On Pins and Needles: Sierra Fox, Book 3 (16 page)

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks.” She rubbed her eyes and sniffled a little. “I miss them both so much.”

So the poltergeists surrounding her were those who meant the most to her. It was no wonder my mother wasn’t attached to her too. I shivered at the thought.

I turned the page and cringed at the ad Ebony made me take out with the local paper several months ago. It was me, posing with my arms crossed and looking dubious while a cartoon ghost had been inserted on the other side. The ad was black with white print.

“That’s the only picture I could find,” she said with a smile.

“It’s not a very good one.”

“I think it’s cool. That tiny ghost makes it.”

There were a few more photos of a pack of smiling girls. Some were taken at either the Royal Easter Show or Luna Park. Willow was in most of the shots, except for the ones she’d obviously taken herself. I wondered why someone as seemingly popular as her would run away from everything.

“That one’s of me and Ronnie,” she said, pointing at the next page where a younger Willow and a redheaded girl with freckles posed for the camera. They were both laughing and had their arms around each other. These girls looked happy. “She’s my best friend.”

“Do you still keep in touch with her?”

She nodded.

Whatever her problems were with her father, they had to be serious enough to keep her running from some of the things teens valued the most—friends. Did some of the problems stem from whatever happened to her boyfriend? She’d told me he’d died in an accident, but what kind? A question I’d have to save for another day.

I handed back the album. “Maybe we can get some photos taken to add to this.”

She nodded. “Can I get a photo of your boyfriend? He’s…”

“Hot, sexy, cool—yeah, I agree.” I stood up and winked. I was glad she hadn’t gone with the
partners in crime
tag. As simple as boyfriend seemed, it’s what he was. I suspected he didn’t like it because it had been his derogatory way of referring to my ex.

Willow laughed. “He
is
pretty hot and seems like a nice guy. Plus, he reminds me of the guy from that old TV show where people were trapped on an island… Can’t remember what it was called.”

I didn’t know what show she was talking about because I didn’t watch much TV, but I nodded anyway. I considered myself very lucky to be with him and would do whatever it took to keep him by my side. Papan held my heart in his hands. And for the first time in ages, I wasn’t scared about it. I was willing to risk giving it to him.
 

It felt great to throw caution to the wind and see where it led.

“Okay, I’m going to let you get some rest now. It’s getting late.” I headed for the door.

“Sierra…”

I looked over my shoulder. “Yes, Willow?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth yesterday and a cop had to call you today.” She lowered her eyes to the album in her hands. “I didn’t mean to be a pain but I’ll make it up to you. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.” She paused for a few moments. “I called you because I knew you were the only person who could help me with everything.”

“I’ll try my best to help.”

“Will the cop tell my dad I’m here?”

“Not yet.”

“Thanks. Good night.”

I nodded and closed the door behind me. Before heading up the stairs and back to the kitchen, I pressed down on the laundry door to make sure it was locked. If she felt safe with me, I wanted to maintain her trust. It didn’t look like the adults in her life had made a good and lasting impression.

I found Oren still sitting at the kitchen table and hunched over the laptop keyboard, with Papan looking over his shoulder.

“Jason, do you know how annoying it is to have someone read over your shoulder?”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea now that you’ve mentioned it so many times.”

“What’re you two doing?” I asked, sidling up beside Papan and wrapping my arm around his waist. He felt like a formidable force, steady and sexy. I couldn’t wait to get him upstairs.

“It looks like your grandfather’s found out a few things.”

“Don’t call him that,” I blurted.

Papan looked at me with a bemused expression. “Why not, that’s what he is, right?”

I sighed. I wasn’t getting into this right now.

“Sierra has a few issues with that word, but I don’t mind.” Oren peered over his shoulder before pointing at the screen. “I’ve cracked the code, so to speak. I’ve found out that each of the six members of the
Obscurus
has a point in the upside down pentagram.”

“Okay, I kinda knew that already.” I’d read about the numbers.

“But a star only has five points,” Papan said.

“The leader goes in the middle and serves as a medium, for lack of a better word.” Oren turned to look at me. “The middle wields five times more power than the others. It’s Legion’s direct conduit, and I would guess the one responsible for starting this little sect.”

“It’s got to be Mace,” I said, feeling a throbbing pain in my brain. After everything the bastard had put me through, just thinking about him made my head hurt. The last time I saw him he was unconscious and bleeding on the floor after I’d smacked him upside the head. The night he strapped me down to a demented chair and tried to use me to tear down the barrier between us and the ghostly patch. “He’s got to be the center of all this.”
 

I didn’t know if he was still alive or not.
 

“I agree,” Oren said, turning back to the screen. “It would explain why he took a special interest in your recruitment from the very beginning, and ensured he would be in your life in some capacity.”

I tried to stay steady and not squirm beside Papan. I didn’t know how much he knew about Mace Clamber, but thinking about the jerk that seduced and took my virginity always made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d already started the
Obscurus
back then, or was the ambition just a nugget of thought at the time?

“He wants me dead,” I whispered.
Or at least, he wants to literally suck the energy out of my soul.

“So what happens now that you’ve taken out two of their members?” Papan asked.

“That’s a great question, Jason. If there needs to be someone at each point, one would wonder what it means now that Sierra has killed two of them. Leaving two vacant spots has to affect things, because even if Legion doesn’t need specific devotees, others will have to replace the missing points. It could be as easy as taking someone off the street and substituting them into that particular spot—so long as they have Sierra,” Oren explained.

“So you’re telling me that these idiots aren’t even important?” I asked.

“Well, I think they’re important because Mace went out of his way to find powerful disciples, and anyone he thought might be a shoe-in to get your attention.”

“I wonder if Jonathan volunteered for this, or if he was dragged into it because he knew me.”

“People do stupid things for power,” Papan said with a shrug. “Even if you asked him, I doubt he’d answer truthfully.”

“You’re right about that,” Oren said. “The control Legion has over each of these people grows, but it also wavers. It’s too bad we can’t monitor Jonathan to catch him out during one of his possessed episodes.”

“I’m not going to volunteer for that job, but I could look out during the next Hunters meeting.” I’d already tried keeping Jonathan close by remaining in an unhappy relationship for longer than I should have—I wasn’t about to do it again.

Papan glanced at me but didn’t say anything. He’d been suspicious of Jonathan since the beginning, so hearing about this ritual probably solidified his hunches.
 

 
“From what I can tell in the ritual’s description, they can’t use you as their source until you come into your full powers,” Oren said, frowning. “Not if they want to get it right.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Papan asked.

When Oren didn’t jump in with an answer, I assumed he didn’t know. But I did, and it was probably time to come clean about this too. “It means that I won’t get my powers until Grandma’s moved on.”

Oren swiveled around in the chair. “What do you mean? She died years ago, and would surely have moved on by now.”

I sighed, stepping to the sink, away from both of them. I looked out the window at the darkness outside, trying to hold back a strong feeling of déjà vu. The last time I’d looked out this window at night, Mauricio had been standing on the other side in his canine guise, minutes before he attacked me in my own home.

Turning away, I pressed my back against the sink and looked their way but didn’t meet either of their gazes. I’d been carrying this part of the story with me since it happened, just hadn’t found the right time to broach the subject and certainly wasn’t interested in telling it more than once. Now was the perfect time—I could tell them together.

“When Mauricio delivered me to Mace and I was strapped into the freaky chair, I crossed into the ghostly patch. It was the only way I could think of to save Ebony and the other girls, and to stop the gap from widening between the patches. Inside, I met Professor Spooker. He’d become a wraith and explained a few things.” I paused to wait for their reactions. “It seems that Grandma had told him some vital information she hoped he would pass on to me.”

“You met the professor and didn’t say anything about it until now?”

“Oren, I needed a little time to work through everything, okay?”

“Fair enough, but you’ve got to learn to stop omitting such important details from our conversations. How can I help you find your grandparents if you leave relevant things out?” He looked more frustrated than angry. I had that effect on him. “You kept the
Obscurus
to yourself and now this. Seriously, Sierra, you’ve got to stop.”

I ignored everything he said after the mention of my dead grandparents. “You don’t need to look for them anymore. I know where they are.” I licked my dry lips. “I saw them seconds before they were dragged away by shadows. So I doubt either one of us will ever get them back.” I sighed. “All I know is that Mace has been keeping Grandma’s spirit hostage all this time because he knew that once she moves onto the afterlife, I’ll get the full extent of my power and he wants to control when that happens.”

Papan whistled and Oren shook his head.

“He knows that if he doesn’t forcibly take your power
before
the fact, you’ll be too powerful to defeat.” My biological grandfather looked thoughtful for a minute, before adding, “Aha! He must have kept tabs on your familial line for years, but he’s only a young chap. Can’t be older than forty…”

“Actually, I think he’s a lot older than that,” I said, feeling my stomach churn. I didn’t even want to think about how old Mace had really been when I’d fallen for his charms. The fact he didn’t seem to age hadn’t struck me as strange until it was pointed out. “Professor Spooker told me he had a young assistant called Mason Clamber. If you do the calculations, it doesn’t add up.”

Oren’s eyes blazed with anger. “That means this Clamber has to be something more than human.”

“I guess it’s just another mystery to add to the mix.” Although I did have a theory from the bits and pieces he’d let slip during his cocky moments. “I think you’re right. He’s been chasing our line for a while. He probably knew that the longer he waited, the stronger the generation would become.”
Not to mention that apparently I’m not just a spook catcher with blood from a witch carried down the line, but Grandma somehow exposed me to the demonic when I was a baby.
 

I still didn’t know what that meant, but it did confirm my grandmother knew I would attract the wrong kind of attention one day. Oren had called me a beacon once, and he was right.
 

“So this group of crazies wants to make sure your granny moves on when they want her to, and at the exact point when you inherit her power they’ll use you to open a door for this Legion demon?” Papan looked furious.

All I could do was nod.

“What happens to you then?” His eyes were shiny and glowed green.

“I don’t think I’ll make it out alive,” I whispered. Maybe this was the death Sally Grye had seen so clearly in the tea leaves.

“There’s no way I’m letting them do that to you.” Papan stood up straight, crossing his arms over his chest.

Oren nodded. “I agree. From now on, you’re going to have to be accompanied by someone wherever you go.”

“I will gladly be that someone,” Papan said, taking a step closer.

“Guys, I appreciate that you’re both worried but I can’t have a chaperone with me all the time.” I took a quick breath and exhaled. “As much as I’ve been putting off work, I need to get back to it. I was planning on starting up again on Monday, and I can’t drag one of you around with me all the time.”

“I’ll be there with you.”

“Papan, you’ve got your own work to do!”

“I can postpone it—”

“No, you need to do your thing.” I didn’t want to become some sort of responsibility he’d soon regret. “And I need to do mine.”

A small smile teased his lips. “Are you saying you don’t want me beside you?”