Despite every warning she could think of running through her mind, Annie followed Claire to the Santa Luna cemetery. Damn, she wanted to be part of this. Today was the first time since her parents died that she felt something beyond crushing grief. She knew the woman driving the car in front of her was the reason.
Who knew walking into the cleverly named Wicca store would end up with her heading for the cemetery to summon the ghost of a murderer?
“Alleged murderer,” she muttered, turning on to the street that ran alongside the cemetery. “I always thought he was too hot to do what he was accused of.” Not that looks should have been a measurement of guilt or innocence, but any woman would be crazy to cheat on someone so easy on the eyes. The sun was already setting, and that only added a whole new level of creepy to this whole idea. “Just play back up, Annie. It’s not like anything’s actually going to happen.”
That made her feel better, and by the time she stopped behind Claire and got out of the car, she was calmer, and almost ready for the adventure.
Claire waited for her at the iron side gate, the small black bag in her hand, the breeze tugging at her black leather jacket. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah—I guess.”
“You’ll be fine, Annie.” Claire smiled at her before she pushed open the gate. It squealed like a banshee. “Appropriate.”
Annie burst out laughing. “I like you, Claire.”
“Good, because I like you, Annie Sullivan.” She looked—surprised. “The summoning is simple. I wrote it down for you.” She pulled a slip of paper out of her jacket pocket and handed it over. “All we need to do is light candles, then read that three times, together.”
Annie held the paper up to the stylized light that topped the gate post. “That’s—short. I expected—”
“A long, complicated spell?” Claire smiled. “Sometimes simple works best. Let’s go.”
Fog crawled across the ground as they moved deeper into the cemetery, toward the older headstones. Some of them were like mini mausoleums, huge monuments to whoever was buried in the ground. One of the biggest belonged to Daniel Sutherland.
Claire set the bag down and opened it, pulling out white candles. A lot of white candles. She started handing them to Annie. “Place them around the headstone. Here’s a lighter. You can light the candles as you go.”
“Got it.” Annie set one on each corner of the absurdly huge headstone, lighting each one before she moved around to the back. She picked up more from the growing cache on the ground, and after a minute, the glow of candlelight was almost as bright as a streetlamp. “Did you want them anywhere else?”
“No, this will do.” Claire lit the last candle, flipped the lighter closed, and slipped it in her jacket pocket. “Ready?”
Annie swallowed; focusing on the prep had taken her mind off the reason they were here. “Yeah.”
“Come, take my hand, and we’ll speak the summoning together.”
Annie took her outstretched hand, surprised to find her skin warm, even with the cool, fog shrouded night. With shaking fingers, she pulled the paper out of her pocket and nodded. Claire faced the headstone, squeezed Annie’s hand, and started speaking.
“Shadows lurking in the night,
I summon you,
come to us tonight.”
Annie joined her in the middle of the first round, and they spoke together this time.
“Shadows lurking in the night,
I summon—”
“What do you want?”
Annie stumbled backward as the tall figure materialized, looking far too solid to be a ghost. If she hadn’t just seen him appear out of thin air, she’d swear he had been hiding behind one of the tall headstones.
Instead of looking scared, Claire crossed her arms, like she had expected him to appear.
“You terrified a friend of mine. I came to find out why.”
“I am a bloody ghost.” He strode across the space separating them, fog curling around his legs, and loomed over Claire. She didn’t even blink. “I terrify by existing. Though you do not seem to be affected…” His eyes narrowed. “You are familiar to me. Do I—”
“No.” Claire retreated, and Annie finally saw fear on her face.
Daniel Sutherland paced her. Oh, yeah, Annie recognized him, the candlelight flickering over his handsome face. And he became more solid with every step, until she couldn’t see the flickering candles through him.
That’s not possible—he’s a ghost—
“Who are you?” Daniel’s deep voice interrupted her denial. “You are a witch. I recognized that immediately. But there is something—you are far more, though you hide it well.” He kept going until he’d trapped Claire against the side of his headstone. “How do I know you?”
“You don’t.” She lifted her chin, which barely reached his chest, and met his narrowed eyes. “But I know you are in pain, Daniel Sutherland. I am here to help you.”
“Help me?” He let out a hollow laugh that chilled Annie. “There is nothing you can do to help me, witch. Now leave—leave me to my solitude.”
“I can break the cycle, Daniel.”
Claire touched his wrist. She didn’t go through his wrist like she should have—she touched his wrist. What the hell was going on?
“What are you saying, witch?” The rage in his voice blasted Annie, sent her stumbling back. She expected to find at least a bruise, somewhere, in the aftermath. It felt like he’d punched her. She forgot the pain when Daniel trapped Claire against the headstone. “What are you saying?”
She never flinched, not even when the ugly bruise appeared on her cheek.
“I can free Juliet.”
He moved—so fast he was a blur. Annie tripped when he appeared in front of her, and let out a surprised cry when he picked her up, his hands cold on her arms.
“Tell me the truth. Why are you here?”
“We are telling you the truth.” Annie lost her fear when she looked into his eyes. Dark blue eyes, the grief in them so deep it called to her own. “We came here to help you.”
“Why?”
“Because—I know what it’s like to be separated from the people you love most in the world.”
To her horror, tears stung her eyes, refusing to go away this time. They slipped down her cheeks as she stared into the eyes of the man who shouldn’t be able to touch her, never mind make her—feel. She wasn’t ready to feel, not yet.
His thumb wiped at her tears, his solid touch startling not only because it was solid, but because it wasn’t as cold as it should have been.
“Let her go.” Claire’s voice whipped out, low and furious. “Or I walk away, and you are stuck here. For eternity.”
Daniel dropped his hands and swung around. “I am already in Hell. How can you possibly make my existence worse?”
“By giving you a glimpse of hope, and leaving you with only that. I want to help you, Daniel Sutherland. But I will walk away, right now, if you do not keep your hands off my friend.”
Annie stared at her. She was like a mama bear, protecting her cub. It surprised Annie, that Claire claimed her as a friend so soon, but for the first time since her parents died, she didn’t feel so alone.
After endless seconds, he finally answered her. “Tell me, witch.”
“We start by breaking you out of here.”