Grave Ransom Read online

  “Can you possibly make more noise?” Briar asked, sounding disgusted with me. She slipped silently through the woods, her footing sure and steady.

  I hated her a little.

  Falin was just as silent—a graceful predator in a suit. Remy at least made a little noise as he tromped along, but not nearly as much as me.

  I was concentrating so hard on my footing, I almost missed the feeling of magic ahead of us.

  “Stop,” I yelled, hurrying to catch up and nearly landing on my face when I tripped over a fallen branch.

  Briar and Falin froze, but Remy took a couple more steps before turning.

  “What’s wrong, Craft?” Briar asked. At the same time Falin said, “Alex?”

  “We’re about to cross a ward,” I said, trying to catch my breath. Not that anyone else was breathing hard.

  “Someone cast a ward in the middle of the forest?” Briar asked, glancing around.

  I understood her confusion. Wards were typically placed on boundary points: doorways, fences, even small objects like boxes and bags, something that had a clear transition from one place to another, inside from outside. The magic stuck to those physical representations of transition best. A line or circle scratched or painted onto the ground could offer a temporary place for a ward to grab hold, but it wouldn’t last long. Creating a ward that held in a mixed terrain like a forest would be hard.

  I narrowed my eyes and scanned the trees ahead of us where I could feel the spell. While it appeared like the trees kept going forever, it was marginally brighter just ahead of us. I could feel an illusion spell mixed in with the wards, and I would have put money on the fact that we were moments from stumbling through that illusion and likely into a clearing. The openness of a clearing compared to the woods around it would be an acceptable transition point.

  “What does the ward do?” Falin asked, moving to stand beside me and casting his gaze to match mine as I stared at what I was now positive was an illusion of more forest.

  “There is an illusion in the same spot, but I think the ward is just an alarm. It won’t stop us, but Gauhter will know how many people crossed it, and maybe if we are normals, witches, or fae.” I bit my lip, trying to search down anything else I could discern about the ward. When this was all over, I was going to have to spend some time with Caleb and learn a little more about the intricacies of wards. “It might detect weapons and carried spells too. I can’t tell. But it definitely will destroy any chance of surprise.”

  Briar cursed under her breath.

  “Are we aborting this mission?” Remy asked from up ahead. “Because I have no issue turning around and walking right back out of here.”

  “Don’t give up so easy. No one is leaving,” Briar said. “Besides, you wouldn’t have your charm. I bet you couldn’t find your way back out.”

  Remy scowled at her, and Falin smiled, looking down at me. “Come now, even a blind goblin could follow the trail Alex left on the way here.”

  “Ha ha,” I said, but I didn’t mind the teasing. Besides, he was probably right. “So seriously, though, what’s the plan?”

  “I’m assuming you’re taking us to a structure,” Falin said, looking over to Remy. “How far are we from it?”

  Remy shook his head. “I’m . . . not exactly sure where we are. I’ve never been here before. I was told to drive to the rest stop, park, and then follow where the arrow pointed.”

  “So, when we pass that ward, we might be right outside the designated meeting place,” Falin said, rubbing a thumb and finger along his jaw as he thought aloud. “Or this could be a distant-perimeter ward and you might follow that charm for another half hour of hiking.”

  “I hope not,” Remy grumbled under his breath. Everyone ignored him.

  “You’re right.” Briar nodded to Falin. Then she pulled her crossbow and checked its configuration. “We will have no idea what is across that illusion until we’ve already set off the ward. We can rush the place, hoping speed is enough to catch Gauhter unaware, but if that is a distant-perimeter ward, we’ll have lost all element of surprise and Gauhter will likely be gone. If he’s even there in the first place. Option two is to send Remy and the book over alone. He can communicate back to us what the terrain and walk is like, and how many people are on the other side.”

  “Both those options suck,” Remy said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Out of those options, I vote we rush the place,” I said, though a raid wasn’t something I exactly had experience with. “There is less chance of Gauhter ending up with the book if we rush the place than if we send Remy alone.”

  Falin shook his head. “But there is a higher chance of Gauhter slipping through our fingers or casualties if we run into something unexpected. I vote we send Remy to do some reconnaissance.”

  Briar evaluated her crossbow for a moment, checking the resistance of the string. She was a kick-ass-now, ask-questions-later type, and I had no doubt she’d side with me. But after a moment she looked at Falin and nodded. “I agree. We need more information. There would be nothing suspicious about Remy walking over that ward alone.”

  I wasn’t exactly outvoted, as Remy had yet to voice an opinion beyond the general suckiness of both options. Everyone turned to look at him.

  “How would I communicate with you if I go in alone? I’m guessing you don’t have a police wire randomly on your persons out here in the woods.”

  “And magic might be sensed by the ward,” I said, wishing I could give a definite yes or no on that, but “maybe” was as good as I could get.

  Falin and Briar glanced at each other, some sort of private communication going on between them that Remy and I weren’t invited to.

  “I have a hands-free device for my cell phone,” Briar said, pulling a small earpiece with microphone from one of her pockets.

  Falin nodded. “I can hide that. I doubt the ward detects or dispels glamour.”

  Briar dialed my number on her phone before handing both phone and hands-free earpiece to Remy. “Craft, keep that line open. Remy, I want these back, so don’t lose them.”

  “Right,” he said, stuffing the phone in his pocket.

  Once the hands-free set was secure in his ear, Falin cupped his hand over the side of Remy’s face. It looked oddly like Falin was caressing Remy’s face, and as that face was currently that of a pretty young woman, it was awkward to watch. I turned away.

  While Falin worked on the glamour, Briar said, “When you cross the ward, just act normal. If no one is watching, mutter to yourself about what you see. If there are people, well, if they are that close, they might be watching now, but assuming they aren’t, do what you can to let us know what you see.”

  “Oh, that makes me feel so safe. Here is a phone, go walk into a trap.”

  Briar ignored him. “Your safe word is ‘apples.’ If things go wrong or you don’t think you can get back out, say it and we will come get you.”

  As he was already dead, I wondered how quickly we as the cavalry would actually rush in if he reported overwhelming odds. When I glanced at Remy, Falin had finished and stepped back. He’d done a good job; there was no sign of the earpiece.

  I lifted my own phone. “Testing, testing.”

  “I hear you loud and clear,” Remy said, and I gave a thumbs-up that I could hear him as well before switching to speakerphone. Remy turned, lifting the glass disc with the glowing arrow pointed at the illusionary woods ahead. Falin handed Remy the backpack, and then the ghost piloting a corpse gave us a small salute. “Off I go.”

  Chapter 24

  There was nothing to do but wait as Remy vanished behind the illusion.

  “Crap, guys. It’s a freaking clearing on this side. With a shack in the middle.”

  “Not so subtle, Remy. You should probably act natural in case people can see you from that shack,” Briar said. She still had her cr
ossbow in her hands, ready to charge forward past the illusion if she needed.

  “Natural? I’m walking around in a dead girl’s body. Natural isn’t on the table,” he said, but his voice barely carried through my phone this time, so at least he was whispering.

  “I guess I’m supposed to knock,” he said, and we heard a soft thudding as he did just that. It had only been a minute or two since he crossed the ward, so the clearing was small, the shack close to the tree line.

  “You’re late,” a gravelly voice said, and I glanced at Briar and Falin. Could this be the infamous Gauhter?

  Remy answered that question for me a heartbeat later. “Who are you? And who is she? Where is Gauhter?”

  “Gauhter’s busy. He sent us to pick up his package. Did you get the book?”

  So no, this was not Gauhter. Our necromancer was MIA. I sagged as disappointment weighed me down, but then I forced myself to straighten again. Remy could need help soon. There were still two unknown potential threats across those wards.

  “I have the book, but I’m not giving it to anyone but Gauhter,” Remy said, his voice sounding petulant but determined.

  “You are giving it to us. Gauhter has a new job for you.” This was a new voice. The unknown female in the shack.

  “He told me if I brought him this book, he’d return my body.” Considering Remy knew he wasn’t getting his body, it was a pretty stellar performance.

  Falin looked at Briar. “Gauhter’s not going to show. We should get Remy out and detain these two, see what we can find out.”

  She nodded. “Agreed.” Then into my phone she said, “Remy, keep stalling, we’re about to raid the shack. When you hear us enter, hit the floor.”

  Remy was smart enough not to answer.

  The male voice on the other side of the line said, “And you’ll get your body back soon. Gauhter just needs you to run another little errand for him.”

  Briar moved to just outside the ward, ready to rush it. I began to follow, and Falin caught my shoulder, stopping me.

  “You stay here,” he said.

  I cocked an eyebrow. Not that I was about to complain about not having to raid a bad guy’s shack. I did feel a little put out that he didn’t think I could pull my weight in this investigation, though.

  Falin must have taken my expression as a preamble to an argument because he said, “You’re half blind and your idea of a fighting style is trusting your movements to the guidance of a dagger that likes blood and isn’t picky where it draws it. Just sit this one out, okay?”

  “We need to move. Craft, stay,” Briar said, and then she charged across the ward. Falin followed her a moment later.

  I didn’t.

  “What the hell was that?” the man’s voice said over my phone as soon as Briar passed the ward.

  “Someone is here. Two someones and one is carrying a crap-ton of magic,” the woman said. “We should get out of here.”

  And then chaos exploded over the phone. It was hard to follow what was happening through the choppy bangs, yells, and crashes that crackled over the line. The line went silent a moment later. At first I thought the call had been dropped, but it was just that the fight was over that quick.

  “Did you see the woman?” Falin’s voice asked, sounding distant and muffled through the phone.

  There were some shuffling sounds, and then Briar’s voice came through the phone loud and clear, like she’d just reclaimed her hands-free set. “Craft, did anyone come your way?”

  I opened my mouth to say no, but then I felt the magic coming straight toward me, fast. I couldn’t see anything move through the ward, but I could feel the spells surrounding the figure.

  I drew the dagger from my boot. It buzzed in excitement, happy to be drawn and happier that I might use it.

  “Stop,” I yelled, extending the dagger in front of me.

  The knot of magic cloaking the figure didn’t stop. It turned, making an arc around my location. Damn.

  I didn’t have any offensive magics. I should have made Briar leave me one of her potions, but I hadn’t, so unless I was willing to chase the figure down and stab her, I didn’t know how to stop her.

  I cracked my shields, reaching with my grave magic. But the magic-cloaked figure wasn’t dead—which was a surprise in and of itself. What was even more of a surprise was that when I opened my shields and the Aetheric plane snapped into focus, showing the otherwise gray world with an overwhelming amount of color, the invisibility spell suddenly snapped into focus as well. It coated her form, creating a perfect glowing layer over her skin.

  She glanced over her shoulder, and a jolt of recognition jolted through me. I knew her face, I’d seen it recently. But where? I didn’t have time to think about it. I gave chase, but if it had been hard to navigate the terrain at a walk when I’d simply lacked depth perception and color, it was nigh impossible trying to do it with those same issues combined with the fact that now I couldn’t see some of the fallen debris because it appeared rotted in the land of the dead. The second time I tripped, I ended up on my knees, my palms the only thing keeping my face out of the dirt. The dagger skittered out of my hand, and I scrambled after it.

  Falin was suddenly by my side. He held out a hand, dragging me back to my feet.

  “Did you see her?” he asked as soon as I was upright.

  I nodded, lifting the hand clutching my dagger to point ahead of me, though while I could feel her, there was too much Aetheric energy clogging the space between us for me to still see the outline her spell created. “She has an invisibility charm. Best one I’ve ever felt.”

  He scanned the area where I’d pointed, but only shook his head. “Let’s head back to the shack. At least we caught one of them.”

  • • •

  “I just had it,” Remy said as Falin and I walked into the shack. He knelt down on his hands and knees, looking under the table where I guessed he must have hid when the raid occurred.

  “Just had what?” I asked, but my attention was on the body sprawled in the middle of the floor. The stranger looked dead. He felt dead. “Is he dead?”

  Briar pursed her lips and toed the body with one of her black biker boots. “I’m not sure. I mean, I’m guessing he started out dead, so yes. But will he wake up when I counterspell the sleepytime and immobility spells I hit him with? I honestly don’t know.”

  I considered opening my shields and looking to see if the soul was still inside, but it wasn’t outside the man, and the body was in good shape for how long dead it felt, so I gambled that it was still inside.

  “Do we call the police?” I asked, taking in the broken door, turned-over chairs, and seemingly dead body. This would be fun to explain.

  “Yeah, we’ll need them to come process everything, see if we can identify any prints in this room, maybe find Gauhter’s real name, those of his accomplices, and possibly more victims. Speaking of which, I take it you didn’t catch the woman?”

  Falin shook his head. “She had an invisibility spell.”

  “And an oddity for this case: She wasn’t dead,” I added.

  Briar cursed under her breath and pulled out her phone. “I’ll send GPS coordinates to the locals. Hopefully at least one officer is close by who can take custody of this scene. I want to question this guy, if we can wake him.”

  “It’s gone,” Remy said, scooting out from where he’d squeezed himself under the dilapidated bed frame in the corner of the room.

  “What’s gone?”

  “The backpack,” he said, clenching his hands by his sides.

  A cold stone dropped into my stomach, weighing down my guts with dread. “And the book?”

  Remy nodded. “It was inside.”

  Fuck. The woman must have taken it. That meant Gauhter would soon have the alchemist’s journal and whatever was hidden in those magical illustrations. I didn’
t know what secrets the spelled pages contained, but the fact that Gauhter wanted them worried me. His magic was strong and evolving, and left a lot of dead bodies in its wake.

  Chapter 25

  “This has to be the oddest thing that has ever happened in my morgue,” Tamara said with a shake of her head as Remy climbed up onto one of the gurneys.

  “It’s really cold,” he said, sitting on the gurney and staring dubiously at the shiny metal surface.

  Tamara laughed. “Really? I’ve never had a customer complain before.”

  I let that one go. “Remy, you should lie down.”

  “Don’t I need to sign a release or something? Maybe some sort of lost-and-found form?”

  John, who was here as a witness, shook his head, but he didn’t say anything.

  “Briar recorded your witness statement on the drive here. Do you need more time to think this over? You burn your own soul’s energy while you are in that body, but I don’t think a few hours would make much difference,” I said, keeping my voice pleasant, calm. He’d decided he wanted to do this, but I wasn’t going to force it if he needed more time. He was about to save his soul but lose even the semblance of the life he’d been clinging to inside his stolen body. It was a hard decision.

  “Maybe I should see Taylor first. Just in case,” Remy said, starting to slide off the gurney. “There are so many things I never got to say.”

  “Kid, do you really want her last memory of you being this?” Briar asked from across the morgue where she was leaning against the wall. She had the tact of a charging rhino. “We need to get this over with. I want to interview the walking corpse upstairs.”

  I shot a glare over my shoulder at her but forced my features to soften again before I turned back to Remy. “You’ll actually be much more recognizable once you’re a ghost, but you won’t be able to interact with the mortal world in the same way you do inside a body. I will try my best to ensure that you talk to her once this case is over.”