Page 47 of Deadly Blooms (Psychic Unraveled #1)

Sickly green and pulsing, it poured from his chest like a fire that had been caged too long.

It bloomed—violent, radiant—casting eerie shadows across the walls.

His whole body convulsed, shaking like it might split open.

For a moment, he was stuck in it—hovering there, a man on the edge of breaking.

And then it tore loose.

The light ripped free from his body with a final, agonizing cry—one that sounded like Uncle Silas and Graham at once. Smoke surged upward, swirling thick through the room, and with one last unholy scream it vanished through the ceiling.

Graham crumpled forward.

Silent. Motionless.

I dove to him, taking him in my arms, looking him over. I kissed his cheek, the salt from his tears stinging my tongue.

“Please be okay. Please be okay. Please— ” I begged.

Ruby stormed into the kitchen, her sheer chiffon duster billowing behind her, one hand fisted in the fabric, the other cutting through the room as she pointed to the stairs. “We must get him to the attic. Silas has only been weakened, but he may return before we can get him into position.”

It took everything Derek, Katie, and I had to get Graham upstairs. Derek did most of the work—arms locked under Graham’s armpits while his boots thudded against each tread like deadweight.

Once in the attic, the air changed—thick with anticipation and static. Outside, thunder rolled as if to warn us that Uncle Silas was still here. His spirit clinging to the far corner of the room, flickering faintly, still reeling from the effects of the potion.

I could feel his desperation pressing in from the edges, but we needed to move fast.

We didn’t want to banish him. I was pretty sure he wasn’t evil. Just… misguided. Too used to taking what he wanted. And Graham? He never asked for this.

Ruby and Clover stood shoulder to shoulder, exchanging a glance that said more than words ever could.

“We need to bind him to this house,” Ruby said finally, voice firm as she reached for Nox Animae . Her rings glinted under the attic bulb. “He can stay. Watch over us. But not like this. No more control. No more possession.”

The floor creaked beneath us.

It was time.

Clover nodded, her fingers trembling slightly as she prepared the ritual space. “Help me, child,” she said to Derek. “We need Graham’s head pointed north for stability.”

Derek positioned Graham as Clover directed.

“Now, a circle of protection.”

Derek grabbed his bag and pulled out four white candles, placing them at the cardinal points.

Ruby pulled out some items from the old steamer trunk under the window—an old Barling style smoking pipe, a pocket mirror, and an antique pocket knife—and placed them inside the circle next to Graham. “…and some small tchotchkes to connect him to this plane.”

“Light the candles, darling.” Clover said to Derek, while she handed me a satchel of herbs. “Rosemary, Sage, and crushed garnet. Sprinkle them around the circle, dear. They’ll help purify the space and root the soul.”

Ruby opened the book, her fingers tracing the text. “We’ll need a spell to call upon the spirits of this house,” she said, her eyes narrowing in concentration.

“Come now, gather close,” Clover instructed, motioning for us to form a circle around Graham. “Place a palm on the boy.”

We all knelt around him.

Inside, I was shaking. He needed to get through this. He needed to survive.

Ruby released a deep breath.

“Spirits of this place, hear our call,

We summon you now to protect us all.

With love and light our only desire,

Bind Silas’s spirit to the walls of Blackbriar.”

Clover joined in, her voice rising in harmony with Ruby’s.

“We call the winds to bring in peace,

Two parts, two prayers, two crones to cease.

Two souls at war, one vessel torn,

Let balance bloom where strife was sworn.

Blessed be by moonlit bond,

Sacred rites and time beyond.

Let strength return, no mortal bound,

Find peace amongst this plane renowned.

Graham’s spirit to body, both fierce and free,

Give back his form—and virility!”

The air snapped.

I felt it before I saw it—the prickle along my arms, the tightness in my chest, like the whole attic had sucked in a breath and was waiting to let it go.

Ruby and Clover’s voices echoed through the room, their chanting steady and rhythmic. I kept my focus locked on Uncle Silas’s fading essence, urging him to feel the warmth behind the ritual. We weren’t trying to banish him—just get Graham back.

At first, it seemed like he’d heard us.

His green aura pulsed faintly, tendrils of translucent light reaching toward the circle. But then?—

The temperature dropped instantly.

Like falling through the ice.

A cold gust whipped through the attic, scattering dust and extinguishing half the candles in a blink. The shadows stretched longer, darker, and the green glow surrounding Uncle Silas twisted— tainted.

Thunder rolled, not in a crack but a slow steady growl—like the sky was holding back a scream.

My gaze flicked to Derek. Then Katie. Their wide eyes mirrored mine: something was wrong.

“Keep going.” I urged the aunts, even though my voice shook. “Don’t stop!”

They obeyed, voices growing louder and more frantic. But the spell was no longer harmonious. It fractured—splintered—as a thick shadow formed above us. Uncle Silas’s aura snapped away like a broken thread.

And that’s when it lunged.

A mass of black smoke shot across the attic like a bullet and slammed into Graham’s chest. His body arched. A sickening crack echoed in his spine.

“ Graham!” I screamed, my voice tearing as panic roared in my veins.

His eyes opened, head jerking back, fists clenched. His mouth opened in a silent gasp. And then?—

The light in his eyes flickered… and vanished.

The attic dimmed. Candles guttered. The air turned thick, pressurized, like we were deep underwater. Even my thoughts felt muffled, scrambled by whatever just invaded him.

I stumbled backward, my heartbeat thundering in my ears.

“What just happened?” I choked out.

No one answered.

Ruby moved first, rushing to my side.

Clover joined her, hands trembling as she rubbed my shoulders.

“We didn’t call that,” Clover whispered.

“It wasn’t Silas,” Ruby said grimly.

My knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the couch. Chester leapt into my lap like a missile, instantly pressing his warm little body to my chest. I buried my face in his fur, trying to remember how to breathe.

“Is Graham going to be alright?” I asked, though the words felt thick and foreign in my mouth. Just thinking it, turned my stomach.

“Only time will tell,” Clover said softly, a sincere glimmer in her eye—but her hands still trembled.

“Why don’t we go down and make something to eat?” Ruby offered, already trying to mask her nerves behind her usual charm. “Another daiquiri, anyone? It’ll take our minds off the matter… and I’m sure we’re all ravenous.”

“No…” my voice barely came out, but it held. “I’m staying here.”

My eyes didn’t leave Graham . The rest of the room faded away. No one else existed.

Far off in the corners of the attic, the shadows seemed to crawl— not with movement, but with intent. They clung to the walls, to the rafters, draining the warmth from the wood, the light from the candles, the color from Graham himself.

It felt like the attic was trying to swallow us both whole.

Katie’s hand touched my shoulder—light, grounding. Her warmth snapped the room back into color, like someone had switched the saturation back on.

“Maggie… you sure?” She asked gently. “The book says it could be hours before he regains consciousness.”

“I know.” I nodded. “It’s alright. I’ll be fine.”

She hesitated, then scooped up Tophie, pressing the little bundle of fluff to her chest, and followed her aunts down the creaking stairs.

Derek stepped in front of me, blocking my view of Graham.

“Can I see your phone?”

“Yeah—it’s over there…” I motioned toward the pile of books. “Code’s 867530.”

He gave me a dead-eyed stare. “ Really? ” he said with a mocking disappointment evident in his tone. “Text me if anything happens. I’m in your contacts now.” he said thumbing his number in. “We’re two flights down. Might not hear you… should you yell. I’ll check in soon.”

“Thanks.” I took the phone from his hand, and that’s when I saw it—a tiny black bat tattooed on his middle finger. Just like Graham’s.

“I knew it! You two are fucking besties.”

“What? Oh—yeah. He’s just shy and wants the world to think he’s some emotionally constipated tough guy.”

“So why the bat?”

Derek chuckled. “Well, you’ve seen how open he is with his feelings.

” He tapped the tattoo, his gaze softening.

“I met him during a real shitstorm. Told him, if he ever hit bottom and didn’t know how to ask for help, to send a sign.

We joked about the Bat-Signal—me as Robin , him as Batman .

Several dangerously strong drinks later, we’re at Big Al’s Inked Palace , making a pact in ink.

Haven’t regretted it once.” He reached down and knocked on the floor.

“I’ve texted him more pictures of this finger than I’d like to admit.

Needed him when I got stood up at the altar, when I was in the doghouse with Nettles, when I needed an alibi—or a way out of a date. ”

He grinned. “So yeah. He’s Batman . But thank God we weren’t drunk enough to get them tattooed on our dicks.”

I exhaled a laugh. “Yeah, nothing says ‘ send help’ like a picture of dick with a bat tattooed on it.”

“Right?” he gave a cheeky nod before heading down the stairs. “Let me know if anything changes.”

Chester leapt from my lap and followed Derek, his tail twitching as he disappeared into the dark.

Great. Hopefully his feline intuition meant everything’s fine.

Or… maybe my cat was a little dingleberry who didn’t give two shits about me.

The attic went quiet again.

I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at Graham’s still form. His body looked like it was asleep—but the silence around him felt like death.

This was all my fault.

I never should’ve dragged him into this. I shouldn’t have invited him to the séance. I should’ve left the crime solving to him—and the rest of the precinct.

But I didn’t.

I had to prove him wrong.

God, what the hell was wrong with me?

At least forty-five minutes had passed.

The attic’s silence had gone from heavy to unbearable. I’d done everything I could to ignore the way the shadows pooled in the corners, or how the air felt like it was watching me. But it was wearing me down.

A distraction. I need a distraction.

I grabbed my phone and fired off a message to Derek.

Nothing yet…

Derek:

Bummer. How R U?

Fine… but it feels like there’s a darkness in the air.

Maybe it’s Silas. And he’s pissed.

No, it doesn’t feel like him.

Want company?

You’re sweet for worrying. I’ll be okay. Probably just gonna doom scroll for a bit. If he doesn’t wake up soon, I’ll come down.

I set the phone in my lap and stared at the screen a second longer than I needed to— anything to avoid looking back at Graham.

But I could still feel him .

Still feel it—that thing pressing against the edges, like a lioness stalking in the grass.