Pretty When She Kills (Pretty When She Dies #2)(86)

With a sad smile, Amaliya nodded. “It was my grandfather. He came for her.”

Curling up in Cian's arms, Amaliya had clung to him the whole way home.





Part Six

Two Weeks Later





Chapter 27


The back room of Jeff's occult bookstore was even more cramped than usual. Extra chairs had been brought in from other rooms inside the shop and it was very crowded around the table.

Jeff took his usual position at the head of the table. He was amused when Cian and Rachon sat on either side of him, angling their chairs so that it appeared they were also at the head. Amaliya sat at Cian's side, followed by Samantha. Whatever animosity had been between them was gone now. They chatted with each other in soft voices, waiting for the meeting to start. Benchley and Alexia had their usual seats, though both were still immensely grumpy over missing the big battle once again. Sergio and Eduardo sat next to Rachon, while Cass and Aimee sat at the opposite end of the table. Cian’s daughter and the witch had shoved the chairs together so they could snuggle into each other.

Jeff felt awkward every time Cass looked at him. They had a history they had yet to divulge to anyone and he wasn’t too sure how Cian would take it.

But there were more important matters to discuss.

“We have a full house tonight. Talk about performance anxiety,” Jeff said, trying to break the ice.

The somber expressions around the table informed him that he had not succeeded. It was two weeks since the death of Pete Talbert and Innocente Ottmer. They had anticipated a big media blitz after the deaths, but the police had kept it very hush-hush. Rachon suspected that maybe Ethan's old contacts or family had worked their usual magic to keep it suppressed. The group had stayed apart from each other during that time. Only Jeff and Samantha had attended Innocente's funeral.

There had been concern about Etzli or The Summoner attacking in the aftermath of the battle. As a precaution, each of their homes was now heavily warded by Aimee's spells. Jeff was grateful to finally have a witch in their midst.

“Cut the chit chat. How f*cked are we?” Cassandra asked with her usual lack of tact. She was clad in jeans, beat up Converse, and a Spider-man shirt. In contrast, Aimee was wearing a long green maxi-dress adorned with Celtic designs in gold.

Jeff rested his hands on the book in front of him, dreading what he was about to tell those gathered in front of him. “I’m not sure.”

“The Summoner is not going to give up,” Amaliya said. The dour look on her face was one that he was not used to seeing. It was hard for all of them to see the pain etched into her face, but she had lost two loved ones to The Summoner. She had Jeff’s complete sympathy and support. He didn’t take the sharpness in her voice personal.

“We're not sure what he's planning yet, either,” Rachon pointed out. “Or do we?” She looked significantly at Jeff.

“Tell us what you found out,” Cian said, trying not to sound like he was ordering Jeff about. “Tell us why you called us here.”

Jeff felt the intense scrutiny of those gathered and squirmed around in his chair. The usual jovialness that accompanied these gatherings was gone. There was no joking, no playfulness. Everyone looked somber and a bit frightened. Benchley was staring at his bitten-down nails and Jeff hadn’t seen him smile once since that terrible night. When Benchley wasn’t cracking a bad joke, the world felt a lot gloomier.

Jeff took a deep breath. “Okay, where to start. I…uh…took that photo that Cass and Aimee took of the ring they stole and did a lot of research. I had to call on several overseas resources and really dug deep into my dad's works.” He paused for effect, but saw that everyone was looking annoyed that he wasn't just getting to the gist of it.

“What's he not saying?” Benchley asked Samantha.

“I have no clue. He hasn't told me yet either.” She glowered at Jeff. “He's being all mysterious.”

Jeff sighed. “I'm trying to lay a foundation here for my discovery.”

“We just want to know what it is!” Amaliya snapped.

“Okay, first off, how did The Summoner get into Bianca? I figured that out with Samantha's help. When The Summoner died, there were a ton of ghosts around the motel and graveyard according to Roberto.”

Cian arched his eyebrows. “Roberto?”

Jeff nodded. “Samantha saw his ghost the night it all went really bad. Roberto told Samantha that he tried to escape the town, but couldn't. When he was slingshotted back to the motel, the ghosts were gone. Rachon, meanwhile, told me she found Bianca, the night The Summoner died, resurrected and already fully in control of her powers in the graveyard where she was buried.”

Rachon gave a curt nod, agreeing. “I should have known something was wrong.”

Jeff quirked an eyebrow. “Well, hindsight is always 20/20. I firmly believe that The Summoner consumed all the ghosts in the surrounding area after his death. He used their ectoplasm to travel to Bianca's body and claim it. Just like Amaliya, Bianca is one of his necro-vamp offspring.” Jeff let his words sink in. “I don't know if Bianca was a mad fledgling, or rebirthed brain dead, but The Summoner implanted himself inside of her. He then waited until Rachon set her plan in motion to begin implementation of his own.”

“To get his ring back?” Cassandra asked.