Spirits Rising (9 page)

With each of her steps, my muscles clenched. I shook from the psychic pressure her presence caused. After this night, I would need weeks to recover from being near this spirit, provided I survived with my brain still intact.

“Little one,” she said, her voice musical. “I’ve been waiting to meet you.”

Uh-oh.

This wasn’t just a normal spirit. Before me stood the most powerful one I’d ever encountered—and she knew me.

I gulped. “You speak English.”

The spirit smiled. “Yes. I learned it when they came to Newfoundland,” she said, pronouncing it the local way—”Newf-in-land.”

“So you aren’t very old then.” That didn’t match the aura of power that emanated from her.

“No, little one. I learned the language thousands of years after my death. I am one of the wise women, the shaman that continues to guide her people even once the body has passed into the next existence.”

I trembled and Jeremy held me closer.

“What’s going on?” he whispered.

“To summarize,” the spirit said, now turning to smile to Jeremy, “the little caster disobeyed his elders and resurrected spirits who have no mind or purpose of their own.” She narrowed her eyes at Jeremy before turning back to me. “Little caller, is this the man whose name you curse when you speak to your ancestors? The one who is blind to your affection and you left us to try to forget?” She sized Jeremy up. “He is rather tall.”

Heat rose in my cheeks. Stupid know-it-all spirits. “I am here to put the shades back to rest. Manny is a child and did not understand what he was doing when he called on the spirits for help.”

“Then the little caster should not have been so careless. Do not his elders follow the book with the rule to obey one’s parents?”

“This is a demon,” growled David and he began chanting the Lord’s Prayer.

“Shut up,” I whispered back. “Don’t piss the spirit off.”

“No,” the spirit said, laughter bubbling in her raspy voice, “do not.”

Her laughter scratched across the surface of my soul. I could see Jeremy staring at me in my peripheral vision, but I ignored him. The spirit was trying to distract me. She was doing a good job, too.

“Great spirit,” I said, steadying my voice, even though Jeremy’s strong arms were all that kept me vertical, “please return to your rest. I apologize for the insult of waking you.”

“Oh, there is no insult,” the spirit rasped.

She took two steps closer and the headache doubled. My legs wobbled, but I pushed my will to reinforce my mind’s defences.

“I am rarely at rest, little caller.”

My eyes widened. I’d attracted the attention of an aware, alive spirit whose power could crush my mind like a bug on the windshield, shattering my sanity and crushing my body. Ye gods. I looked at the motionless spirits around us. “Are you their leader?”

The old spirit took a moment to consider. “No.”

“Then why aren’t they attacking?” Mrs. Saunders asked.

The old spirit turned to Mrs. Saunders—and bowed. “Great Elder, I am keeping these mindless echoes from attacking you and ripping your bones through your flesh.”

Oh shit. “Great Spirit, I am honoured that you’ve taken notice of me.” The spirit grinned as I grimaced saying the words. “I seek your permission to allow these shades to return to their rest.”

“If the Great Elder can banish them, certainly you can, little caller.”

“They came back,” I whispered. “I need them to leave permanently.”

“This is our land,” she snarled and the words cut through me. I cried out in pain and my knees buckled under me, but I stayed upright. “Why should we be driven out first?”

I stared at the elder spirit, her eyes aflame. Literally. Red flickered in her eyes and her rage-fuelled power grew. I gulped down my fear.

“Elder spirit, I don’t wish to offend you,” I said, pushing myself to my feet.

Jeremy tightened his grip around my waist and I was grateful for the physical contact; it helped me strengthen my mental barriers.

“Old Spirit, I don’t want to fight you,” I said. It would have been more convincing if my voice didn’t crack.

The spirit laughed at me, a chortling sound that echoed in both my ears and my soul. “I have no control over these spirits. You waste your time focusing on me, little caller.” The spirit turned her gaze to the docks.

An explosion rocked the ground. The flesh spirits around us charged past. The elder spirit shrugged and walked away, the sense of her presence fading with each step farther from me.

“Merciful Redeemer,” Mrs. Saunders muttered.

A fireball burned its way through wood and fog. The docks were on fire. Sirens split the air seconds later.

I just stared at the fire, dread filling me. I had let the elder spirit distract me and had not continued the banishing. I had let her confuse and awe me with her presence. I should have ignored her and continued with calling and banishing the other spirits. She might have been too powerful to put back into the grave, but the others were not.

“Stupid Rachel,” I said under my breath.

With the banishing a complete failure and now the tourist dock on fire, I gave up. Fire trucks, ambulances (God, I hoped those weren’t needed), and lots of police cars cordoned off the area. I was simply too weak to drive, so Jeremy drove. I passed out before we’d even made the turn off to head home.

When I woke, I was on my sofa covered in two heavy blankets and with my oil furnace roaring to life. Faint hints of smoke filled the air; the wood furnace was on, too.

I squinted. The only light in the darkness came from the kitchen. Jeremy stood at my sink, washing my dishes. I sat up with a fright. How long had I been out?

Jeremy must’ve heard me, because he spun around, dripping dirty dishwater over my floor. He dropped the dish back in the sink; water sloshed over the counter and dribbled down the counters.

“Shit,” he spat and mopped up the water with a dishtowel. “Hey. You feeling all right?”

The room shifted on its axis—or was that me? I pushed myself to my feet and shuffled to the kitchen. “How long have I been out?”

He glanced at the clock. “Seven hours.”

I blinked at him and stared up at the clock. “Christ, it’s the middle of the night!”

“Easy.” He held his hands out, as though to touch me, but jerked back before the contact.

“Why did you let me sleep so long?” I demanded.

Jeremy rocked back. “Um, I didn’t let you sleep. You wouldn’t wake up.”

My heart thudded. “The docks! What happened at the docks?”

“Someone caught the tourist boat on fire, the one they use for icebergs and whale watching.”

“Was it the spirits?”

Jeremy shrugged. “I called in, just to see if they needed me. LeBlanc’s refusing to let me come back to work, since this is the first vacation I’ve taken in two years. They have this big ‘work-life balance,’ ” he used air quotes. “Some vacation. LeBlanc said the ‘gang members’ ”—he used air quotes again. Geez, when did he pick that up?—“took off once the fire trucks started putting out the fire.”

I thought about that. “Oh, right. Water.”

He gave me a quizzical look.

“A bit of rain isn’t going to slow a spirit or a ghost down. But a lot of water can.” I considered that for a moment. “Chances are the rain weakened them somewhat. Add on hours of water from a high-pressure hose and very little could stay in flesh.”

“But they’ll just come back again, right?”

I sat down on a kitchen chair and yawned. I was exhausted. “Yeah. They’ll come back.”

A heavy silence fell between us. I remembered the elder spirit’s words, and not just the part where she said she’d been wanting to meet me. I looked up at Jeremy. He was staring at his feet, his hands behind him, braced against the counter. Why was he still here? And how the hell was I supposed to banish the spirits? And how was I ever going to get over this arsehole when he kept hanging out at my house at all hours of the freaking night!

“Rachel,” Jeremy said, breaking the silence, “what was that spirit talking about?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know.”

My chest constricted and I struggled to take a breath. One spectacular rejection during a crisis coming up. I shrugged a shoulder and remained quiet.

He stared at me, his blue eyes steady. I felt my cheeks grow hotter, but I didn’t flinch.

Be strong, Rachel. You can do it.

“I didn’t realize you . . . thought of me like that.”

“I don’t,” I lied. “I like you. You’re a good friend. I’m so happy you’re with Donna. She seems like a nice person. When she gets back, we should all go out for supper or something.”

Dinner with Donna and Jeremy, the happy-go-lucky couple. And me, the third wheel who talked to spirits. I wanted to crawl under the carpet.

Jeremy didn’t seem convinced. “You’re serious?”

I nodded. My smile felt more like a muscle spasm than a confident grin.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve been feeling like a jerk all night. Jesus, I’ve asked you for relationship advice. If you liked me that way . . . ah shit. I’m sorry.”

I mustered my courage, walked over to him, and put my hands on his face. I looked him in the eye and said, “I don’t want to sleep with you. I don’t want you and Donna to break up. I don’t cry myself to sleep thinking about you.” My voice cracked and I feigned a cough. “Spirits aren’t known for telling the truth. They are dead. They don’t have a good grasp on reality.”

He stared at me for a few more seconds before a smile formed on his lips.  His features relaxed and he nodded his head. “Good. Okay, good. I’ve been feeling like shit all night, worrying that I’ve been screwing you around by accident.”

I wanted to curl into a ball and cry. The trauma of the spirits, plus that elder spirit raking at my soul, was bad enough. I felt damaged, drained. I needed days of sleep, perhaps some painting, and a lot of quiet, menial chores. Digging potatoes for Mrs. Saunders would help. Perhaps sweeping the road and buffing it to a shine might, too. Anything to let my brain shut off for a while to heal.

To add to that, there was no magical moment where Jeremy admitted his undying love for me. I looked away so he wouldn’t see the tears in my eyes.

“You okay?”

“Nah, I’m good.” I needed a segue to move the conversation back to demons, ghosts, spirits, and normal topics like that. “Exhausted.”

Jeremy saved me, at least. “So, we’re back at square one?”

“More like the parking lot before square one. We haven’t even gotten out of the car yet.” I sighed. “What the hell was that spirit going on about?” I said aloud, not actually expecting Jeremy to answer.

“She seemed pretty pissed that you were trying to send them back.”

I could have smacked my hand against my forehead. “I’m such an idiot!”

Jeremy gave me the look reserved for crazy people and drunks.

“I’m used to calling on my mother’s ancestors. I don’t know if I’m native or not, but Mom is and she taught me her traditional ways.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “That’s why none of the Viking spirits manifested in the graveyard. I should have called them in a different way, maybe even used the spell Manny used. Oh, I’m such an idiot some days.”

Jeremy shook his head. “Sorry, I’m not following.”

“I tried to kick the original people of this land back to the grave before the Vikings last night. No wonder they went crazy. If I want to put everyone back to rest, there is only one place on the island where I can guarantee both Vikings and native peoples lived at the same time.”

Jeremy’s eyes went wide. “L’Anse Aux Meadows.”

I nodded, a triumphant grin spreading across my face. “L’Anse Aux Meadows.”

Jeremy spent the night. No, not in that way. My life sadly does not resemble a paranormal romance novel. God, how I wish it did. I’d look sexy with a sword, though I’d need to stop eating to fit into the leather halter tops.

I easily collapsed back into sleep and Jeremy refused to leave me alone. He used the excuse of Mrs. Saunders and wanting to make sure she was also all right in the morning, but I got the feeling he was worried about me, too.

In a pathetically platonic sort of way. Like I said, not a paranormal romance. When this was done, I planned to check out the entire paranormal novel section from the library and live vicariously through others.

I asked Jeremy to keep the chatter to a minimum while I prepped my mental defences. I’d already failed, several times. If I messed up again, there was no telling what kind of damage the spirits would do.

I heard Jeremy leave just after sunrise and the distant sound of his voice talking to . . . someone outside. Probably one of the neighbours who were heading out to fish. The fall food fishery was open for only a couple of weeks, but most of my neighbours participated in it, even those who didn’t fish commercially anymore.