Dark Spirits (2 page)

Ayperos slowly pivoted. “Yes, Paige.”

“What’s the ‘old one’s’ name?”

A conspiratorial smile formed on his face. “That my dear will be revealed to you by the ‘old one’ himself.” He tilted his head to the side in mocking thought. “Not even Anwar, the six-hundred-year-old African knows his name.” He raised his hands and shook them, puckering his lips. “Wooooo, the Almighty Anwar, whom you think so highly of.” He pointed a sharp finger at us. “Let me tell you something about Anwar,” he said, his eyes turning cold, his lips tight on each word he spoke. “He has his own agenda, and eventually you’ll find out what it is. He’s not as noble as you think.” Snorting and snickering broke free behind him, and half of the group were nodding in agreement. And then they left, leaving the four of us in stunned silence.

Chapter Two

All four of us piled into Nathan’s truck. After Ayperos and his gang had left, Carrie and Tree began pelting us with a barrage of questions that neither Nathan and I wanted to answer. It was best they didn’t know about the lot I’d been given and how it spun me into the center of treachery and betrayal. Into the center of black-hearted beings–two of which were at odds with each other–each powerful enough to gain a following of supporters.

 I knew Aosoth would stop at nothing to get what she wanted, and she had no qualms about torturing me. But the “old one” was the one who had played her, not me. The “old one” had found the ring without telling her, and then after she slit my forearms open, in a blinding fury, Nathan had cast her out of Carrie. Nathan’s homemade incantation hurtled her to God knows where, depleting her of all energy, into a white-hot void of agonizing pain.

So now that she was regaining her energy, she was going to be hell bent on getting revenge, something I didn’t want to touch Tree and Carrie. But their questions wouldn’t stop. Carrie would ask one question, Tree would ask another, and they continued that way, like three-year-olds badgering their parents with “why” questions.

“You guys can’t keep whatever you’re keeping a secret forever,” Tree said, putting the front seat back. I moved my legs, giving him more room. The leather felt soft and cool against the back of my knees. He ducked his head to get inside Nathan’s truck. “Eventually we’re going to find out anyway.”

 I glanced at the rearview mirror and met Nathan’s eyes, catching the wavering look in them. He was going to crack and tell them. I knew it. But I also knew Nathan wouldn’t tell them the power of the ring resided in me now. Nobody knew. Well, except for my dead grandmother who was the one who’d told us about it.

I nodded in approval. I didn’t want to, but there was no other way around it. I mean, Tree made a good point. They’d find out about it anyway, because eventually Brayden would tell them.

“Yeah, one way or the other we’re going to find out,” Carrie chimed. “So you should tell us.” She shoved my knee back. “I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me about Matt being possessed. I mean, when that dude . . . What’s his name?”

“Ayperos,” Nathan, Tree, and I said together.

“Yeah, him. When he mentioned about me kissing the ‘old one’ I thought I was going to hurl.” She made a face and held her stomach like the very thought of it sickened her. I knew she was just being dramatic, but I scooted away from her anyway.

“Well, Carrie,” I replied. “I didn’t know you had invited a spirit inside you.”

“Yeah, well,” she said, scowling. “I didn’t realize the implications of my actions, where you knew I was dating a soulless human who happened to be inhabited by a dark spirit.”

“I couldn’t tell you because I didn’t want you involved in any of this. I was only trying to protect you. Besides, you wouldn’t have believed me anyway,” I reasoned.

Carrie crossed her arms, grasping her elbows. “I still think you should have, and I
can’t
believe you never told Tree and me about your premonitions. We’re your best friends,” she shrilled, throwing her hands in the air, then grasping her elbows again.

“I was afraid your opinions of me would change,” I softly said, staring at my lap, feeling like crap because she had a point. I should have trusted their friendship and told them years ago. But I didn’t. I was too scared of losing them. They were my family, and honestly, if I were to have told them a ghostly voice whispered cryptic premonitions to me, would they have really believed me? I wanted to say that to Carrie, but kept quiet instead. I didn’t feel like arguing, or trying to justify myself.

Carrie pfft and turned the other way, refusing to look at me.

“Listen, you guys,” Nathan said, turning toward us. “Paige and I will tell you what you want to know, but we can’t talk here. We need to go to Paige’s house.”

“All right,” Tree mumbled, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. “Do you guys want to order a pizza from Sal’s?” He peeked around the front seat for an answer. I nodded, and Carrie shrugged, still sulking.

“Sure,” Nathan said, driving out of the parking lot, heading toward town.

“Do you want your usual?” Tree asked me. “Thin crust, veggie, with extra cheese?”

I nodded again. He gave Carrie a long look, but she kept staring out the window, ignoring us. The corner of his mouth pulled down, and he dialed the number. I scooted next to Carrie and pinched her leg, but she continued to stare out the window. I decided to change my tactic and repeatedly squeezed the flesh above her knee, knowing she was ticklish there.

“Yes, I’d like to order . . .”

“Stop it, Paige.” She swiped at my hands, trying not to laugh.

“Are you going to quit being mad at me?” I tickled her side even though she continued to push my hands away. She shrieked with laughter.

“Okay,” she said, gasping for air. “I forgive you.”

I stopped and smiled. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Carrie, but honestly it was for your own good. I was afraid the ‘old one’ or Aosoth would hurt you if they found out you knew about them.”

“I know,” she said, finally catching her breath. “It’s just creepy I was really dating the ‘old one’ instead of Matt.”

“Well, I promise you,” I said, taking her hand. “I’ll tell ya what you need to know.” I made sure to emphasize
what you need to know
because she and Tree didn’t need to know my unfortunate circumstances. Unfortunate because if the dark spirits got wind of it, they would destroy me. But at least right now, I was of some value to them.

Nathan pulled up to the drive-through window. The artificial light above the sliding window made the freckles that were scattered across the bridge of Carrie’s nose standout against her shadowed smile. Nathan told a dark-haired guy about my age that we had an order waiting for us. Soon after, Nathan handed Tree two large pizzas, filling the cab of the truck with the rich smell of tomato, melting cheese, and pepperoni from the meat lovers pizza the guys ordered for themselves. My stomach growled, but I ignored it because in my mind I was staging the conversation we were about to have with Carrie and Tree. What exactly would we tell them? I knew we couldn’t tell them everything, but I also knew we had to be cautious in what we did tell them. I didn’t know how the rest of the night would go, but I did know things wouldn’t be the same for Carrie and Tree, and it bothered the crap out of me.

***

“So Solomon’s ring gives whoever wears it complete control over the dark spirits?” Carrie asked, wiping her fingers on a napkin. Tree had parked himself on the loveseat, and Carrie was sitting on the floor between his legs. She placed the napkin in the open pizza box beside Tree and looked at us.

Chewing the last of his pizza, Nathan said, “Yes, but the ring is ineffective without his incantations, which are lost. However, Paige seems to be the only one who can find it, and that’s why she’s in grave danger.”

I took a drink of my Dr Pepper and shuddered when he said those last two words. I may be immortal, but they could still torture me, then kill me by draining my blood. So I guess I wasn’t totally immortal.

“Wait a minute,” Tree said, tossing his crust in the pizza box and closing the lid. “Do they have the ring?”

Nathan and I nodded. Carrie stared at us with a blank expression on her face, but then looked away. I could hear her heart racing, and when she lifted her hand, it shook. She rubbed her brow. Tree leaned forward, hugging her from behind. She held onto his arms, and although Tree was waiting for us to continue, I decided to give Carrie a minute to process everything we’d told them. Thankfully, Nathan had a knack for knowing when to be quiet. Finally, Carrie looked at us, appearing much calmer, her heart rate back to normal. I took that as my cue to go on.

“Remember when Matt was sick with the flu?” I said and continued after they nodded. “Well, the ‘old one’ had vacated that body and found another one. In that new vessel, by pure luck, he found the ring.”

Carrie sat up, curiosity shining in her brown eyes. “Where?”

I let out a humorless laugh and shook my head. “Your mom’s antique store.”

“You’re shitting us, right?” Tree asked, gaping.

I shook my head at the same time Nathan said, “No, she’s not.”

“Omigod,” Carrie said. “What did the ring look like?”

“It’s supposed to be made of part brass and part iron, and have four jewels inside of it. But we’re not sure if there’s two interlaced triangles in a circle on it or an upright star inside a circle,” Nathan told them.

Carrie tilted her head to the side and stared at the floor. Then she looked at Nathan and me. “I vaguely remember seeing a ring like that when I was helping Mom . . .” She stopped and dropped her eyes back to the floor. “Wait!” She lifted her gaze on us again. “I do remember that ring. It looked just like you said and had an upright star in a circle. I thought it was an ugly piece of junk jewelry and didn’t give much thought to it.”

“Holy. Shit.” Tree stretched out his arm. “Look. I have goose bumps.” He showed Carrie, and she crawled onto his lap.

“Now do you guys understand why we don’t want you involved?” I said. “I mean, seriously. Both the ‘old one’ and Aosoth want complete control over the dark spirits, and like Nathan said, I’m the only one who can make that happen. Therefore, they’re coming after me, and we don’t want you two in the middle of it.”

“So there’s like a war raging between the two of them?” Tree asked.

Nathan snaked his arms around me, and I leaned into him, enjoying the comfort of his embrace. “That’s right,” he said. “But don’t worry. I’m going to do everything in my power to protect Paige and end this.”

“Hold on a minute.” Carrie lifted her hand, shushing us. “You guys said Paige comes from an ancient line of witches, so have you discovered anything more about it?”

“A little bit but not much,” I said. “We spent most of the summer training.”

 “Can you show us what you can do?” Carrie sat up in Tree’s lap and smiled, prompting me to indulge her curiosity.

“I’m still new at it, but I’ll try.” I could hear the uncertainty in my voice. I didn’t like being put on the spot like this, but I scooted to the edge of the couch anyway. With my legs spread apart, my open palms resting on my knees, I took a couple deep breaths and closed my eyes. I focused on the lights in the room, and a strange prickling sensation developed at the back of my brain. Behind my eyelids, I could tell the lights were flickering like a strobe in a dance club. A soft gasp issued from Carrie’s mouth. I concentrated harder. The sensation amplified and then exploded inside my head. A light bulb popped, making a firecracker sound. Carrie shrieked at the same time Tree said, “Cool.” I opened my eyes to darkness and a huge grin on Tree’s face. My whole body tingled, and I felt wired like I had drunk a couple shots of espresso. I smiled, thinking I could totally get used to this feeling.

“That’s cool, Paige, but please turn the lights back on,” Carrie said with a note of fear.

I closed my eyes again, visualizing them coming back to life–a spark of energy inside the opaque bulbs. Half a minute later, all the lights but one flicked back on, and the tingling sensation was replaced by a slight nauseous feeling. I wondered why. I’d never attempted to control electricity with my mind until now. Hell, before last night, I didn’t even know I could turn the lights off. Anwar didn’t even know, which honestly, I was glad he didn’t. I mean, seriously, we had all summer to discover what things I could do but didn’t. The only thing Anwar had taught me related to magic was about the elements, how to induce my psychic ability, how to make incense, and how to do the rite of consciousness. So yeah, I was glad he didn’t know.

Impressed, Tree glanced around the room and looked at me in wonderment. “What else can you do?”

“Not much else real--” My voice broke when the ghostly voice spoke:

“Darkness draws near, breeding eyes into the shadows that awaits. Each step measured by the disgruntled, engaging an entanglement of lies and truths.”

Nathan turned me toward him. “What did it say?” he asked, knowing I just had a premonition by the way my voice had stopped, and my body stiffened.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. In a detached voice I repeated what the voice had said. I opened my eyes to a worried look on Nathan’s face. I could tell he was putting together all the events that had occurred tonight, and whatever he had planned for Aosoth, he knew must be executed soon. He still hadn’t told me his plan of action. When I’d ask him about it, he’d always said there were still details to work out, and he felt discussing them would be pointless. Of course, I didn’t give up that easily and kept prodding him with questions to no avail. I knew he just wanted to protect me, but to be honest, it did hurt my feelings. I mean, we were supposed to be a team, right? And I do realize I had never cast out a dark spirit or fought one for that matter, but still . . .

“What does it mean?” Carrie asked.

“It sounds like deep shit to me,” Tree said, his forehead wrinkling.

Since I’d stopped ignoring the premonitions, I’d become more attuned to them and able to get a better grasp on the meaning behind them. And with Nathan as my sounding board, it wasn’t too hard to figure out.