Sisters of Salt and Iron

  “What’s up?” Gage asked as he approached. “Is that a skull in the planter?”

  “Yep,” I replied. “We thought it was Noah’s. It wasn’t.”

  Ben walked up beside me and put his arm around me. “How did you figure that out?”

  “Wren just so happened to be with the ghost whose head burst into flames. She sent me a text, but I could feel her panic, too.”

  “That’s a sneaky ghost,” Gage remarked, doing what he always did—stating the obvious.

  I nodded. “He is, but we’re going to figure out how to blitz the douche bag and get my sister back.”

  “He took Wren?” Roxi looked horrified.

  “Again?” asked Gage. “Didn’t Bent take her, too?”

  I sighed. My sister was primo hostage material for any hostile ghost. “Yeah, he did. Look, she’s not stupid. She was lonely. All she wanted was a friend, and he took advantage of that.” I didn’t have to look at Kevin to know he felt guilty.

  “What’s his endgame?” Mace asked, hands in his pockets.

  “Crossing over, general terror, destroying my family and probably eventual world domination.”

  “Crossing over?” Gage leaned against the hood of Ben’s car. “You mean, like, coming back to life?”

  “No. He’ll be a ghost that exists on this plane. He’ll be seen and heard—felt. And he’ll do it with all the anger and insanity a ghost his age has built up.”

  Mace frowned. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m thinking about setting fire to the stage so the concert has to be canceled.”

  My gaze locked with his. He knew that would make keeping my promise to Joe practically impossible, not to mention the risk he’d be taking. “Not an option,” I said. If anyone was going to risk getting arrested, hurt or even killed, it was me, and no one else.

  Roxi pulled a mini candy bar from her purse, unwrapped it and shoved it into her mouth. She had a whole bag in there. I held out my hand for one. “We have to stop him, then.” She chewed some more and slapped candy into my palm. “We just salt and burn him, right? Once we find him?”

  I unwrapped the chocolate. “It’s not that simple. Wren thinks his bones are in the basement of the residence Noah stayed in when he was a patient at Haven Crest.”

  “How did his bones get into the cellar?” This came from Ben as he draped his jacket over my shivering shoulders. Ohmygoditwassowarm. I shoved the candy into my mouth. My hands were dirty. Grave dust. Gross. But I didn’t spit out the bar.

  “Me,” confessed Kevin, stepping forward. “Noah’s my ancestor and also a medium. Apparently that makes it easy for him to possess me. He used me to move his bones.”

  Mace gave him a hard look. “You’re just fucking up all over the place, aren’t you?”

  I scowled at him. “Hey. It’s not his fault. Kevin’s in just as much danger as Wren and I are.” If Noah decided he needed a body again, Kevin would be the one he came for. “I need Kevin to help deal with any ghosts that come our way, especially with Wren working the crowd at Haven Crest. The two of you can fight later. Now let’s get inside.”

  They all followed after Ben and me, and I tried to ignore the twinge of guilt I felt for chastising Mace.

  Inside the house, I ran upstairs to clean up and change while Nan played doting hostess. She seemed to really like my friends—especially the boys, because they ate everything she put in front of them. Seriously, there had been times when I thought Gage hadn’t eaten for a week before coming over.

  When I came back down in leggings and an oversized sweater, I found Ben at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Hey,” I said. “What’s up?”

  He took my head in both of his hands and stared at me for a couple of heartbeats before kissing me. He tasted like cookie. I smiled against his lips.

  “Are you okay?” he asked when we finally drew apart. His dark eyes were bright with concern. “Is Wren?”

  I nodded. “We’ve been better. This guy really played her. I want to torch him just for that.”

  “How can we prepare when we don’t know what we’re preparing for? I don’t like the idea of you going up against this guy.”

  He was worried about me. Most of my friends seemed to think I had all the answers. I appreciated their confidence, but knowing that someone cared about me and my well-being was awesome. If anything happened and Wren couldn’t be with us, at least I knew Ben had my back.

  “I guess we’ll just have to prepare based on what we do know, and then multiply it by ten.” I took his hand. “Come on, let’s get to work. We’re running low on time.”

  Before getting to the séance, the bunch of us gathered around the dining room table—upon which Nan had laid out a plethora of snacks. She seemed surprised when I asked her if she wanted to brainstorm with us.

  “I would, yes.” She sat down at the other end of the table, so that she and I were foot and head, respectively. A red twin and a white, as it should be.

  I had a notebook in front of me—I worked better on paper. Gage liked to put everything on his laptop, but I found it hard to concentrate and type at the same time.

  I filled everyone in on Noah’s backstory—about his sister and Emily and how he’d sworn revenge. I told them about him setting up Alys so she’d get sent to the void for killing her own kind. Then I told them about how he’d infected Wren with part of his energy so she would suffer if she wasn’t with him.

  “Bastard,” Kevin muttered. I gave him what I hoped was a sympathetic smile.

  “Okay, so we know he’s out for revenge,” Ben began, “but if I had been a ghost for a century or so, waiting to get my revenge on someone, why wait until this Halloween? What’s so special about this one? I mean, wouldn’t you and Wren have been easier to get rid of when you were kids?”

  That was a good question. I mean, aside from the months spent in Bell Hill, and the little time I’d spent in Massachusetts with my parents after that, I’d lived the entirety of my life in New Devon. I’d been on Haven Crest property before; so had Wren. So why had he waited until now?

  “Maybe he wanted to make sure you were old enough to know what he was doing?” Mace suggested. “Make sure you suffered?”

  “Maybe. It’s not the anniversary of his sister’s death,” I said, consulting the notes I’d made earlier. “I don’t see anything that makes this year special to him.”

  “Maybe it’s not him,” Nan suggested. “Maybe this year is special because it’s the year you and your sister turned sixteen.”

  We all looked at her. “So?” I asked.

  Nan smiled that smile that said she didn’t know how I’d managed to survive this long in the world. “Sixteen has historically been the ‘coming of age’ year for many cultures. If you add one and six, you get seven, which has historically been a number of power in religious and mythical texts. In some versions of the Persephone-and-Hades story, it was seven pomegranate seeds that Persephone ate, sealing her fate to spend half the year as the underworld’s queen.”

  I stared at her. Persephone and Hades—parents to the Melinoe. Nan had been doing her research, which made me feel stupid and totally out of my depth. I should have already known what she’d just said. I should have been better prepared for this, but Noah had made sure no one had been there to prepare Wren and me.

  “Sounds good to me,” Gage announced, giving Nan a grin.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. I hesitated. “There’s something I have to tell you guys. There’s lore that suggests that Wren and I are descendants of Persephone and Hades.”

  One by one, each of their heads turned toward me. One by one, they looked at me in slack-jawed surprise.

  “There’s a story that they had a daughter that was split into twins—one had ties to the dead, the other to the living. It sounds crazy, I know, but...” What
else could I say that wouldn’t make me sound insane?

  “From what we can tell, there have been twins like Lark and Wren in every other generation of my family line,” Nan told them. “I was supposed to have been like Wren, but my twin died, breaking the cycle. I believe the four of you have spent enough time with my extraordinary granddaughters to see how special they are for yourselves.”

  Gage stared at me in wide-eyed wonder. “You’re like Wonder Woman or something.”

  The rest of them laughed, which made me feel better. Ben still stared at me. I couldn’t quite figure out the expression on his face. Was it amazement? Fear? No. I think it might have been respect. Maybe a little awe. Was he okay with this? Or was this the moment when he finally decided I was just too much of a freak?

  “We know we can’t stop the show, so how do we protect people?” It was Roxi who brought us all back to the problem at hand. “It’s going to be a big crowd.”

  I turned to Mace. “Your dad has guys working the gate and security, right?”

  “Yeah.” He rested his forearms on the table and leaned forward. “Olgilvie’s going to be there and a few other guys, along with outside security.”

  “I’m surprised Olgilvie would want to work it,” Roxi remarked. “Wasn’t he a patient?”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t anything major,” I said. “Otherwise he probably wouldn’t be allowed to be a cop.” Still, he was a murderer, according to Joe. And a rapist.

  I turned my attention back to Mace. “Do you know if they plan to use hand stamps?”

  “Yeah, they do. Dad asked me to get some, after making me promise not to tell people so they could sneak in.” He made a face. “Like I’d buy my own ticket but sneak someone else in.”

  “You haven’t gotten the stamps yet, then?”

  “No. I was going to get them tonight—less chance of someone figuring out which ones I got and getting their own.” Mace popped a pretzel into his mouth. “Why?”

  “You need to get stamps that have the Seal of Solomon on them.”

  His eyes crinkled at the corners. It was the same expression he made when he fought the urge to be sarcastic. “And where, pray tell, would I get stamps with the Seal of freaking Solomon on them?”

  “I know!” Nan exclaimed. She got up from the table and rushed off into the living room. A few moments later she returned with her laptop, which she set on the table and began clicking away on the keys.

  “Found some.” She turned the laptop around so we could see it. There, at the bargain price of $4.99 with free shipping, was a wood-backed stamp depicting the Star of Solomon.

  “We can have them by tomorrow if I buy them in the next five minutes.”

  I looked at Mace. He shrugged. “Sure. Can you get two, Mrs. Noble? Please?”

  Nan smiled at him. “Mrs. Noble was my mother-in-law, and I couldn’t stand her. Call me Charlotte. And, yes, I can get two.”

  “What does the seal do?” Gage asked.

  “It’s protection against evil ghosts or spirits,” Kevin responded before I could. I didn’t mind, since I would have said the same thing almost word for word.

  “If the seal is stamped onto everyone who goes into the show, it will give some protection against whatever Noah has planned. At least in theory.”

  Gage smiled at me. He had really white teeth that looked even whiter next to his tanned skin. He and Roxi both looked like walking toothpaste commercials. “Your theories haven’t steered us wrong yet.”

  I smiled back. It was either that or plant a big wet one on him for saying exactly what I needed to hear.

  “The stamps are a good idea,” Ben said. He squeezed my hand, and I knew he meant it. For a moment I believed it would all work out. But then I thought of Wren and those inky veins.

  “Rox, can you still sneak some stuff onto the property with your mom?” I asked.

  “Yup. Just give me what I need to take.”

  “Great. I have a bag with salt and iron already packed. I need all of you to make sure you’re stamped Halloween night. Make sure you’ve got as much iron as possible, too. If Wren was right about Noah’s bones, I may be able to sneak into the building during the concert and grab them, or torch them on-site.”

  Ben lifted his brows. “Not alone.”

  “Thank you, Ben,” Nan said. “My granddaughter seems to think she’s invincible.”

  I blushed and rolled my eyes. “Um, hello? I won’t be alone, I’ll have Wren.”

  “You said Noah made her sick,” Ben reminded me. “It wouldn’t hurt to have a backup.”

  Did he ever get tired of being right? I mean, I liked it, but it was infuriating at the same time. Still, I couldn’t really be upset by it because he was right, and I’d be stupid to run in alone.

  Roxi took a sip of her soda. “We should pick a place to meet so we can all go in together and get the gear.”

  “Someplace easy to find each other,” Mace added. “Maybe meet outside the gate?”

  We all agreed.

  “Oh, there’s one more thing,” I said. When each head turned toward me, I took a deep breath. “If things go bad, I need to know you guys will protect yourselves and get out of there.”

  “We’re not going to leave you,” Ben insisted. I loved that he believed everyone else would share the sentiment.

  “Yes, you are,” I told him, and I meant it. “If it’s that dangerous, I can’t have you guys there. I can’t worry about you and Wren and take on Noah. So before we go any further, I want you all to promise. Now.”

  They traded glances, but when they turned their attention back to me, they each made the promise. I just had to hope they kept it.

  “Okay, then,” I said. “Let’s call up a ghost.”

  “Who is it?” Roxi asked.

  I smiled. “Maureen McCrae. Noah’s sister.”

  * * *

  We took the snacks off the table and put them on the buffet against the wall. I ran up to my room and grabbed the spirit board to use as a focus. I didn’t know for sure that it would work, or that it wouldn’t whisk all of us into the void, but I had a feeling, and I’d come to trust them.

  I also had a feeling that I could probably summon Maureen on my own, but I wasn’t ready to test that theory. To be honest, it freaked me out a little. More importantly, I wanted my friends with me to hear what she had to say, because my first priority—after getting Wren back—was to protect the people I cared about. Once I knew they were safe, then I’d start taking risks.

  “Ohhh,” Roxi cooed when I set the board in the center of the table. “That’s pretty.”

  “Is that supposed to be you and Wren?” Gage asked. “It looks way old.”

  “Spirit boards came about in the latter 1800s,” Nan told him. “Spiritualism was popular back then. This board was made for my grandmother Emily and her twin, Alys.”

  Ben smiled at Nan. “My grandmother says Lark feels like powerful ancient energy. I guess she was right.” He winked at me. I smiled.

  “Okay, then.” I sat down at the table once more. “Let’s get started. I need you all to set your fingers on the edge of the board so that your thumbs touch, and your pinkies touch those of the person next to you.” I didn’t really know if this was absolutely necessary, but contact amplified energy, and ghosts were all about that.

  I sat down in my chair and put my fingers on the board. The second my left pinky touched Ben’s, closing the circuit, a tingle ran up my spine. Hello, spirit world.

  I took a deep breath and slowly let it out through my mouth. Centering, it was called. I called it “okay, let’s do this.”

  “Close your eyes,” I instructed. “Clear your minds as much as possible. Let go of negative thoughts—and I mean it, because they will seriously mess this up.” I heard a chuckle—I think it was Gage.
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  Two more breaths. “There’s a light in the darkness. Just a tiny speck of light. Concentrate on that.” Another two breaths. Behind the darkness of my eyelids there was a light, and I recognized it as Wren’s. That poisonous green flickered within it, but she was still her—for now.

  “Maureen McCrae,” I said, opening myself up to all those tiny lights in the dark, “we summon you. We mean you no harm. Come to us.” A second light appeared, growing closer, brighter. It hadn’t worked like this when we’d summoned Bent, but then, he’d been hostile, and we hadn’t had the spirit board.

  A warm breeze lifted my hair. I didn’t know where it came from, but it felt nice. “Please,” I whispered.

  Slowly, my head tilted back. Invisible fingers combed through my hair, pulling it free of the messy bun I’d twisted it into. I could hear music—guitar, heavy and melodic. A guy was singing in a rough and raspy voice, and all around me people screamed in unrestrained joy. The light was so bright now, it took up my entire lid. Someone jostled me.

  I opened my eyes.

  What the hell?

  I wasn’t in the dining room. I wasn’t even in the house. I was in a theater, or an auditorium. I was standing in a crowd so tight I could barely breathe. There was a barricade in front of me; the people behind me pushed me into it as they fought to get closer to the stage. Hands reached out around me, above me—like leafless branches straining for the sun.

  And there, on the stage above me, haloed by the glaring stage lights, was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. He was tall and lean, wearing torn jeans and an old Led Zeppelin T-shirt. His dark hair hung over his shoulders, and he had a tattoo of angel wings on his biceps. His face shone with sweat, but he was smiling, and when he growled into the microphone—something about being young and naked in the backseat of her daddy’s car—I felt the energy of the crowd ripple through me. It picked me up like a push from a giant hand, carrying me over the barricade, right up to the stage itself, until I stood directly in front of him.