Angel Manor (Lucifer Falls Book 1) (31 page)

“What are ye doing, ye crazy bitch?” He took a step back, but another of the women moved behind him. The sickle came down across his skin again, and his shirt bloomed with crimson as two other women swept at him with knives, their sharp blades cutting into his back. He held up his arms protectively, but hands clutched onto him, forcing his arms down. The blonde stood before him again, her eyes filled with hunger. She brought the sickle back and pushed it into Harry’s soft throat with force. Skin and cartilage ripped under the pressure, and for a moment it didn’t even hurt. Then the pain hit him, searing and screaming, while hot blood poured from his wound. His face was a mask of surprise, and he saw the light slowly dim.
This wasn’t the day I was supposed to die,
were his last thoughts as hundreds of voices called out to him, telling him to join them. Harry’s body slumped to the ground, his spirit melting into the deep magic of Angel Manor.

Chapter 24

The van from the phone company was parked near the house, and Freya smiled as she drove past it. The thought of being able to phone from Angel Manor and not having to cross the invisible border to the land of headaches and nausea made her want to sing with glee. She parked her car and made her way to the front door, where she was greeted by some of the young men having a smoke break.

“Hey, guys. How’s it going?”

“Fine, we finished the stairs today. The main entrance is starting to look pretty snazzy.” Angus flicked his cigarette aside and stood up. He glanced over her breasts, and his expression reminded her of a cat stalking a mouse. She pulled her shirt over her cleavage and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Good to hear you’re making so much progress. Have you seen Oliver?”

“No, he hasn’t been about much lately.”

“I’ll find him.” She pushed her way past and stepped into the house. Angus had been speaking the truth; the entrance hall really was cleaning up nicely. All it needed was a lick of paint, and if the psychic could indeed perform a successful exorcism, Freya might still consider a reception area. If Angel Manor could become ghost free, maybe it would be a good idea to proceed with their plans for a hotel. She hadn’t decided yet – it would be so different without Bam around – and at the same time, Freya hated the idea that it would have all been for nothing. “Oliver?” She peered around the corner of the kitchen, but there was no sign of her friend. “Ollie?” She made her way to his bedroom and found him lying on the bed. He looked pale, and his eyes were glazed over.

“Are you okay?”

“I will be, as soon as the equinox is here.” His voice was soft and dreamy, then he sat up abruptly. Freya yelped. “Frey? When did you get here?”

“Just now, I asked you if you were okay.” Her hand clutched her chest in an attempt to calm her pounding heart. “Jesus, you scared me.”

“What are you doing in here?”

“Looking for you, knob-end. Why are you still in bed? It’s past one.”

“I wasn’t feeling well.”

“You don’t look well.” Freya sat at the end of his bed and placed her hand against his forehead. “You’re burning up.”

“Yeah, just leave me be for a bit and I’ll be fine.” He turned to his side, his back towards her, and pulled a pillow over his eyes. After a moment, he pulled the pillow from his face and glared back at her. “Speaking of not feeling well… I thought you were going to phone a doctor to have everyone checked out?”

“No, something came up that made me wonder if getting a doctor was necessary.”

“It couldn’t hurt.” Oliver narrowed his eyes at her, and Freya cringed.

“I guess… whatever, let’s focus on one thing at a time here, okay? I came in to ask you something.”

“What?” Oliver looked over his shoulder.

“The phone guy, did you let him in?”

“Yes, a while back. He came just after you left.”

“Where is he now? I didn’t see him when I came in.”

“He probably left, Frey. Why are we talking about this?”

“He didn’t leave. His car is still here.”

“Is it? Maybe he’s eating lunch or something.”

“Because that makes sense.” Freya threw her hands up in the air and shot Oliver an incredulous look. “Why would he be eating lunch here? Jesus, Ollie, tell me you didn’t leave him to fend for himself?”

“What was I supposed to do?” Oliver lifted himself on his elbow, the bed creaking under his movement, and he looked at her through a mass of tousled curls. “Hold his freaking tools? Why are you whining at me?”

“You’re useless, that’s why.”

“I’m fucking ill, Freya. Stop nagging.”

“You could have asked Logan to see him in. Damn it, Ollie, we can’t let strangers just roam around in here.”

“No, we’ve been over this. The house isn’t dangerous. It’s just a house for fuck’s sake.” He fell back onto the bed and waved at her to go. “Piss off, you’re making my headache worse.”

She slid off the bed, her feet landing solidly on the ground, and she stared at her friend. Oliver was different somehow. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Perhaps he was more irritable… or just a different kind of irritable. The close bond they’d once shared felt frayed lately, but life had been a little insane, so Freya didn’t want to make too much of it. She left the dark bedroom in search of the missing man from the phone company.

***

“Still no sign of the phone guy?” Logan sat next to her at the kitchen table, his face covered in a thin layer of dust.

“No, but his van is still here.”

“Where do you think he could be?”

“I don’t know, but I’m worried, Logan. What if something’s happened to him? People are going to come looking. I really don’t want to deal with that. What if they arrest us? We can’t leave the premises without getting sick.”

“Calm down. Nothing has happened yet. Let’s not panic until we know more.”

“He’s been here for eight hours, Logan… at least. And not one sign of him. It’s hard not to panic. What if he ran into something? Like those angels the children talked about? Or something else?”

“I’ll have my boys do a full sweep of the house, okay? Could be that the guy just injured himself and he’s lying at the bottom of some stairs with a broken leg.”

“Is it bad that I’m hoping that will be the case?”

“What else could it be? We met the ghosts, and we’re still fine.”

“True, but…”

Logan bent forward and took her hands in his. “Listen, let’s not drive ourselves crazy okay? Let’s not panic before we know more. Deal? If we haven’t found him by the morning, we’ll come up with something.” He sat back and let go of her hands. “Worst case scenario, we push his car off Lucifer Falls, into that big hole in the middle. No one will find it there.” He laughed at his own joke, but Freya didn’t have the heart to laugh with him. She worried, if it was the house, the boys would have to leave here as soon as possible.

“Did you manage to reach that psychic?” Logan’s words cut through her thoughts.

“What?”

“You were going to call the psychic today, weren’t you?”

“Oh yes, she’s coming up here tomorrow morning.”

“That soon?”

“She seemed quite keen.”

“Well that’s good. That will give us some more clarity.”

“If she isn’t a charlatan.”

“If she isn’t a charlatan.” Logan nodded.

***

Oliver woke as the sun was setting. He had spent most of the day in bed, feverish, but now he felt oddly refreshed. The equinox was drawing near. He wondered why the house chose him over Freya, but in the back of his mind, he knew it wasn’t that the house had chosen him, it was that he had chosen the house. Freya never loved the place, not the way he did. Oliver loved the house before he’d ever set foot in it, and the promise of what this place could become was what bonded him to it. He needed the house more than Freya did, and that’s why it wanted him.

His dream of being a chef had faded; he cared little about rebuilding the kitchen or feeding guests his carefully crafted food. Instead, he dreamed about his bond with Angel Manor and how he would bring it everything it needed. He was its Guardian, and the task suited him well. He would bring the place souls to feed on, like a bird would bring its offspring worms. With each passing day, he gave more and more of himself to the house, bonding with the ancient magic within. He understood how the spirits felt; he was one of them, the only difference being that his spirit was still housed in a shell made of flesh and bone.

Somewhere beneath the brick and the concrete, something else pulsated like a slow throbbing heart, its magic running through Angel Manor like tiny black veins. Being a part of something this big and this important, Oliver could scarcely remember what it was like to be someone ordinary. He would never be unloved or unwanted again, the house would see to that.

“Thank you for the gift.” He hadn’t seen her enter the room, but he felt her presence almost immediately. She looked as human as he did now, the dawning of the equinox having affected her greatly.

“What gift?” Oliver raised his eyebrows, then realisation dawned on him. “Oh… the phone guy. I’m glad he pleased you.”

“The house is very pleased.”

Pride filled his chest, but a moment later the smile faded from his lips.

“I’d better get rid of the van before Freya gets too suspicious.”

“Yes, but first, it’s time to show you something.”

“What?”

“Why we are here. Why this house is what it is.”

“I can sense it. It’s underneath the house, right?”

“Yes, I will show you where the master sleeps, and the importance of the solstice and the equinox.”

“Show me.” He looked at her through half-lidded eyes. She beckoned him with a long, pale finger, inviting him to follow her, and he obeyed.

Chapter 25

Marie-Claire Florifera stared at the car window. Although her blind eyes could not see the world passing outside, she liked feeling the sunlight on her face. Something far below sang to her, something as old as the world itself. Though she sensed the magic, it was obscured from her second-sight. Her corporeal eyes saw nothing of the mortal world, yet they were very sensitive to the world beyond the veil, and she could see spirits as well as those with 20/20 sight could see people. Why she had this talent, she didn’t know. All she knew was that she had always been able to see the dead, and she didn’t fear them anymore.

She had seen many haunted places in this world; some were truly haunted while others only bore the ghosts of overactive imaginations. Marie-Claire had encountered some truly spectacular occurrences, and she had felt a little guilty when she lied to the girl on the phone about the dangers of spirits. She knew how dangerous they could really be, but it was in no one’s best interest if the living feared the dead. That would only give the spirits more power.

It was rare for spirits to be corporeal enough to do actual physical damage to the living, though Marie-Claire had encountered a few places in the world where this was the case. Usually there was an outside factor involved, such as magic or even an artefact. Land could be magical too, and it would draw spirits towards it seeking strength and power. Often those were exactly the kind of spirits that shouldn’t have either, and that’s what made them dangerous. Marie-Claire suspected that Angel Manor might be the kind of place filled with such magic.

Angel Manor had been on the top of her list for many decades. She had heard stories about the house, but the previous owners had been more than reluctant to even let her near it. When the girl, Bambi, contacted her, Marie-Claire had been over the moon, but now that the day had finally come for her to inspect the building, she didn’t feel so confident anymore.

“I’m curious to see what this house has to offer.” Pierre, the newest member of her team, spoke to her from the front seat. Marie-Claire moved her head in the direction of the words.

“Yes, Angel Manor is rather infamous. As is the place where it’s situated.”

“Lucifer Falls?”

“That’s the place.” She folded her hands together on her lap, the smooth, silk gloves brushing against her fingers.

“Is it true that Lucifer landed there when he fell?”

“I doubt it, but I’m sure there is something about that place. The living, even those who do not possess the second-sight, tend to be very sensitive to paranormal activities. They don’t see spirits like I do, but they feel that something is out of the ordinary. Often they make up stories about highly spiritual places, and they get a reputation even though no one has actually seen anything. I must admit I’m picking up some vibrations from the area, so I would like to inspect the actual place at a later date… see what I’m sensing from here.”