Mystically Bound (Frostbite, Book Three) (16 page)

Gretchen finally reached us, settling in
front of Caley, and held out a hand to her. When I angled my
flashlight down toward her palm, I noticed a locket with black
ribbon. “What’s that?”

My best friend took a step forward, examining
the necklace with suspicion. “Yes, what is
that
?”

Gretchen chuckled softly, probably at the
horror crossing Caley’s face. “You need to wear this. The lilies in
the locket will protect you. Alexander won’t be able to cause you
any harm or do any mischief—.”

Without letting Gretchen finish, Caley
grabbed the necklace and slid it over her head. After which, she
lifted the golden locket and gave it a hard look. “This shit is
weird.” She raised her head and the incredulity in her eyes had
deepened. “It will honestly keep me safe?”

Gretchen nodded. “It will.”

While I trusted Gretchen and her magic, I
understood why Caley didn’t. If I hadn’t seen Gretchen’s spells
work with my very own eyes, I doubted I’d feel as confident as I
did now. “I know it’s hard to believe, but she’s telling the
truth.”

Caley shook her head in disbelief, dropping
the necklace to settle against her chest. “All right, whatever.
Okay, is that it?”

“You also need to burn this.” Gretchen opened
her other hand to a small white sachet. “It’s dried amaranth
flowers, dittany of Crete, and Wormwood.”

Caley’s nose scrunched. “And this will…?”

“It’s Calling up the Dead Incense,” Gretchen
replied, giving her hand a shake for Caley to accept her offering.
“Which will allow Alexander the right to take over.”

“You know…” Caley said, taking the pillow and
then looking at it with my flashlight lighting up her hand. “It’s
frightening that simple ingredients have the power to do this
stuff.” She looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Like seriously,
frightening.”

I might have agreed with her, but those
ingredients had saved my butt. “It’s all for the greater-good. Does
that make you feel better?”

“No.”

I laughed, totally understanding Caley’s
hesitation. Soon enough, she’d see for herself that witchcraft was
real. But seeing the tension in Caley’s posture and how she
couldn’t stand still, moving back and forth along the grass, I
thought it best to move along. To Gretchen, I asked, “Is that all
she has to do?”

Gretchen backed away from Caley, settling in
next to Alexander and giving him a little smile. While she couldn’t
see him, she could sense the change of energy in the area and
clearly, she figured it out without my input. “She needs to welcome
him in by saying: I call upon the spirit of Alexander Stone. What
once was one, is now two. I welcome thee.”

I bit my lip and my muscles tensed. Lord, I
felt horrible for putting Caley in this position and she was
right—after this night, I would kiss her ass for a very long time.
“Not so bad, right?”

“I still hate you,” Caley grumbled.

Glancing at Alexander next to her, who had
been waiting patiently standing by the tall grass that waved in the
breeze, I asked, “Are you ready?”

He nodded.

I inhaled and wet my lips, noticing the
crickets signing around us. Maybe I’d been so drawn into the moment
I hadn’t heard them until now, or perhaps they’d gotten louder. “Do
we need to stand back or anything?”

Caley cursed. “Tess Jennings, you are
seriously making me my doubt my sanity at the moment.”

Gretchen smiled, shaking her head. “We’re
fine right here.” She reached into her pocket and took out a
lighter, offering it to Caley. “Just place the sachet on the ground
and light it. Wait a minute for the smoke to rise and then say the
chant three times.”

Caley released the most exasperated breath
I’d ever heard come from her mouth, and when she looked at me, I
saw the fear in her eyes and the slight tremble of her bottom
lip.

I stepped forward, gripped her arm and
squeezed tight. “You’ll be fine. Gretchen would never allow this if
it wasn’t safe, and to be honest, I’m hoping I’ll get what I need
in one conversation and then you’ll wake up. Bingo, bango,
fineto.”

Caley’s head lowered down to the sachet a
moment before she gave me a weak nod. “Okay.” After harsh breath,
she knelt, placed the incense on the ground, staring at it for a
long while. She raised her gaze to the black sky. “I am out of my
goddamn mind.”

Without another word and with a full-out
quake of her fingers, she lit the incense and the smoke drifted up
from below. Staying on her knees, she said in a shaky voice, “I
call upon the spirit of Alexander Stone. What once was one, is now
two. I welcome thee.”

I held my breath while she recited it again.
On the third time, I exhaled as Alexander’s odd ghostly form
shimmered with bright colors—blues, greens, pinks, almost spending
off sparks into the night.

Caley’s gaze caught mine and I smiled gently,
hoping to reassure her. I’d never had suggested this either if I
thought she was in any danger and I hoped, in my face, she
witnessed that strength.

Before my eyes, the weird lights flickered
around her now, as did Alexander’s body and Caley’s eyes widened.
Her mouth parted on a loud gasp and those lights became brighter,
causing me to squint. The crickets around us had gone quiet and
silence settled in.

A huge rush of wind blew the hair back from
my face, and the lights became so intense I covered my eyes. I
peeked through my fingers, noticing Gretchen staring at Caley,
meaning she couldn’t see what I could.

It actually pleased me Caley couldn’t see
this because I suspected it might scare her, because damn, it
scared me. I forced myself to look back, since poor Caley was the
one going through it and I stared at her knees. The light seemed
centered on her torso, but it lit up the grass around her in a
bluish glow.

The light got increasingly brighter before
the wind picked up, then the light vanished. Caley’s even loader
gasps filling the dark night around me. I quickly lowered my hand
and found her with her hands on her knees, drawing in deep
breaths.

I looked at Gretchen and she was studying
Caley with a tilt to her head, then she shrugged at me. I turned to
my best friend, who remained on her knees with her head bowed to
the grass below. “Caley?”

Her gaze lifted and in that split second, I
knew my friend no longer controlled her body. In her blue eyes,
softness resided there. It was a very rare thing to see Caley look
as gentle as she did now. “Alexander?”

“Hello.”

“Oh, shit,” I exclaimed, raising my free hand
to my mouth and whispered, “It worked.”

Gretchen stepped in front of Alexander,
gazing down at him. “Alexander?”

He stood, looking slightly uncomfortable. I
suspected that meant he was getting used to Caley’s slender body
instead of the older, manly one he once owned. “This feels much
better.”

I blinked away from my shock, not liking the
sound of that. “Well, don’t go getting used to it. You’re out of
there once we’re done.”

He smiled at me with a smile I’d never seen
from Caley—wisdom etched into her features. “I’m aware of that. I
promise not to take advantage.”

I couldn’t fight back the near hysterical
laughter that rose at hearing Caley talk like…that. Older. Proper.
Without snark. Just all types of wrong. But it also settled a
slight worry I had that I wouldn’t notice the difference.

Seeing Caley right now made me fully aware
this was
not
my best friend. “Well, good.” The crickets from
the swamp sang again as asked Gretchen, “What’s the plan now?”
Perhaps I hadn’t totally believed this would work, because now, I
wasn’t sure what to ask of him.

“Might we go inside?”

At Caley’s oddly soft voice, I jerked my head
to Alexander. “Huh?”

He gestured toward the house and Caley’s eyes
looked pained. “I’ve been stuck at this swamp since my death. My
strength only remains because of the magnetic fields located here.
I’ve tapped into that power to be able to remain and not be forced
into the Netherworld. I’d quite enjoy a change of scenery.”

“Oh, of course,” I replied in total
agreement, but a thought rose. “So, that’s what the spell was? It
didn’t just send you away; it trapped you in the Netherworld?”

He nodded, taking a step toward me and the
beam of my flashlight landed on the locket on Caley’s chest. “If
the spell had succeeded and I didn’t tap into the magnetic fields
to break that hold, I would’ve been lost there forever.”

“Well, I’m glad the spell failed,” was my
only reply.

“As am I,” Alexander agreed.

With Gretchen leading the way, I followed in behind
Alexander, even noticing Caley’s walk looked different. She always
had a seductive strut, but now she looked slightly clunky.

Truth be told, I liked seeing the little
differences to remind me I preferred my best friend just the way
she was, and if anything, not to waste time to ensure Alexander got
out quickly.

At the front door of the house, Gretchen
entered with Alexander in tow, and the second I stepped over the
threshold, I stopped dead in my tracks. Wayde and Dane stood in the
foyer by the staircase, their eyes glued on us.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest and I
couldn’t move, and apparently, neither could Alexander or Gretchen.
There we all stood, in the center of the large foyer, surrounded by
soft yellow painted walls and the comforting scent of Amelia’s
baking, not saying a word.

After an incredibly long staring contest,
Wayde pointed at Caley. “Why is she here?”

Oh, crud…I hadn’t thought up a reasonable
explanation for why Caley would be there. But part of me wanted to
sigh in relief he saw Caley and didn’t suspect any trickery. Before
I could come up with something, Alexander said, “Would you let your
best friend stay in this house without you?”

Okay, I had to give it to Alexander because
he actually sounded exactly like Caley. Not only her clipped voice,
but that was totally something she would’ve said. “Um…she’s a bit
protective.”

Dane’s eyebrows rose, and well, I could
understand that well enough. Caley hadn’t been any part of the
whole demonic business, so why would she be now? I quickly changed
the subject to avoid him looking too deep into it. “Alexander
didn’t show up tonight. I have nothing new to tell you.”

Gretchen added, “We’ll go out later again to
see, but there is no sense sitting out there and waiting for him to
show up.”

“I disagree,” Wayde spat.

Gretchen frowned, taking a step toward him.
“I won’t exhaust Tess. She’s been at this all day.”

Wayde’s lips parted to no doubt offer some
stupid retort, but Dane cut in, “She’s right. If we push Tess,
it’ll do us no good. She’ll be better to us if she stays sharp.”
His gaze swept to Caley and he stared so intently, with a furrow to
his brow, I worried. “Besides, having her friend here doesn’t
matter as long as Tess continues to look into this.”

I paused at the measured look in his eye. Did
he know? I had no clue how this all worked. I wasn’t a medium in
the sense I got feelings off ghosts; no, they just told me how they
felt. I wondered if Dane could tell a ghost was now in Caley’s body
and more to the point, that Alexander had joined her.

While deep down, even though I hated Dane, I
couldn’t bring myself to believe he had any involvement in
Alexander’s death. Truthfully, I didn’t believe anyone in this
house did. I hoped I was right, since if the killer knew what we
were doing now, we’d be fucked sideways.

Not wanting to dive into that any further, or
feel too scrutinized I’d mess up, I changed the subject to get the
attention off us. “By the way, did you know you have quite a few
ghosts here at the house?”

Wayde’s stare met mine dead-on, his gaze
intently focused. “What ghosts?”

Under his stare, I really did hate how much
he unnerved me, but I amounted that to being a little afraid he’d
find out about Alexander. “I helped a woman from the Glasgow family
cross last night. There’s a cranky older man, and a younger one,
too.”

Dane frowned at me. “If ghosts are bothering
you, I told you that you have the power—”

Before I had the chance to confirm I had been
ordering them away, Wayde stated, “You’re not here to help other
ghosts. You are to help solve Alexander’s death. You have the power
to force ghosts to keep their distance, so use it. Am I
understood?”

I snorted, considering I planned on doing
that anyway. “Yeah, got it.”

“Did you speak to my father?”

Leaning a little to the side, I noticed
Amelia standing in the doorway of the kitchen with flour on her
hands. “Sorry, no.”

Something close to irritation crossed her
features—which I understood, she wanted answers—but she controlled
it as she said, “I’ve made some fresh bread for sandwiches if you
and Gretchen would…” She had been walking toward me, but when she
took in Caley, she stopped. “Oh, your friend has returned.”

I wanted to exhale in relief that Amelia
wasn’t a medium and couldn’t sense ghosts. For whatever reason, I
suspected that if she could, she would’ve known her father was with
us because of their bond.

Looking to the second half of that bond, I
found Alexander staring at his daughter with such sorrow in his
face that I elbowed him. At his low grunt—that sounded entirely
masculine—I smiled at Amelia. “Thanks for the sandwiches. I’ll come
down in a bit to get them.” Maybe Amelia cooked because she needed
something to do, but I didn’t mind; her food was delicious.

Without another word, I grabbed Alexander’s
hand and dragged him with me, brushing past Wayde at the staircase.
I rushed up the stairs, taking two at a time, and Gretchen
followed.

At the bedroom door, I whisked it open and
hurried in. Once Gretchen and Alexander entered, I closed the door
with a slam and turned to them. “Oh. My. God. I think Dane
knows.”