Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 54305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 272(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54305 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 272(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Giving a brief nod, Sky picked up the rock with his right and took a pinch of the mixture with his left. He sprinkled it on the floor, whispering words Ryder couldn’t make out. The strange thing was that there was no sign of the stuff hitting the ground. It was as if it were evaporating in the air. Sky created a trail from the trunk to the far wall that faced the street.
The path made, he returned the stone to his bag and dusted off his hands. He stood with perfectly erect posture and slowly waved his hands in front of him as he spoke, his fingers creating complicated forms.
“Whoa…that’s beautiful,” Fox breathed.
Ryder blinked and squinted, but he caught the tiniest glimpse of gold sparks trailing through the air after each of Sky’s hand movements. When Sky was done, there was a sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead and some of his hair was damp. A new slump had invaded his shoulders. Sky might make it appear easy, but this work drained him.
Flashing a wilting smile, Sky crossed to stand near them. “Watch this.”
He’d barely spoken when the first big, fluffy white bunny hopped out from behind the trunk. Another immediately joined it. Three became a dozen, then two dozen in a matter of seconds. Rabbits of all sizes and colors crowded around the trunk and hopped across the floor right where Sky had been spreading his mixture.
“Bunnies!” Gideon shouted. He tried to jerk out of Ryder’s arms, but Ryder immediately tightened them. Sky had strengthened the barrier for their protection. He was not letting Gideon out of his grasp.
Gideon blushed and smiled at him. “Oh, right. Ghost bunnies.”
Sky chuckled. “Something like that.” His smile didn’t waver as he caught the collar of Fox’s shirt, holding the witch as he tried to get closer to the bunnies. “They’re not for you.”
“But they’re so cute. I want to cuddle them and play with them,” Fox whined.
“That’s the point, but they’re not for you.” Sky turned his attention to the living room. “Elizabeth. Come out and see the bunnies who want to play with you.”
The trunk lid creaked open. A soft, delighted gasp drifted out, and the lid popped completely open. Giggles filled the room, and the bunnies jumped about more as if someone had stepped into their midst. Ryder was just wishing he could see the ghost when one bunny rose in the air as if someone had picked it up.
From there, a misty white ghost came into view. Ryder’s throat tightened to see the little girl, who couldn’t have been more than four or five. She had long hair with an enormous bow tied to the back of her head. The style of her knee-length dress placed her in the early nineteenth century. They watched wordlessly as she cuddled the bunny in her arms, nuzzling its long, floppy ears.
Slowly, the bunnies hopped away from the trunk and toward the wall that now glowed faintly. Elizabeth trailed along behind them, giggling and talking to the rabbits. It was only when she was a few steps from the wall that she paused and glanced at her trunk. Her wide smile slipped, and worry puckered her brow.
“It’s okay. Go play with the bunnies. If your brother comes searching for you, we’ll tell him where to find you,” Sky coaxed.
Elizabeth’s grin returned in a flash, and she nodded once, her bow bobbing. Two more steps and she was completely gone. The last of the straggling bunnies disappeared as well.
“And now your ghost has moved on,” Sky announced with a wave of his arms. He added with a wink, “You can step out of the protective barrier.”
“She’s safe?” Gideon inquired.
Sky nodded. “She’s moved on to where she needs to be. The underworld can handle it all now.”
The necromancer walked across the room and kneeled next to his bag. He tidied up a few things before pulling out two bundles of sage and a spray bottle. Gideon took the spray bottle and started cleaning up the grease pencil marks, while Sky and Fox lit the sage and carried the lightly smoking bundles through the apartment, cleaning it of whatever the ghost had left behind. Ryder wasn’t sure what they were doing exactly, but if it meant Gideon was more comfortable in his place, he supported it.
Ryder put the pillows where they belonged and returned the carpet and trunk to their proper places.
But when the condo was exactly as it should be—with no ghosts—he found Gideon standing in the living room, frowning at the trunk.
“What’s wrong?” Ryder asked as he wrapped his arms around Gideon from behind.
“We went through all of that and now…I’m not sure I want to keep the trunk. I still love it and it’s beautiful, but…” His voice faded and he looked at Sky, who’d picked up his bag. “Elizabeth died in that trunk, didn’t she?”