Sage and Spirited Read online

  “You want to go?”

  They looked at each other, and as she watched, they held hands. It was a testament to the strength of the demonic energy that it had been able to break through their attachment. Repression made a doorway for all kinds of nasty incursions.

  She carefully wrapped her whip around them and eased them through her cage.

  They came out as a pair, and she held out her hands, letting them put their hands on the back of hers.

  Brandon looked at Thomas, and he smiled. “I think we will go anywhere as long as we can go together.”

  Thomas grinned. “I think that is an excellent idea. I am done with this place. I want to see the world.”

  “Fine. Stay away from too much tech. Folks get irritated, and enjoy a world where a lot of the past attitudes are being released from the shadows.”

  They looked at each other and, again, took deep breaths that weren’t necessary. Old habits died hard.

  Their skin glowed, the shower of minute stars flowed upward, and soon, the twisting and playing columns of light were flowing up to see what the sky could offer.

  She was now left with Michael, Tony, and Helena. The bride was looking at the sky, shocked that her little slaves had left her.

  “Now. We have a love triangle here. Tony, you want to possess Helena; Michael, you are in love with her; and Helena is in love with the idea of money and being worshipped. I am sorry, Helena, you are not a goddess. I have met a few, and you are not even in the running.”

  The bride looked shocked. She turned to Michael and gasped, “You are going to let her speak to me like that?”

  He looked at her with a tired expression. “I love you, Helena, I just don’t like you anymore. She can speak in whatever manner gets things through your skull.”

  He looked at her and said, “I loved you before you went off and came back dazzling. I loved you when you were awkward and helping out on the farm, and I loved you when you were my first kiss. You have burned that love to embers, and all that is left is ash. I am going, and I don’t care what happens to me.”

  Helena’s face was changing, and the pristine looks were giving way to flushed skin and red eyes. “Mike...”

  He looked at Hecate and nodded. “I would like to go, and I am very sorry for the injures. I wasn’t myself.”

  She gave him a close examination and scraped the bits of crimson from him. Her whip wrapped around him softly, and she pulled him through.

  She watched him approach, and he grabbed the hand with the knife in it, trying to plunge it into his chest.

  She gave him a look and pulled her hand right through his. “You are already dead, but if you want me to remove your consciousness, I can do that, too.”

  He nodded sobbing. “Please. I can’t exist like this anymore.”

  She touched his cheek with the hand holding the knife. “Fine. You have suffered long enough.”

  She did what she thought of as a cleaning. Every thought, every emotion that went through his head was set free. His thoughts weren’t violent, just despondent. They were far away from a city or human population, so when the thoughts floated in, it would just mean a mopey cow or pig for a day or two.

  She felt his love, all the memories slowly drifting away, and finally, his manifestation followed, his ghost dissolving and dispersing without purpose.

  Helena sobbed, and she watched what she had wrought coming apart. She had to wait.

  “Tony, do you still want her, knowing that it was the demon’s curse that tied you two together?”

  He looked over at Helena. “I wanted her to be my wife. I wanted to keep her to myself.”

  Hecate waited. Ghosts had a horrible sense of time.

  Tony looked at her and sighed. “I only want her if she wants me. Is that sensible? This has gone on for too long.”

  She smiled and stepped toward the cage. “Grab the whip. I am leaving you in for a moment. Okay? I promise to set you free before dawn.”

  He nodded and held out his hand. She flicked the whip into it and focused on stripping the demonic energy from him. It took nearly an hour, but she managed it. Direct contact would have been easier, but she wasn’t risking it.

  She retrieved her whip, and Tony was standing straight, dapper, cheerful, and a multiple murderer. This is what he should have looked like before Demler got involved.

  Tony stretched, and he smiled. “That feels great.”

  Hecate nodded and smiled. “Do you have any reason to remain in the living world?”

  “No. I am good with whatever comes next. I know what I did and why I did it, and I will wait for my judgment.”

  Helena frowned. “What do you mean, judgment?”

  Hecate smiled and turned to her. “You enslaved and murdered those who loved and trusted you. Unless you get them to forgive you, you are going to burn.”

  The squeaking sound that came from her showed genuine fear.

  Hecate put her whip and knife back in their sheath and hook, respectively, facing the bride. It was time to finish this.

  Chapter Eleven

  The bride’s expression could be best explained as terrified.

  “Hello, Helena. I am here to offer you an opportunity that is only good once. I would like you to admit that you used these men, and then, I want you to apologize to them, one by one. Anyone who was hurt by your actions. Apologize, and then, you can drift off to find out what is going to happen next.”

  Helena broke into sobs. “I don’t want to go.”

  “I understand, but you are dead. You have been dead for decades. The fact that you look as you do is just your own will. If you had lived this long, you would have been wrinkled, grey, and possibly enjoying your grandkids. You sacrificed life for your moment in a white dress.”

  Helena looked at her, and her eyes flared red. “What do you know about it, you celibate bitch?”

  “Celibate? No. Picky? Yes.” Hecate smiled. “Hello, Demler. I am guessing you are on the way?”

  Helena blinked in shock. “What just happened?”

  “You gave the demon the right to use your body, just like Tony did. After you act, he fuses his memories with yours, so you think it is your action. It’s rather bastardy of him.” She cocked her head. “He’s on the way.”

  Helena and Tony paled.

  “Based on the strength of the connection, he’ll be here in three minutes. I am guessing that he got on his bike when I let Josh go. We are an hour from the city.”

  She glanced back to check, and Josh and Sophia were next to the car, leaning on it and speaking softly. It was adorable.

  She turned back to Helena and smiled. “So, will you apologize?”

  “I just wanted love.”

  Hecate shook her head. “You had love. You wanted worship and money.”

  “What is wrong with that?”

  “It’s selfish. It is about what you want. Love is wanting the best for the people you are with, even if it means that you don’t get what you want.” Hecate sighed. “You held Josh’s love for Sophia hostage, tormenting her with the loss of the man she fell in love with on first sight. Brandon and Thomas wanted each other, but they had to worship you because you demanded it. Daniel was arm candy for you, and Michael was the hook. He was the means by which your influence spread because he actually loved you, so that was the emotion you tapped into to spread your touch.”

  Helena paused. “He really loved me, but he wasn’t enough.”

  “Right. So, that is why we can either go with the apology, or you can surrender to your chosen destiny.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You signed a contract for your soul, providing that the demon carried out the terms. You know the consequences.”

  Hecate heard the approaching motorcycle.

  Tony asked, “What will happen to me?”

  “Well, will you apologize to all of those you hurt?”

  He frowned. “Of course. Do I just say it?”

  “Say it, by name, with as
much detail as you can manage.”

  He started with Josh for murdering him in the hall because Josh was there.

  Josh brightened and gave a small smile as he nodded at his once-friend.

  Tony apologized to everyone, and he looked better with every declaration. Finally, he turned to Helena, and he said, “Helena, I am sorry for loving you, for wanting you to be my wife, and for wanting to keep you from everyone else.”

  There was an audible snap, and a wave of power flushed through Tony, clearing all traces of his demonic agreement from his soul.

  Demler roared in on his bike, and he drove right up to the spot where Hecate was standing.

  She grinned when he removed his helmet, and the mark was streaked across his face. “Darn, that looks painful.”

  The mark across his face made him a lot less pretty, which had been the point. People gave him all kinds of insight into their souls because they got lost in the beauty of his face. That was over.

  He growled at her. “What are you doing to the bride? This is her haunt.”

  Hecate shook her head. “She is being evicted. Too many people dead, and you have been drinking in the agony of being tortured night after night? Did you get off on it? Riding around in Tony’s skin and killing over and over?”

  He frowned. “How do you—”

  “Oh, and as you had sex with your contractee, you probably planted the aversion to sex that set Tony’s insecurities off to begin with.”

  Helena blinked in surprise. “How do you know—”

  Hecate nodded. “Great. You stacked the deck. You know that it isn’t allowed, Demler. You have to sign the contract on the merits of their desires, not yours.”

  Demler frowned. “She is a greedy cow, she wanted attention from everyone. Do you know how many solid marriages she used the curse to screw up? Nineteen.”

  Helena tried to look innocent. That was fine. Hecate had already made up her mind. Some folks didn’t want to be helped.

  Hecate reached into her pocket and flicked one of the crystals at Demler’s feet. “Let’s just check on your veracity, Demler.”

  He tried to move his feet and scowled. “What the hell?”

  Hecate tapped the charm around her neck, and it began to broadcast a visual display of the interaction between Helena and the demon.

  The display was concise. Helena was alone, was flattered by Demler, and then, they fell into bed. Afterward, he spoke to her at length and then brought out the contract. She was giggling when she signed, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead that wrapped her in the curse with a few flickers extra.

  The rest was a blur of endless entanglements until the wedding, and then, Tony touched her. From the vantage point of the charm, Helena was hiding the demon behind the curtain. It wasn’t just a fling, Demler was there on her wedding day.

  Tony was sent mad with the application of another charm, and the screams began to come to the bride’s room via the open windows.

  Helena panicked. She pressed her hands to Demler’s chest, begging him for something. To make it stop by the way her lips were moving.

  Demler pulled a knife and plunged it into her chest. She staggered back and looked at him in confusion.

  She died and remained on the bridal bed until Tony returned. He slashed his own throat when he saw that she was dead.

  Demler hopped out the balcony window and dropped to the ground below, casually walking away from the scene.

  She tapped her charm again. “Well, that was effective.”

  Helena stared at Demler. “You killed me? I loved you!”

  Demler snorted.

  Hecate filled her in. “He needed you to bind the men to the building. Every soul that was captured that day was one more that he could draw power from. You were nothing more than a battery pack, every life that you ruined boosted his power.”

  Tony drew in a deep breath. “If you don’t mind, I am going to go now.”

  Hecate gave him what he needed, and he splashed into fragments that then slowly rose to dance on the night breeze.

  “That isn’t possible. He signed a deal.”

  “You killed the reward, Demler. That makes the deal null and void. He can go on to wherever he pleases now. He has earned it.”

  “He is a murderer!” Helena wailed.

  “He was given the urge to kill through the curse wrapped around him. Demler orchestrated this, and he got the result he wanted.”

  Hecate looked around with her hands on her hips. “The problem is he isn’t allowed to do that.”

  She looked at Helena and said, “For the crimes that you have committed and the murders that you urged Tony to, your sentence is to complete the terms of your contract.”

  “What?”

  “You show no remorse, no empathy, and only envy of those who found love without your interference. Your soul is dead, your ghost just needs to catch up.”

  She triggered the outer ring of stones, and beams of light sliced the ghost of Helena into small pieces of power that shattered and burned into the soil.

  Demler was stuck in place, and he screamed as the power bank that was Helena slowly drifted away on the breeze.

  Hecate took off the chain and stepped forward to wrap it around Demler’s neck.

  “Now, for you. Demler, you have been a pain in my side for years now. It’s time for you to go home and do a full audit of your actions, however your kind does it.”

  He fought the restraint of the crystal and lashed out at her. She ducked, but a huge shadow passed over her, and there was a snap as Demler struck the ground.

  Domerik was crouched over Demler, and Hecate was fairly sure that she saw his hands going from clawed to human.

  “Step back, Domerik. Hell is coming for him.”

  She grabbed her companion by the back of his shirt and pulled. He stood up and stepped back. Hecate quickly darted forward and picked up her crystal. No sense losing it.

  Her side was throbbing with pain as the ground beneath Demler glowed. Hands reached up out of the glow and pulled Demler under the grass, leaving a scorch mark where he had been. The chain was lying in a coil on the smoking soil.

  Hecate reached over the char, and a hand reached up to grab her. She focused the cold that was always with her into that hand, and then, she smashed it with her fist. The howl from hell echoed in the yard. She grabbed the chain and put it back on her wrist.

  She glanced at Domerik. “So, how was your first haunt?”

  He chuckled. “Eventful. Fascinating and definitely different than I thought it would be. You have impressed me.”

  “Good. Now, we have to cleanse the interior.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “We need to clean it?”

  “No. Cleanse it. There is a hollow here now, like a well-worn footprint. Other ghosts could simply fall in if we didn’t close it to incursion. So, we engage in one of the more interesting spot of the local traditions. We smudge it.”

  “What?”

  Hecate laughed. “I am going to need some food first, but then, we are going to light sage and go to every window and door, smoking it lightly to repulse any ghosts who are not invited.”

  “So, more pie?” He looked hopeful.

  She laughed, and they returned to the car where Josh and Sophia were standing.

  “He was really a demon?” Josh was a little stunned, his colour a pale blue.

  “He really was. He put this all in motion and kept all of you from moving on. The kind of loop you were in was not normal. It should have only happened on the anniversary of your death.”

  The younger version of Sophia nodded. “He was feeding on them.”

  “Yes. The emotion of the day was still hot and would have remained so until the building fell down.” Hecate dug into her packs and got a fruit pie for Domerik and two meat pies and some hot coffee for her.

  The break was just what she needed. She had opened her stitches and drained her resources. The smudging had to happen, or the wedding could be a psychic me
ss. Eyeing the huge house, she shivered. This was going to be a marathon.

  Chapter Twelve

  “You know, it has been two days, and I can still smell the sage.” She muttered it as Domerik tended to her stitches, replacing the ones that had torn free during her afternoon wood cutting.

  “It does linger. How are the plans for the wedding coming?”

  Hecate chuckled as he set the stitch. “My sister is delighted, Leo is worried about me, and my mother and stepdad don’t even know I have been invited.”

  “Well, as long as you are prepared to get there on time, all is well.”

  She smiled softly. “Esmy has asked me to be there when she is getting ready. So, I have to leave here early and make sure my hair is ready.”

  “You won’t have someone there to do your hair? I have seen enough weddings to know it is part of the ritual.”

  She snorted. “The population in the cities is primarily white. Finding someone to do textured hair is a bit of a challenge, so I just clip my hair on my own and make my arms ache while I work with it.”

  “That sounds awkward. It looks fairly straight.”

  “Looks are deceiving. It is kinked on a cellular level.” She chuckled. “At least you didn’t touch it.”

  He paused. “Is that a thing?”

  “It is a thing.” She snorted.

  “I have noticed your wardrobe is simple. Do you have something to wear?”

  She grinned and nodded. “I have a great dress, off the should—”

  She smacked her forehead with her palm. “Fuck!”

  “What? What is it?”

  “My dress is off the shoulder. The left shoulder. I don’t think having ten stitches marching down my shoulder front and back is going to be ignored by those attending the wedding.” She huffed, and he set the final of the missing stitches.

  “That seems awkward. Can you do something?”

  She looked at the sunset and shook her head. “No. I can’t believe that I didn’t think about this. There is no time tomorrow. Shit!”

  “Perhaps your attendance will be enough.”

  “For Esmy and Leo, yeah. For my mother and stepdad... that is another matter.”