The Departed (21 page)

I dropped my backpack and started rummaging through it. Kade pulled out the hammer, the bag of nails, and I removed the blessed charm.

“Hold hands,” I heard my mom say.

“We need to hold hands,” I told my friends.

We all held hands. Before we’d set out, we’d talked about intention. We spoke the words, said the blessing, and I drove the nail into the ground. One by one, with the spirit of my mother guiding us, we did all the things we were supposed to do.

There was no scream, no movement at all that gave us a sign that we had succeeded.

“Are we done?” Megan asked.

I nodded, and everyone grabbed their backpacks and with a final glance at the grave, headed back the way we had come.

Kade took my hand, and we started walking, but I stopped short.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Dot told me to give her peace. I need to send them to the other side,” I said, knowing with a certainty that’s what I had to do.

Everyone ahead of us had turned to look back.

“We’ll be right behind you,” I said, hoping to reassure them that everything was okay.

“No way,” Shane said. “We came up together, we go down together.”

I felt guided by a force so much larger than myself. The words I said were simple. I asked for Laria, Randall, and the rest of those who were not at peace, to be escorted into the light. I asked my friends to close their eyes and envision the white light and to say a prayer for their passing.

It was so strange, because all the fear and anger I felt toward Laria evaporated in that moment. I knew my life would never be the same because of what we’d gone through. I would never take the spirit world for granted because of her.

She had haunted me for months now, and I was ready to put it behind me forever. I had a new appreciation for the world of the dead. I knew that life went on after we die…and those who choose to stay and not move on have more power over the living than I could have ever imagined.

Just as there were bad people, there were bad spirits.

A shiver rushed along my spine and I knew Laria stood behind me. I felt the coldness first, and half expected her to grab me by the back of the neck and start choking me. Instead, she came up beside me, and I glanced over at her. She looked different to me. Softer, and for the first time I didn’t fear her.

“Go to the light, Laria,”
I said.

The wind whipped her hair, and she lifted her chin and looked out over the valley, toward the castle. I remembered Ian’s fear at leaving Braemar after being earthbound for two centuries. I saw that same fear in Laria’s eyes.

“I’m afraid,” she said. “This is all I’ve ever known.”

“Why would you want to stay?”

“I fear what’s waiting for me.”

I didn’t know what waited for her, but I felt in my heart it was better than being stuck here, wreaking havoc on the living.
“You deserve to have peace. It has been a long time coming.”

She was as surprised by my words as I was.

“I loved him,” she said. I didn’t have to ask who we were talking about. I knew it was Ian. “He was incredibly charming.”

I smiled. I remembered that charm firsthand.

“I never meant to kill him. The others told me that the poison would only make him sick, like it had made you sick. I wanted to take care of him. To ease him back to health and then he would want me because I had cared for him.”

That surprised me. All this time she had been such a malevolent presence, and I had assumed she’d intentionally killed Ian.
“What about Randall?”

“He told me he had power, and then he showed me. I was intrigued by him, but I didn’t love him.”

Laria glanced over at Kade who, like the rest of my friends, had his eyes closed. “He loves you.”

I nodded
. “I know. And I love him, too.”

For the first time she genuinely smiled. “It’s time for me to go,” she said, and I felt the pull of the other side, the pulsing bright light that seemed to call to her.

She walked toward it, and then slowly Randall and the others followed behind her.  The blonde woman who had been the coven’s victim walked past. “Thank you,” she said, a beautiful smile on her face.

My breath left me in a rush.

Maddy’s eyes were wide open and she blinked back tears.

Anne Marie turned to me. “You did it, kid.”

“
I couldn’t have done it without you.”
I could only hope I didn’t have anything to do with her death.

“I think I’ll follow…just to be sure they stay where they’re going.”

“Like an escort?”

“More like a guard,” she said, her laughter like music to my ears. “I’m ready to go home, to see my spirit family. They’ve been calling me.”

“Anne Marie, did you die because of—”

“The answer is no. Do you hear me?”

I nodded.

“I had been sick for a while. I just didn’t want to tell anyone.”

I think she was just being nice. True, she might have been sick, but I knew that spirits had a tendency to drain the living, and if you were frail at all, you were seriously in danger of becoming depleted energy-wise.

She glanced toward the light that grew brighter. “I must go now.”

“Visit me,”
I said.
“And Miss A. She’ll want to see you again.”

“I’ll see you both…in your dreams,” she said with a wink, and then she walked into the light, and it closed around her.

“You did it, sweetheart.”

Mom squeezed my shoulder. I smiled, knowing she would be with me. Knowing I would feel this, the intense love that surrounded me and filled every single sense. I wished I could feel this way forever.

I had done it…but not without her help. She had saved me more than once, and I was so incredibly grateful.

“Never leave me, Mom.”

“Not a chance, sweetheart.”

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and said a thank you before I turned back to my friends. Kade smiled wide and my heart squeezed with love for him. I was holding onto that boy with both hands.

Chapter 24

I woke up to the sun shining through the gap in the curtains, nearly blinding me. Before I could blink, I knew I wasn’t alone.

I glanced at Peter, who was sitting in the chair, where he had no doubt been waiting for me to wake up for hours. Every single morning he was there, anxious to spend time with me.

“I thought I told you I wanted to sleep in today.”

Peter glanced at the clock and shrugged. “It’s eleven.”

I sat up straight. “Eleven! How could you let me sleep so long?”

His shoulders sagged and I laughed. “Just kidding, but I do need to get cleaned up.”

I jumped up, rushed to the bathroom, and turned on the shower. We had a strict policy that the bathroom was off-limits, a rule he had no problem with.

Peter had become a fixture in my life, though we had to set up some boundaries, especially at school. He couldn’t interfere or help me with schoolwork, unless of course I asked for it. Now that Laria and the others were gone, he roamed Braemar freely.

It had been three months since my friends and I had helped Laria and the coven pass over, and life had fallen into a new normal. An incredible normal that had me looking forward to the future. I hadn’t cut at all in the months since Laria left, and though there were times I thought about it, if the urge arose, I talked to Kade, Shane, or one of my friends, and I always felt better.

I took a quick shower, got dressed, put on makeup, and was drying my hair when Shane popped his head in. “Happy birthday, Ri.”

“Thanks, Shane.”

“Dad wants to talk to you when you get a sec.”

My eyes widened.

He laughed. “Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. He probably just wants to know where you want to go for your birthday dinner.”

“I’ll be down in ten.”

“Sounds good.”

The second he closed the door, I turned to Peter who was sprawled in the chair. “Are you sure you don’t want to go into the light today?” I asked. “With it being my birthday and all?”

He shook his head. “Nah, not today.”

There wouldn’t be a day when I didn’t ask him. He wasn’t ready to leave, and truth be told, I don’t think I was ready to let him go either. He was actually helpful to me, especially when it came to my lessons with Dot, who had become my mentor. We met once a week, and I had learned so much from her already. I could hardly wait to see what the future would bring.

“You’d better get downstairs,” Peter said when I finished curling my hair.

He was right. I glanced at the clock. I’d been longer than ten minutes.

He walked with me, and when we got to the kitchen no one was there. In fact, Miss A hadn’t cooked anything.

I frowned.

Peter shrugged.

We walked into the dining room.

“Surprise!” My family—including Miss A and Cheryl—were here, along with all my friends.

“Happy birthday,” they said in unison.

“Awww, thanks,” I said, thrilled to see them all standing around the dining room table, where a large sheet cake with red roses read
Happy 17
th
Birthday, Riley.

“Kade bought it,” Cait said, a wide smile on her face as she glanced at her brother, who grinned and gave me a kiss.

“I couldn’t resist,” he said. “I saw it and I thought of you and a poem by Robert Burns called
A Red, Red Rose
.”

My throat tightened. Ian had left that poem for me in a book. “My love is like a red, red rose,” I quoted the opening line.

“Well done, Ri,” Milo said with a wink. “I think the Scottish life is rubbing off on you a bit.”

“Just a wee bit,” I said, and everyone laughed.

Dad walked over to me, reached inside his pocket, and produced a key. “Happy birthday, Riley.”

 “You didn’t,” I said, shocked that my dad had bought me a car, especially when I had a ways to go on getting my license. I was taking lessons, though, and soon I would be free to drive the windy roads of Braemar.

“Well,” Dad said. “I wanted you to wear the brakes out on your own car, and not mine.”

Kade grinned and I elbowed him. “What’s so funny?” I couldn’t hide my smile.

I gave Dad a hug, and Cheryl as well. Cheryl had made a positive difference in all our lives. Mom had told me that she had put Cheryl in Dad’s path because he needed her. Maybe we
all
needed her. Kind of like Miss A.

She was stuck with us for life now.

Dad pressed the key into my hand. “Go…look.”

Everyone followed me to the door.

A cute, navy car sat in the driveway.

It had some years on it, but I didn’t care. It was mine and I was thrilled.

“An elderly woman out of Ballater owned it for six years,” Dad said, chest puffing out with pride. “It only has eight thousand kilometers on it. Can you believe it?”

Shane opened the driver’s side door and looked in. “Sweet!”

I gave my dad a hug.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” he said, kissing me on the forehead.

“Thanks, Dad. I love it.”

Our relationship had changed in a huge way. He looked at me differently. I think everyone did, and I looked at them differently, too. I was at home here. It made sense; I had lived here once before. Braemar was a part of me. I had met the love of my life and had lifelong friends, and I wasn’t going anywhere.

“Um, everyone better get out of the way,” I said.

“I hate to burst your bubble, but I’m going to have to go with you for a test drive.”

Dad rolled back on his heels. “Or maybe Kade can take you.”

He didn’t have to say it twice. I raced to the passenger’s side, and slid in, while Kade took a seat behind the wheel.

Kade started the car and everyone cheered.

He put the car in drive and looked at me. “So…where do you want to go?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know…how about we go to the river?”

I had lost my virginity at the river, and to me it would always hold that significance and the incredible memory of making love to the man I loved and adored.

Kade’s lips curved into a slow, wolfish smile. I felt my entire body go hot at that stare. “It might be kind of cold.”

I shrugged. “I’m sure you can keep me warm.”

His blue eyes smoldered. “Now that’s an invitation I can’t resist.”

Coming Summer 2012:

The MacKinnon Curse (the beginning)

a novella written in Ian’s P.O.V.

If you enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy the following YA novels:

THE BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS by P.T. Michelle

IN DREAMS by J. Sterling