Page 78 of Hopelessly Teavoted
“So, coffins, or caskets, if you seal them too tightly, explode. If you prop them open, it can cause a smell, which is why proper ventilation and drainage are so important. Some companies design them to let puffs of gas out.”
“That’s disgusting, but cool that you know it. And here I was thinking you were nowhere as morbid as good old Benedict and Persephone.”
“You know, I wish I could have been even half as authentic as they were.”
“Yeah,” she said, sounding wistful. “I get that.” She set the flashlight down on a ledge, balancing it on its base so that it shone upward and cast the room in a wide, eerie glow. “Okay, Mr. Hart, let’s ruin Tina Rosehill’s death.”
Azrael scoffed at the nickname, but his heart wasn’t in it. He reached for the metal handle and pulled, snaking an arm under the stone to catch it, and it came away easily. He set it aside. He snapped a few times to pepper the area under the coffin—which, thankfully, was unexploded and intact—with ball bearings, and together they slid it out and placed it on the ground.
“Stand back,” Vickie said, and he stepped closer to her. Almost close enough to burn, but he could be careful.
Az snapped his fingers, and the wooden lid groaned, springing open. Instinctively, he held his breath, as though the air from the sealed death box might release a sinistercreature. Vickie tensed beside him, too, but all that remained in the coffin was a decaying body. A discarded, but mortal, coil.
Witch or not, there was nothing otherworldly about the remains of Tina.
Vickie pointed to a necklace on the putrefying remains.
“There. That should work. Can you, I don’t know, magic it to get rid of the corpse goop?”
“Yes,” he said, trying not to retch at the sight of it. To his deep embarrassment, Az had thrown up while working on the very script he had mentioned to Vickie earlier.
Thank goddess for magic; it was all well and good for him to gag, but he didn’t want Vickie to watch him be sick. He snapped his fingers and the necklace, sans fluid and decay, was in his hands. For good measure, he snapped them again, and the lid closed.
“Rest in peace, Tina,” he whispered, though they were about to disturb that very slumber. “Ready?”
Vickie nodded, holding out her hand for the gold. He snapped his fingers, and gloves covered both their hands.
Az placed the locket in Vickie’s fabric-covered palm, missing the spark of connection that always came with touching her skin, even for an instant. There was no denying it was real magic now.
And unless they fixed things, he would never feel that particular sensation again. Or, if he did, it would be the last thing he ever felt.
The thought of it was more sobering even than robbing a grave to summon a ghost.
CHAPTER 24Victoria
When Vickie took off her gloves to touch the locket, the shade appeared at once, along with a winding sensation of dread in her stomach. Tina’s ghost was cruelly beautiful, with sleek blond hair and sharp, angular features. Even in death, her nails were filed to sharp points and red enough to shine bright without a corporeal form.
“Well?” she drawled lazily, inspecting those deadly digits. “Have you robbed my grave to stare at me, or is there something I can do for you?” Her cold eyes ran up and down Vickie’s cheerful attire, and she sighed, as if to express her disbelief that a person wearing rhinestone sunglasses and a pink coat could have summoned her.
“Yes, there is. Sorry to disturb you, but it’s urgent. We need to track someone who made a deal with a devil.”
Tina’s eyes widened into ominous ice pools and her face twisted into a gruesome snarl, teeth slightly larger and mouth stretching wider than should be possible.
“Who sent you?” Tina’s head whipped around so quickly that Vickie feared it would detach from her body. The angle was severe enough to remind her that ghosts werenothuman. A shiver ran down her spine.
This was not the vibe she usually got when summoning.
There was somethingoffabout Tina, something Azrael’sparents must not have known. It couldn’t be simply that she was a witch; this was nothing like summoning the Harts. Vickie’s fire licked at her fingers, raising hairs on her arms in a way it never had before. The only thing that came close was summoning Donovan Wagner, and Tina reminding her most of a highly evil lobbyist could not be a good sign.
“Az,” she said softly. “Tina seems worried someone’s after her. Any chance anyone terrible could get through your wards?”
“I don’t think so,” he said, looking around furiously, and then removing his gloves and rubbing his fingers together, as though preparing for the worst.
The ghost relaxed a little, but still looked wary.
“As long as he has those bad boys ready to fire.” She nodded toward his fingers. “Who sent you?” Her eyes narrowed toward Vickie. “Who made you?”
“Listen, Olexandre might be a little eclectic, but he’s fair. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” That wasn’t exactly true, as she was fairly sure she’d need to reap Tina’s soul for Lex. Was there a way to call him? She shut her eyes and concentrated hard on the fire she felt touching the necklace.
