Dark Spirits (11 page)

“He’s been throwing up,” I said to no one in particular. “And there’s been some blood in it.”

 “You’re right,” Carrie said.

Odell showed me a picture of tacos and him happily wagging his tail. Then I saw Carrie crushing a hard shell taco and giving it to him several times.

“He loves tacos, Carrie, but you need to stop giving them to him,” I said.

“OMG!” she gasped.

“You’re like the Dog Whisperer,” Tree said, impressed.

“What else do you see?” Nathan prompted.

Odell showed me a picture of Tree at Carrie’s house, and I smiled.

“What is it?” Carrie asked, nudging my arm.

With the smile still on my face, I opened my eyes, and looked at Tree. “Cute boxer shorts, Tree.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “Huh?”

I snickered. “Superman boxer shorts?”

“OMG. I can’t believe he’s showing you this,” Carrie said, giggling with me.

Tree’s cheeks were turning pink, and he shook his head. “Wow.”

I turned my attention back to Odell, and the next thing he showed me had me laughing so hard I had to brace my hands on the floor so I wouldn’t fall over.

“What’s so funny?” Carrie asked, nervously laughing with me.

I opened my eyes, looked at her and Tree, and busted a gut again.

“Okay, Paige, you’re acting looney,” Tree said, trying to sound stern when really he sounded like he was on the verge of cracking up. “So tell us what’s so funny?”

I took a couple deep breaths to try and collect myself. “Um.” I cleared my throat and attempted to put on a serious face, but my lips were twitching. I kept my eyes on Odell because I knew if I looked at Carrie and Tree, I’d lose it again. “Odell showed me a picture of a long, blue, vibrating thing, that he took from your bed . . . He . . . He--”

Nathan guffawed.

“That’s enough, Paige,” Tree quickly said at the same time Carrie gasped. He reached across Carrie, his big hand aiming for my mouth, but I pushed it away and leaned back.

“He thought it was a chew toy,” I said in a rush, falling into hysterics again as Nathan roared with laughter. Carrie scooted back, giving Tree room to grab me like when we were kids, wrestling around. “Tree chased him around the house, and when he caught Odell, Odell didn’t want to give it--”

Tree grabbed me from behind, locking his arms around me, covering my mouth. I was laughing too hard to overpower him with my strength. I glanced at Carrie, and her face was beet red. Nathan was bent over chortling. He looked up at me, and tears were rolling down his face.

“Are you going to quit?” Tree asked me. “Because if you don’t, I’ll tell Nathan about the butter incident.”

Nathan sat up, turning his attention to Tree. Tree snickered and so did Carrie.

“Okay, I’ll quit. Don’t tell him!” I said. My words came out muffled behind his hand, but he understood what I said.

“No, wait,” Nathan said, grinning. “I want to know.”

I broke free from Tree’s arms and rounded on him. In half a second, I was straddling him with my hand over his mouth. He tried to pull my hand away, but I was too strong for him. Finally, he raised his hands in defeat.

“When we were nine, Tree’s brother told Paige--”

“Carrie,” I said, flashing her a warning look, “if you tell him, I’ll tell everybody about your blue buddy.”

Still red-faced, Carrie made a zipping gesture across her mouth.

“Now, let me tell Odell you’re going to take him to the vet.” I got off of Tree and turned back to the dog.

“You can talk to him?” Carrie and Tree asked in unison.

“It appears so,” I said, placing my hand back on Odell’s head. Silently I told him thanks for that. I’d needed a good laugh. He showed me a picture of him licking my face, and I told him I loved him too, and Carrie was going to take him to the doctor so he could get better. A picture of the vet giving him a shot entered my mind and him shivering. I told him I didn’t like shots either and showed him a picture of me getting one. I could feel his shock. He had no idea humans sometimes had to get shots as well. Then I told him shots were given to make us feel good later, and whatever his doctor decided to do, eventually his pain would go away, and he’d feel happy again. And then I kissed his head.

“You need to take him to the vet now,” I said, rising to my feet.

“The burning in his abdomen sounds like he has gastritis,” Nathan commented, slinging his arm around my shoulders.

Tree gathered Odell in his arms, appearing deep in thought. He turned to Nathan. “You might be right. My mom is a nurse, and I remember her mentioning something about gastritis.”

I smiled at Nathan. “You’re so smart.”

He shrugged. “I grew up on a farm which required tending to the animals, and I’d learned a lot about them.”

“I hope you’re right,” Carrie said, getting her purse from behind the counter. “When I saw blood in his puke it totally freaked me out.”

 “I think I should close the store for you.” I glanced at the clock again. “We have two more hours left. So do what you have to do, and I’ll take care of everything.”

“Okay,” Carrie said. “But I’ll be back around five because you don’t know how to do the book work and balance out the cash register.”

“Oh,” I said. “I didn’t think about that.”

She waved it off like it was no big deal. “That’s fine. What you’re doing is a huge help.” She paused and an awestruck smile formed on her face. “I think it’s totally amazing you can talk to animals.”

“Yeah, well, this was the first time it happened, so I don’t know if I can talk to all animals.” I didn’t count Zeruel because he wasn’t really a cat, but a highly enlightened being inhabiting a cat.

“Do us a favor, you two,” Nathan said, looking at Carrie and Tree in turn. “Don’t tell anybody about it.”

“Why not?” Tree asked.

“Just trust me on it.”

I knew those words well. They meant Nathan knew something about this, and whatever it was, needed to be kept a secret, or somebody might get hurt. And more than likely that somebody was little Ms. me.

“What would happen if we were to tell somebody?” Carrie wanted to know, fishing for a better answer than “just trust me on it.”

Nathan ran a hand through his hair, and sighed. “Paige would be in even worse danger than she is now, and the ‘old one’ might decide to kill her then.”

Carrie blanched, and my heart raced, the thudding noise echoing in my ears. I knew if it wasn’t for the “old one” wanting me alive, I’d be in a lot more danger than I was now or maybe dead. He had a lot of followers, including Ayperos, and if he were to give the orders to eliminate me, I’d be in serious trouble.

Tree raised a quizzical brow. “What does her communicating with animals have to do with anything?” He paused when he caught the you-got-to-be-kidding-me look I shot at him. “Never mind. I get it. It was a lame question.” He broke eye contact and looked away, his face turning red.

Odell started whimpering again.

“You need to go. Poor Odell is in a lot of pain,” I said.

Tree frowned. “Yeah, okay.”

Carrie moved beside me and squeezed my hand. She looked pale. “Thank you, Paige. We’ll see you in a couple hours.” Her brown eyes glistened with tears. “Don’t worry. We won’t tell anybody. Your secret will always be safe with us.”

“Thanks,” I whispered, feeling a lump forming in my throat because I knew Carrie was scared of me getting hurt or dying, and I hadn’t realized how much it bothered her until now.

She gave my hand another squeeze before walking out the door with Tree. I went to the glass front door to make sure nobody was around. I watched Carrie and Tree walk across the parking lot. Their shoulders were slouched, their heads bent down. Tree gingerly put Odell in the back of his Scout while Carrie hopped in the front. I continued to watch until they drove away.

“Okay, tell me what you know,” I said, turning my back to the door, staring Nathan squarely in the face. “Why all of a sudden I’m able to communicate with Odell? And why keep it a secret?”

Chapter Eleven

Ayperos.

I knew it was him because he used the same body the other night when we met on Cannon Beach: shiny, long dark hair tied back, clad in black right down to his biker boots. He seemed to be alone, and his face appeared relaxed and opened. I wondered what he wanted, but strangely enough, I felt calm. Nathan, on the other hand, jumped into his protective mode.

“Paige, get away from the door.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. The gesture wasn’t forceful or demanding, just a normal reaction that silently spoke his desire to keep me safe.

“You can’t cast him out. He’s too old,” I said, thinking out loud.

“No, but I can break his neck, and he’d have to leave the body,” he simply stated.

“Why didn’t you do that to Matt when the ‘old one’ was dwelling inside him?”

“Because you grew up with him.” His eyes were still trained on Ayperos across the parking lot. “I know you’ve never liked him until the ‘old one’ took over, but I didn’t want to take the chance of traumatizing you.” He glanced down at me, and the corner of his mouth lifted. “But I have to tell ya, it was hard for me not to.”

He was so damned cute and sweet to think about my feelings like that, I couldn’t help but smile.

He looked up and frowned. “I think Ayperos was the one watching us in the forest because how could he have known you’d be here?”

I shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t think he’s here to threaten us.” I bumped his arm with my shoulder. “So try to be nice.”

“Right,” he snorted.

“I’m serious.” I squeezed his hand to emphasize my statement. “I want to see how much information we can get out of him,” I quickly added in a low whisper, watching Ayperos reach for the door.

When he stepped in–his foot landing over the threshold–his leg shook, and a sharp cracking noise filled the room.

“Interesting,” Ayperos murmured, pausing in the doorway, lifting his foot. The sound abruptly stopped, but when he set his foot back down it returned, and his leg vibrated again.

Nathan laughed.

“What?” I looked at him, not understanding what was going on.

“Carrie must have put salt on the threshold to keep the dark spirits out, but as you can see”–he nodded to Ayperos who was curiously watching a tremor snake up his leg– “it’s not that effective,” he whispered.

My gaze returned to Ayperos. His body was quivering, but he seemed more amused than bothered by it. He lifted the other foot and stepped into the room. When his foot touched the floor, a violent cracking noise erupted, as if someone snapped a bullwhip, breaking the sound barrier.

His body stilled.

He turned to us like nothing happened. “Hello, Paige,” he said with a genuine smile, his startling blue eyes on mine. Then he focused them on Nathan, and his lips twisted into a sneer.
“Nathan.”
He said Nathan’s name in a way that would suggest he had a bad taste in his mouth.

“Ayperos,”
Nathan said, mimicking Ayperos’ disgusted tone of voice.

Okay, I could totally feel the tension choking the air and didn’t like the way they were staring each other down like two pit bulls gearing for a fight. I stepped in front of Nathan and turned my attention to the dark spirit, hoping to be the pawn to put them both in check.

“Hi.” I kept my tone light and plastered a smile on my face, pretending like we were friends, even though he was the enemy and the “old one’s” ally. But, hey, they wanted me alive, so I wasn’t worried about it.

Nathan’s hand tightened in mine, and he pulled me to his side. He squeezed my hand in Morse Code, saying he didn’t trust him. I signaled back to follow my lead and heard a sigh whisper out of him.

Ayperos scowled at Nathan, and a large beam of light swiped across his eyes. “Get a clue
boy.
I’m not here to harm her.” My gaze darted to the windows. Thankfully, there was nobody around, and I silently prayed to keep customers away. “I’m here to apologize and to give Paige a gift.” He fixed his eyes on mine and took a step closer to me.

I blinked at him in surprise. “Apologize for what?” I wondered what kind of gift did a dark spirit give an immortal? I mean, neither one liked each other, but then again, Ameerah was helping Nathan, and Nathan had said not
all
dark spirits were bad. Was Ayperos really not such a evil spirit after all?

“Don’t look so surprised,” Ayperos said, amused by my reaction. “Just because we both want different things for the world we live in doesn’t mean some of us can’t be cordial to one another.”

“Oh, well, I guess so,” I brilliantly said. For a second I forgot who he really was and felt myself warming to him until Nathan’s body stiffened, breaking the brief spell I’d fallen under. “But I have to be honest,” I continued. “I have no reason to trust any one of you.”

Ayperos smiled in agreement. “Yes, but perhaps my sincere apology might be a start between the two of us.”

“I doubt it,” Nathan said, drawing Ayperos’ attention to him. Nathan straightened his back and continued. “Let’s face it, Ayperos. You don’t give a
damn
about Paige. Your black soul has only one purpose and that’s to serve itself. Oh, wait”–he raised his hand in a mocking gesture– “First you serve the ‘old one’ like a good little doggy, panting behind him, eagerly waiting for him to give you another task to do.”

My mouth dropped. I couldn’t believe what Nathan just said. Why would he purposely antagonize Ayperos? That was so not the right thing to say in this current situation.

“Are you calling me a dog,
boy
?” Ayperos took a step forward, directly into Nathan’s space, his contempt visible on his face.

Naturally, Nathan pushed me behind him, but before he could respond or make a move, I dashed between the two of them. It felt like last night all over again, when I did the same thing between Nathan and Anwar. I pushed them apart. “Okay, you two need to chill out.”

“Don’t touch him,” Nathan said, acting like Ayperos would infect me with a deadly disease. He pulled me to his side again.

“Touching him isn’t going to do anything to me,” I said, making a face. “I’ve felt the ‘old one’ plenty of times, and I’m fine.” Nathan stared at me with wide eyes and Ayperos lifted his brows in an,
oh really
, kind of way. “Not like
that
!” Eeew.

Jingle, jingle.

Two older women who looked like they were in their mid-fifties walked in the store.

Great.
Just what I needed right now–customers. Why did it seem like every time something important was happening, I always I got interrupted?

Seriously.

I took a deep breath, trying to get a handle on my emotions by telling myself I felt this way because they were on high speed, and I was here for Carrie.

Carrie.

I couldn’t help but be amazed by her attempt to keep the dark spirits out of Caroline’s store. Why hadn’t I ever thought about that? Why hadn’t Nathan mention it? Yeah, it hadn’t really worked, but still I wondered if there was any truth to the TV shows based on witchcraft or whatever else was out there regarding it.

 “May I help you?” Nathan asked, interrupting my internal babble.

“Yes,” the one with the salt and pepper hair said. She had a cute bob hairstyle that fit her round face perfectly. She walked to us while her friend wandered to the glass cabinet that housed a collection of porcelain dolls. I noticed Ayperos drifting to the books in the far corner of the room. “There should be a box of dishes waiting for me to pick up,” she said to Nathan with a warm smile.

“Dishes?” My face went blank. Carrie never mentioned a box of dishes to me. I wondered if Carrie even knew about them.

She nodded. “I already paid for them.”

“Okay. Let me check behind the counter.” I totally felt like a dumb ass. I hated not being informed on things I might need to know. It was so embarrassing. Nathan followed me, and we both spotted the square box, touching it at the same time. “Here it is,” I called when I saw the paid in full receipt taped to it. “Your name?”

“Melinda Davenport,” she said. “I have a copy of the invoice if you want to see it.”

Nathan lifted the heavy box, and when he set it on the counter, she handed me her copy. I looked at it, kind of feeling bad for questioning her.

 I returned it when I saw it matched the one on the box. “I’m sorry I had to ask for proof of sale, but you just never know.”

“No problem, dear,” she said, shoving the receipt in her purse. “I completely understand. Things aren’t the way they used to be when I was growing up. Sure there were petty crimes, but not like now.” She sadly shook her head.

“And we’re over populated,” her friend chimed in, placing her hands on the box and sliding it off the counter. She was bigger than Melinda, and her short brown hair made her square jaw look sharper and more define. She reminded me of one of those women who made a living on a fishing boat and could beat the average guy’s ass with just one swing of her fist. But when she lifted the box and grunted when she hefted it in her arms, I realized how stereotypical that thought was. I mean, just because a person looked a certain way didn’t mean she was. Jeez, what was wrong with me?

“Why don’t you let Nathan carry it out for you?” I suggested in the middle of Melinda making an agreement sound to her population comment. Nathan turned his back to them. His eyes darted to Ayperos, then to me, but I just smiled.

“That would be wonderful,” Melinda chirped, and Nathan had no choice but to take the box from her friend.

“Have a good night.” I waved. Nathan followed them out the door, flashing me a disagreeable look over his shoulder. I stuck my tongue out at him and heard Ayperos laughing. He stood in the aisle, watching the whole thing.

“You too,” they both said, and then Melinda pulled Nathan’s attention to them by directing him to her car.

“You shouldn’t laugh,” I told Ayperos, narrowing my eyes.

He shrugged like he didn’t give a crap. “You’re the one who made the rude gesture,” he pointed out, casually walking toward me. “And I have to say, the more I get to know you, the more I like you.”

“Yeah, right,” I scoffed, ignoring the sincerity in his eyes. “If you liked me so much, you’d leave me alone and get the other dark spirits off my back.”

“It’s not so easy,” he said. “There’s something about you which puzzles us, and unfortunately for you, the immortals are too caught in their own battles to come to your aid.”

“Thanks to you guys.” I glared at him. What did he think I was? An idiot? The dark spirits were totally distracting the immortals to keep them away from this whole situation. Cassondra had told Brayden that and it was obviously true.

“The ‘old one’ and I have nothing to do with it,” he said. “Most of the dark spirits who run amok among you are unruly and serve only one god.” He paused, and I tore my gaze from Nathan who was heading our way, back to Ayperos. He leaned forward, raised his eyebrows, and dramatically whispered, “A hedonistic god.”

I crossed my arms, feeling uncomfortable with how close he was to me. The collar of his black silk shirt shifted, revealing a silver chain. I mindlessly wondered what was attached to it. “Whatever. There’s no such thing of a god like that.”

“Not literally,” he said. “But the power of addiction comes in many forms, and when people fall heavily under its spell, they’ll do almost anything to possess it.”

As soon as Nathan opened the front door, he became a blur, and then was standing by my side. I interlaced my fingers with his, glad he was back.

Nathan gave Ayperos a hard look. “We’re going to be closing the store soon, so if you haven’t made your apology to Paige, I suggest you do it now.”

Ayperos smirked at Nathan, then turned to me. “I want to apologize for Drude’s behavior last night. She’s jealous of you and one of the few of us who can see your light.”

“Can you see it?” I asked.

A childlike smile appeared on his face. “Yes, I can, and it’s beautiful like you.”
Was he flirting with me?
“But Drude, the ‘old one,’ and I
are
the only ones in our group who can see it,” he added.

“Then why aren’t you repelled by it? I mean, you are dark and have chosen to stay in this realm instead of crossing over.” I felt sad all of a sudden, and my face fell. He was watching me closely, so I pushed on instead of attempting to recover myself. “Why would you guys refuse to move onto the next plane of existence?” I knew they had a sense of entitlement to this world and believed it belonged to them, but there had to be other reasons, right?

He stared at me for a long moment, and when Nathan shifted his weight, Ayperos spoke. “Because,” he gently said, gazing into my face, “when dark and light join together, an extraordinary balance occurs. It’s no longer just one or the other. Why do you think every soul has both aspects to it?”

“That’s not true,” I said, shaking my head. “Zeruel’s spirit has never been tainted.”

“Zeruel is an exception,” he said with an agreeable nod.

I raised my chin. “Well, I don’t plan on joining forces with you guys and you need to tell the ‘old one’ that.”