Evermore (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium Trilogy #3)(54)

"It's not your fault," Mrs. White said. "I didn't know what Leviticus was doing until after his first two deaths. When I pressed him, he told me about the curse. I refused to do it a third time. I told him it would kill him, which it would have done. So he found that poor child and..." She sniffed. "When that failed, he coerced Mr. Blunt into doing it. He held back the opium, which he'd been supplying for some time, and forced him to be my...victim. I didn't want to be party to it but Leviticus told me he'd kill Mr. Blunt if I did not help. When you interrupted us yesterday, Miss Chambers, I couldn't tell you what was really happening. I had to pretend we were giving Mr. Blunt a cure for his addiction. Leviticus warned me that if I told anyone the truth, he would kill Mr. Blunt then me. I believed him."

"Very wise," I said.

"After you left, Mrs. Stanley and Leviticus realized you may not have fallen for the ruse, so he sent her to your house to pretend to be a turncoat and point the finger of guilt at me."

"It worked," I said.

"Almost," George added, completely dressed once more although his tie was crooked. "Emily, I am so glad we didn't believe her entirely."

"A healthy dose of skepticism never hurt anyone," Louis said.

I attempted a smile. "You would get along well with Lord Preston."

"Leviticus was a good man," mumbled Mrs. Stanley into her hands. "He was...lost. Angry."

"It's all so sad," Celia said. "The loss of a child, or a loved one, can do terrible things to one's mind." She glanced at Louis. He rubbed a hand over his stubbly chin.

"There's something I don't understand," George said, frowning. "Frederick died months ago, and Beaufort soon afterward, correct?"

"Yes," said Mrs. White. Louis helped her to stand and guided her to sit on the sofa near my feet. He still held the pistol but kept it pointed away from everyone.

"Then why the long wait between then and now? The shape-shifting demon was summoned mere weeks ago. Why didn't he begin his revenge sooner?"

"Because of me," Mrs. Stanley said, lifting her tear-streaked face. "We met the day after his son died. I used to travel with a circus, telling fortunes. He came to me wanting answers and we became friends. I understood him, my situation being not too different from his. He was devastated, sick with unhappiness and disbelief and a burning rage. We just talked, and he was interested in my people and their beliefs concerning the dead. He came back the next day and said he'd read about gypsies and curses. He asked for a very specific curse, something that will destroy the spirit, not just the life. I knew he wanted to hurt the Beaufort boy, although I did not know his name then. It was clear on his face that he wanted revenge."

"So you gave him a curse!" I cried. "You just handed it over for a few coins!"

"I did not," she snapped. "Do not judge me, Miss Chambers. I was angry too. I wanted revenge for my own son's death, but I could not get it. I never learned who killed him. I wanted to help Leviticus, and I wanted to act on my own anger and sorrow through him."

"It is still a despicable thing to do to a stranger," Celia said.

"I did not kill him," she said. "Nor did I curse his spirit, not in the way Leviticus wanted. Something held me back. Fear, perhaps. I was brought up to leave the Otherworld alone, to respect it. But I knew the curses, just like all the custodians in my family do. So I gave him a more harmless one to use, one that would not destroy Beaufort's essence but send his spirit into a—what do you call it?—limbo, forever waiting."

"Is that not cruel enough?" White-hot rage burned inside me, bursting before my eyes, consuming me until it was impossible to think of anything else except my hatred toward Price and this woman.

Celia gripped my hand and Louis moved to my side. Two guardians, ready to protect me. Or stop me.

"You helped him summon the demon and then Mortlock much later," George said to Mrs. Stanley. He at least sounded calm, sensible. "You gave him the curses to destroy the Otherworld when it went against your beliefs. Why?"

"I did not see him again for months after I gave him that first curse. Then one day he showed up at my tent. We talked some more and I discovered that he needed a new home."

"So you offered Price these rooms?" I asked Mrs. Stanley.

"I left the circus and bought this house with money I'd saved and an inheritance. We moved in together and fell in love. I wanted to help him. I wanted to cure him. I thought if he had his revenge completely, he would get better. So I cursed the amulet and told him how it could be used to release the demon. He knew about possession himself, through his books, so Mortlock was all his doing, but I found that little girl."

"Cara," Celia whispered. She reached up and clutched Louis' hand.

"I'd seen her at the market in Leather Lane. One day she was talking to herself, and when I asked her who she spoke to, she told me there was a woman. There was no one there, but I did not doubt her. I knew she could see spirits."

"But neither the demon nor the possession assuaged Price's anger," George said. "You had to go one step further."

"He grew more angry every time you won." Mrs. Stanley looked at me but there was no malice in her eyes, just emptiness, as if all her anger and sadness were washed out by her tears. "He needed something more permanent, something to finish Beaufort forever."