Of Shadows and Ash Page 6

  It was infuriating, but the health of the people came before that of Selena. While intellectually Ash understood it, he was ready to heave the entire fucking town over the mountain if Greer didn’t come help soon.

  Unfortunately, it was the same with all of those who’d been taken. They were all suffering to one degree or another, and their leaders were scrambling to solve the problems of their people. Even the ghosts had been hurt. The assault on the Van Helsing compound had harmed more than one spectral resident, and Greg had stepped up to the plate, using his knowledge not only as a witch but as a ghost to help them. Brian was busy helping his husband, communicating the ghostly needs to the physical residents of the town.

  Lore, the leader of the psychics, was working on the psychic trauma suffered by his people.

  Everyone was swamped, and no one seemed to have time for Selena’s little issue. While Ash couldn’t fault them for taking care of their own first, watching Selena suffer was unbearable.

  He scowled as the soft sound of music filled the air. What the hell was that? Selena didn’t have a radio in her living room, where the sound came from. He could see no lights, so the television wasn’t on. But he could clearly hear musical instruments and a deep man’s voice crooning words he couldn’t quite make out. Selena twitched in her sleep as if she could hear it as well.

  Ash got out of bed. Enough was enough. How had she lived with this on her own? Why hadn’t she asked for help earlier? He would have been here in a heartbeat to protect her, but she’d pushed him away, determined to stand on her own.

  No more. If he had to handcuff her to him she wasn’t going to be alone ever again.

  The doorknob ratted, scaring the hell out of him. His heart pounding and utterly fed up, Ash stomped toward the bedroom door and flung it open. “Holy shit.” He stepped into the living room, unable to believe what he was seeing.

  Floating through the sofa was a glowing white figure.

  Ghosts weren’t uncommon in Maggie’s Grove. Dragos kept a list of all the residents of Maggie’s Grove, including the spectral ones. They were considered full citizens, with the same rights and responsibilities that every other citizen had. They worked with the mediums in jobs uniquely suited to their talents; as teachers, guards and with the local witches. While some of them might be inclined to play pranks on the more corporeal residents, they knew the consequences of this sort of lingering behavior. Tormenting the living was an offense that would land them in jail, in a special cell the witches had prepared so that they couldn’t get out.

  That wasn’t what freaked him out. What did freak him was the fact he could see the ghost at all. Most were hidden from view, unable to become visible to those without the sight. But this creature floating through Selena’s sofa was clearly discernable, down to the bow tie it wore.

  The ghost didn’t look toward Ash. It didn’t act as if it knew he was there. It made its way toward the wall, going right through it and into the side yard without once turning its head or making a sound.

  Ash darted to the window and looked out.

  Nothing. There was nothing there, but a lingering chill in the air. The hairs standing up on his arms didn’t lie.

  He’d just seen Selena’s ghost.

  Blowing out his breath, he tried to get his heartbeat back under control. He turned away from the window—

  —and gave one hell of an unmanly shriek.

  “Ash?” The sleepy voice of his mate filled him with fear.

  “Don’t come out here, Selena.”

  “Fuck that.” She sounded more awake. He could hear her feet hit the floor, but he was frozen in place, too terrified to move, to stop her from seeing...what wasn’t possible.

  Selena stepped into the living room, her jaw dropping in shock. “What did you do to my furniture?”

  “Nothing.” He stared at the pile of furniture in the middle of the living room. Her favorite ottoman was on the sofa, teetering precariously on its back. The chair she loved to read in was upside down, barely hanging onto the edge of the sofa cushion. A quarter of an inch farther and the seat would be on the floor. The end tables were on their sides, the lamps perfectly placed on top of them.

  “Ash.” She didn’t believe him, and he couldn’t blame her. He could barely believe his own eyes.

  “I heard noises and came out to investigate.” He took a shaky breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “This white figure was floating through the room, and I swear to the gods all your furniture was in its proper place.”

  She must have realized how shaken he was, because she made her way toward him. “You saw the ghost? How?”

  He nodded. “I have no idea, but it floated through the wall behind me so I went to the window to see if I could find it. There was nothing there. It acted like it couldn’t see me.”

  “Then I doubt it’s one of our spectral residents, but we can check with Dragos, see if we’ve got any mischief makers among the unliving.”

  “Selena, when I first went to the window the furniture wasn’t moved. I turned around, and it was like that.” He pointed a trembling hand toward the upturned furniture. “And I didn’t hear a thing.”

  She took hold of his hand and tugged him back into the bedroom. “Shit. Look at the clock, Ash.”

  He stared at the glowing numbers with a frown. “Three-twelve a.m.” He glanced over at her. “Does that mean anything to you?”

  She nodded. “The activity seems to ramp up at this time of night.” She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “The knocking and claw sounds always come at three-twelve, but I don’t know why.”

  “What time did Kate die?” Because if this was a death curse, the time might be significant.

  “Not this late at night.” She shivered. “The time has to have something to do with what’s going on, but it’s not that. Kate died before midnight.”

  There went that theory. It was looking less and less likely that this had anything to do with Kate, and more like it was connected to Selena’s abduction and torture. “Get back in bed, little witch.” He pushed her toward the bed, ignoring her disapproving growl.

  “What about you?” She crawled into bed, her eyes barely open, her head hitting the pillow with a soft thump. She truly was exhausted or she would have argued with him more.

  He covered her with her blankets, aware he would not be going back to sleep any time soon. “I’m going to keep an eye out, make sure nothing else happens. We can fix the furniture in the morning.”

  “Mmm.” She snuggled down with a soft sigh. “’Kay.” She held out a hand. “Thanks, Ash.”

  “For what?” He took her hand and kissed the back.

  “Staying.” She yawned, her eyes drifting shut.

  “You’re welcome.” He let her hand go, smiling when she put it under her cheek. “Good night, little witch.”

  “Hate that nickname.” But she smiled as she said it.

  “Mmm-hmm.” He kept watch over her while she drifted off, more worried than he wanted to admit. If the spirit could move furniture, what else could it do? Could it harm Selena? Could it cause her actual damage, or worse, burn her house down around her while she slept?

  Could it kill her?

  He needed to find the answers before this escalated any further. Once he was certain she was asleep he grabbed his cell phone and left the bedroom. He headed for the kitchen, hoping the person he planned to call wasn’t busy.

  He froze in the doorway. Every single cabinet and drawer was wide open.

  Careful not to wake Selena he closed them all and took a seat at her kitchen table. He pressed the speed dial number that would connect him with Dragomir Ibanescu, the mayor of Maggie’s Grove.

  “Hello, Ash.” The man’s deeply accented voice sounded concerned. “Is something wrong with Selena?”

  “Hey, Dragos.” He took a shaky breath. “We had a visitor in the night. A see-through one.”

  “I’m going to assume it wasn’t Greg?” The sound of papers shuffling was clear. Dragos mu
st be doing his work for the township. The vampire dragon couldn’t work during the day, as he would automatically fall into his death sleep. Others took care of his work when the sun was in the sky, like his Renfield, Eddy, and now Eddy’s mate and Dragos’s older brother Trajan.

  “Hell no. Greg would never terrify Selena or I this way.” Greg was one of the ghosts Ash proudly called friend.

  “You’re afraid?” Dragos whistled. “Tell me what happened.”

  So Ash relayed everything he’d seen that night. “I was awake due to the weird noises Selena has been hearing. The sounds of scratching in the walls, like claws trying to dig through the drywall. There are constant banging noises that wake us both, and we keep hearing this growling noise that Parker claims is evil. And tonight, we not only had that visitor, it somehow moved the furniture around without me hearing a thing. Just now I found the drawers and doors in the kitchen all wide open, but nothing inside them moved.”

  “How long has this been going on?” Dragos sounded pissed.

  “For weeks, if what Selena has told me is the truth.” His mate might be stubborn, but she wouldn’t try and hide exactly how bad things had been.

  Would she?

  Ash shook his head. How the hell was he supposed to explain the rest? “Worse, it’s escalated. Whoever is doing this is capable of moving all the furniture in her house without making a sound. All of it, Dragos. That means it can hurt her. And I can say without a doubt it’s a ghost. I saw it. It floated through the wall and disappeared.”

  “You saw it? It actually manifested? That takes a lot of power.” The squeak of Dragos’s office chair was loud in the silent night. “And to move things about as well takes a great deal more. What does Selena have to say about it? Other than our local mediums she knows the most about hauntings.”

  “I haven’t asked her yet.” He couldn’t keep the snarl out of his voice. “Dragos, she’s exhausted. You can tell she hasn’t slept much. She flinches at every noise, even in her sleep.” He jumped a little at a banging noise. It seemed to be coming from inside one of the kitchen cabinets. “Fuck, Dragos. This is insane.”

  The squeaking of Dragos’s chair stopped. “It’s possible it’s a Lost One, a ghost who doesn’t remember who or what it was. If that’s so, it might be trying to reach out to whoever can hear it.”

  “If we’re dealing with a Lost One, why would it target Selena? Why not one of the mediums?”

  “I have no idea, other than her connection to the spirit world. It’s possible it was drawn to her power, or...” He could almost hear Dragos shrug. “It could have something to do with Selena’s kidnapping.”

  “You think something followed her home from the Van Helsing compound, and now doesn’t know where to go?”

  “If one of ours was sufficiently tortured before dying? Yes. Most residents go to Selena when something unusual happens. With Mel dead, she’d be the next logical choice for a witch. A shifter would go to Noah first, a psychic to Brian or Lore, and a dryad would attempt to contact Mina.”

  “And unable to communicate with any of them, they’d seek the witch doctor to make it all better.” Fuck. “Returning to the town, confused as hell as to why no one was talking to you? I could see that happening.” For a moment he felt sorry for the spirit, until he remembered the dark shadows under Selena’s eyes. “If this entity is angry and confused, could it hurt Greg?”

  “I...don’t know. Let me talk to Parker and Brian. If there’s a chance Greg could be harmed we’ll have to come up with something else.” Greg had been hurt scouting the Van Helsing Compound, something none of them had thought possible before. Harming a ghost took a special brand of magic and a tie to the spirit world most witches either didn’t possess or were extremely reluctant to wield, at least according to Greg himself. Brian had become overly protective of his spectral spouse from that moment, treating him like spun sugar in a rain storm.

  “I’ll wait for your call, then.” Ash sat back with a yawn. “I’m going to try and talk Selena into going to the Throne soon. I want to stay for a few more days, get a real handle on what’s going on here and make sure it’s not a witch pulling pranks or a psychic using astral projection. If this is a haunting, we’ll need to deal with it before we put her house on the market.”

  “Does she know you’re planning on selling her home?” Dragos was amused, and Ash couldn’t blame him.

  “Not yet.” Ash would persuade his mate to move in with him eventually. “And don’t tell her either.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. Oh, and Mina says hello, and to be careful.”

  “I will, thanks. Good night, Dragos.”

  “Good night.”

  Ash hung up the phone and headed back into the bedroom. Selena wasn’t the only one who was exhausted. If he didn’t get some sleep he’d be as jumpy as she was.

  Chapter Five

  Selena woke, chilled to the bone. Her breath misted in the air when she blew out.

  Fuck. The ghost was back.

  Ash was asleep beside her, his breaths deep and even. He looked so serene, so young, his green hair dappled with moonlight, his tanned skin inviting her touch. She’d slept better with him in the house than she had in weeks, all because he made her feel safe.

  She grunted in annoyance. She was the witch doctor, damn it. She shouldn’t need someone else to make her feel protected within her own home, but Ash did. He fit, despite her objections.

  She shivered in the cold. Something was about to happen. Her instincts were screaming at her to run from the room—hell, from the house. “Ash?”

  No answer.

  “Ash?” She shook his shoulder, surprised when he didn’t immediately wake up. Ash had been on high alert ever since he’d moved in. He must be really tired to still be asleep.

  “Ash!” She practically yelled his name, her terror building as his eyes didn’t open. He was so deeply asleep she didn’t know if even Greer could reach him, and the dryad singer was scary powerful.

  The bed shook ever so slightly, just enough for her to make a completely unmanly eep sound that would have embarrassed the hell out of her had anyone else heard it. Selena stared toward the footboard and, in her firmest tone, tried to make the entity stop. “Go away.”

  The bed covers dimpled, as if someone had placed their hands on the end of the bed and pressed down.

  “Stop it.” She shook Ash again, praying he’d wake up.

  No response. The way his head lolled as she shook him scared the hell out of her.

  The dimples moved up, and she could feel the pressure of the blankets against her legs.

  Selena pinched Ash’s arm as hard as she could, aware it might not work. She was beginning to suspect the ghost, entity, whatever, had something to do with Ash’s lack of response. “Ash! Wake the fuck up!”

  The dimples got to her waist, and Selena kicked out, ready to get out of bed.

  The comforter didn’t move. She was locked in place.

  She tried to sit up, thinking she could slide out at the top of the bed, but something grabbed hold of her ankles, keeping her in place. She kicked out again, more violently. This ghost wasn’t going to harm one hair on Ash’s head. With him so out of it she couldn’t risk that the ghost would try to go after him if she succeeded in leaving the bed. “Let go of me, asshole.”

  The dimples reached her upper arms, the ghost still grasping her ankles. Was there more than one, or was it using some power to hold her down while it crawled up her body?

  Selena called on her powers, her vision going white as she tried to see into the spirit realm. The tree of life flared on her forehead, but something was wrong about it. Instead of the joy and easy flowing connection she normally felt, it was a painful struggle to find the faintest thread of the spirit world. The images were blurry, as if she was looking through bubbled, etched glass.

  But she was connected, and what she saw had her gasping in horror. The black figure above her seemed coated in mist, it’s red, glowing eyes staring do
wn at her balefully.

  This spirit was hostile, intent on doing harm to either her or Ash.

  Well, it wasn’t going to get the chance. Selena focused, shooting a beam of power at the thing crouching on top of her.

  Its head flew back as if she’d punched it solidly in the jaw, but it didn’t move off of her the way she’d hoped. Instead, it snarled at her, its rotten teeth visible. Cold wrapped around her throat, cutting off her air, choking her into silence. Her vision was no longer dim because of her connection to the spirit world. Instead, black dots danced in front of her eyes as she fought to suck air into her starving lungs.

  She clawed at her throat, trying to loosen the hold the ghost had on her, but to no avail. Selena tried blasting power into the creature once more, but it didn’t relent, didn’t let go. If anything, it squeezed tighter, holding her with bruising force.

  Selena bucked against the entity, kicking and flailing as the dark spots grew. She was going to pass out, and if that happened, she would probably die.

  “Selena? What’s wrong?”

  Ash’s sleepy voice seemed to surprise the entity, because it looked toward Ash before dissipating. Selena coughed, sucking in air in grateful gasps as her vision cleared. She released her hold on the spirit world, her vision returning to normal.

  “Selena?” Ash rolled over, studying her with a worried expression. “Hold on.” He turned on the lamp, his eyes widening as he took in her expression. She was sure her face was red, her lips veering toward blue. “What the fuck?”

  “It choked me.” Her tone was raspy, her throat sore.