Page 34 of Shadow's End

“Can a curfew be placed?”

“I’ll issue an order for restricted movement, but with summer on us and a multitude of tourists in the area, it’s going to be next to impossible to enforce. Especially when we can’t explain why without causing widespread panic.”

“Perhaps you could use that smoke we smelled to your advantage and?—”

“And the first thing anyone with a bit of nous will be doing is checking the emergency services app for warnings.”

I grimaced. “Then at the very least, we’ll have to supply all your rangers with stronger charms.”

“Deal with the vampires, and we won’t have to worry about the charms.”

“Yeah,” I said with a smile. “But creating the charms will probably be far easier than dealing with the vampires.”

“Another truth that cannot be denied.” He kissed me, his lips lingering on mine, as if reluctant to give them up. Eventually, he murmured, “I can taste your tiredness. And yes, I know, you’re fine.”

I laughed, pulled out of his arms, and moved across to the other side of the cavern. I pulled out everything I needed from the pack and then shoved the ring into it—the last thing I wanted to be doing was carrying an item that reeked of foulness when I was attempting to cleanse the area—then lit the first smudge stick. After encouraging it to smoke with a gentle spell, I walked around in a large square, being careful to avoid the darker stains and slivers of bone as I gently wafted the smoke through the area and murmured the cleansing spell. Once I’d scattered the ashes across the inner part of my imaginary square, I repeated the process with the holy water. Even though I was wearing boots, I could feel the warm thrumming that ran through the sanctified ground; a heartbeat later, the air shimmered and a dark veil lifted from the stone then faded away.

The cleansing had worked. The heavy weight of death and darkness no longer sat on this section of stone.

But this was just one small area. There was a ton more to do.

I drew in a deeper breath, then began the next section. As Belle continued to work with the ghosts, gently ushering them toward the softly glowing light, I continued to perform the ritual. Once Monty and Ashworth had removed Roger’s leg and bagged both it and the stake, they retrieved the sage sticks from Belle’s pack and helped me. Aiden’s team finally arrived, their shock echoing through the vastness of this place in a way their voices didn’t. I suspected the horror of what had happened here would linger here for a very long time, despite the ghosts being moved on and the cavern cleansed. Sometimes, there was simplynothing that could be done about the residue weight of emotion that remained after such a tragedy. Time might eventually strip its potency, but I suspected this place, like many others, would become an area anyone with any degree of psi sensitivity would avoid for some time to come.

With three of us performing the cleansing ritual, it took just under an hour to cover the rest of the cavern. Aiden and his team were now working on retrieving the bodies from the water, so it was impossible to do anything about the two lakes, but the Fenna were apparently satisfied with our efforts, as the wild magic unleashed itself from my wrist and floated away.

It left me feeling bone-tired, though it was nothing compared to Belle’s. Her exhaustion was a pulse that beat inside me as loudly as a heartbeat, though she was still refusing to draw on my strength.

I sat down on a rock and rested my arms on my knees. The veil of ghosts being moved on was down to just a couple of wisps now, and I could only see one lingering beyond the area she was working. Perhaps Belle—or rather, her spirit guides—had altered the spell to draw them in and give them the choice.

Monty sat next to me and slung an arm around my shoulders. “You should go home once Belle has finished up. You look like shit.”

A wry smile touched my lips. “I can always count on you to boost my ego.”

He laughed. “Would it help if I said my one true love looks even worse than you do?”

“No, it would not.” I sniffed. “Will you and Ashworth stay here? I doubt Marie or Jaqueline will attack now they’ve gotten what they wanted, but?—”

I stopped and shrugged.

“I’m not leaving until Aiden and his people do.” He stared at the dark water for a second, his expression contemplative.“If Maelle has always known Roger’s location, why didn’t she simply tell us? Why make us faff around like that? It makes no sense whatsoever, given the more he’s tortured, the more it drains her.”

“Because she’s well aware Roger is bait.”

“Yes, obviously, but it’s not like she cares about us. Hell, she sent us here to confront her demon without any sort of warning. If it had killed us, where would she be?”

“Probably receiving a power boost right now as her demon swims in our flesh and our agony.”

“Well, that image will haunt me for the rest of my life.” He half waved a hand. “I just get this bad feeling we’re missing something.”

“Yeah, the truth.” Because right now, I didn’t think either side was being completely honest.

He nudged me lightly with his shoulder, his gaze on Belle. There were only two more souls to go, and one of them was little more than a wisp of fractured air, which to me suggested he or she was far older than most of those here. Perhaps it wasn’t a vampire victim at all, but rather a soul who’d lost his life in some mining disaster…

My mind froze on that last word, and instincts leapt.

Disaster.

It was coming to the reservation. To the O’Connors. To all of us.

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