Freaky Rites (A Mystic Caravan Mystery Book 6) Page 3
Luke made a face. “I had you at s’mores. Let’s not stray too far from the truth, okay?”
“Fine.” Nellie’s eyes lit with mirth when he flicked them to me. “Let’s handle the dreamcatcher. We’ll need it if I’m going to chop off heads tonight.”
Oh, well, at least he had constructive plans for his evening.
3
Three
The fog was so thick it made me feel closed in. Here I was, outside and in the fresh air, yet I couldn’t help feeling as if I were locked in a coffin.
“This is creepy,” Kade commented. He remained close, the idea of me disappearing in the fog apparently too much for him to handle, and occasionally pressed himself to my side. “I don’t like it.”
“Do you want to hold my hand?” I teased, marking off the paces in my head as I moved across the north side of the fairgrounds. We all took a quadrant and placed magical markers before weaving the magic to build the dreamcatcher. Nixie, Naida and Raven provided most of the magic, which I formed into the right shape. We’d been doing it for years, so I had it down to a science. “I promise to protect you.”
“Ha, ha.” Kade faked an utterly humorless laugh. “Are you telling me this doesn’t bother you?”
We’d made a pact to always tell each other the truth, so I couldn’t exactly say that with a straight face. “No, it’s definitely weird.”
“You said you guys have never been here before, right?” Kade searched the murk for signs of a predator while continuously flicking his gaze back to me to make sure I remained close and hadn’t inadvertently wandered away. “How did you end up here this year?”
“A lot of our stops are annual. A lot of them aren’t, though. I would say it’s about half and half. The ones that are standalones generally come through when a city or township has some special event planned. Only big cities can generally afford us. Occasionally smaller cities call for our services, but only after they’ve saved considerable money or held a series of fundraisers.”
“And that’s what this is?” Kade questioned. “This is a one-and-done deal?”
“Pretty much. The one we’re going to next is even more unusual.”
“I thought we were heading to Michigan next so we could finish out the summer in the Midwest before going south for autumn.”
“We are, but our usual stop is in the suburbs of Detroit,” I explained, dropping a bit of magic to mark a line and smiling when the entire stretch between my corner and Raven’s corner of our new world illuminated. “We’re still doing that, but it’s after our stop in northern Lower Michigan. It’s a place called Hemlock Cove. I just got the paperwork today so I haven’t been able to do much research on it yet.”
Kade wasn’t nearly as interested in the addition to our schedule as I felt. “Michigan is nice in the summer. I’ve been there once or twice.”
“I was raised there until … well, until Max found me and I started my new life with Mystic Caravan.”
Kade stilled, his eyes shifting to me. “I forgot about that. For some reason, when I think about it, I always picture you growing up with the circus.”
“Like a well-trained monkey?” I teased.
“Like … you.”
I understood what he was saying and refused to get offended. “No, I was a regular kid for a bit.”
“Then your parents died.”
“And I was put in the system,” I finished. I knew talk about the time I spent in foster care was hard for Kade to hear. He tried to perfect a balancing act, one in which he was the caring boyfriend who was curious but not overbearing. It wasn’t always easy for him. “Does it upset you to go back to Detroit?”
I shook my head and smiled. “No. I have a few acquaintances left there. They always turn up. It’s not the Detroit you see on television. The fairgrounds are on the city’s northern border at Eight Mile and Woodward, but it’s not a terrible area. It does make erecting the dreamcatcher difficult because it’s so busy, but we always manage.”
“And what kind of paranormals are running around Detroit?”
“Mostly wraiths. The northern locations in the state are inundated with wolves. Detroit, though, is something else entirely.”
Kade’s expression was contemplative. “And what’s weird about the job we’re going on after this, other than the fact that we get a whole week to drive there, that is?”
“Oh, it’s set in a town full of witches.”
Kade wrinkled his forehead as he followed me back down the line. I had to test the boundary before we ignited the entire thing. “I’m sorry but … what?”
I was beyond amused at his reaction. “It’s a tourist town that bills itself as a paranormal vacation destination. It’s all humans pretending to be witches … and the occasional tall tale of real witches infiltrating the fake witches. I’m sure there are shifters running around – and apparently there are people who claim to see Bigfoot all the time – but it’s supposedly a kitschy town that hosts festivals every five minutes. I’m actually excited to see it.”
Kade rolled his eyes. “That sounds like a nightmare.”
“It sounds peaceful,” I corrected. “The town isn’t big enough to stir up a lot of trouble. It’s supposed to be chockful of inns, and people travel from all over the country to visit. I think it sounds fascinating.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Kade said dryly. “As long as it doesn’t have fog like this place, I’ll consider it an improvement.”
“Yeah. That would be nice, huh?”
We met Raven at her corner when we’d finished. She seemed to be agitated, although I couldn’t put my finger on why.
“What’s wrong with you?”
As if on cue, Luke came shuffling out of the nearby trees, his nose lifted to the sky as if he were scenting the air.
“I thought he was with Nixie,” Kade complained.
“He was, but he came running this way about five minutes ago,” Raven replied. Her relationship with Luke was one of siblings, and those siblings weren’t all that fond of one another. “He barely said a word before barreling into the trees.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Raven shrugged. “It’s not my day to watch him.”
Come to think of it, my relationship with Raven wasn’t warm and fuzzy either. We often irritated each other until magic and insults were flying freely. As of late, though, we’d managed a tolerable truce. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was about to fall by the wayside.
“Did you ever think he went over there because of something important?” I challenged, pointing myself toward the trees in question as I fought the urge to throttle Raven. “He could’ve been hurt.”
“If only.” Raven sounded disinterested, but she followed as I closed the distance to Luke. He didn’t bother looking in our direction, his eyes instead bouncing along the walls of wilderness.
“Do you smell something?” Kade asked.
Luke nodded. “Yes. You and Poet took a roll in the hay before dinner to christen your new camper. I can smell the sex all over both of you. Next time you should shower before dinner.”
Kade scowled. “Must you always make things so difficult?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s how I roll.” Luke cocked his head to the side, as if listening for a sound only he could hear. “I don’t think we’re alone.”
The way he said it, so simple and matter of fact, the hair on my arms stood at attention. “What do you mean? Are wolves close? Is something watching us in the woods?”
“Something is definitely watching us, but I don’t think it’s wolves,” Luke replied. “Don’t get me wrong, there are shifters close. I’ve scented at least two separate wolves, one bear and one llama.”
Kade was flabbergasted. “There are llama shifters? That can’t be right.”
“There are, but they don’t spend a lot of time around here,” I replied. “They’re mostly a thing in
South America. You won’t see many of them in the United States. If you do, they’re not really a threat as long as they don’t spit on you.”
“They’re one of the lesser shifters,” Luke volunteered, puffing out his chest. “They’re not top dogs like wolf shifters.”
“I think that goes along with the name,” Kade said. “Llamas don’t exactly strike fear in the populace.”
“They have venomous spit,” I pointed out. “They’re kind of nasty when they want to be.”
“Ugh. I can’t even talk about this.” Kade slapped his hand to his forehead. “Are we really over here because we’re living in fear of a llama shifter?”
“No.” Luke immediately started shaking his head. “The shifter scents are low and buried. They’re weak. That means shifters crossed the boundaries days ago. I haven’t scented anything dangerous.”
The way he phrased the statement caught me off guard. “If you haven’t scented anything dangerous, why are you worked up?”
“Because I can hear something.”
I chewed on my bottom lip and glanced at Raven to see what she made of the comment. She looked less than impressed, bored even. The way she stared at her nails told me she thought Luke was simply being his usual self and trying to gain attention he didn’t necessarily deserve.
Kade asked the obvious question. “What did you hear?”
“Chanting.”
My eyebrows migrated higher. “Chanting?”
“That’s the only way I can think to describe it.” Luke turned defensive. “I swear I heard it. It sounded like a bunch of people whispering all at once. It only happened for a second – and I swear it was in this direction – but I heard it.”
He was so earnest I instinctively believed him. Still, Luke’s ears were good – it was a wolf thing – but he was hardly the only animal shifter in our group with sensitive ears. If someone else heard the chanting, surely there would be more people looking around to find the source of the noise.
“Well, do you hear it now?” I asked finally.
“No.”
“It just stopped?”
“Pretty much.”
I looked at Kade. “What do you think?”
“Oh, what are you asking him for?” Luke complained. “He’s going to say I’m crazy and imagining things.”
“That’s not what I’m going to say at all,” Kade countered. “I think you probably did hear something. Most likely it’s the fog making us all a little nervous. The voices probably came from clown row or where the midway crew is spread out. I doubt you heard it from the trees.”
Luke was incensed. “I think I know where I heard the noise.”
“And I think there’s nothing out here.” Kade extended his hands so he could gesture left and right. “It’s just us. Raven and Poet would’ve sensed if something else was close. They didn’t. That means there’s nothing out here.”
Luke is stubborn by nature, so his reaction didn’t surprise me. “I don’t happen to believe that’s true.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I think I’m right. Something is out here.”
Kade turned to me for confirmation. “What do you think?”
I hated being put on the spot. “I think that I’m hungry and I want to finish the dreamcatcher. We can talk about this more at dinner.”
“See, she agrees with me.” Luke was haughty. “She doesn’t want to come right out and say it because she thinks it will ruin your first night in your new digs, but she totally agrees with me.”
Instead of disagreeing, Kade merely cuffed the back of Luke’s head before falling into step with him for the trip back to the fairgrounds. “I think you’re dreaming.”
“And I think you’re dreaming.”
“I think you’re both annoying,” Raven snapped. “I mean … what are you bickering about? Do you even know?”
Kade and Luke exchanged a look that made me smile.
“We always know what we’re fighting about,” Luke replied. “We’re not idiots.”
“No, of course not.” Raven flicked her eyes to me. “How do you put up with this?”
I shrugged. “I’m getting kind of used to it.”
“It’s beyond annoying.”
“Sometimes. Other times it’s fun.”
“I think you’re all sick in the head.”
I couldn’t help but secretly agree with her.
IT WASN’T HARD TO leave the testosterone trio of Dolph (our strong man), Nellie and Luke to man the bonfire. They claimed they were watching the shadows for our safety, but I was fairly certain they were doing it for the s’mores, beer and chance to chest thump to their hearts’ content.
Raven’s irritation was evident when it came time to retire. Her boyfriend Percival, a man who spoke with a fake British accent and purposely dressed as a clown, offered to stay and be brave with the other three, but Raven was having none of that. She practically dragged him away, although it didn’t look like much of a hardship on his part. He was practically drooling thanks to the sexy suggestions I was sure she whispered in his ear.
I didn’t even have to bother with the suggestions. The second we finished dinner and dishes, Kade was on his feet and herding me toward the new trailer.
“We’ll see everybody in the morning,” he called out. “Don’t bother knocking unless the world is coming to an end.”
“Why would we come knocking?” Nellie asked, a marshmallow fork in his hand. “We’ve got everything under control. If something comes hunting we’ll take care of it.”
“I was saying it for Luke’s benefit,” Kade replied. “Luke, no visits tomorrow morning. I mean it. We’ll come up with a visitation schedule for you, but it won’t begin with a cameo appearance before breakfast on our first full day here.”
“Oh, whatever.” Luke’s irritation was evident as he swung his marshmallow fork as if it were a sword. “Like I would waste my time visiting you guys in the morning. I’m going to be far too busy lording over my kill to worry about you two.”
“That’s fine.” Kade practically lifted me off my feet when we hit the steps to our new home. “We will see everyone else in the morning.”
“He’s kind of like a high school kid, he’s so eager,” Nellie noted, not bothering to lower his voice. “I hope he has more staying power than a high schooler.”
Kade scowled as he opened the door. “Don’t make me come over there.”
“Oh, I’m shaking in my Louis Vuitton first-lady pumps.”
Kade’s expression was hard to read. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”
I laughed as I pushed him inside. “No. Ignore him. He’s just trying to get under your skin.”
“He’s doing a good job. So is Luke.”
“Yeah, well … .” I risked a glance outside, staring hard at a cavorting Luke before the door slammed shut.
“What are you thinking?” Kade asked, stripping out of his shirt. Apparently he was eager to check out the bed a second time.
“I’m thinking that Luke thought he heard something in the woods.”
“So? You didn’t hear anything.”
“I’m not a wolf. He has better hearing than I do.”
“Yes, and you have better senses than he does.” Kade tipped me over into one of the leather chairs so he could remove my shoes. “Do you really think something is out there watching us?”
“I don’t know. I think Luke believes it.”
“Yes, but I’m more interested in what you believe,” Kade drawled. “If you think something is out there I will believe you because you have a track record of being right about these things. Two weeks ago, Luke thought he saw the lady in white and it turned out to be a Chick-Fil-A sign.”
He had a point. “I know. I just don’t want to miss anything this time.”
“You’re missing the moves I want to put on you.”
I barked out a laugh. “I’m sorry. My attention is completely on you.”
“Good. That’s just the way I like it.”
Still, it bore looking into. A little more research never hurt anyone.
Kade was already asleep beside me. I could tell by his breathing. He was on his stomach, his fingers linked with mine. He was a heavy sleeper, although he often woke when I had a bad dream or something was about to happen. For now, he slept heavy.
That was a relief.
I believed that until the moment sleep finally claimed me. That’s when the chanting started in my head. I initially blamed Luke in my subconscious and thought I was imagining it, that his freakout pushed the kernel into my mind and ultimately allowed it to germinate. Eventually, though, I came to feel the opposite was true.
I slept even as the chanting continued, although it was restless rather than restful. I couldn’t make out the words, or even if the voices were male or female.
There was something off about the sound, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on what.
4
Four
Kade was already awake and watching me when I woke the next morning. His smile was smug and sleepy, but a hint of worry flitted through his eyes before he shuttered it.
“Good morning.”
“There’s nothing good about a morning.” I stretched my arms over my head and turned to look out the window. Unlike my previous bedroom, this one boasted clean blinds that blocked out much of the sun. Still, it was clear that the sun had officially risen and the fog was nothing but a memory. “Have you looked outside? Nellie didn’t hack off a head or anything while we were asleep, did he?”
Kade snorted. “I haven’t looked. I’m sure we would’ve heard if they’d been running around last night. I’m guessing they kept up their courage until the s’mores ran out and then retreated from the fog like everybody else.”