Once we were back at Hangman’s House, Annika and I went inside to start prepping food and Grey went back to work. Meri made his way into the kitchen for some lunch, and Brody hadn’t come back from the archives yet.

  “Did you and Grey start spending time together or something?” Annika asked while she peeled potatoes.

  “No. Why?”

  “I don’t know. He just seemed overly familiar, I guess. The way he said that thing about always being there for you if you needed him. That’s something a friend says, and I thought he was just some dude building your garage. I mean, he’s a super freaking hot dude building your garage, but it’s not more than that, right?”

  “Not from my side,” I said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means he asked me out this morning.”

  “You said no, right?” Annika turned away from her potatoes.

  “I didn’t get the chance to because you rang the doorbell right as I was about to. Then we went to see Cassidy, and I didn’t want to discuss it with you there. It just seems like something I should tell him privately.”

  “You’d better tell him soon. You don’t want him sniffing around at the barbeque tonight with Thorn around.”

  “You think he’ll come to the barbecue?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I think he will,” Annika said. “He seems to think you two are pretty close, so I imagine Grey assumes he’s invited.”

  “I’ll talk to him,” I said.

  “You could do it now?” Annika offered.

  “I need to try and call Thorn again. I want to talk to him about Cassidy and James, but he hasn’t been picking up. Must be working hard somewhere.”

  “Are you sure it’s not that you just don’t want to tell him no?” Annika asked. “You can tell me, Brighton. I mean, I can understand the appeal. He’s gorgeous. He owns his own business. What’s not to like?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “He is gorgeous and seems like a nice guy, but I’m with Thorn. And if…” I stopped myself before I finished speaking the thought, but Annika picked it up.

  “And if you weren’t with him, you’d be with Remy.”

  “I didn’t…”

  “It’s okay, Brighton. You’re my friend, and I’m not going to judge you for your feelings or for being confused about your feelings. I’m just glad that you’re still friends with Remy. It would have crushed him if you had decided not to have him in your life anymore, but he would have deserved it,” she said.

  “I don’t think he deserves that,” I said. “Besides, some of the stuff he did was creepy, but I don’t think it was entirely him.”

  “I kind of thought that too,” Annika said. “But how could he have let himself fall under dark influences like that?”

  “Because Remy, the real Remy, is kind, sweet, and he was sort of innocent,” I said.

  “You mean naïve,” Annika countered.

  “But that sounds so negative, and I don’t think it was negative. There’s nothing wrong with being sweet and innocent. It’s one of the things I…”

  “You love about him,” Annika said. “It’s what I love about him too, and we have you to thank for him making a comeback.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah, Brighton. You. He was so close to being past the point of no return. Even the aunties were ready to use the old ways to deal with him, but he fought his way back for you.”

  “That’s pretty heavy,” I said, and I felt it in my chest.

  “So what’s up with Thorn?” Annika abruptly changed the subject. “You’ve called him a few times. Does he usually not call you back?”

  “No. I thought he’d at least send a text,” I said. “Maybe something happened with the case. I hope this doesn’t mean something bad for Brody.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like the FBI is arresting him today and Thorn is there helping out or something.”

  “That’s easy to find out even if Brody’s phone is dead. Just text Remy. You know he’ll get back to you.”

  So that’s what I did.

  Hey, how are things going with my brother?

  I waited a couple of minutes, and just like Annika said, he got back to me.

  Great. We’re having a grand old time in these dusty shelves. We’ll come help with the barbeque set up soon. Promise. :-)

  “Brody’s fine,” I said to Annika as I sent a text to Remy. Thanks. Looking forward to it.

  “He’s probably just busy with work,” Annika said.

  “What if something happened to him?” I thought out loud as I thought of the other time I couldn’t find someone. When Annika almost died.

  You’re probably busy, but please just let me know you’re okay.

  I sent the text to Thorn, and then went back to prepping the meat for the grill. A few minutes later, my phone chimed with a message.

  I’m fine. Talk soon.

  “Well, there you go,” Annika said from over my shoulder where she’d read the message.

  “I suppose that’s better than nothing,” I said. “At least I know he’s okay.”

  We went back to our cooking and food prep and both lost track of time. By the time I remembered I was supposed to go outside and officially turn Grey down for the date, it was nearly his quitting time.

  “I’m going to go out and break it to Grey that I won’t be going out with him,” I said. “Maybe he won’t come to the barbecue if I reject him.”

  “You want me to come with you?”

  “Nah, I got this,” I said.

  Except, I didn’t. By the time I got outside, he was already gone for the day. That meant that if he did show up to the cookout, I’d have to tell him there. Probably with Thorn around, and my boyfriend didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When it was time for me to light the grill, it was still just me, Annika, and Meri. Brody and Remy were still getting their nerd on at the library, so I figured I’d get the cooking underway until someone else showed up and took over. I figured at least one of the men in my life would want to man the grill, but so far they were all no-shows.

  That was until a familiar van pulled up in the driveway. It seemed that I was going to get to talk to Grey about the date before anyone got there after all.

  “I was hoping I’d catch you before the party got under way,” Grey said as he strode up to me.

  “It’s not really supposed to be a party,” I said. “Just a few friends getting together was my original plan.”

  “Oh?” Grey said and cocked his head to the side. “I’d assumed it was a party when you came home with all that food earlier today.”

  “Yeah, I’m expecting it to turn into a party even though that wasn’t the original plan. Word travels fast around here, and I assumed people would show up. I don’t want to turn people away, so I’m prepared.”

  “That’s good,” Grey said. “I was thinking of attending, and I’d hate for it to be an imposition.”

  “Nope,” I said. “Everyone is welcome, but we do need to clear the air first.”

  “We do?”

  “Yes, about you and me. I’m not going to go out with you because I’m in a committed relationship, Grey. I appreciate everything that you’re doing building my garage at a discount and all that, but that’s the extent of our relationship. You’re welcome to attend the barbecue tonight because everyone is welcome, but there’s nothing special going on between us,” I said as plainly as I could.

  “Brighton…” Grey’s voice was warm and inviting as he took a step toward me and closed the distance between us.

  Before he could say anything else, another car pulled up in the driveway. I stepped past Grey and went around the house to find Remy and Brody had returned.

  Something in my expression must have told Remy that I was flustered. “Brighton, are you okay?”

  As he asked that, Grey stepped out from behind the house and stood next to me. “We were just having a little chat about the garage,” Grey said. “I’ll see you all later.”

  “What was that about?” Remy asked as soon as Grey was gone.

  “Nothing. He asked me out. I turned him down,” I said. “I think he was trying to save face.”

  There wasn’t much time to get the food ready after that before people started showing up. Thorn still hadn’t made it yet, so I gladly let Brody and Remy man the grill together.

  The really nice thing was that even though people were stopping in uninvited, they all brought a dish with them. Some brought their signature side or dessert while others brought drinks or plates and napkins. Soon we had enough food that I was confident we’d be okay even if the whole town showed up.

  The whole town didn’t show up, though. It was mostly the humans and some of the younger Skeenbauer witches. Amelda and the aunties were noticeably absent.

  Still, Meri busied himself patrolling the party to make sure that none of the younger witches revealed their magic to the humans. If he caught someone slipping, he’d use a little concealment or protection magic to cover it up. He also got lots of little bites of meat from partygoers who thought he was adorable. I could tell he hated it when people fawned all over him or spoke to him in baby talk, but he took their treats just the same.

  Thorn finally arrived at the party about an hour after it started. He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, so I’d assumed he went home to shower and change after his shift. It had to have been a rough one. He looked tired and even when he wrapped his arms around me and gave me a kiss, it felt distant.

  I wanted to talk to him about my thoughts on Cassidy and James, but it was never the right time. Thorn seemed to drift through the party making small talk with the townspeople, and he never stayed by my side for more than a couple of minutes. I was about to pull him aside when Remy approached me.

  “You’re standing all alone at your own party,” Remy said and handed me a cold diet soda.

  “Well, it wasn’t supposed to be a party,” I said softly.

  “I would expect this anytime you have any sort of cookout that involves more than two people,” Remy said. “It’s not so bad, right? I even heard that Keisha might close the diner early so they can drop in.”

  “That would be nice. I hope she’s not mad that we’ve probably taken some of her business,” I said and waved toward all of the people milling around my back yard eating barbecue and chatting.

  “I think she’ll probably let it go,” Remy said with a smile. “So what’s wrong? I can feel your discontent from over by the grill.”

  “I got some information this afternoon that led me to believe that Cassidy and James might have something to do with Brittany’s murder, but I just don’t know. I wanted to talk to Thorn about it, but he’s being distant,” I said.

  “Well, I don’t know what I can do about Thorn, Brighton, but I do know what we can do about Brittany’s murder,” Remy said.

  “What’s your idea?”

  “Come here,” he said and motioned for me to follow him. Once we were on the other side of the garage and away from prying ears, he said, “We can do it our way. We’ll do a séance. If Brittany’s spirit is close, which it probably is given how she died, then we can just ask her to point us in the right direction.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m not sure if we should be summoning spirits.”

  “It’s worth a shot. The two of us together would make an impressive magical team.”

  He was right, and I wanted to solve the murder and help Brody before it was too late. I figured it was probably worth the risk.

  Remy and I decided on the basement to summon Brittany’s spirit. I didn’t want to leave home with the barbecue in full swing, and we thought the basement would be the place none of the people at the party would even try to go. We could have gone up to the attic too, but I was afraid the extra protection spells might keep Brittany out. The last thing I wanted to do was take those down and leave the Tuttlesmith book collection vulnerable.

  I let Remy lead the summoning ritual. He was a more experienced witch, so I cast the circle and lit the candles.

  Meri thought it was a bad idea to do summoning in the basement, but he thought a lot of things I wanted to do were bad ideas. When I wouldn’t relent on doing the summoning, he said he’d check in on us when he could. Meri had to stay outside with the party guests to ensure no witchcraft slips happened.

  “Okay,” Remy began once we’d closed ourselves in the circle, “I’m going to bring her through the veil. I want you to use your magic to hold her. If you do that for me, then I’ll get her to tell us what she knows.”

  “How do I hold her?”

  “Use your magic like tentacles. Focus your intention on letting free from you in tendrils. Once she’s appeared, encircle her with it. Don’t let her slip away.”

  “You think she’ll try?”

  “I’m not sure,” Remy said. “She died violently and might still be scared or even angry. We’ll have to make it quick. I don’t want her sapping all of your magical energy, and it’s going to take a lot of mine to bring her over. That would leave us vulnerable if this goes on for too long.”

  “All right, let’s do it,” I said.

  “Are you sure? There’s still time for us to call this off. It is risky,” Remy said.

  “I believe in you, and I believe in us. We can do this.”

  Well, we did something all right… The first clue that things weren’t going as planned was the ripping sound when Remy tried to pull Brittany through the veil that separates the spirit world from the living.

  “That wasn’t supposed to happen, was it?” I asked.

  “No,” he said. “Get ready.”

  “For what?”

  “Something shoved her out of the way and came through instead. Something far bigger than the hole I made in the veil.”

  “What would force its way through like that?”

  “Probably a demon,” Remy said. “Or it could just be a strong spirit, but I doubt it’s got good intentions if it’s forcing its way into our world. We could sure use that cat right now.”

  I knew I would need the tendrils of magic I’d created to hold whatever Remy had summoned, but I thought I could use them for a quick second to help us out. In my mind, I saw the white tentacles of my power reaching up and out to Meri.

  “Where’d you go?” Remy asked when I was done.

  “I reached out to Meri. Hopefully he’ll be here quick,” I said. “Either way, I’m ready. I’ll hold the thing as long as I can once it’s all the way here.”

  “No,” Remy said. “You cannot do that. You don’t let your magic anywhere near it. Stay in the circle, Brighton. All of you. I’ll do my best to protect you.”

  “Remy, I can help.”

  “No.”

  “Aw, isn’t that sweet,” a horrid voice rang out through the basement. “Little Remy is trying to play hero.”

  “It knows your name,” I said.

  “Of course I know his name.” The demon began to materialize right outside of the circle. The scent of rotting flesh and sulfur turned my stomach as it spoke again, “We’re the best of friends, aren’t we, witch?”

  “What is he talking about, Remy?” I asked.

  “He’s just trying to distract us while he gathers power,” Remy said.

  “Oh, if it were only that simple. But I know him better than that. I know what he wants, and I know what he’s willing to do to have you,” the demon spit. “You know it too. You saw how he changed when he got close to his prize.”

  The air around us began to vibrate. The floor was next, and soon I knew the whole house would be shaking.

  “Not today, fiend!” Meri said as he ran down the basement stairs. “You two get upstairs!”

  “We’d have to break the circle,” Remy said.

  “Doesn’t matter. Just go! Go now before he’s all the way through! He’s feeding off your energy. Go!”

  Without hesitation, I grabbed Remy’s hand and ran for the stairs. I felt darkness grab me and stab through my heart from behind, but I ignored it and kept pulling Remy until we were up the stairs and standing in the kitchen.

  “Should we shut the door?” Remy asked.

  “No, just wait.”

  There was a sound of a loud clap, and then Meri came running up the steps. “Go ahead and close it now,” Meri said as he shot through the door.

  Fortunately, no humans were in the kitchen when Meri ran through the door and talked. I hoped if there were any others around, they just thought it was Remy and I talking.

  I was getting ready to start looking around the first floor of the house to see if someone could have overheard when there was a scream from outside.

  There was a rank burnt smell as I opened the back door. I thought for a moment that the demon might have broken through Meri’s magic and manifested in the back yard with my party guests.

  It wasn’t a demon, but it might have been magic at work. Somehow, the grill had been knocked over and the outside of Hangman’s House was on fire.

  Thorn jumped into action and moved people back. While he did that, Annika and Brody moved forward to put it out.

  I was worried because they were using magic at first, but Meri ran out to the rescue. I could see both versions of the event. The reality was that Annika and Brody were using magic to extinguish the flames. What the humans saw was people stepping up and throwing their drinks on the flames. It was an amazing illusion.

  When the fire was out, I checked the house for smoke damage. I didn’t find any. There was a woman in the bathroom who looked alarmed, but she went back outside to rejoin the party.

  I was surprised that the fire wasn’t the end. Once it was out, Brody set the grill back up and started cooking again.

  “You okay?” Thorn asked when he approached me.

  “I am. A little shaken up.”

  “It’s good that it got put out so fast. I’m sure that’s a relief.”

  I was a little shocked because he didn’t pull me into his arms or even take my hand. His eyes darted around the crowd.

  “It is,” I said. “Are you okay? You seem distracted.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13