Page 56 of Dead Serious Case 5 Madame Vivienne

“What the fuck?”

Dusty looks down at her wrist and scowls.

“What happened, babe?” Bruce lifts her wrist and strokes her skin gently, careful not to touch the symbol.

“I’m not sure exactly,” Dusty replies. “I left the mortuary to follow Byrnes but before I could, there was…” She shakes her head as if trying to collect her thoughts. “I was outside the mortuary trying to see which way Byrnes had gone, but there was something else there.”

“Something else?”

“Or someone? I didn’t see their face. I just got the impression of darkness and shadow. The was a loud whispering in my ear and then a sharp, burning pain on my wrist. The next thing I knew, I was trapped.”

“Where?”

“I couldn’t tell, it was too dark. I was surrounded by cold blackness and I couldn’t get out.”

“Dusty,” I whisper in horror.

“How did you find me?” she asks in confusion. “And how the hell did you get me out?”

“Tristan,” Harrison answers. “I used his connection to you to pull you back from wherever you were being held. For a moment, I didn’t think it was going to work, but this place...” He glances around again. “It’s like a huge amplifier. I’m not sure if it’s because of the gateway or something else entirely, but the spell we managed to conjure was extremely powerful. It snapped you back to the earth plane. To Tristan.”

“I’m so grateful,” Bruce says, keeping one arm wrapped firmly around Dusty’s waist. “Thank you.”

“I really didn’t do anything.” I shake my head. “That was all Harrison.”

“Well, thank you both.” Dusty breathes out in relief. “But this does mean we have a very big problem on our hands. Whoever that person was, they were incredibly powerful. Powerful enough to trap me god knows where. That’s not supposed to be possible. Even though I’m not yet a fully-fledged spirit guide, I’m still technically classed as a higher being. Since I’m not an earthbound spirit, he shouldn’t have been able to harm me, much less mark me with dark magic. But what really worries me, Tris”—she blows out a sharp breath, her eyes filled with worry—“was that he was waiting outside your place of work and tried to get me out of the way. I’m going to assume it was to get to you.”

I swallow. “Okay, that doesn’t sound good.”

“Tris, we need to be so careful,” Dusty says in all seriousness. “I think you’ve got something a lot bigger and scarier after you than an incompetent detective.”

“But why? I’m no one special.” I frown.

“You say that like you didn’t come back from the dead, aren’t able to talk to ghosts and send them into the light, and didn’t save the world from a potential apocalypse.”

“Technically, that was a group effort,” I grumble. “So why me?”

I’m aware that I probably sound like a petulant teenager that’s just been asked to clean his room but seriously, given the circumstances, I feel it’s a valid question.

“I think it may tie back to Vivienne and this shop,” Harrison murmurs. “You’re the one she named as caretaker to this place. You specifically, and she said you would need Danny to protect you. But what if it’s not the shop, what if it’s something inside the shop?”

“Still don’t understand.” I shake my head again.

“I’m not sure I do either, at least not yet, but I can feel it. Beneath the ground, there’s something here. Something old andpowerful. And whatever it is, I’m willing to bet that whoever hurt Viv and tried to get rid of Dusty wants to get their hands on it, but they have to go through you.”

“Hang on a minute.” My eyes widen and I raise my hands. “Whoa, right there! I didn’t sign on for anything like that. I’m a glorified keyholder, that’s it. I don’t do witchcraft, I don’t do magic or whatever the hell all this is. I do dead people.”

“Ew.” Dusty wrinkles her nose. “That sounds really dodgy. Also illegal... and gross.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” I reach up and pinch the bridge of my nose as I feel the start of a headache brewing. “I help people resolve their unfinished business and cross into the light. This is not my department. Why can’t you do it?” I ask Harrison.

“Because Vivienne chose you,” he says quietly.

“I don’t want this,” I pout. “I just want my life to go back to normal.”

“Here.” Harrison loosens his tie and opens the first button of his shirt. He reaches in and withdraws a long gold chain. On the end of it is a delicate gold pentagram. Pulling it over his head, he loops it over mine and tucks it beneath the neck of my t-shirt.

“What’s this for?” I murmur, noticing how warm the metal is from his skin.