Evermore (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium Trilogy #3)(50)

"What do you mean?" Mrs. White said.

"Celia?" I grabbed her by the arms and shook her when she didn't answer me. "I must go through with this."

"You don't have to do anything," she said. "I'll do it. I'll speak the words of the counter curse."

"No," I said. "This is my task."

"Your sister is right," Mrs. White said to Celia, but she looked at Mr. Price as she spoke. "Tell her, Leviticus."

"I've been up there," he said. His voice was scratchy, raw. "Miss Chambers, it's a confusing place, dazzling. The spirits speak to you, but you cannot yet understand them fully. She can. She will be less confused and will complete the task much faster than anyone else. I'm sure of it. The sooner she is done, the sooner she can be brought back."

"I want to do it," I said to her. "I need to see Jacob for myself. I need to...to say goodbye." That's if he was still there.

Celia pulled me out to the landing. Mrs. Stanley made to follow us but when she saw we weren't leaving, she remained in the doorway where she could see us but not hear our conversation.

"What if Mrs. White refuses to bring you back?" Celia whispered. "How can we make her if she won't do it?"

"She will. She wants to punish Jacob, remember? How best to do that than keep he and I apart forever? I in this realm and him...gone."

She shook her head. "I don't like it."

"Celia, I want to do it."

Her nostrils flared and her mouth turned down at the corners. She seemed to be battling to maintain composure. "I know. Just come back to me, Em."

"Oh, Celia." I hugged her fiercely and she held me for a long time. I felt her chest heaving as she fought to control her emotions. I wasn't sure who was comforting whom.

"We should hurry," Mrs. Stanley said, glancing back into the parlor. "She is growing restless. Do not worry, Miss Chambers. Together we three will make sure she brings your sister back."

I lay upon the sofa on Mrs. White's instruction. I felt strangely calm. My heart beat steadily, if a little fast, and my hands were clammy inside my long, white gloves, but otherwise I felt relaxed and ready. I was going to see Jacob and end his torment. That was the greatest incentive I knew to chase away fears.

Mrs. White opened a medical bag on the floor beside the sofa and removed a syringe. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to see her fill it, nor did I want to see Celia's reaction. She was terrified I wouldn't come back. I understood her terror, but there was nothing I could do about it. This had to be done. I didn't entirely trust a single person in that room except her, yet I had no choice but to go ahead.

Besides, I wasn't afraid of dying. If I never woke up after delivering the counter curse, I wouldn't regret going through with it. My only regret would be leaving Celia, Cara, and Louis behind because I knew they'd be sad.

Something cool touched my arm just below my shoulder. "Now, this will only sting for a moment," came Mrs. White's soothing voice. "Then you'll drift into sleep."

"No!" cried Celia. "I've changed my mind. Stop!"

My eyes flew open and I saw Mrs. Stanley holding my sister back. Tears streamed down Celia's face and dripped off her chin. "It's all right," I said as the needle bit into my skin. I gritted my teeth so as not to wince. If Celia thought me in pain, she would do anything to stop it.

"You have to let her go," Mrs. Stanley said to her. "This is so important to our future. You know it is."

"She'll be all right," Mrs. White said in her calm, even voice as she concentrated on injecting me with the lethal substance. "I will see to it she's brought back again."

"How can I believe you?" Celia said between her sobs. "Emily! Emily!"

I tried to smile, but I felt too tired to do even that. My limbs grew heavy and I couldn't keep my eyes open. I welcomed sleep as it folded me into its embrace.

"Murderer!" It was the last thing I heard Celia say. The last thing I heard anyone say.

I was drifting through a tunnel like a boat on a tide. It was dark, but a light shone up ahead. It grew brighter and brighter. I heard voices but couldn't make out any words. I think someone called my name but I might have been mistaken. The voices grew louder. They were shouting. My name rose above them all. I recognized the speaker.

"Jacob!"

"Emily, go back," he said. "Go back! You don't belong here. It's not your time. Go back!"

"I can't. Not yet." The counter curse. I began to chant the words I'd learned in the carriage. The light swirled above my head now, a huge whirlpool of brightness. A hand reached through and I knew it was Jacob's.

I faltered on one of the more difficult words and suddenly lost my place in the sequence. I had to start over. There was no time to berate myself. I began the chant again just as Jacob pulled me through the pool of light. His strong arms dragged me to my feet and held me against him.

"Hell, Emily! What are you doing here?"

I didn't answer him. I kept chanting.

He cupped my face and peered into my eyes. "Counter curse?"

I nodded.

He kissed the top of my forehead and shouted to one of the other spirits to get ready in case the lost ones returned. I glanced around, trying to take it all in yet not break the memorized sequence of strange words. We appeared to be in an enormous room. It had walls and rows upon rows of seats like a lecture hall. Well, what did I expect? It wasn't called the Waiting Area because it was a bath house.