Page 88 of Dead Serious Case 5 Madame Vivienne

My breath slowly escapes and I sink into the power that’s wrapping around me like a lover. Suddenly, whatever barrier was there shatters and falls away, and I can hear them loud and clear.

Hundreds of voices.Spirits. And I can feel them all.

I gasp and breathe in, opening my eyes to a sight I’ve never experienced before. I’m still standing in the dark, dirty kitchen with the others watching me, but it’s like I’m seeing everything through a filter. It’s all overlaid with a kind of filmy silver haze, and it’s beautiful.

“What is that?” I whisper.

Dusty is the one to answer. She whispers in my ear, like she knows exactly what I’m seeing. “They’re allowing you to see across the veil.”

I release a slow, measured breath.

“This is why they chose you, Tristan,” she whispers, “and you are only just coming into your gift.”

I don’t stop to question it, I just follow my instincts and reach out in my mind. “Help me,” I silently implore.

An old man resting on a walking stick appears next to Danny, then a young woman in an Edwardian gown stands by Bruce. A young boy, maybe six years old, and a middle-aged woman join them. They keep appearing, dozens at a time, until the entire room is lit by the silvery glow of all the spirits filling it.

Who came to help because I called them.

“Holy shit,” Sam breathes out, his eyes wide.

“What’s going on?” Danny shivers. “Why is it suddenly so cold in here?”

“Well, you know the part in the thirdLord of the Ringsfilm where Aragorn has an army of the dead to win the battle of Minas Tirith?”

Danny turns to him and stares. “You are such a nerd.”

“Takes one to know one,” Sam replies. “Your sweetheart has just summoned his own ghost army and not gonna lie, it’s kinda hot.”

“Go get your own supernaturally gifted sweetheart,” Danny says.

“I’m trying, but unfortunately he’s been kidnapped by his psychopathic cousin who wants to raise a demon at the moment.”

Danny’s brows rise. “You ever wonder how our lives ended up like this?”

“Frequently.”

I glance over to Dusty, who’s watching me like a proud mama. Bruce looks equally chuffed beside her. But my gaze is drawn to Viv, who hovers by the door, and I get it. That’s her son in the other room, the one she told me to protect at all costs.

“Okay, guys.” I turn back to Danny and Sam and straighten up with a new, steely determination. “You know the drill. We get in there, wing it, hope for the best, and try not to die.”

“Sounds exactly like our kind of plan.” Danny holds up his hand and I high-five him.

“Right. I don’t know if he can see ghosts, so the plan is to break out the ghost army if he tries to hit us with his evil mojo. In the meantime, we need someone to distract the nutjob so we can grab Harrison.”

Sam holds up his hand. “I volunteer as tribute.”

“Are you sure?”

“That bastard’s got Harrison and I take that rather personally.” Sam’s eyes narrow. “Besides, if anyone is going to tear Harrison a new one for hiding his identity, it’s going to beme. Plus, I’m pretty sure I’m going to marry the prickly git at some point if he ever stops yelling at me long enough.”

Danny and I look at each other.

“Alright. Enough chitchat.” Dusty claps her hands together. “Let’s go save Prickles.”

We head to the door and I pause beside Viv. I know whatever awareness she had has passed and she’s once again caught up in the limbo she’s been trapped in, but it doesn’t stop me.

“I’ll save him, Viv,” I promise. “Then I’m coming back for you.”