Penmort Castle (Ghosts and Reincarnation #1)(112)

And it was just as Honor described it. It was low, it was eerie and it was sinister.

Abby’s blood ran cold.

Her hand dropped and she turned wide eyes to Fenella and breathed, “What is that?” even though she knew what it was.

Exactly what it was.

“Go,” Fenella whispered in a barely-there voice.

Abby blinked at her. “Pardon?”

But Fenella was looking over Abby’s shoulder, her face pale, her eyes frightened and she shrieked, “Go now!”

Abby whirled then froze when she saw Vivianna in the gallery, floating, the tattered edges of her dress whipping around her viciously as if they were in a frenzy, as if they could do harm. Her mouth was opened emitting a scream that filled the very air. Her face was bloodthirsty.

Her eyes were on Abby.

“Go!” Fenella screamed and Abby went.

She hadn’t been stupid. This time she wore jeans and flats with rubber soles, good for gripping and easy to run in.

And Abby ran. She ran for dear life.

She skirted Vivianna and made it out the door, to the hall and was flying down the stairs, her breath coming in terrified pants, when Vivianna formed in front of her.

Right in front of her.

And Abby, to her shock, ran into her like she was a solid, physical thing.

And to her further stunned surprise, a burst of purple sparks shot out between them, coming from the place where the amulet rested against Abby’s chest.

Both Abby and Vivianna flew backward. Abby, landing painfully on her hands, Vivianna, arms wheeling and out-of-control, descended away from Abby going nearly all the way down the flight of stairs.

Vivianna halted her descent. She bent her head and looked at what appeared to be a burn mark on her dress where Abby’s amulet had hit her.

Her head shot up, her eyes narrowed on Abby, she opened her mouth and let out another blood-chilling scream.

Then she shot forward, straight toward Abby but Abby scrambled back up the steps, crawling on all fours like a crab.

Even though Abby moved, and fast, Vivianna was nearly on top of her when the spirit was jerked back at the waist, her scream abruptly halting.

“That’s it, she-bitch, The McPherson has come to play!” Angus bellowed from a dozen steps away. His hand held a strange whip, the end of it was curled around Vivianna’s waist, he was reeling her in and Vivianna was struggling against the bounds.

“Go lassie, I got her,” Angus called.

“Abby! This way!” Fenella shouted from the top of the stairs and Abby turned, crawling up the stairs on all fours again, stumbling in a terrified frenzy so she was sometimes using her knees and sometimes her feet.

She got to the top of the stairs and they heard a grunt. Honor was there too and Abby, Fenella and Honor looked over the balustrade and down the stairs to see Angus falling, his kilt awhirl, Vivianna drifting after him.

“Angus!” Abby screamed, not thinking and running toward the fallen Scotsman.

When she turned on the landing, she saw Angus was at the bottom, on his side, his head came up and he boomed, “No, lassie! Go the other way!”

But Abby kept moving toward him and Vivianna came at her again. They collided, the purple sparks flew and Vivianna reeled back. Apparently aided by the velocity Abby was going, this time Vivianna went far further, sailing down the stairs, past Angus, into and through the inner hall and right through a wall.

Abby, however, had been ready for it and when they collided, she shoved her foot into the stairwell to keep herself steady and then threw herself forward. She descended the rest of the stairs and crouched by Angus.

“Are you hurt?” she asked as she heard Fenella and Honor come rumbling down the stairs behind her.

“Get her outta here!” Angus roared.

“Are you hurt?” Abby shouted.

“Let’s go. Go, go, go, go, go!” Honor yelled, pulling Abby up but Vivianna had melted back through the wall and was nearly upon them.

Abby’s hand went to the leather around her neck. She yanked the necklace over her head, threw it to the ground and stomped on it with her heel.

A purple mist immediately blew up, enveloping them. Abby bent low, her hands grasping Angus under his armpit, she tugged up with superhuman effort, got him to his feet and the four of them ran, awkwardly, through the inner hall, into the outer hall, out the entrance lobby and into the night. The whole time they ran, the purple mist followed them.

And they kept running, Abby dragging Angus, until they’d gone out the gate at the side of the castle, down the steep hill, through the castle’s outer wall, down a winding path into town and past several storefronts. Once they hit town, the mist evaporated.

There, Angus pulled Abby to a halt and stopped, bent over, hand to his side, and wheezed.

“Are you okay?” Abby asked, crouching low and looking up at him.

“Lassie,” he rasped, took in a deep breath, then panted, “when I say go,” he took in another breath and gasped, “you better bloody well go!”

They heard running steps and Cassandra approached, stopping on a skid.

Abby stood up and Cassandra’s eyes fell on her, dropping immediately to her sweater.

“What happened?” she asked.

“She attacked,” Fenella told Cassandra.

Cassandra looked at Angus. “Did you get her?”

“No I didn’t get her,” Angus snapped, straightening. “The she-bitch bested me,” he looked mortified for a moment then bellowed, “She bested A McPherson!”