Haunted
Page 64
His eyes met mine. For a minute, we just looked at each other. Then his lips moved in a few silent words, and he disappeared.
I stood there, feet rooted to the ground, my brain whirring, refusing to think, afraid that if I started thinking about it, I wouldn't be able to stop. Was I really losing him? My gut went cold at the thought. I'd fix this. I would… soon.
For now, I headed back inside to ask Ross about the amulet.
It was only when I returned to Ross, and saw his smug smile of triumph, that I realized my mistake. I know; it should have been obvious to me long before that. One second I'm worrying about losing Kristof's friendship, the next I'm plowing forward with the very action that brought things to a head in the first place. Typical—barreling toward my own destruction even as the warning signs flew up around me.
As long as I was there, though, it wouldn't hurt to know about the amulet. If Kristof was right, and it was only a myth, then it didn't matter. I knew his objection was not to me hearing about the amulet, but to the relentless obsession it symbolized. But… well, I could think about that later.
I told myself I'd only stay long enough to hear what this amulet did, but as soon as I heard that, I needed to know everything Ross could tell me about it. This amulet, if it existed, could solve my quest to help Savannah… with none of those pesky angelic responsibilities. According to Ross, the necklace, known as Dantalian's Amulet, together with the incantation inscribed on it, would grant the wearer the ability to possess a living person. The only catch? The wearer had to have demon blood. It was almost too good to be true.
Problem was, the amulet's function was all Ross knew. He didn't even realize "Dantalian" was the name of a demon. I didn't enlighten him now—as a half-demon, he'd be able to use such an amulet just as easily as I would, so I wasn't giving him any help finding it. Not that I thought it could be found, but…
Well, it bore thought, and maybe a little investigation, when I was done with this Nix quest.
When I was almost done picking Ross's brain, I heard a noise in the hall, the creak of a floorboard. I slipped out, but no one was there. If it had been Kristof, he'd probably heard all he needed to hear. That thought spurred me to bring my talk with Ross to a quick conclusion. I gave him a transportation code more to his liking, then was saying good-bye when I heard the floorboards creak again. This time, I cast a blur spell and rushed out, hoping to catch Kris eavesdropping. Instead, I ran smack into Trsiel.
"Er, hello," I said. "Fancy meeting you here."
He glowered at me. "A long way from Massachusetts, isn't it, Eve?"
Before I could answer, he took my arm and teleported us out.
Chapter 30
I'D HOPED TRSIEL'S ARRIVAL MEANT HE HAD A NEW A NEW LEAD for us to follow, but he was only checking up on me. After escorting me back to the Borden residence, he returned to Amanda Sullivan's cell. I spent the next ten hours at the Bordens', rehashing what I knew and trying to find a fresh direction. I kept hoping Kristof would pop by, but he didn't.
In the eleventh hour, an angel appeared.
It was just Trsiel, but by that point, it seemed like divine intervention nonetheless. A sparkling conversationalist Lizzie Borden was not.
"Got a lead," he said.
"Oh, thank God," I said, leaping to my feet. "When can we go? Now? Please?"
He laughed, took hold of my hand, and teleported me away.
Seems Sullivan finally had a vision of the Nix. She was still in spirit form, but on the move. Through Sullivan's dreams, Trsiel had pinpointed her last stopover: here. Wherever "here" was.
We were tramping across a dark meadow. A wispy fog had settled, a wet lace that smelled of heather and something not nearly so pleasant.
I wrinkled my nose. "Wet dog?"
As I said the words, a hairy red-brown lump appeared in my path. I stumbled back with an oath. The lump turned and fixed me with big bovine eyes. Then it shook its head, long curved horns flashing.
"What the hell is that?" I said. "A yak?"
"Highland cattle, I believe."
"Highland… We're in Scotland?"
"Near Dundee."
"And the Nix was here? Doing what? Cattle-herding?"
"No, visiting that."
He pointed to a forest. Seemed a strange place to visit, but before I made a fool of myself by asking, I narrowed my eyes and concentrated on sharpening my night vision. After a moment, I could see a building soaring above the treetops. Spires ringed the huge, flat roof.
"Looks like a castle," I said.
"Glamis Castle."
"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness."
One of the cows mooed appreciatively. Trsiel arched his brows.
"What?" I said. "You recognize Bogart and Bacall but not the Immortal Bard?"
A shrug and a half-smile. "I've always been more of a cinematic angel. Shakespeare told some great stories, but I could never get past the boys in drag playing Juliet. As for the quote, judging by the locale, I'm guessing Macbeth."
"Bingo. My one and only high school drama starring role: Lady Macbeth. I was a natural."
Trsiel started to laugh.
I turned on him, finger raised. "Don't say it."
Trsiel grinned. "I don't need to."
I started forward again, still staring at those majestic spires, black against the blue-gray night. "So this is that Glamis?"
"This is the Glamis Castle that Shakespeare wrote about, though it had nothing to do with the historical Macbeth."
We walked through a barbed-wire fence and onto a path.
"What's the Nix doing here?"
"I'm not sure," Trsiel said. "I saw the images through Amanda Sullivan, and I recognized the castle, but the only connection I can make is that it's reputed to be the most haunted in Scotland."
"Oooh, a haunted castle. I've always wanted to visit one of those. What's the story?"
He smiled. "Which one?"
"The best one. The bone-chilling-est one."
"Well, the best one, I'm afraid, doesn't involve a ghost at all, but a living, breathing monster. As for ghosts
I stood there, feet rooted to the ground, my brain whirring, refusing to think, afraid that if I started thinking about it, I wouldn't be able to stop. Was I really losing him? My gut went cold at the thought. I'd fix this. I would… soon.
For now, I headed back inside to ask Ross about the amulet.
It was only when I returned to Ross, and saw his smug smile of triumph, that I realized my mistake. I know; it should have been obvious to me long before that. One second I'm worrying about losing Kristof's friendship, the next I'm plowing forward with the very action that brought things to a head in the first place. Typical—barreling toward my own destruction even as the warning signs flew up around me.
As long as I was there, though, it wouldn't hurt to know about the amulet. If Kristof was right, and it was only a myth, then it didn't matter. I knew his objection was not to me hearing about the amulet, but to the relentless obsession it symbolized. But… well, I could think about that later.
I told myself I'd only stay long enough to hear what this amulet did, but as soon as I heard that, I needed to know everything Ross could tell me about it. This amulet, if it existed, could solve my quest to help Savannah… with none of those pesky angelic responsibilities. According to Ross, the necklace, known as Dantalian's Amulet, together with the incantation inscribed on it, would grant the wearer the ability to possess a living person. The only catch? The wearer had to have demon blood. It was almost too good to be true.
Problem was, the amulet's function was all Ross knew. He didn't even realize "Dantalian" was the name of a demon. I didn't enlighten him now—as a half-demon, he'd be able to use such an amulet just as easily as I would, so I wasn't giving him any help finding it. Not that I thought it could be found, but…
Well, it bore thought, and maybe a little investigation, when I was done with this Nix quest.
When I was almost done picking Ross's brain, I heard a noise in the hall, the creak of a floorboard. I slipped out, but no one was there. If it had been Kristof, he'd probably heard all he needed to hear. That thought spurred me to bring my talk with Ross to a quick conclusion. I gave him a transportation code more to his liking, then was saying good-bye when I heard the floorboards creak again. This time, I cast a blur spell and rushed out, hoping to catch Kris eavesdropping. Instead, I ran smack into Trsiel.
"Er, hello," I said. "Fancy meeting you here."
He glowered at me. "A long way from Massachusetts, isn't it, Eve?"
Before I could answer, he took my arm and teleported us out.
Chapter 30
I'D HOPED TRSIEL'S ARRIVAL MEANT HE HAD A NEW A NEW LEAD for us to follow, but he was only checking up on me. After escorting me back to the Borden residence, he returned to Amanda Sullivan's cell. I spent the next ten hours at the Bordens', rehashing what I knew and trying to find a fresh direction. I kept hoping Kristof would pop by, but he didn't.
In the eleventh hour, an angel appeared.
It was just Trsiel, but by that point, it seemed like divine intervention nonetheless. A sparkling conversationalist Lizzie Borden was not.
"Got a lead," he said.
"Oh, thank God," I said, leaping to my feet. "When can we go? Now? Please?"
He laughed, took hold of my hand, and teleported me away.
Seems Sullivan finally had a vision of the Nix. She was still in spirit form, but on the move. Through Sullivan's dreams, Trsiel had pinpointed her last stopover: here. Wherever "here" was.
We were tramping across a dark meadow. A wispy fog had settled, a wet lace that smelled of heather and something not nearly so pleasant.
I wrinkled my nose. "Wet dog?"
As I said the words, a hairy red-brown lump appeared in my path. I stumbled back with an oath. The lump turned and fixed me with big bovine eyes. Then it shook its head, long curved horns flashing.
"What the hell is that?" I said. "A yak?"
"Highland cattle, I believe."
"Highland… We're in Scotland?"
"Near Dundee."
"And the Nix was here? Doing what? Cattle-herding?"
"No, visiting that."
He pointed to a forest. Seemed a strange place to visit, but before I made a fool of myself by asking, I narrowed my eyes and concentrated on sharpening my night vision. After a moment, I could see a building soaring above the treetops. Spires ringed the huge, flat roof.
"Looks like a castle," I said.
"Glamis Castle."
"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness."
One of the cows mooed appreciatively. Trsiel arched his brows.
"What?" I said. "You recognize Bogart and Bacall but not the Immortal Bard?"
A shrug and a half-smile. "I've always been more of a cinematic angel. Shakespeare told some great stories, but I could never get past the boys in drag playing Juliet. As for the quote, judging by the locale, I'm guessing Macbeth."
"Bingo. My one and only high school drama starring role: Lady Macbeth. I was a natural."
Trsiel started to laugh.
I turned on him, finger raised. "Don't say it."
Trsiel grinned. "I don't need to."
I started forward again, still staring at those majestic spires, black against the blue-gray night. "So this is that Glamis?"
"This is the Glamis Castle that Shakespeare wrote about, though it had nothing to do with the historical Macbeth."
We walked through a barbed-wire fence and onto a path.
"What's the Nix doing here?"
"I'm not sure," Trsiel said. "I saw the images through Amanda Sullivan, and I recognized the castle, but the only connection I can make is that it's reputed to be the most haunted in Scotland."
"Oooh, a haunted castle. I've always wanted to visit one of those. What's the story?"
He smiled. "Which one?"
"The best one. The bone-chilling-est one."
"Well, the best one, I'm afraid, doesn't involve a ghost at all, but a living, breathing monster. As for ghosts
