21

“Do you think this will work?” Chris asked Riley as he watched her place the candles she’d brought with her in a circle on Ella’s living room floor.

The circle was large enough for the photograph she’d printed of Brett and for her and, eventually, Brett to stand inside it, but that was about it.

“I hope so,” she replied. “But if it doesn’t, we keep trying.”

Chris nodded. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but he knew they’d never stop until the man who’d attacked Ella more than once was gone for good. “Have you spoken to Olivia yet?”

When Riley had let them know that morning that she was ready to perform the exorcism, Chris hadn’t known how to feel. He’d been happy for Ella, obviously, but he’d also hoped that Olivia would have been told by that point. He hated that they’d hid this from her and that she would be left out of yet another important moment.

Riley nodded. “She sent me a message earlier asking if I still want to meet up, and I’ll confirm a time with her after this.”

It was a start, but it didn’t feel like enough. He knew Riley was scared of how Olivia would react, but the longer it went on, the worse it would be.

“You need to tell her,” he pressed.

Chris had decided if Riley didn’t tell Olivia the truth by the end of the week, he’d do it himself. He couldn’t keep lying to her. Even if it was by omission. The guilt he’d felt at having to lie about what he’d be doing after practice had been enough to convince him that it couldn’t carry on.

“I know,” she replied with a sigh. “And I will.”

He wasn’t sure if he believed her, but he hoped she was telling the truth and wouldn’t chicken out again.

“Why do you care so much?” Asher asked from where he was sitting on Ella’s blue armchair.

His eyes were narrowed in suspicion, and Chris was glad Noah was helping his girlfriend in the kitchen and wasn’t around to hear the question.

Chris’s jaw clenched. They knew him too damn well. “Considering Brett held a knife to Olivia’s throat, I think she’s earned the right to know about all this,” he said, gesturing to the circle of unlit candles.

She’d gotten away mostly unscathed, but she probably had more of a right to be involved in exorcising the bastard than he did.

“Besides, she’s our friend, isn’t she?” he added, annoyed that he had to give any reasons for why he wanted them all to stop lying to her.

“Ours, yes,” Asher agreed. “But last I checked, not yours.”

“Aren’t I allowed to change my mind?” he retorted. “Why is everyone so shocked by it?”

Asher sighed. “Of course you are. I’m just wondering what brought on the change.”

“I realized she had nothing to do with the accident, okay,” he explained defensively. “I was being an idiot.”

“So you finally took your head out of your ass,” Asher said with a nod. “Good for you.”

Chris tipped his head back and groaned. “Can everyone stop giving me shit about this? Olivia and I are friends again. It’s a good thing.”

“So she forgave you for all the shit you said to her?” Asher asked, his gaze assessing. Of course, the person studying psychology couldn’t just let it go.

“Yes,” Chris replied, exasperated. “I apologized, and she forgave me.”

“Was this before or after you took her rock climbing?”

Chris threw his hands up. “I don’t know. Both. It wasn’t exactly a quick process.”

Asher nodded slowly, his eyes still narrowed. “You know Noah will kill you if you start dating her?”

“Fucking hell,” Chris groaned. Were his feelings really that obvious? “Why does everyone keep telling me that?”

Asher smirked. “You weren’t exactly subtle at your birthday party,” he explained. “You were practically salivating every time you looked at her.”

Shit. Chris hadn’t realized anyone had noticed.

“Facts,” Riley agreed, standing up and joining them now that her circle of candles had been completed. “I’m surprised Drew didn’t punch you for staring at his girlfriend the whole night.”

“It’s okay, man,” Asher said with a smirk. “You have a little crush, is all. We get it.”

Riley curled up on his lap and kissed her boyfriend’s cheek before turning to Chris. “Didn’t she used to have a major crush on you too?”

Chris sent another glare Asher’s way.

His friend shrugged sheepishly. “I may have told Riley that Olivia used to pine over you when we were younger.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I don’t even know why we’re talking about this.”

“Personally, I think you two would be cute together,” Riley said, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Chris’s eyebrows lifted. “You do?”

She nodded. “You’ve got a whole enemies-to-lovers thing going on.”

Chris gulped. She had no idea how right she was.

“You’d just need to find a way of convincing Noah that you’re not the worst thing in the world for her,” she added with a wince.

“Am I really that bad?” Chris asked, playing along even though he should have been denying everything. It felt wrong to outright say he didn’t want to be with Olivia, though.

“No,” Riley rushed to say. “It’s just…”

“You’re a man whore,” Asher finished for her. “And nobody wants their sister to end up with a guy who sleeps around.”

“I don’t sleep around anymore,” Chris argued, but the defense felt weak. He knew he wasn’t good enough for Olivia.

Asher nodded. “That’s true. You’ve been surprisingly celibate lately.”

“But I don’t think that would make Noah feel much better,” Riley said, her fingers playing with the end of her lavender braid. “He’s super protective.”

He was. Of Olivia and of Ella. Noah had literally killed to protect his girlfriend, and Chris knew he’d do the same for his sister.

“None of this even matters unless you’re actually considering asking Olivia out,” Asher pointed out.

“Right,” Chris replied. He cleared his throat. “Good thing I’m not then.”

“Not what?” Ella asked as she walked into the room with a box of matches.

Noah held a fire extinguisher, and Chris found himself wondering if they should have picked a better place to perform an exorcism that required burning candles. A bathroom, perhaps.

“Nothing,” he muttered.

“I locked Archie outside so he wouldn’t get in the way,” Ella told Riley. “Are we ready to do this?”

“Yeah,” she replied, standing up again. She took a piece of wrinkled paper from her bag and unfolded it. “We just need to light the candles, and then I’m good to go.”

“I’ve got it,” Noah said, putting the fire extinguisher down and taking the matches from Ella. He paused in front of the circle. “Do I need to light them in a specific order or something?”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Riley responded, sounding concerningly uncertain. “Maybe just go clockwise?” she suggested with a shrug.

She stepped into the circle before Noah had finished lighting all of them, and her lips moved as she silently practiced the Latin passage.

“Why Latin?” Chris asked with a frown. “It’s not like that’s the original language, so why wouldn’t English work?”

Riley glanced up from the page, and her cheeks went bright red. “Um, I don’t know,” she admitted, her shoulders curving in like she was embarrassed.

“Maybe the Latin is just a closer translation than the English one?” Ella suggested.

Riley nodded her head and pointed triumphantly at the other woman. “What she said.”

Asher chuckled and patted Ella on the back. “Good save.”

“All done,” Noah said after he’d lit the final candle. “Now what?”

Riley adjusted the photograph of Brett, putting it closer to the center of the circle. “Now, I read the Latin, and I guess we’ll see if it works. The book I found the information in said a photo would be enough, but I’m not holding my breath.”

“You’ve got this,” Asher told her, sending her an encouraging smile.

Chris couldn’t help but notice that the circle of candles looked a little too similar to the circle they’d found Asher’s unconscious body in, but he didn’t say anything. Brett’s magic had been evil and had come from another plane. This was…well if they were reading from the Bible, how bad could it be?

Still, he felt unsettled as Riley began reading from the page in front of her. The old language sounded wrong and out of place, more suitable for a horror movie than Ella’s living room. Chris suddenly wondered why they’d chosen to do this when it was dark. He half-expected the curtains to start billowing and the lights to start flickering.

Instead, Riley kept speaking, and nothing happened. The candles stayed lit, their flames unaffected by a spiritual draft or whatever the hell made them snuff out in movies, and there were no banging doors or strange noises. It was all very anti-climactic.

Until it wasn’t.

The candles went out all at once, and mid-word, Riley sucked in a sharp breath. “Brett,” she whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at the man who’d appeared in front of her.

Chris couldn’t believe it had actually worked. He couldn’t believe Riley’s connection to the plane of the dead allowed her to do something like this. It didn’t seem real. He saw Ella grab Noah’s hand out of the corner of his eyes, but the rest of them were still.

“Fuck,” Chris muttered, his own eyes caught on Brett. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he asked Asher.

“Yes,” his friend replied tightly, taking a step toward the circle.

“What is this?” Brett spat, and Asher and Chris both stepped forward, their bodies tensed.

They hadn’t known that Brett would become visible to them, and if whatever Riley was doing had allowed that to happen, then who knew what other surprises they were in for.

Brett walked to the edge of the circle and lifted his hand to the air above the candles. His palm met an invisible wall, and he let out a furious scream when he couldn’t pass it. He tried kicking over the candle closest to him, but his foot passed right through it and met the barrier.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his eyes now glaring daggers at Riley.

The woman stumbled back a step, but her feet remained inside the circle. She looked terrified, but she glanced back at the piece of paper in her hands and carried on from where she’d left off.

Chris had to give her credit. Her voice wavered once or twice, and she flinched when Brett yelled a curse at her, but she didn’t let Brett’s presence stop her from doing what needed to be done.

Chris drew in a sharp gasp when a gash opened up in the middle of the circle, starting as a small tear before it widened into a hole almost big enough to swallow Brett whole and so dark that it seemed to draw the light from the room.

Chris could hear the distant sound of screams, every one of them filled with a terror unlike anything he’d ever known, and he could have sworn the temperature dropped as the gateway to a place he hoped he’d never have to see continued to widen.

“Holy shit,” Noah muttered, mirroring Chris’s thoughts.

But Riley simply kept speaking.

It was only when that tear caused Brett to stumble and he leaped forward to grab her, that Riley took a frightened step back. She was careful to stay in the ring, but she cowered away from Brett’s ghost, her hands lifting to protect herself. Only Brett’s hands never made contact, and he fell forward, still too close to the medium for comfort.

“Riley,” Asher screamed, lunging forward, but Chris caught him before he could interfere. His friend struggled against him, but Chris was stronger.

If he hadn’t seen the way Brett’s fingers passed through Riley’s arms, he would have joined Asher in rushing to help her, but they couldn’t risk messing this up. So he kept his arms locked around Asher, guilt tightening his chest as Riley slowly straightened and lowered her arms back down.

Chris loosened his grip slightly but didn’t let Asher go yet. He watched wide-eyed as Riley quickly lifted the page back up and continued to read. She looked pale and rattled, and her next words trembled as they left her lips.

They were no less effective for it, though, and Brett let out a yell and clutched futilely at the floor when a force none of them could see pulled him backward. The man who’d tormented Ella let out a pained scream that mingled in perfect harmony with the ones coming from the tear near his feet.

Chris had forgotten what Riley had said about it being painful for a ghost to be forced to move on. He didn’t feel any sympathy, though, as he watched Brett struggle against an invisible force and scream and writhe in agony.

Chris almost couldn’t believe how quickly it might be over once Riley finished reading the passage.

Of course, nothing was that easy when it came to Brett.

“Wait!” Brett screamed as he was dragged further back toward his just desserts. “I have information.”

Riley’s eyes lifted from the page again, and she paused.

“Don’t listen to him,” Ella yelled, her gaze darting from Riley to Brett.

Riley chewed on her bottom lip and winced before asking Brett, “What information?”

“Break the circle to stop this, and I’ll tell you,” Brett replied, desperation making his eyes look wild.

The lavender-haired woman narrowed her eyes at him, her curiosity fading to be replaced with anger.

“Fuck that,” Noah said harshly, and Chris was inclined to agree with his friend.

They couldn’t trust Brett. If he wanted Riley to break the circle of candles, it could only mean trouble. He knew far more about the supernatural world than any of them did. For all they knew, breaking the circle would give him some advantage over them.

“It must be a trick,” Asher said, his worried gaze pinned on his girlfriend. “Even if he has information, it’s probably nothing.”

His hands were curled into fists, and Chris knew he had to be freaking out. The longer Riley was in that circle, the more chance there was for Brett to prove they might have been wrong about him being powerless.

Ella looked uncertain, but she nodded in agreement. “We need to finish this. Don’t listen to him.”

Riley looked back at the words she needed to speak with renewed conviction and began speaking again, her voice growing louder as Brett continued to plead.

“Stop this,” he yelled, for once powerless against them.

He’d always been arrogant, bolstered by his abilities and the advantage they gave him. But now he was sobbing, brought to his knees by Riley. The lavender-haired medium stopped speaking again, only this time it was because she’d finished reading the passage.

“I promise I’m not lying,” Brett screamed.

Chris was worried Riley might have to say it all again, this time with no interruptions, but luck seemed to be on their side for once. The candles surrounding her and Brett relit, and the photograph of him caught fire, making Riley jump back as she let out a short scream.

Brett’s eyes flared, terror radiating from him in a perfect twist of fate. “It’s about—”

His words cut off as he was yanked into the tear, his spirit disappearing within the blink of an eye. Chris stared at the void, only letting out a breath of relief when it snapped shut like the jaws of a creature closing over its prey. The candles and the remnants of the photograph extinguished at the same time.

The goose bumps that had risen on Chris’s arms faded almost immediately, and the chill that had invaded the room disappeared so quickly that he wondered if he’d imagined it.

“Is it over?” Ella asked, her voice sounding too loud in the absence of that chorus of screams that Chris would never forget. “Is he gone?”

Riley nodded. “He’s gone,” she replied in a trembling voice. Her next inhale was a loud gasping sound.

Chris finally let Asher go, and his friend shoved him angrily before rushing to his girlfriend’s side. He enveloped her in his arms, crushing her against him and showing them all just how scared he’d been for her.

He kissed the top of her head and carried her out of the ring of candles, his eyes suspiciously glassy.

“I’m okay,” she said, though she was still clearly shaken.

“You’re okay,” Asher murmured, his arms tightening around her and his forehead dropping to rest against hers.

“It’s really over,” Ella said with a relieved sigh.

Noah’s arm wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her into his side. “He’s gone.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Asher asked Riley.

She pulled away from him and let out a long exhale. “I’m fine. I’m just glad we were right that he couldn’t affect this plane anymore.”

That he couldn’t physically harm her, Chris knew she meant. He let out a surprised laugh. “I can’t believe we just sent someone to hell.”

“Not very Christian of us,” Ella noted, but her lips were curled up in amusement.

Brett hadn’t once shown any remorse for all the harm he’d caused, and if Ella hadn’t survived his final attack, she wouldn’t have been standing there with them. She would have died and been tied to Brett’s ghost forever.

He deserved hell. His sins were too great to ignore and his lack of remorse greater still.

“So, who wants pizza?” Chris asked.

Everyone laughed, but Riley’s chuckle turned into a choked sob. Asher pulled her against his chest again, his hand moving over her back in soothing circles.

“It’s okay,” he whispered.

“God, that was scary,” she said, her words muffled against his shirt.

Ella approached them, and Asher reluctantly let her take his place. “Thank you,” she said to Riley.

“Of course,” Riley replied, her voice thick.

Ella’s lips pressed together, her eyes filling with moisture. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s really okay,” Riley replied, breaking away. She wiped the back of her hand over her cheeks, looking embarrassed. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”

“Maybe because Brett is scary as fuck, and you had to stand alone with him in a circle of fire?” Ella suggested.

“Yeah, maybe that,” the other woman replied with a watery laugh.

Asher wrapped his arms around her again. “Please don’t ever do that again.”

“Trust me, I’m not planning on it,” she said.

Ella walked back to Noah, and he smiled down at her as she pressed herself against him. Chris sighed silently, feeling more like a fifth wheel than ever. He stood alone, wishing Olivia had been there and that he could openly hold her without fear of Noah ending their friendship.

While they ate pizza and tried to shake off the heaviness of the evening, Chris started to wonder if risking Noah’s anger would be worth it. Once he was home, he wondered if earning his family’s rage would be worth it, too, if it meant he could be with Olivia openly rather than in secret.

But any temptation in that regard ended a spectacular death when his phone buzzed several times on his bedside table in the middle of the night, waking him from a dream that featured him and Olivia in the library shelves.

He unlocked his phone groggily, groaning when the bright light of his screen burned his eyes.

It’s Amy. Olivia’s friend. I got your number from her phone.

The first message made him frown, but he carried on reading.

I thought you should see this.

His eyebrows drew even closer together.

We went to a party tonight, and we both had too much to drink.

Chris’s stomach dropped. Olivia hadn’t told him anything about a party. He didn’t know she even drank. Especially after the accident. It made sense to him now why she hadn’t responded to the message he’d sent her after the exorcism. She was too busy getting wasted to reply to him.

Amy sent a video before his thoughts could continue spiraling, but whatever bad things he’d been expecting paled in comparison to what Amy had sent him.

He’d worried Olivia had gotten drunk and hooked up with someone else. He’d worried Olivia had gotten alcohol poisoning and was lying in a hospital bed. He’d worried there’d been another accident. But it was so much worse.

It was so much worse than anything Chris could have imagined.