"Why not blow up the compound?" asked Zerina. "Why keep them trapped?"
I heard multiple screams and jerked upright. Zerina and Arin glanced at me and I realized I was the only one hearing the cries. The spirits in this cave were lamenting, but good. What Zerina had said upset them mightily.
Arin was looking green. "Please. For the love of heaven. Go shower. A lot. Then we'll talk."
Zerina and I went to the cave with its waterfall. We got undressed and stood under the cold water until the smell went away.
My clothes were beyond help. Zerina was too small and Arin too thin to offer anything to wear, so they dug through Terran's stuff. She liked leather, and I liked comfort, so nothing there, either. Besides, she was short and lithe. I was tall and had boobs to spare.
"Hang on," said Zerina. She wove her hands in the air. Pink sparkles zipped back and forth. After a few minutes, she offered me the most gorgeous blue dress I'd ever seen. It fit perfectly and flowed around me like spun silk. I wasn't much of a dress fan, but I loved this one.
"The fabric is woven from fairy magic, so it'll protect you. Plus, that color matches your eyes."
"Thanks, Zee." I hugged her, which she hated.
She pushed out of my arms. "Get away from me. Sheesh!"
Shoes were a problem, so I went barefoot. I'd given myself a nice little pedicure a few nights before, so my shiny red toes didn't look half bad. I wrung out my wet hair as best I could and then borrowed hairpins from Terran's stash. I put my hair into a simple updo just to keep it out of my face.
And that was as good as I was gonna get.
Arin had disposed of the couch I'd sat on and sprayed some kind of smell-good stuff in the air. All the same, I caught a whiff of sewer every now and again.
We told Arin about everything that happened and he sat back on the couch with his arms behind his head, thinking hard.
"Everyone is in the bubble?" I asked. "You don't think they're ... hurting anyone, do you? My son is in there. All the kids are!"
Gabriel and Terran were there, too. Where else would Zela take them?
My fear for Wilson and Gabriel was so great, I wanted to leave that moment and take a tire iron to that demon barricade. Please, God, I prayed again, help him. Help us all!
"They're trapped," said Arin. "I suspect the demons were forced to erect the barrier. Koschei couldn't know who had gone into the sewer. Though they probably suspected Zela had, which is why they made sure only she could remove the stakes. Getting rid of Patrick and Jessica would be a boon, too."
Something niggled my mind. I couldn't quite catch it. Then it snapped to the front and I gasped. "We don't know what will happen to a Family if the Ancient dies. That's why the others are trying to figure out ways to capture Koschei without killing him."
"Why would Koschei care about what happened to Zela or her Family? He could wipe out a whole contingent at once. Maybe he was hoping to see what would happen if an Ancient died."
Arin's logic was scary. Come to think of it, so was Koschei's. Waves of nausea forced me to close my eyes for a second. I got all dizzy and felt faint, so I opened them again.
"All right, what's the plan?" Feeling like I was gonna puke any second made me cranky.
"As far as we know, there are only the three of us," said Arin. He looked at me speculatively. "You say that you have all seven powers?"
"Yes." I got up and paced, hoping the sickness would go away. Fat chance. I was missing Gabriel something fierce. "I don't mind using any of 'em except the demon mojo."
Zerina shook her head. "Good call. Demons don't like to be bossed around. If you lose control for a second, they'll rip out your heart and eat it while you die right in front of 'em."
"Nice." I felt dizzy again, so I sat down.
"To make demons do a spell that big," continued Zerina, "means at least ten vamps are using their powers together."
"How the hell are we going to beat them?" I sat back and tried deep breathing. My lungs hadn't worked properly since the day I died and they refused my request to operate. I couldn't remember if I'd had my pint. I seemed hungry. Sorta. Ever have that feeling of being starved, but you know if you ate a thing, you'd just barf it back up? Well, that was me, all right.
"You don't look well," said Zerina, frowning.
"I need Gabriel," I admitted.
For a moment, we all sat there, lost in our thoughts, not feeling all that hopeful.
After a minute or two, I got the feeling of being watched. I looked up into the gaunt face of a girl. She was dressed in black, with kohled eyes and red lips.
"Please," she said softly. "Can you help us?"
I looked around the ghosts encircling the cave. "You're one of them?"
She nodded. "Can you release us from this place?"
"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Why are all of you stuck here to begin with? That's a lot of souls with unfinished business."
"Those Consortium assholes blew us up," said another voice from the shadows.
When we first got Turned, Jessica had been kidnapped by Ron, who was then leader of the Wraiths. He had died of the Taint, but not before he used his own followers to conduct experiments. Honestly, I was fuzzy on what had happened during her rescue.
"Ron told us to prepare for battle," she said. "But no one showed up to fight. We were confused, running around in this mist that came outta nowhere. Ron escaped, but left most of us behind in the cave.
"The whole place filled with light. As if the sun had escaped its orbit and rolled on through the cave. We all died."
I met the concerned looks of Zerina and Arin. Well, mostly Arin. Zerina was tucked onto her favorite pan, looking at her pile of books.
"What's going on?" he asked.
I rubbed my forehead. "Jessica was kidnapped by the Wraiths a few months ago. After she was rescued, a few of the Masters blew up the Wraiths who'd been hiding out in a cave."
That's when I realized we were in the same area. No wonder Gabriel and his crew had managed to get inside the borders and hide in here. This whole place was off-limits, especially to the Turn-bloods.
All the same, I looked at my newest ghost pal. "This isn't the cave that collapsed."
"It's nearby. We saw your psychic energy. We were drawn here." She knelt and placed a translucent hand on my knee. "You must help us."
Since they'd once been Wraiths, and therefore surely subscribed to the belief that vampires should be the top of the food chain, I wasn't too keen on helping them do anything.
I looked at the girl. "I'll try."
"Thank you," she said. She returned to the ranks of the dead watching me from the perimeter. Creepy.
"The ghosts of the Wraiths are here?" asked Arin. He sounded horrified.
"The good news just keeps coming, doesn't it?" I sighed. You know what? I may feel like I had the worst case of flu ever, but I was not helpless. I could command ghosts. I could also wield the seven powers of the Ancients.
I got off the couch and found a clear space. I knelt down and held my arms up, palms out as Khenti had taught me. I whispered the words of magic he'd given me. Above me, a portal of pure white light opened.
"Only your fears and confusion hold you here," I said to the ghosts. "If you want freedom, go to the Light."
I heard their murmurs, felt their doubts, but there was nothing for them here. A few moved into the portal ... and then a few more. The trickle turned into a flood and within minutes, all the souls had left the cave.
As the girl with kohled eyes stepped into the heavenly light, she smiled. "Thanks."
The gate closed behind her.
Wow.
I got to my feet and returned to the couch. Arin and Zerina were staring at me, their mouths hanging open.
"What?" I asked. "I opened a portal and sent about a hundred ghosts through it."
"It feels different in here," said Arin. "Lighter. Not as ... depressing."
"Yeah, well, Wraiths aren't exactly cheerful creatures." My icky-sick feeling had returned. I wanted Gabriel here more than anything. I missed him. I felt like I was missing half my body. He made me whole. Corny, but there you have it.
Nonna and Dottie had done a good job of staying out of my way, which was unlike them. But now, I needed them. "Nonna, Dottie, come to me now!"
In the blink of an eye, my friends popped into sight. They floated in front of me, looking highly annoyed. I rolled my eyes. "What? Did I interrupt you watching the Food Network on some other person's TV?"
"No," said Nonna.
"Me and your granny had a meeting," said Dottie. "And we decided you were right."
"You guys have meetings?" I couldn't fathom them going off by themselves and chatting over ghost tea and cookies. I squinted at them, suspicious. "And just what is it I'm right about?"
"Being more useful." Dottie pulled out her Pall Malls. For once, it didn't bother me that she was smoking. Being a reluctant nonsmoker was the least of my worries. "We've been spying."
"On who?"
"We went along to that Kosher's place," said Dottie. "He's holed up near the cemetery."
"So are we. And his name is Koschei."
"Whatever. He's way on the other side of it. Him and that Lia are loony tunes, if you ask me."
No kiddin'.
"You're really pissing him off," continued Dottie.
"He's lost his soul and his patience," cracked Nonna. She giggled at her own joke. "They got lots of vampires and werewolves and other creatures. "
"Lycans have joined them?" This was worse than I thought. Koschei was definitely going for more than the rule-the-vamps angle.
"Joined who?" asked Arin.
I waved away his question. "I need you two to go to the shelter and tell me if everyone is okay. Check on Wil and Gabriel."
But Dottie was shaking her head as she poured out a stream of smoke. "No can do, hon. We've already tried. Thought you were there, you see. We wanted to report in." She looked at me, sympathy glowing in her eyes. "That's some nasty shit, Pats. Nothing can get through that barrier. Not even ghosts."