Penmort Castle (60 page)

Before anyone
could move Vivianna’s arms shot straight down. She hurtled herself
toward the ceiling, her body coming out of the fold as she did. A
firework of every colour purple you could imagine, from the palest
lilac to the brightest violet to the deepest aubergine, detonated,
bursting forth, filling the space and bouncing (thankfully
harmlessly) off everyone standing at the circle.

Then the circle
itself exploded yet again in a burst of white.

Abby heard
cries and shouts but all she saw was Cash whirling.

The instant his
eyes hit Abby, he barked, “
Run!
”

Abby, heart in
her throat, ran and this time she didn’t look back.

But six feet
from the door she was lifted clean off her feet.

Not by
Cash.

Instead by
Vivianna.

All of a sudden
Abby found herself floating close to the ceiling, Vivianna’s
bitch-from-hell arm locked around her waist and Abby was hanging in
mid-air like a ragdoll.

Fenella, again,
screamed.

Abby
struggled.

Vivianna shot
toward the door.

Suzanne,
luckily, got there before her and slammed it closed, whirling and
throwing her back against it, arms wide.

Vivianna
halted, Abby’s body still moving forward, she let out a whoosh of
air and Vivianna turned and shot toward the hall, taking Abby with
her.

Fenella was
running to the double doors that led to the hall and Abby saw Angus
again with his whip. His arm came up and out sharply, the whip
whistling through the air. Abby’s body jerked reflexively as the
whip came toward her but its end passed straight through Abby and
curled around Vivianna.

Vivianna knew
it was coming, she made another turn against the direction of the
whip’s tip and it fell useless to the floor.

Abby kept
struggling as Vivianna moved them in another direction, always away
from Cash but, Abby noted with no small amount of alarm, toward a
window. Abby saw (intermittently) that Cash had his eyes on them
and was circling slowly, his face like thunder, body both taut but
strangely loose, looking like a big cat waiting for its
opportunity, ready to strike.

Then they
stopped on another jarring halt, this time something strong and
vital had wrapped around Abby’s ankle preventing their
progress.

Abby looked
down to see Jenny had a hold of her. Vivianna tugged at Abby’s
body, Abby shoved at Vivianna’s arm and Jenny held on tight,
lifting her other hand to hold on too, her feet slipping across the
floorboards in her effort to hold on.

Mrs. Truman
dashed behind Jenny and wrapped her arms around Jenny’s waist.

“Let go of
Abigail!” Mrs. Truman shrieked, angry, affronted eyes on Vivianna
as if she could not
believe
this phantom would have the
audacity to put her vile ghost hands on Mrs. Truman’s precious
Abigail Butler.

Mrs. Truman was
leaning all of her weight back, holding onto Jenny for all she was
worth but Abby felt Jenny’s hands slipping.

“Don’t let go,
Jenny!” Abby shouted desperately just as Jenny lost her grip and
both she and Mrs. Truman flew backwards, arms wind-milling.

Vivianna only
managed to move inches away when Kieran was there, his fingers
closing around the ankle Jenny let go and Abby felt another set of
fingers on her other ankle. Her head turned and she saw Nicola had
a hold of her there.

“Angus,” Cash’s
voice was close, it was a low, angry growl but Abby couldn’t see
him.

“Hang on,”
Angus replied.

“Hang on!”
Nicola cried, putting all her weight into holding Abby safe. “What
do you mean ‘hang on’? Abby’s suspended in mid-air! Do
something!”

“We’re
resurrecting the circle,” Cassandra called calmly.

“The circle is
out. We’re moving to Plan B,” Cash declared.

“We don’t have
a Plan B!” Jenny yelled, running back toward Abby, jumping up and
grabbing onto Abby’s hand.

“Plan B is
getting the fuck out of here,” Cash announced.

“I’m good with
that,” Abby noted quickly. “Plan B sounds good to me. Let’s do Plan
B, like,
now,
” Abby ended on a screech just as Honor
arrived, made a leap and grabbed Abby’s other hand.

Abby heard
Cassandra say, “Let him in, Fenella.”

“But, Abby
doesn’t want –” Fenella replied.

“Let him in!”
Cassandra returned impatiently.

Abby heard a
door open and all of a sudden Vivianna’s body shook. It felt to
Abby like Vivianna was fighting something even as she was holding
onto Abby. As this happened, Abby heard the unmistakable noise of a
feline’s low growl. Abby kept shoving against Vivianna’s arm but
twisted to see that Vivianna was trying to push off Abby’s cat,
Zee, who was attached to Vivianna, growling, hissing, spitting and
scratching.

Abby’s stomach
did a nosedive.

“Who brought my
cat?” Abby shouted, glaring down at her friends.

“We did, Mrs.
Truman and me,” Jenny answered.

Vivianna jerked
this way and that, still keeping firm hold on Abby’s waist and all
of Abby’s limbs were pulled to the breaking point.

“I thought I
said no Zee!” Abby snapped.

“We figured we
could use all the help we could get!” Jenny snapped back. “And it
looks like we weren’t wrong!”

Abby thought,
somewhat hysterically, even though she wanted to she really
couldn’t argue with that.

Vivianna’s
struggles were fierce and Abby’s body was wrenched painfully with
Vivianna’s fight against Abby’s cat as everyone kept hold on her
limbs.

“Hold her
steady,” Angus encouraged from somewhere behind Abby.

“
You
hold her steady! This ghosty she-bitch is
strong
and she’s
freaking out!
” Jenny cried as Vivianna gave a mighty tug at
Abby’s waist and all of Abby’s friends went skidding several inches
along the floor boards.

“Angus, goddamn
it!” Cash shouted from somewhere close but also somewhere Abby
could not see. She didn’t have time to look as she was still
shoving against Vivianna’s arm and praying she nor Zee would be
torn limb-from-limb.

Abby, however,
didn’t have to see Cash. She knew by the tone of his voice that his
patience was depleted and she knew
exactly
how he felt.

Then suddenly
Angus shouted, “
Now!
”

Abby saw
something golden and glistening fall around them. It settled at
Abby’s waist then passed through, as if it was a mirage. Vivianna
was yanked back viciously, Zee leapt away and at the same time all
Abby’s protectors jerked her forward.

Vivianna’s arm
came loose from Abby’s waist and Abby was falling.

She twisted
automatically, not wanting to fall flat on her face but before she
hit the ground, strong arms wrapped around her, one at her back,
one at her thighs.

Abby looked up
to see Cash had hold of her and he didn’t waste any time. He
started sprinting, Abby in his arms, toward the door.

Abby saw
Suzanne open it for them then Abby looked back, watching Angus
struggling wildly with what looked like a golden rope which was
lassoed around a mad-as-hell Vivianna’s waist.

Then she saw no
more, they were out of the room and heading down the hall.

Halfway down
the hall Cash stopped and put her on her feet. He grabbed her hand
and started running again, dragging her on her high heels toward
the stairs.

Abby noted
absently that Zee was right there with them.

They rounded
the stairs and both of them (as well as Zee) came skidding to a
halt.

There was a
ghost on the stairs.

And it was not
the ghost of Cash’s father.

Abby took one
look at him and her chest expanded painfully at the same time her
heart stopped beating.

Then, heart
restarted, hammering in her chest, she whispered, “Ben?”

Ben’s ghostly
eyes took in Abby for a moment, roaming lovingly over her face and
down her body then they moved to Cash.

The minute her
dead husband’s eyes hit her lover, Abby’s heart stopped beating
again.

“Take her to
the north parapet,” Ben told Cash, his beautiful, deep, sweetly
familiar voice disembodied and hanging weirdly in the air.

“I’m not taking
her to the parapet,” Cash ground out and Abby looked up at him.

His face was
pale and tight, his eyes scorching and locked on Ben. One look at
him and Abby knew that Cash knew to whom he was speaking.

“Trust me. Take
her to the parapet,” Ben repeated and Cash ignored him, making to
move forward.

Ben’s gaze
swung to Abby. “Honey,” his beloved voice whispered the casual
endearment, Cash’s body stilled and Abby felt her mouth fill with
saliva as her eyes pricked with tears. Ben continued gently. “Get
him to take you to the parapet.” Abby’s head shook jerkily both
with fear and the all-consuming desire
not
to be seeing her
dead husband’s ghost, not now, not
ever
, and Ben went on.
“Please, Abby, trust me. We don’t have much time.”

Then he looked
behind him, down the stairs, then back at Cash and Abby.

In an instant,
he shimmered to nothing.

Immediately
Cash pulled on Abby’s arm and moved forward saying, “Let’s go.”

Abby pulled
back, Cash stopped two steps down and looked up at her, his hand
still clasping hers.

“Darling, let’s
go,” he demanded softly.

“Take me to the
parapet,” Abby whispered.

Cash shook his
head but his voice was still soft when he replied, “No fucking
way.”

“Cash.”

“Abby, no
fucking way.”

“Cash,” Abby
said, “Ben would never hurt me. They have something planned. You
have to take me to the parapet.”

“Abby, I’m
certain you’ve already noticed that none of their plans are
working. I’m not taking you to the parapet.”

She tightened
her hand in his and walked down one step all the while looking into
his eyes. “Please Cash. You can trust Ben, I promise. Take me to
the parapet. Let’s finish this.” She stopped, noted he looked
unyielding, so she begged, “Please.”

“You were
flying through the air,” Cash returned.

“I know
that.”

“She’s not
sending you over the fucking parapet.”

“No, she’s not.
You won’t let her,” Abby told him and finished on a whisper,
“Neither will Ben.”

“Goddamn it
Abby,” he gritted through his teeth and she felt a thrill of
renewed fear mingled with elation because she knew he was
relenting. She didn’t think she wanted him to at the same time she
was glad that he was.

“We don’t have
much time,” Abby urged on a tug of his hand, like she knew what she
was talking about, which she did
not
.

He sucked air
in through his nose, looked to the side then his eyes came back and
locked on hers.

He walked up
the steps.

Abby let out
the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Swiftly Cash
guided her, hand still gripping hers, to the parapet. Zee raced
along with them.

The whole time
Abby did everything she could not to think about Ben on the
staircase and what that meant.

Had he not gone
on to the next plane like the rest of her family?

Had he been
hanging about their house for the last four years, watching her
mope around for three of them, then alone with the new owners for
the last one?

How did he get
to the castle?

Did Cassandra
do this?

Did Jenny and
Mrs. Truman know about this?

What did Cash
think of seeing Ben?

What did Ben
think of seeing Cash?

(Clearly, Abby
failed at not thinking about Ben.)

They walked
quickly up flight after flight of stone stairs, each one edging the
side of the square parapet until Cash pushed up a wooden door in
the ceiling. Zee darted forward and Cash led her through. When he
had Abby on the roof, the cold air biting into her skin and through
the thin satin of her dress, he shut the door.

“Cash,” Abby
whispered.

Cash’s eyes
sliced to her.

“Later,” he
returned sharply.

“We have to –”
Abby started.

Cash cut her
off. “We have to keep you alive. That’s the primary focus. We’ll
deal with the rest of it later.”

Abby started to
move closer, saying “Cash –”

He opened his
mouth to interrupt when they heard his name, his real name, Conner,
said in a musical voice that shimmered through the air around
them.

Cash and Abby
turned toward the side of the parapet that faced the tor.

Yet another
ghost was hovering there only a few inches off the ground. This one
was a woman, older, pretty, dainty. She reminded Abby of Nicola but
she had several years on her and a sadness about her that hadn’t
yet fully blossomed in Nicola and, hopefully, with tonight’s
events, never would.

“Gran?” Cash
asked, his voice sounding stunned.

“Conner,” she
replied on a charming smile that wiped all sadness from her
expression.

“Holy crap.
You’re Lorna,” Abby thought these words were in her head but when
Lorna’s eyes came to her she realised she’d breathed them out
loud.

“And you’re
Abby.” Her smile deepened and her gaze moved back to her grandson.
“The Beaumaris men always had good taste.”

“Wow,” Abby
whispered, delighted at the compliment even in their highly
unusual, very scary circumstances.

“Gran, what’s
happening?” Cash clearly wasn’t feeling into family reunions of the
spirit world. He had an objective, he was focused on that objective
and even his grandmother’s phantasmic return from the grave wasn’t
going to divert him from that objective.

Before Lorna
could answer, they heard Mrs. Truman shriek from far away, “What
are you doing up there!”