1 Broken Hearted Ghoul (26 page)
She was anxious to get home after Terry had called. I didn’t keep her.
I stood outside for a long time, staring at the stars. I’d made the best choices I could for Kate, and still bad things from those choices had spilled over into her life.
Should we move? Are we too vulnerable here?
I wasn’t sure. It was something I’d have to think about. I didn’t know if Addie could go with us if I decided to take Kate away from here. It wouldn’t be an easy decision to leave this place, and all the memories it held.
There was no point in showering until all the blood was gone from the kitchen too. By the time I got inside, it was already tacky. I groaned, thinking about how long it was going to take to scrub all of that away.
Lucas had already used the black bag I’d grabbed from the hearse to get Mary’s body ready for transport. He’d wrapped her head in a trash bag, and put it beside her body.
“I was wondering where you’d gone.” I was happy to see he’d already gotten started.
“I thought I might as well work in here. You do not want Kate to see this in the morning.”
“Thanks.” I called Brandon and told him we needed a pickup. I ignored him as he went into a five-minute rant about everything he already had to do. “I’m leaving her outside. She might attract bears.”
I hung up on his loud obscenities. He’d be there before morning.
We moved Mary out to the backyard, careful that the head and body wouldn’t even come
close
to touching before it could be burned.
Back inside, I filled a bucket with hot water tinged with bleach and soap. Lucas was curiously silent as we worked. “What’s wrong, besides the obvious? We were victorious. The ghoul is dead. You don’t look the part—unless this is how people look from your time when you win.”
“I know I have to go, my lady.”
“Leave? Why?”
“I feel I pose a threat to you and your family. I do not want you to think of me that way. It would be better for me to seek my answers elsewhere.”
I glanced up at him as I knelt on the floor with a scrub brush. “Is this a non-negotiable goodbye, or are you open to me asking you to stay?”
“You should consider what happened this night before asking me not to leave.” He grabbed a scrub brush from the sink, and dropped to his knees beside me. “I could have killed you, or Lady Kate.”
“You mean that whole blue lightning thing that probably saved both of our lives?”
He smiled grimly. “That was completely out of my control. I do not know how I did it. Suddenly, it was there. Suppose that had been you, instead of the ghoul.”
I scrubbed the side of the cabinet. “I know you think this is a bad thing, but I don’t think you’re that kind of sorcerer.”
“But we cannot know for certain. It is without question that Abe, and the others, have made that clear to you. They will only continue to do so if I remain.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not easily swayed by the opinions of the people around me. I’m sure you’re a good sorcerer. I’m not worried about you hurting anyone.”
“Perhaps.” He attacked the blood on the table legs. “I wish I knew. That vexes me more beyond all else.”
“I know it does. But it doesn’t bother me. I want you to stay. I think we’re safer with you here than if you were gone—blue lightning and all.”
“As you wish.” He kissed me carefully, just his lips against mine. “Let us get this muddle cleansed. I think we could both do with a good scrub too.”
“Sounds good to me.”
* * *
Dawn was approaching after Lucas and I had finished cleaning—the kitchen and ourselves. There was about two hours before Kate would normally have been up for school. I wasn’t sending her that day. She’d been through enough between the ghoul, and her cold. Maybe we could find something fun to do instead.
I heard Lucas’s deep, regular breathing in the turret room, and Kate’s in her bed. I wasn’t sure where Addie was, no doubt off contemplating her impressive new abilities.
The coals in the hearth were still red. I poked at them a little, and coaxed them back to life before I threw a few pieces of wood on them. The kitchen and living room would be extra warm for Kate when she came downstairs. It was a frosty morning.
Brandon had come for Mary’s body during the night. I didn’t go outside, just let him take care of it. I was done with it. I hoped never to see another ghoul.
At least I finally knew why Abe collected his zombies quickly after their twenty years were up. I promised myself not to ask any other questions about Abe’s operation—I knew it was a promise I couldn’t keep.
I grabbed my laptop. Jacob had given it to me for my birthday just before his death. I typed
Lucas Trevailier
into the search engine. I really didn’t expect to find anything. I planned to look up whatever I could about
sorcerers
when I was finished.
To my surprise, a full page came up with his name on it. Here were the answers he’d been seeking. He didn’t have to do any soul searching for them—just hop on Google.
The page showed a photo of an old tapestry from the 1300s that was hanging in a European museum. It was grainy, hard to say that it even resembled Lucas. I zoomed in on it.
The text was much clearer. It identified the man in the tapestry as Lucas Trevailier, and didn’t pull any punches as to the author’s opinion of him.
The evil French sorcerer killed many innocents in his lifetime. His magic was powerful. He was challenged by other sorcerers, and the church itself—but none were able to overcome him. He migrated to Britain in 1300, and vanished mysteriously in 1312, to the delight of many. His reign of terror was finally over. No one knows what happened to him. Perhaps his magic had grown too powerful, and had finally destroyed him. The world was a better place without him.
I heard Kate coming down the stairs with Addie, and quickly closed the laptop.
About the Authors
Joyce and Jim Lavene write bestselling mystery together. They have written and published more than 60 novels for Harlequin, Berkley and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications.
Pseudonyms include J.J. Cook, Ellie Grant, Joye Ames and Elyssa Henry
They live in rural North Carolina with their family, their rescue animals, Quincy - cat, Stan Lee – cat, and Rudi - dog.
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