Page 27 of Shadow Running
“Not a problem,” Dante said.“But if Hilda needs you, don’t sweat it?—”
“Trust me, everything’s fine,” Orik said.
“If Dante needs to stay anywhere, he can stay with Penn and me.Rowan might be a witch, but I don’t think she could tangle effectively with my demon.Now, let’s hear what you found in the file that Philip gave me.”I turned the meeting over to Dante.
Dante sighed.“It seems that our talented young witch knew more spells than was good for her.In fact, I suspect that she used what is called adeath wish spell.Or rather, curse.”
I suddenly remembered Philip’s request.“By the way, we promised that we’d never discuss the curses on that piece of paper with anybody else outside this office.Otherwise, Philip will have my hide.”
“I wouldn’t know what to do with them if I even tried,” Dante said.“The Romalies sound like a fun-loving group, and I hope to hell we never meet any of them.The curses printed out on a piece of paper were enough to make me gag.”
“They weren’t squeamish, I’ll tell you that,” Penn said.“From childhood, they taught the stark realities of life.They’re trained to fight dirty.So, what is the death wish curse?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but it seems to involve sparking off an energetic tick-like creature.After infusing it with energy, you send it toward your intended target.This is all done on a mental level, there don’t seem to be any components needed.If the girl was that strong at age twelve, I dread to think what she would have become if she had grown up.”
“Oh?”Carson asked.
“Maybe a Mother Teresa, only magical.Or a Baba Yaga, if she went the other way.”
Penn reached for the page of curses.Dante handed it to her and she glanced over at the spells.A few moments later, she looked up, her face pale.
“I cannot imagine wielding this much power.It’s basically like putting your finger on the button to electrocute somebody, and then making that choice.Absolute power corrupts, and the power to kill on a whim, corrupts even more.”
“So you agree that’s probably what Riana used?”I asked.
Penn nodded.“I think Dante’s right.Once the tick—I think it’s called a death wish beetle—is implanted with its target, there’s no stopping it.They’re extremely hard to spot, they can hide just about anywhere, and they can phase in and out.My guess is that she formed it during her last minutes, and sicced it onto Christopher.It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes for the beetle to burrow into his aura and cause major disruption.That’s probably what caused the heart attack.Once the task has been fulfilled, the beetle vanishes and there’s no way to trace it.”
“All right.So could this curse be affecting the haunting?”Dante asked.
“No,” Penn said.“The curse is focused on one person alone.My best guess is that Christopher Longworld’s spirit is tied to that house.For one thing, everything he prized was there.The remains of his kills, the memories of his torture, all that made his house sacred ground.And so he stayed.He was mentally disturbed, and a sociopath.That doesn’t end when you die and revert to spirit form.Not always, at least.”
“All right, where do we go from here?”I asked.
“I need to make a trip to the magic shop,” Penn said.“I don’t have all the components I need in my own inventory.Then we can set up a cleansing force field that, if we’re lucky, should drain the negative energy, and release the spirits.Think of it like tossing the house into a giant washing machine.The spin cycle spins all the negative energy out of it.”
“All right, we have our next steps, then.If you could go to the magic store tomorrow and pick up the components needed, I’d appreciate it.”It felt good to have a plan of action.
Penn nodded.“Of course.By the way, nobody should be in the house when I set off the spell.The spirits will have time enough to realize what’s going on and, at least Longworld’s spirit will fight back.I can fend them off but…I can’t protect you while doing so.”
Lazenti cleared his throat.“I’ve got a couple texts coming in in.Hold on,” he said turning off his camera and microphone.
“I’ll contact Konstantine while we’re waiting, and tell him he needs to make arrangements to stay out of the house for a couple more days.”I moved away from the table, feeling conspicuous.By now, everybody knew that he was my uncle, but I hadn’t talked about it.I still needed to process everything, and I needed to talk to Seton.Before I texted Konstantine, I phoned Seton Anthony.
The demonologist answered immediately.“What’s up Kyann?”
“I need to make an appointment.Tomorrow morning, if you’ve got an opening.”
“What’s going on?”Seton asked.
“What’s going on?Well, in the past couple days I just met my uncle, and I found out about my mother and her past.I need to process this.And there’s another issue I’d like to pick your brains about.”
Seton paused for a moment, then said, “How about tomorrow morning at 7:30?”
“I’ll be there.It’s early, but the earlier the better.”I jotted down the time on my planner.“I’ll see you then.And, Seton?Thanks.”I hung up, relieved to at least get that out of the way.Then, I put in a call to Konstantine.
“Konstantine?”I asked the moment his voice hit the line.“This is Kyann.”
“Hey, I wondered what was going on.Get my house clear yet?”But he laughed as he said it and I realized he was joking.
