Grave Danger (29 page)

“
Come in, both of you.” Ambrose gestured to
Corrigan and Clarissa. “Ladies,” he looked to the two women on the
sofa, the other two sat near him in the upholstered chairs near the
fire. “If you’ll allow this young woman to sit with you, Corrigan
can take Xavier’s seat.”

Corrigan brought Clarissa over to where Margaret Ann
and Debora were reclining on the old fashioned sofa. Xavier’s seat
was just across from them and his brother eyed him curiously as he
moved aside and allowed him to have his chair. Xavier took up post
by the pallor door in an old rocking chair. He sat rocking softly
as he continued to watch Corrigan’s back.

Clarissa sat between the two female flesh-eaters.
She wasn’t sure if she should introduce herself or remain silent.
Already she could see her presence alone incited most of the men
and made the women nervous. She didn’t blame any of them. She was
the odd one among them.

“
I’d ask what the hell you think you’re
doing,” Ambrose continued once everyone had found their seats or
places to stand. He looked over to Chas who leaned against the
mantle next to him. “But it looks like someone already played that
card to you. If for no other reason than just to amuse me, how do
you plan to explain a relationship with this woman to the Eidolon
council members? I can already assure you that none of them will
think it a harmless liaison between two grown
individuals.”

Corrigan sat in his chair across from Clarissa who
looked most uncomfortable situated between his two sisters, their
faces held similar expressions. He looked to his brother and
answered.

“
I’d say they can stuff it up their
non-corporal asses.” Corrigan looked about the room, resting for a
moment on each of their faces until he reached Chas’s grim
expression. “Who I choose to associate with is none of their
concern. I don’t dictate to anyone else, they shouldn’t feel
inclined to make demands on me.” He watched as Chas looked away,
glancing down at his wife, Helen, before focusing his attention on
a particularly hot burning log in the fireplace.

“
That’s all well and good, Corrigan,” spoke up
the man reclining on the window seat. Trueman placed the book he
was reading down on his lap. His sandy blonde hair was slightly out
of part and he was wearing his reading glasses. He didn’t need them
anymore, but old habits die hard, or not at all. In his case, the
use of plain glass set inside his old frames made Trueman feel more
normal, if such a thing were possible for their kind. Trueman
continued. He was by far the more understanding of all the
brothers.

“
But you forget that you’re not a normal man
and this woman, despite her most unique nature, is still one of
them. They won’t allow this relationship to last. We are unnatural
in their eyes and they wouldn’t want one of us to contaminate their
perfect society.”

“
That’s not true,” Clarissa interjected. “Not
if I tell them the truth. Corrigan isn’t the monster they think he
is.”

“
And why would the Eidolon council believe
you?” Chas asked with one hand fisted around the mantle, the other
resting on the back of his wife’s chair. “What makes you think that
any of them will believe that we aren’t soulless beasts? Even if
you tell them differently, they already have it out for us. Your
kind has always hated ours and they’d find any excuse to force us
out of their city.”

“
He’s right,” Debora agreed. With her hands
folded in her lap, she turned to look at the ghost woman next to
her.

It was still a little strange to find herself so
close to one of her kind. Clarissa seemed so real sitting next to
her and when Debora caught her making hesitant glances to her
younger brother, she could see the colorless texture of her skin
change, becoming more substantial as living flesh as if Corrigan’s
very presence brought her out of her transparent and limited world.
But she knew that others wouldn’t see this union as a blessing but
rather a cruel blurring of the lines that had remained firmly
intact up until now.

“
As much as we’d like to see you and our baby
brother together, it isn’t possible. It would put our family at
risk.” Debora glanced down at Clarissa’s hands which were also
folded in her lap.

“
May I touch your skin?” Debora met Clarissa’s
startled eyes which looked to Corrigan then back to her.

“
Debora,” Corrigan said warningly. Debora
shushed him away with a wave of her hand.

“
Don’t be so overprotective, Corrigan. This
young lady could easily knock me on my behind. I’m well aware that
she can stand up to any foul beast that comes along.” A sly smile
came into her eyes as she glanced over at Chas who was glaring at
Ambrose who stood watching the scene play out between Debora and
Clarissa. Ambrose made it a point to ignore his temperamental
brother.

“
Isn’t that correct, Chas?” Debora teased her
brother. He didn’t comment, but instead glared even harder at his
brother, Ambrose, who still continued to ignore him and his
volatile thoughts.

“
I don’t mind, Debora.” Clarissa lifted her
hand so Corrigan’s sister could inspect her structure properly.
Trueman might have been the scholar in his living days, but Debora
had always had an inquisitive mind. She was more than a pretty doll
on the arm of a man, she had a mind of her own that wanted to learn
and absorb as much of the world as possible.

Debora touched the back of Clarissa’s hand, feeling
for the first time the texture of a ghost. It was a very unique
sensation to touch a creature that despite the otherworldly coating
of flesh, felt just as tangible as any other human. Clarissa’s skin
was cold to the touch. Her own flesh ran warm and moved with the
strength of her victims which made an interesting contrast to the
silent exterior of Clarissa’s body.

She made a prodding gesture to see if her finger
would slip through the electrical layer of Clarissa’s skin.
Corrigan made an agitated cough to get her attention. Deborah
looked up to see her brother frowning most angrily at her.

“
I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t poke at
her like she’s some kind of science experiment.”

“
Sorry,” Deborah murmured, pulling
back.

“
Your hand won’t go through,” Clarissa
explained. “Not unless I want it to. It’s how I can manipulate the
physical world. But if I don’t concentrate or I’m being careless
then tangible objects can pass through my system.”

It was then that Trueman decided to join his wife in
scientific investigation of the other kind.

“
Does your body absorb energy from the
materials you interact with? Can you incorporate their energies
into your own system or due to the nature of your anatomy does your
body reject the corporal world?” Trueman came away from the window
to stand behind the sofa.

Clarissa thought he had a very kind face with long
sandy eyelashes that were even more pronounced by the glasses.
Though she could see they were merely glass and not true lenses
inside the frames. Clarissa could also see that he was the
scholarly one in the family. His wife, Deborah, however wasn’t too
far behind him in inquisitive nature.

“
May I also see your hand, my dear?” Trueman
inspected the delicate hand that was offered to him. He brought it
close to his face to more closely study the chemical composition of
her outer layering. He had always found ghosts to be a unique
species in this world and he could clearly see that Clarissa was
unique even within her own genus.

“
As long as you don’t bite, I don’t mind,”
Clarissa said to Trueman, intending only to tease him as she
watched as he brought her hand ever closer to his mouth. He even
sniffed her hand, his eyebrows drawing down in a look of
puzzlement.

Corrigan was having about enough of his collective
family member’s interpretation of Clarissa. Half of them wanted to
slice her body up into little pieces and the other half would be
more than happy to study those slivered bits of her to see how they
worked. Clarissa was being more than amicable to people she had
once deemed monsters and who took this moment to show how
dysfunctional they could be in front of strangers.

As if sensing his brother’s agitation, Ambrose moved
away from his spot by the fireplace. “I think that will do for our
first family get together, don’t you think?” He came to stand just
in front of the sofa.

Ambrose inclined his head in a manner long forgotten
in this world. He placed a pleasant smile on his face for Clarissa.
However, she could sense that he was feeling anything but pleasant
thoughts inside. “I won’t ask to smell your hand,” he eyed Trueman
darkly, who with a chuckle returned Clarissa’s hand back into her
possession, “But I will ask, though, that you wait outside for a
few minutes so that I might speak to my brother. I promise to
return him to you.”

Clarissa gazed upon the person that all these people
looked to for answers. In the short time she had been among them
all she had the opportunity to see inside each of them. She had
made it a point not to intrude too deeply, only learning the basic
aspects of them. Ambrose was a man, despite his youthful and boyish
face, who was not someone easily overcome. He couldn’t have
remained in this world as long as he had without the kind of
intelligence and inner strength that he possessed in abundance. If
she could win him over, she might just have a chance at the rest of
them.

“
In one piece,” she said. Clarissa stood up
from the sofa, finding her hand swiftly taken up by Ambrose’s
heated hand. He bent down to place a kiss just above her knuckles
before he pulled back, straightening. With a gentle pat to the back
of her hand, he released it back to her.

“
In one piece,” he quoted back to
her.

Corrigan escorted her into the hallway where he took
her down a ways until they reached an alcove in the wall. He sat
her down on one of the wooden benches that lined the intricately
decorated hallway. He gave her a waning smile as he left her to
return to the pallor room.

As soon as she heard the door click Clarissa reached
around to remove her back-pack. Inside a side zipper was a small
compact cell phone that Maddy had given her the other day should
she need to contact her or in case of some emergency. She wasn’t
going to call Maddy though, she was calling Leah.

The outcome had looked grim with Candice loosing so
much blood. If she had survived the night, it would be a
miracle.

Clarissa held the cell phone to her ear as she
listened to some punk rock song that she couldn’t distinguish
before Leah finally picked up on her end. Before Leah could even
answer with a customary ‘hello’, Clarissa was already asking how
Candice was doing.

“
She’s fine,” Leah said with a yawn. “As fine
as anyone can be with a slashed throat. We’ve been staying close to
her at the hospital to keep her with us.” Clarissa already knew
that she meant her mother and grandmother. They were witches and
with their own unique set of magick could likely be the difference
between life and death for Candice Snow.

“
Where are you, Clarissa?” Leah asked,
suspicion coating her voice. “I know you’re not at home, I already
called Mrs. Connors house. I think she knows what we were doing.
She had this note in her voice that made me think she could read my
mind. I didn’t tell them you were with me tonight, but they’re
looking for you.”

There were several seconds of silence on both
ends.

“
Whatever you’re thinking, stop. You can’t
have him,” Clarissa could hear Leah walking outside the hospital,
could hear cars engines as they passed. “You may think you can make
something out of this, but it won’t work. You’re not his kind
Clarissa, you’re a bokor. It’s your job to destroy him, not love
him.”

Leah was being too astute right now for her own
good, or for Clarissa’s peace of mind. The truth of her words
resonated throughout her system, but she pushed at it forcing it
back into silence.

Clarissa could hear what she could only call
controlled chaos coming from the pallor room. Through the heavy
wooden door she heard Corrigan’s voice raging over the others then
Chas’s and then finally the sound of something fragile
breaking.

“
I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay Leah? Take
care of Candice for us. I know you can do it.” Clarissa hung up the
phone just as Leah started to say something else. She hadn’t given
Leah much of a chance but she couldn’t tell her she’d crossed enemy
lines, not yet at least. Not until she figured a few things out.
But Leah already knew more than she should.

Inside the pallor room a tiny war raged.

“
You jerk!” Margaret Ann bellowed at Chas who
stood over the glass shards of what remained of one of her
treasured antique mind expanding paraphernalia, a rare find all the
way from India. She didn’t use it anymore and instead had set it up
on the parlor mantle as an interesting decoration.

It was a real conversation piece.

She bent down to scoop up what was left. It was
unsalvageable. “You’re going to pay for that,” she yelled as she
launched herself at her brother.

Luckily for Chas, Xavier intervened as he grasped
his wife about the waist and hulled her and her vicious teeth away
from his brother. Holding her to him, he whispered soothing words
into her ear. Her chest rose and feel with her deep breathes, but
she allowed Xavier to hold her and calm her down.

“
This is insane,” Chas shouted. “See what that
bitch ghost is making us do? She’s turning us against one another.
She’s trying to set us up, I know it.”