Ghostly Justice (Seven Deadly Sins, #2.5)(12)

Wife. No one from St. Michael’s married. That he and Moira were together caused consternation among the Order. They knew what they faced. Getting married was forbidden. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t a priest, they were charged with fighting supernatural evil on earth to save souls from horrific pain and suffering. And until God flipped the switch and ended it all, they had a mandate.

He wanted to marry Moira. It would shake the foundation of St. Michael’s Order, but Rafe knew without a doubt that he was meant to be with Moira until they died. He had to convince her of it, and convince her to walk away from their job. If they survived the capture of all seven of the sins, they would earn it.

That, of course, was against the odds.

He realized that Evelyn was waiting for him to answer a question. He searched his subconscious memory for what they were discussing, then he saw several dead trees and plants. They surrounded one of the cabins used by the campers.

Evelyn followed his gaze. “The trees here inexplicitly died. Kenny didn’t understand what had happened, thought there was a disease, but couldn’t determine what could have killed so quickly—one week they were healthy, the next dead. We’re going to remove the trees; fortunately, the other plants are coming back.”

“Others?”

She gestured to the shrubs and perennial flowers that were growing near the cabin. “We thought we’d lose everything, that maybe it would spread to the other trees, or that there was a contaminant leak of some sort. We finally decided it was an act of God.” She crossed herself.

Rafe inspected the plants around the cabin that had new growth. They appeared black and rotted in the stems, but were sprouting new buds. The three trees nearest the cabin, however, looked as if they’d been set on fire at one time.

“Do you know plants?”

Rafe said, “A bit. I had a vegetable garden at one time.”

She smiled. “I have one behind the main building. Keeping the deer and rabbits from destroying it is a daily job.”

He returned the grin. “I had the same problem.” Over her shoulder he saw through the trees a clearing covered with blue and yellow flowers. It seemed odd so early in the season. “What’s over there?”

She looked. “Amazing, isn’t it? That building on the other side is our activities room and cafeteria. The flowers came up last summer. It used to be just dirt, but we’re not complaining.”

“May I go look?”

“Of course.

They walked over and Rafe answered questions about Lily. Fortunately, she was real, even though she wasn’t Moira’s sister, so it made it easy to talk about her.

As soon as he squatted to look at the flowers, he knew exactly what was there. Bluebell and St. John’s Wort. Flowers used in truth spells. But why would there be a field of such flowers in the middle of nowhere? It was odd—but was it magical or natural?

Moira approached from behind them. “I thought I saw you over here.”

“Feeling better, honey?” Evelyn asked as a concerned grandmother might.

“Much, thank you.” She winked at Rafe, then noticed where they were standing. She stared, unable to keep the surprise from her face.

“Do you have any questions for Mrs. Masters?” Rafe asked Moira.

“No, not really.” She was still distracted, and stepped back, away from the flowers.

Rafe followed her lead, and soon they were walking back to the main cabin. Moira said, “Rafe, do you remember the girl Lily mentioned who came here last summer? Shoot, I can’t remember her name, but it was with a youth group in San Luis Obispo. They met when—oh! Elizabeth. She was here end of June.”

Evelyn nodded. “Of course, every year the Southern California Spiritual Coalition raises money to send forty-eight teenagers here for a week. Wonderful organization. I can get the youth director’s contact information for a reference.”

Moira pulled a small note pad from her pocket. “We have dinner plans, but if you could email it to me?” She wrote out her email address and handed it to Evelyn.

“Of course.”

“Thank you for your time,” Rafe said. They’d reached the car. “We truly appreciate it.”

“I hope to see your sister here.”

As soon as they drove away, Rafe said, “What happened?”

“I copied the files from the week Amy and Beth were here. Not only were they here at the same time, they shared a cabin.”

“There was one cabin where all the surrounding plants and trees were dead. Except the smaller shrubs had some new growth.”

“I saw that. I’ve seen it before. Black magic killed the plants—not just black, demonic. The new growth must have come from the protective spells I felt centered around the willow tree.”

“Is that what caused the flowers to grow? The flowers that scared you?”

“I wasn’t scared. Shocked. Everything came together for me at that moment. Every truth of what happened.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When I touched the willow tree, I had a vision—it was a snapshot in time, like a super short movie, but it didn’t make sense until I saw the flowers.” Moira stopped for a moment, but Rafe let her think. Then she said slowly, “All the darkness came from that cabin. A truth spell, but very dark. All the girls were mandated to tell the truth—they couldn’t lie. There was also a control there—some sort of power of suggestion. That’s what I saw at the willow tree. I saw Amy sitting alone under the tree, in a trance. No one else was there, but I felt a wave of black magic pass around me. It was a command, and when Amy heard it, she whimpered. I saw it all in an instant, but it was overwhelming. That’s why I think Carmen focused on the willow tree for her protection spell.”