Page 89 of Demon and the Raven

“You know,” Liam said, “I really think it’s not a big deal. We can just leave it all there.”

“Yeah, yeah, I agree,” Jeremy chimed in. “Nothing there that can’t be replaced.”

“The ghosts can have it,” Meijun said.

“If people see that stuff strewn all over the place, it’ll scare them to death,” Lorne growled. “I’ll go with you.”

Which would have made me feel better if I was them but didn’t seem to be helping.

“This is going to give me even more fodder for my nightmares, and they’re bad enough as it is,” Shelby muttered under her breath. “God, when was the last time I slept?”

“Same,” Meijun confessed. “I used to look forward to going to bed.”

Which answered the question of their sleep-deprivation status for me.

I knew Lorne was giving them a gift by making them go, a chance to replace that frightening memory.

“If you’re gonna be paranormal investigators,” he was saying as he led the group away from me, “you’re gonna hafta deal with some scary shit sometimes.”

I noted that every one of them looked like they were going to the guillotine, and they all kept looking back at me, safe in the car.

I was hesitant to let the man I loved go alone with the kids, I thought I should go as well, but he wanted me in his vehicle, with it running, for good reason. If they were attacked and chased again—which my money was on not being at all likely—it was best to be ready with the quick escape. We were live-and-learn kind of people, after all.

Alone in a graveyard at night was not a place I would normally ever have been scared, but after what happened earlier, every shadow seemed like it was growing and changing into something ominous and threatening. And I could have gotten out and looked, called on the elements, called fire to me and checked, but I didn’t want the kids to catch me if they came back right then. More importantly, it felt quiet.

Moments later, the kids were rushing to the car as if running for their lives. They piled in quickly, and Lorne came back a few minutes later, shaking his head.

“If there was anything out there,” he said as he got into the vehicle, “I’d be dead because they all left me.”

I chuckled. “I don’t know what you expected.”

“A little intestinal fortitude for starters,” he groused, pulling away from the curb.

“I think that comes from years of bravery,” I apprised him. “Like someone I know.”

“And who would that be?”

“It’s good you have a sense of humor,” I told him. “That will serve you well.”

His grunt suggested he wasn’t so sure.

“Can I get my bag from the van?” Shelby asked. “I’m gonna need a shower because I think I peed myself at some point.”

“Gross,” Liam mumbled.

“Changing would be good, since I’m covered in mud,” Jeremy whispered.

We stopped at their van again, and I went and retrieved the bags since no one wanted to get out of the back seat. Then, finally, we were headed home.

At the cottage, I made the kids take off their shoes outside and then brought them in. Argos was asleep in his chair, and Shelby whimpered, “Oh, a kitty,” and bolted over to him.

He allowed himself to be scooped up and mauled, and I saw her tears at the normalcy of finding him there. A few more cuddles, and then she put Argos down gently, giving everyone else a chance to pet him as they stood clustered near the ancient dining-room table.

“This is the most beautiful cottage I’ve ever been in,” Shelby said sincerely. She seemed to know instinctively what my home preferred to be called, but she was clairvoyant, after all.

Instantly, a wild-rose scent filled the room.

“It smells heavenly,” Meijun said with a deep sigh. “May I go see the sun porch?”