Home > Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins (Harley Merlin #2)(12)

Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins (Harley Merlin #2)(12)
Author: Bella Forrest

As a Kolduny, I could see dead people everywhere. Most passed on, though I didn’t know where. The ones who stayed behind had trouble letting go. They became ghosts, like this little boy. In rare instances and with some rare magical paraphernalia, I could summon the dead who had already moved on, but they never knew where they came from or what sort of place they were going back to. They were all spirits, echoes of the living. My ability was also tied to geography—I could only see and summon the ghosts of those who had died in my location. I was also able to use their abilities if they were magicals, but only if I let them enter my body, which was, more often than not, rather risky, especially since I wasn’t yet an expert in the field.

The little boy watched me as I approached him, and frowned when he realized I could see him.

“Who are you?” he asked.

I glanced around. This was a typical backyard. Short grass, a plethora of flower bushes, a kiddy pool and small patio with a brick barbecue. Mina’s toys were scattered all over: plastic flamingoes, rubber ducklings, and a pair of underwater goggles, for her little “exploratory” missions. I understood why Linda and Evan wanted Mina to hold on to her humanity—she could do more of this and experience the unadulterated joy of just being a kid. I got that.

“I’m Tatyana,” I said to the little boy.

Judging by his clothes and haircut, he’d been an altar boy at some point. He’d died in the white robe. I could almost envision him during Sunday mass, his mom and dad present and proud of their little boy. I swallowed back tears, then sat in the gazebo next to him.

Unlike my family, I never had an easy time with dead people. Death was tragic, and I couldn’t get over the sadness it instilled in me. My parents, my brothers, and everyone else in my family got used to it. Despite my pragmatism and cold nature, death was the one thing I failed to immunize myself against.

“You can see me,” the boy replied.

“Yeah, I’m a little different. I’m a magical.” I sighed.

“Like Mina.”

“That’s right. And her parents,” I said.

“Yeah. But Mina’s the strong one.” The little boy chuckled. “She scares her mom and dad all the time with her tricks. They can’t do what she does.”

“No, they can’t. So, you know about magicals, then?” I asked, and he nodded. “Were you a magical, too?”

He shook his head. “I was just a boy.”

“How come you’re still here?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I like it here. This used to be my house. I lived here with my mom and three sisters.”

“Oh, wow, three sisters?” I exclaimed, smiling. He mirrored my expression, showing off a small gap between his front teeth. He was the sweetest little thing. “What’s your name?”

“Will.”

“What happened to you, Will? Do you remember?” I asked, my voice unsteady. This was always a difficult question to ask. Some spirits didn’t remember, but most did, and it was never a good experience. They were mostly calm and resigned to their fate, in a way, even though ghosts were still stuck in this realm—but when they remembered their deaths, most became irritable, even angry and erratic. Some were so traumatized by what had happened to them that all they did was replay their death, over and over, on a heartbreaking loop. Those were death specters, and it took a lot of time spent as a ghost to degenerate into one.

Looking at Will, I wished I could say or do something to help him move on, before he, too, got lost in such a loop. There was no cure for ghosts. No way to make them disappear. They had to move on, or they got stuck in limbo. I used to ask the spirits that had passed on for advice—trying to find a way to help ghosts move on, too. But all I ever got was “let go.” That didn’t really help.

“Someone hurt me,” he replied. “Someone like Mina. Powerful, but mean and evil.”

My blood ran cold. A magical had killed him. “Do you remember when, Will?”

He shook his head once more. “It was too long ago. I lost track of time.”

I would’ve loved to have more time to spend with him, but the dead weren’t going anywhere. I, on the other hand, had other places to be and more magicals to protect. I put my hand out, smiling at him.

“Touch me,” I said to him.

Will sighed, sadness settling in his round blue eyes. “I can’t. It goes right through. I tried touching Mina and her parents and everybody else I came across, but I can’t feel anything.”

“Try it,” I replied.

He frowned, then put his little hand over mine. I could feel him, cold and almost liquid. He gasped when he realized he could feel me, too. “Whoa. How are you doing that?”

“I’m a special kind of magical.” I chuckled. “The dead can feel me. It’s weird, I know, but many actually find it comforting.”

“Yeah,” he murmured, gently caressing my hand.

A magical had killed this beautiful little boy. The worst part was that Will had died here, or somewhere in the area. Without a timeframe, however, I couldn’t make much of his circumstances.

“I need your help, Will,” I said. He raised his eyebrows at me, genuinely curious. He seemed willing to help, most likely impressed by the fact that he could touch me. I always employed this little trick to gain a ghost’s cooperation. It worked, most of the time. “Now that you’ve felt me, you can find me anywhere. Just think of me and call out my name, and I will hear you.”

“Okay…”

“I need you to keep an eye on Mina for me,” I added. “She may or may not be in danger. We don’t know anything for sure yet. But I’ve charmed the house, and I was hoping you’d stick around and watch over her. If she’s in trouble, just reach out to me.”

He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “It’s because of the twins, huh?”

“You heard that?”

“Yeah. I saw and heard everything,” he replied. “I always do, even through walls.”

“Were you here when they came?”

“I was. But I couldn’t really see them,” Will said, his shoulders dropping in disappointment. “There was something about their faces… I can’t describe it. Mina and her parents couldn’t see it, or they would’ve screamed or gotten scared or something. But I’ll tell you, their faces were made of… black smoke. And I couldn’t hear what they were saying, either. It was all warbled, like a bad radio!”

This was an interesting account, to say the least. I already knew that ghosts could sometimes see what our eyes couldn’t. That they could hear what we couldn’t. Will’s recollection made me think that the Ryder twins were more than just imposter magicals maybe working for Katherine Shipton. It didn’t feel like such a leap, in my opinion, with what we’d recently been through, particularly since we knew that Finch wasn’t her only “minion.” No self-respecting evil-doer would work alone.

There was something about them—something that a ghost had registered. Digging through my memories, I remembered reading about charms that could conceal someone from spirits. Maybe the twins had used something similar. I would have to ask my mom about that, and such a phone call was never easy to make. Well, my mom didn’t make it easy. Ever.

I didn’t yet have the ability to see through a spirit’s eyes. That was a rare and difficult power to attain, and it came with years of practice and all kinds of unsavory herbal cocktails. My mother kept pressuring me to go back to Moscow, so she could initiate me in the process, but I loved San Diego too much. I was just beginning to make friends, to build a life here. I didn’t want to go back.

The Vasilis clan and I didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye.

“Sorry I can’t help you more,” Will added, breaking my train of thought.

“Thank you,” I replied gently. “It’s okay. Take care of yourself, Will.”

He smiled, watching me as I went back inside the house. Astrid had just finished briefing Linda and Evan, with Mina curiously listening. Dylan came downstairs, giving me a wink and a smile when he reached the ground floor. My heart skipped a beat. There was something about that boy. I felt… different around him, in the best way possible. I wasn’t a Vasilis daughter or a Kolduny when I was around him. I was just Tatyana, and it was such a relief.

Of course, I didn’t let him know that. I didn’t want him to be aware of the effect he had on me. That was my little secret.

“House is double-checked and warded,” he announced.

“Good, we should go,” I replied as we went back inside the living room. “We still have families to visit. Oh, and by the way, I just had a brief chat with a kid who died here. Killed by a magical, but I’ll fill you in on the details later… And I think it’s best not to mention it to the parents at all. I might just end up scaring them over something that could turn out to be really old news. They have enough on their plate.” I didn’t yet know when Will had died, but I was going to find out—provided, of course, that his death had made it into some news or records.

Dylan nodded. “All right.”

Whoever or whatever the Ryder twins were, I wanted to make sure we could catch them. Whatever their intentions, I was dead set on finding out. If they were after Mina and the other magical kids, they’d have to deal with us.

Most importantly, if they were in any way involved with Katherine Shipton, they were in a lot of trouble with me, personally. That witch had already ruined so many lives, especially Harley’s. Magic was Chaos and wonder, light and darkness, fire and ice, laughter and tears—a mixture of everything, but always in a splendid balance. What Katherine was doing, through Finch and his gargoyles, through the strings of murders and plotting against our community… it was filthy and obscene.

And I wasn’t going to have any of it.

Eight

Harley

Contrary to what I’d expected, Alton wasn’t all that furious about my intervention. I didn’t hear the entire conversation he’d had with Wade over the phone, but I didn’t hear any shouting. That, in my book, was a good sign.

   
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