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From their napping spots on their grandparents, the little ones began crying. They’d been frightened from sleep, and you never woke a sleeping baby.

NEVER.

“Jacques, what the hell?” Flynn asked as Azriel was now out of her grandmother’s lap and crawling up his body, claws and all, to tuck into him to be safe.

Angelique was doing the same to her father.

When Jacques waved his hand, inside the cage a figure appeared. When they saw who he’d trapped, they’d understood immediately.

There was no explanation needed.

“Oh, Mordechai. Did you think you were going to spy and not be found?” Jacques asked, moving toward his father as he tried to comfort his crying daughter.

She’d climbed up under his shirt, and was digging her claws into his chest to hold onto him.

While the man had not betrayed him, he was a part of Fate’s spies. He had a grudge, and he was haunting the lair for the last year.

Oh, and he was so damn hard to catch.

The ghost man stood there, and he flickered in and out of view, trapped in the magical cage.

Jolie couldn’t believe they’d finally caught him. Someone was using some old magick to catch him. Death came prepared.

“I did,” Jacques said, hearing what she said. “Now, to deal with this interloper.”

Mordechai spoke. It was rare to hear his voice, but he went there.

“Set your mother free.”

Jacques laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

“No. That is never happening. She betrayed us, and she’s being punished. She will never walk free as long as I’m doing this job.”

Jacques morphed back into his Death garb, and put his hand on the cage. His daughter was calming down, and that was all that mattered.

As for the dead man…

Ghost Mordechai did a jittery dance and screamed in pain as Death used magick. He was also implanting those spells deep within his child. Each time she came in contact with him, he put one in her memory so when she was old enough, twenty-one, she’d be safe.

She’d be his replacement.

From beside Flynn, his mother peeked her head around him.

“Uh, there are ghosts too?”

Flynn nodded.

“Yeah, that’s the specter grandfather. He was an asshole in life, and he’s been a pain in our ass in death. He spies for the enemy. The one who wants to kill your grandbabies.”

That was all she had to hear. She headed toward the wall, grabbed one of Rinnon’s trinkets, a spear, and started poking at the specter man through the cage.

“OUCH!”he said.

Jacques held him in his solid form just for shits and giggles as Barb taught the man a lesson.