on the soft
fabric of her skirt. “I have to try extra hard to remember not to
use my gifts. Most of it I don’t even understand, nor do I want to
find out. Corrigan only see’s the good in me, he thinks he’s evil
inside and that I’m nothing but pure goodness. But he’s wrong.
Inside me is that dark spot that I fear will consume me if I let
it. He may be a monster, but so am I.”

“
Wait,” Jackson interrupted. “You said his
name is Corrigan?” He was actually flabbergasted at hearing that
name and the fact that it was linked to Clarissa.

“
Yes,” she answered tentatively, trying to
figure out where he was going with the question. The LeMoyne family
was well known to those close to the Eidolon, but rarely did anyone
know of their personal names. A name gave them a measure of
humanity and most of the citizens, living or dead in the old city
wouldn’t give the creatures from the island the dignity.

“
Wow, the world is indeed turning itself over
on its side.” Jackson shook his head, almost not believing that
Corrigan LeMoyne had finally fallen over the edge. The poor guy, he
truly knew how to pick them. You’d think he and Clarissa would be
about as compatible as a snake and mongoose.

“
How do you know Corrigan?” Jackson had a lot
of friends in the area. Clarissa already knew that he was a
likeable guy. But she still found it hard to think of Jackson and
Corrigan ever crossing paths let alone getting to know each other’s
names. Corrigan wasn’t the mostly friendly on first time
meetings.

“
Actually, he saved my life.” Jackson leaned
back again against the couch as he thought back to that night. He’d
been out with his friends, hanging out in the Orlando area trying
to figure out what to do on a Saturday night with one car, too
little money and too young to get into any of the clubs.

“
Some guys and I were walking by some stores
along the OBT late one night. This was about three years ago.” At
Clarissa’s raised eyebrows he pointed out the fact that he’d been
young and stupid. “We were bored and wanted to see what a real
prostitute looked like. Trust me, they’re not so well preserved
standing out in the Florida sun. Anyway, there were a couple of
older guys tailing us and they probably thought we were an easy
target, well dressed and too stupid to know better than to hang
around drug dealers and prostitutes.”

Jackson scratched his forehead, a sardonic smile on
his mouth. “I can’t believe I was that young and naïve. The biggest
one got one of my friends; he was about a year younger than I. The
first thing they wanted was his wallet. But they were as bored as
we were and thought they might have a little fun with us before
they let us go.”

“
I didn’t see him at first. It kind of freaks
me out how he moves like he’s not really there. One minute there’s
just a shadow between the lights and the building and then there’s
Corrigan. He didn’t know who I was, but I guess he figured we
weren’t buddies with the two thugs. It wasn’t pretty and I bet
their family thinks they got shot on some bum deal.”

“
He didn’t speak to any of us, just hauled the
guys off behind one of those huge tourist T-shirt shops. I guess he
was saving them until he could get rid out the ‘scared shit-less’
kids. Then he came back and told us that he didn’t want to see our
scrawny asses anywhere near this place again.”

“
He was right to warn you away. You could have
been really hurt.” Clarissa gave Jackson a peeved look. “I can only
imagine that your parents or grandmother were blissfully unaware
you were out by yourself, so far away from home.”

“
Yeah,” he admitted. “But what really confused
me was that I knew what he was. I’ve been told my whole life that
his kind is evil and that I shouldn’t be caught near one of them. I
couldn’t figure out how something that’s supposed to be a monster
would care about a couple of kids getting attacked. He didn’t know
us and yet he’d saved our lives.”

“
That’s Corrigan,” Clarissa said with a
knowing smile. “He’s a complete contradiction to the
norm.”

“
That’s why I had to know more about him. But
it’s hard to track down one of them. They don’t exactly like living
company. I got lucky, though, when I stumbled upon him walking the
beach one night with this huge black dog. It was really bizarre. It
had these red eyes that looked at me and I swear it could predict
my own death.”

Clarissa nodded her head in understanding; the dog
was a little off putting at first. Then again, Corrigan had that
same quality about him as well. It took a second to get past the
eyes then once you did you couldn’t help but find him adorable.

“
Yes, that’s Corrigan’s favorite spot. It’s
his thinking area.”

“
He didn’t want to talk to me at first, told
me several times to get my ass home. But I was persistent and he
finally caved. He told me who he was and that he and his family
lived on Anastasia Island, that they owned commercial real-estate
and said that I had a real shot at sales. He thought I had the gift
to make a saint yearn to fall into sin and a sinner pine for
redemption, whatever that means.”

“
Jackson,” Clarissa said his name, a
questioning note in her voice. She leaned forward in the recliner,
resting her elbows on her knees. “Would you think I’m insane if I
told you I don’t think the LeMoyne’s are responsible for all the
deaths in this city?”

Jackson scratched his forehead absently, thinking
for a second. “No,” he finally answered. “But everyone else would.
It’s like this. The wolves eat the sheep in the fields. If the
shepherd finds his sheep slaughtered in the pen, he’s not going to
scratch his head and wonder who’s responsible. It’s always going to
be the wolf.”

“
What if it’s a sheep in wolf’s clothing,”
Clarissa suggested, using the variation on the well known
fairytale. Everyone always expected the wolf to present themselves
in the disguise of innocent sheep. But what if the fluffy white
creature had decided it wanted to play the monster?

“
That’s an interesting turn of thought, but
there’s a problem with that theory.” Jackson reached for a small
envelope on the table. It was half concealed under the box of snack
cakes. He pulled it out, extending it across the table to
Clarissa.

“
In the end the wolves are still wolves, evil
monsters to the end. And the shepherd will always protect his sheep
no matter how stupid or devious the powder-puff creatures are.
Someone left that for you early this morning.”

Clarissa took the envelope from Jackson, seeing the
gold curving letters on the outside. At once she knew it was from
them; the council members. Pulling back the adhesive tab on the
back she pulled out the thick white card stock.

‘
You’re cordially invited…’
it read in bold thick lettering on the white card stock. Two
weeks from now Clarissa, along with other fortunate members of the
advisory council would be sitting in the dining room of one Cyrus
Cercopoly. The esteemed host and his compatriots would sit down to
a fine meal prepared by a guest chef flown in from Dallas. Then all
would adjourn to the stark and coldly designed salon where they
would discuss ‘community affairs’.

Clarissa was suspicious of having been asked
to join the advisory council after only spending a few days in the
city. Those who were previously asked had resided in St. Augustine
for decades, some of them longer than Clarissa had been alive. The
council’s graciousness held her in suspicion of their secretive
nature. The few encounters with
The
Four
had led her to believe that each kept secrets
from the community and from each other. In the world of politicians
these ghosts were the norm.

Chapter 18-

“
What are going to wear for the dinner?”
Eleanor asked as they sat in her sitting area up in her rooms.
Boxes were stacked all over the floor and even more were piled on
her bed in the other room. Lizzy had sent them over along with a
note saying that she would be happy to be her go to designer when
she traveled with the Eidolon council.

Clarissa stood by the window, her shoulder resting
against the glass. It was getting colder outside. An unexpected but
most appreciative cold front had deemed to push on through the
barrier and bring extreme cold weather to the Sun Shine State. It
would be the first cold snap of the season. But it wouldn’t last
long.

The sun was leaving the city again and the wash of
night could already be seen in the evening sky. Clarissa watched as
the colors changed, thinking.

It had been a week and half now since Candice Snow
had been attacked on the streets of downtown St. Augustine. She was
recovering well, unfortunately she remembered very little of that
night.

And in that time much had changed. Jackson had been
right. A wolf was and always would be a wolf no matter how adorable
and sweet they were. And she was forced to keep her wolf a secret
from the rest because of it. Only her two human friends knew the
truth.

“
Clarissa, are you in the same room with me?”
Eleanor invaded her musings.

Turning around she brushed at her hair, giving her
ghost friend an apologetic grin. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening. What
did you say?”

Eleanor held up the dress in her lap. “What do you
think of this one?” She held up a rose colored cocktail dress that
looked like something worn by ladies in the nineteen fifties.
“Retro is so in right now. I think this color would look absolutely
beautiful with your coloring.” Placing the dress on the arm of the
couch beside her she reached across the table and picked up one of
the smaller boxes. “There are shoes to match as well. What do you
think?” She put the shoes over the dress trying to see the effect
without actually having them on a human body.

Clarissa fingered the delicate satin, liking it very
much. She wondered what Corrigan would think of her if he saw her
in this number. He wasn’t very up on fashion. He’d probably think
it was something from this time period. Eleanor would have a
complete fit to know that he only owned two pairs of shoes. But
then on second thought she knew that they’d never have the
opportunity to meet.

“
It’s lovely.” Clarissa picked up the shoes.
They had charming little kitten heels instead of the obnoxious four
or eight inch heels that many women were wearing these days.
Putting a hand on the arm of the chair she braced herself as she
replaced her own shoes with the matching satin dress
shoes.

Stepping back from the couch, she made a dramatic
twirl in front of Eleanor. “How do they look on me?”

Eleanor smiled down at the satin slip-ons then up at
Clarissa’s smiling face. “They look absolutely perfect. You’ll
outshine them all at the dinner this weekend.”

Clarissa’s smile faltered. “I wish you could come
with me to the dinner.” Eleanor had never been asked to be on the
committee. “The other women aren’t the friendliest ghosts. They all
give me those chilled vacant stares when they see me or find some
reason to wander off where I’m sure they whisper about me.”

Eleanor pulled Clarissa down on to the couch next to
her. “Don’t concern yourself with those washed out old prune faces.
The whole lot of them are sour grapes with an over abundance of
self importance just because they’re on some committee.” She eyed
Clarissa, hurriedly adding, “Not that it’s not a privilege to be
asked; of course.”

“
I still don’t know why they want me,”
Clarissa added.

Eleanor always had a ready response for this
question. “Because the council members see that you are gifted and
they want you to use your talents to help the community.” Eleanor
still didn’t fully know what those talents were, but she knew that
there would come a time when she would be a valuable asset against
their enemies.

“
Maybe,” Clarissa remarked,
noncommittally.

“
I asked Lizzy to put something together for
Jackson too.” Eleanor went over to a large box in the corner by the
window. “I don’t trust men to pick out their own clothes. So I
thought just to be safe and to make sure he complimented your
dress, I would choose for him.”