“Better if he doesn’t, especially if this thing is there.” Aiden started the truck and followed the drive around to the left. The headlights picked out a track that wound past s
everal old sheds.
“What excuse did you give him for us needing to see the family cemetery?”
“I told him we were tracking a burglary suspect, and his current trajectory had him heading this way.” He slowed as a gate loomed. “You want to open that?”
I did. It was a process we repeated twice before we reached the top of the long hill. In the glow of the headlights, a peppercorn tree stood guard over a metal fence. Beyond it were a number of headstones.
I climbed out and moved to the front of the truck. The breeze was stronger up here than it had been on the other plateau, no doubt due to the fact that the only tree up here to break its force was the lovely old peppercorn. At least this time the resulting goose bumps were actually due to the chill in the wind, rather than any sense of evil.
“Anything?” Aiden asked, as he stopped next to me.
His body cut the wind and allowed his warm, musky scent to wash over me. I drew it in, somehow finding both comfort and strength in his closeness. And hoping, with all that I had, that Aiden wouldn’t be amongst those made to pay for my presence here.
I frowned, wondering if it was a warning of what was to come, or simply fear. I hoped it was the latter. I feared it was the former.
Especially given my watcher had even followed us up here.
“Liz?” Aiden prompted gently.
I swallowed heavily and tried to concentrate on what we were hunting rather than what was hunting me.
“I’m not immediately sensing anything, but we’ll need to get closer to be sure.”
We walked on. I silently wove a containment spell around my right hand; the threads gleamed silver and gold in the darkness, the former an indication that despite the fact my inner concealment spell remained active, the wild magic within would not be contained. At least not when it came to creating magic—and that was going to be problematic.
Although I guess if it came down to a duel of magic between Clayton and me, the appearance of wild magic within mine would be the least of my problems.
We walked through an open gate into the private cemetery. There were five lines of gravestones, some so old the writing on them had all but been erased by the wind and the weather, and others so new the golden letters gleamed in the pale light of the moon.
There was nothing to indicate a ghoul or some kind of demon was using these graves as a shelter, and relief stirred, even though its absence here only meant it was free to create havoc elsewhere.
“Nothing looks disturbed to me,” Aiden said. “And the breeze is free from the foul scent we followed from the cottage.”
“I’ll still do a full check, just on the off chance it’s somehow concealing itself from me.”
The result was the same; the ghoul wasn’t here. I released the containment spell and flexed my fingers to ease the remaining tingle.
“I guess it was always a remote chance,” Aiden said. “Let’s get you home—”
“Not before I secure the graveyard. It may never come up here, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
I swung the pack from my shoulder and pulled out the bottles of holy water. There wasn’t enough to protect the entire plot, but it was the graves that really mattered. The three I carried should be enough to stop the ghoul or spirit breaking into a coffin to wait out the daylight.
I uncorked the first of them and began the spell. I walked as I spoke, trickling the holy water on the ground, creating an unseen barrier that would allow humans and animals past but keep the monsters out. It was a basic spell, but sometimes that’s all that was needed. Besides, anything more complicated would have to be boosted to last any length of time, and I really didn’t want to waste that sort of strength right now.
Once the entire area was covered, I activated the spell and studied it through narrowed eyes. Surprisingly, there were no threads of wild magic visible; maybe it only attached itself to the stronger spells.
“All set?” Aiden asked.
I nodded. “The spell will only hold a couple of days at most, but hopefully we’ll have caught the ghoul by then.”
“Going on past hunts, I wouldn’t be betting on it.” He lightly guided me back to the car, his fingers pressing warmth into my spine despite the layers of clothing.
“I’ve got to return to the station for an hour or so, but I’ll be back on guard duty later tonight.”
I raised an eyebrow. “It’s your day off—Jaz and Mac can handle the reports, surely?” I paused. “Or is this more a shower thing? As in, you hate ours.”