Page 52 of Haunted Hearts

I don’t think I’ve moved faster in my life as I spin around. That cold doesn’t let up. It feels like icy water has splashed against me and is dripping down my back. My eyes search for the owner of the voice. Whoever it is, they don’t sound familiar.

“Who’s there?”

I feel ridiculous shouting to the air.

“My name is Miguel Hernandez. I am speaking to you from the Realm of the Living on behalf of my client, Fulton Noir.”

I blink as the voice’s words sink in.

When they do, my head falls back as I laugh out loud. A necromancer is contactingme! The fact that Fulton is the one behind the connection is even better.

“Ask Fulton if he misses me!” I call back between gasps of breath. “I wasjustthinking about him.”

There’s a short pause as the necromancer communes with the warlock.

“H-he, uh, says he misses you. That he wished he’d spent more time with you to really explore what makes you, you. He… he says he might have found a way to reunite the two of you in this world.”

Yeah right, he won’t be able to pull me over. That much I know… At least, I’malmostpositive about that. Who knows what that warlock can do? The thought angers me. What horrible things has Fulton done while he’s been back in the Realm of the Living? If he’s searching for a way to get to me, he must be up to something.

And I can’t do anything about it.

I screech and the entire beach rolls. The ocean recedes and dark clouds gather overhead. Electricity crackles in the sky as my temper spikes.

“Let him know we’ll be seeing each other real soon,” I snarl through clenched teeth. I’m going to figure out how to get my hands on him, and soon.

It’s weird being the spirit in this conversation and frustrating having to wait for a response. It would be so satisfying to see the fear in his eyes when he realizes I mean it. In fact… my anger rises as it mixes with excitement. Why wait? I had just been thinking about retaliating against the warlock. Why not go after him right now? If Brock can open the Veil and cross over, why can’t I? I know what it used to feel like to open the Veil. I use that muscle memory, and the power I’d been gathering, to try and open the barrier between the realms.

The breeze goes from soft and constant, to howling. Deep thunder roars across the beach and things begin to fall from the clouds. Frowning, my eyes latch on to something just above me as it falls. I realize what it is and step out of the way just in time.

The femur bone that hits the sand with a thud, just where I’d been standing, is big enough to belong to a giant. Well, shit. I’ve opened up the Veil and pulledbonesfrom the Realm of the Living. I yelp as I dance around in place trying not to get hit in the head with the other bones raining down from the sky.

“Fulton says he is looking forward to your reunion,” Miguel’s voice is hardly heard over the roar of the wind.

The water in the ocean is gathering far out in the distance, and around me, the sand is getting whipped up in the chaos that I’ve created.

This certainly isn’t what opening the Veil looks like. Rather than pulling back, I shriek and throw more power outwards, trying to feel my way through the mess for a way to open it.

“Tell that fucker, that if he wants to see me so badly, tell him to cross over so we can be togethernow!” I roar as a cyclone begins to form. It sucks in the dark clouds and bones, creating an intense and dangerous storm. But that’s not the only issue I’ve brought upon myself. That water that’s been receding, has become a wall far out in the distance, and it’s charging back towards the shore.

If I don’t shut all this down, I’m going to be in a world of trouble.

“Fulton promises that he’ll destroy…” There's a short pause over the storm. “All the souls you love so that you have nothing left to fight for. When he sees you again, you’ll beg him to take away the pain.”

My blood runs as cold as the weather around me. His threat is empty. Dad has put up spells around Mom’s house and the guys are here with me.

But he’s found a way to mess with spirits before, using the rocks from the Third Realm to store and turn spirits into power for him to exploit. What could he be whipping up now? Could he do something to me from the Realm of the Living? What if he is trying to find my location right now while we speak, using the necromancer as a compass. The thought is enough for me to cut our conversation short.

“I’m done communicating.”

It only takes a thought to severe the communication. My heart deflates. I can’t do anything to Fulton when I can’t even control my power. Tears of frustration sting the corners of my eyes. Drawing a deep breath in, I try to wrestle in the power pouring out of me. Like a crimp in a straw, the energy around is cut off. The cyclone dissolves before touchdown, and the last of the bones to fall out of the sky hit the sand with soft thumps. The tidal wave barreling towards me drops back into the ocean, sending harsh, but less destructive waves towards the shore. Even the wind goes completely still.

When I’m back in control, I stand there to survey the mess I created. Dad’s going to know I lost it out here, if he doesn’t already. It’ll lead to a lecture, which will then be followed by coddling from Kwil and Jonah, being grunted at by Viktor, and Theo’s placating patience.

None of that will get me any closer to killing Fulton or settling my fight with Brock. Great. Just…great.

Plopping my ass into the sand, I hang my head and cry.

Chapter17

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