CHAPTER 13

“You’re safe. I got you.”

Those words are repeated over and over as I slowly come out of the waking nightmare. I’m shaking. My mind is reeling from what it just saw, and I wish to God someone would shut up whoever is screaming. It’s making my nerves worse.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Shhh, I’m here. You’re okay.”

“Richards? What happened? Why is she screaming?”

I open my eyes, and they’re drawn to the ghost still huddled in the corner, spazzing out so bad it looks like static going in and out of an electrical current. She can’t handle what she saw any more than I can.

“Easy, Squirt. I got you.” Dan’s strong arms pull me closer. “You’re safe.”

I know I’m safe. Why is he saying that?

“Why is she screaming?”

Who’s screaming?

“It’s what she saw when she touched the ghost. Whatever it was, it scared her so badly, she’s screaming.”

I’m screaming?

He takes my face in his hands and tilts it so I’m staring up at him. He leans his forehead down to touch mine, and all I can see is the warmth and the love in his eyes.

“Calm down, sweetheart. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

Calm down? How can I calm down when my friend is…? I look over at her, and I want to shout at the unfairness of it all. If I had just gone with her…

“Mattie!” His voice turns stern. “Stop it. You’re scaring me.”

I try to speak, but it’s useless. I can’t get the words out. All I hear is her screams bouncing around in my head as she died. Screams that went unheard.

“Please, sweetheart. Try to stop screaming.”

I shake my head and point to the ghost.

“What did you see? Show me.”

He takes my hands and merges his gift with mine. He came back from the ghost plane with the ability to see things, and sometimes he can see what I see. I’m not sure I can focus enough to show him, but those thoughts disappear when he makes a distressed sound. I guess when something is repeating in my head so loudly it’s all I can hear, he can, too.

“She knows her.”

“What?” I know that voice. It’s Dan’s CO, Miguel.

“Mattie knows the ghost. She asked her to come dancing with her, and she turned her down because she was coming home with dinner for me.”

“Why won’t she stop screaming?” Gloria demands, her voice far away.

“Because it’s all she can hear.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Lieutenant, my wife can see the dead. She sees them as clearly as you and I see each other. They communicate with her, and she can sometimes see what happened to them. The ghost who is here right now is in no condition to speak, so Mattie touched her, trying to find out what happened so she could help her. This ghost is her friend, and she died in a horrible, cruel way, and all Mattie can hear is the sound of her screams, and that’s manifesting in Mattie being unable to do anything but scream.”

“She’s a living reaper.” Gloria’s tone is hushed and a little awed.

“Among other things,” Dan concedes. “What do you know about the nightclub, Crush?”

“Why?” Gloria asks a little more sharply than she most likely intended.

“This girl’s nightmare started there and ended when she was ripped apart by the creature killing your kin.”

“Crush is a new club. It’s been open a little over a week. It’s owned by one of my vampires.”

“I’m aware of who populates it and how they’re getting their blood. I saw it thanks to this ghost.”

“What do you mean?” Miguel asks.

“They’re luring people up to the VIP section and drinking their fill of the drunken victims.”

“No one does anything against anyone’s will.”

“I think Mari would beg to differ. She had no choice in the matter when she was forced to turn.” Dan’s voice is cold, unyielding.

“I will speak to them.”

“We’ll speak to them,” Miguel rebuts. “It’s a police matter now.”

Gloria laughs.

“No, it’s not a police matter.” Dan stands, keeping me in his arms. “The police are not going to go into a nest of vampires and do anything but die.”

“I’m glad at least one of your officers has a head on his shoulders,” Gloria purrs. “He understands what will happen if a raid is executed on the property of a vampire.”

“I never said it wouldn’t be dealt with.” The finality in his words sends shivers through me. I know what he’s planning. I’ll be there with him when it happens. He’ll need more than one sword to deal with a nest. “I need to get my wife out of here. Being here is not helping her. Lieutenant, I’ll swing by the morgue later to hear Milton’s findings.”

“Wait,” I whisper, finally finding some small measure of strength. I can’t leave Mari here. Not scared and alone.

“There she is,” Dan says, relieved the screaming has gone down a notch. It hasn’t stopped because I can still hear it. “You need to stop screaming, sweetheart.”

I’m not sure I can.

Kane.

I say his name in my head and soon feel the coldness of his presence. He’s standing in front of me, his brows furrowed. He’s an actual reaper and my old teacher. He was held hostage and tortured for helping me with things not reaping related. I rescued him, and he’s been with us since. He’s family.

What is wrong with you?

I point to the ghost in the corner.

She’s scared, and she’s a friend. I need her to cross over, and I can’t help her right now. You have to.

He turns, and his entire being softens. I will take her to safety.

I don’t know if she’ll come.

Then I will collect and hold her until you can speak with her. You are in no condition to gather this soul until you’re calmer.

He means to take her into himself and keep her warm and safe until she can be helped. It’s dangerous to do and should only be done by a full reaper. The ghost can be so out of sorts they’re homicidal, and if I took that into myself, it could feed into my darkness, and I might do things that can’t be taken back. Like hurt someone or even kill them. Yes, I took Eric into myself when he was a ghost, but it was a selfless act by him to save me. He wasn’t evil or insane with fear at the time.

I watch as he approaches her, reaching out a hand. She flinches away from him, but he keeps going until her soul shrinks and settles into the palm of his hand. He pulls it close, whispering words I can’t quite hear, but I let out a sigh of relief when the soul disappears into him and the screaming in my head stops.

And my screaming stops.

Blessed silence.

Some of the tension leaves Dan.

“Are you good?”

I nod.

Mari’s safe until I am in the right headspace to help her. I lay my hand on Dan’s shoulder and close my eyes. I want out of this ice box and into a hot bath. But before that, I need my sketchpad and my charcoal pencils. I need to show him what I saw.

“Take me home, Officer Dan. I need to draw.”

“Draw?” Gloria asks. “Now is not the time for drawing. Did you see what is killing my vampires?”

“Yes. That’s why I need to draw. I can show it to you.”

“It? Is it a creature, then?”

“Yes.” I struggle to get the word out. I’m so tired. I haven’t been this tired in a long time. “Please, Dan. Take me home.”

“No more questions. Once she’s drawn what we’re up against, I’ll bring it to the station and make sure a copy of the sketch is sent to you as well, Ms. Monroe.”

Without waiting for them to respond, he strides out of the walk-in and takes me out to the car where he buckles me in and then drives us back to the apartment. He knows talking to me is useless until I can purge what I saw. Drawing helps me get the horror and the darkness out of my soul. I need to get this out of my head.

Once I’m settled down on the couch, a soft fleece tucked around me, he hands me my sketchpad and a pencil before he moves over to the kitchen to try to make food. This is going to take a while. I hope I can stay awake long enough to do it.

Shaking my head, I tune out everything around me and focus on the paper in front of me. Time to draw.