Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

A week later, Jessica hummed happily as she gathered up the empty vases from the tables. In spite of her concerns about the upcoming ritual, it had been a wonderful week. Leo had been fully present when they were alone together and they had been able to kiss and touch and explore. That very morning he’d finally persuaded her to let him taste her and she’d discovered just how wonderful his mouth felt against her. Her cheeks heated at the memory of his dark head buried between her legs and she decided that washing the vases could wait until the morning.

Although there had been a few times when she’d started to panic, he was so attuned to her that he quickly pulled back before things went any further. He never seemed impatient or frustrated, even though he’d kept his jeans on the entire time. He’d let her touch him over them, but he’d refused to remove them, assuring her he was content to wait, despite his very large and obvious erections.

She thought she was ready to take that next step and she was trying to decide on the best way to convince him when she heard a faint whisper, chilling and unintelligible, drifting through the air. She paused, heart pounding, and glanced around the dim room, feeling a shiver run down her spine. The sound seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“Leo?” she called out softly, hoping it was just him playing tricks but deep down, she knew this was different. The whisper lacked his warmth, his playfulness. This was cold, alien, and deeply unsettling.

She carefully put down the vases she was carrying, her hands trembling slightly. The feeling that something sinister lurked within the walls had increased over the past week, even though it wasn’t like anything she’d experienced before.

Her years as a ghost hunter had exposed her to all manner of supernatural phenomena, but this… this was different. It felt not only malevolent but personal, as if it were directed specifically at her. Her eyes scanned the shadows in the corners of the room, half-expecting to see something materialize. The whisper came again, louder this time, sending goosebumps racing across her skin. She backed away slowly, her breath catching in her throat.

“What are you?” she whispered, her voice barely audible. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the pounding of her own heart. And then…

A cold, clammy touch brushed her cheek and she stumbled backwards with a startled gasp. She couldn’t help the shudder that racked her body or the tears that filled her eyes.

“Jessica, are you all right? What is it?” Leo appeared, worry etched on his face.

“Something… touched me.”

She shuddered again and he immediately wrapped his arms around her, warm and comforting, the familiar scent of apples surrounding her.

“I don’t want you down here by yourself anymore,” he said firmly as he too scanned the shadows. “Maybe it would be better if you stayed with Wendy–”

“Absolutely not. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

He looked down at her fierce expression and smiled.

“All right, sweetheart. Whatever it is, we’ll face it together.”

His smile vanished as a ghostly form began to take shape in the shadows. It was indistinct, more of a suggestion than a fully realized apparition, but his reaction told her everything she needed to know. His eyes widened in recognition, and she saw a flicker of old pain cross his features.

“It’s Tim,” Leo whispered, his voice tight with a mixture of anger and fear. “My half-brother.”

She gave him a shocked look.

“Your murderer? Why is he here?”

“I don’t know,” he said grimly. “Didn’t you say that if a spirit isn’t tied to one place, it’s usually because it’s searching for something?”

“Yes, but what?”

“I don’t know. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless he’s gaining strength too as Halloween approaches.”

“The ritual,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “What if the ritual doesn’t bring you back? What if it brings him back instead?”

The words caught in her throat, the fear of losing Leo threatening to send her spiraling into panic.

“We won’t let that happen,” he promised, but she could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

She glanced back at the shadowy form of Tim, which seemed to be growing more substantial by the second. Would he be able to materialize enough to interrupt the ritual? The air around them crackled with malevolent energy, and she suspected they were running out of time.

She jumped when a chair toppled over, and a water glass followed, shattering into a thousand glittering shards on the hardwood floor. She flinched, instinctively stepping closer to Leo as chaos erupted around them.

Tim’s shadowy figure flickered in and out of vision, his features growing clearer. He might have been handsome once, but the malice on his face turned it into a grotesque mask of hatred.

“What are you doing here?” Leo demanded, pushing her gently behind him.

The lights flickered and dimmed, casting eerie shadows across the room and raising the hair on the back of her neck.

“Owe me…”

The words were little more than a moan but they filled the room, sending shivers down her spine as the suffocating weight of panic began to settle over her, constricting her chest and making it hard to breathe. She clutched Leo’s shirt sleeve, trying to control her breathing.

“I don’t owe you anything,” Leo growled. “You took my wife, my money, and my life.”

“Land…” the voice moaned again, and then it was gone.

Tim’s form disappeared, along with the heaviness that had filled the room.

“He’s gone,” Leo said, but she shook her head.

“I don’t think so. He was expending a lot of energy and he probably has to refill it. I think he’ll be back.”

“Can you banish him? The way you did with Alexis?” he asked as he guided her rapidly towards the stairs.

She should clean up the broken glass, but it would wait until morning.

“I don’t know.” Relief washed over her as they reached the safety of their apartment, even though she knew it was a false sense of security. Physical barriers wouldn’t keep him out. “I’ve only dealt with one other untethered spirit and in his case it was simply a matter of finding out what he wanted. What did Tim mean when he said land?”

“I inherited the land we logged from my mother’s parents. Apparently he always resented that, even though he wasn’t related to them and never met them. I wonder if he thought he’d inherit them after I died?” he added thoughtfully.

“He didn’t?”

“No. Under the terms of my will, the land went into a conservation trust. But it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not as if they’re any use to him now.”

“I know, but that doesn’t seem to matter. If someone is fixated on something when they die, it can be enough to keep them on this plane. Do you know what happened to him after he killed you?”

“I don’t know.”

“I think we should find out. Maybe that would help us get rid of him.”

She did her best to sound positive, despite the dread creeping down her spine. Even if she could figure out how to banish Tim, the effort might drain her so much that she wouldn’t have the strength to complete the ritual for Leo. But if Tim was still around when that happened, she had a horrible feeling that he would try to come back instead.

Leo reached for her hand and drew her down on the sofa next to him.

“Sweetheart, you’re stronger than this. We need to confront him together. We won’t let him win,” Leo said, his voice firm yet gentle.

“But what if the ritual makes everything worse?” she whispered. “What if I fail?”

He gathered her in his arms, his touch reassuring and comforting. “You won’t. You are the most capable person I know, and I believe in you. We can do this together.”

A small smile touched her lips at the determination in his voice.

“All right,” she agreed. “But where do we start?”

“Let’s start by finding out what happened to him,” he suggested. “And maybe you could go and talk to Gladys again tomorrow.”

Having a plan, even such a nebulous one, helped calm her fears, and her hand didn’t shake as she reached for her laptop. It didn’t take long to find the information.

“He died six months after you?” she asked, shocked. “He killed both of you and then he died before the year was up?”

“After driving my company into bankruptcy,” he said grimly, as he read through one of the articles. “And it doesn’t come right out and say it, but he looks like he was on the verge of being arrested for Fraud.”

“Maybe that’s why he was so fixated on the land—he thought it would have solved his problems.”

He shrugged. “It might have helped, at least in the short term, but I suspect he would have gone through that money just as quickly. Although I doubt we could convince him of that.”

Remembering Tim’s malevolent stare, she shivered.

“No, I don’t think so either. And the land isn’t something we can find or display. I once had a spirit who wouldn’t move on until I persuaded his daughter to display his collection of matchbox cars,” she added when he gave her a confused look.

He smiled for the first time since they’d encountered Tim.

“I had a collection like that once. But it wouldn’t have been enough to keep me here.” He gently stroked her cheek. “Not like you.”

“You give me too much credit.”

“Not at all. I think you’re amazing.”

The warmth in his eyes was enough to dispel the lingering chill, and she leaned against his shoulder.

“You’re the most wonderful man I’ve ever known. I don’t ever want to lose you.”

His smile widened as he lowered his mouth to hers and she shoved her worries aside for the moment, determined to enjoy their time together.