Page 33 of Chillingham Castle

I yawned and leaned my head on Lynnie’s shoulder. I was running on barely any sleep, and all I wanted was a bed. But we were in the hotel’s restaurant, sipping coffee or tea, depending on preferences. We all looked shell-shocked.

“What was your idea, Cammie?” Haunt asked.

“A Spirit Trap,” I answered.

“The empty glass, or jar, one?”

“No. It’s a little like a dreamcatcher, but it’s designed to catch ghosts,” I explained.

“I’ve heard of them but never seen one in effect,” Jack said.

“Honestly, I didn’t think they worked,” Haunt replied.

“They do if made correctly. You can’t just throw one together. You need wood from a rowan tree, and the wool must be used as string. Soak it in holy water for twenty-four hours, then bless it. Certain crystals must be embedded in the weaving. Quartz for manifestation, Black Tourmaline for protection, Citrine for stability, Labradorite for strength. Finally, Onyx to drain heavy energy, and Obsidian to bind, must be woven around the outside of the frame. Then you weave the threads around the spirit trap as they entangle a spirit within them. Once trapped, you burn the trap and banish the spirit,” I explained.

“You’ve used one before,” Haunt stated.

“Yes. Several times. But not on anything like La Llorona.”

“How soon can you make one?” Lucky asked.

“I’ve ordered some; they’ll arrive today. I know a shop that makes reliable ones, and I’ll only buy from them. It’s being couriered here,” I replied.

“Nice thinking; it’s not something I would have considered,” Haunt praised.

“Sometimes old-fashioned ways work,” I shrugged.

“They sure do. Okay everyone, hit the sack. We need to be ready tonight. La Llorona has realised what she’s capable of, and now she’s going to be gunning for any drop of English blood in sight,” Haunt ordered. We nodded. Tonight was a battle nobody had anticipated; I just hoped we all made it through.

Chapter Seven.

Haunt

On the drive over, I considered the plan. Cammie had confirmed the Spirit Trap, but I wanted a backup. If we could draw a containment circle in the courtyard around the source of La Llorona’s pain, we might imprison her and move her across.

Deep down, I knew it wouldn’t be so easy. The drawback to the Spirit Trap was that one of us needed to be close to drop it on her. That meant putting someone in danger. I’d willingly accept that myself, but these fuckers wouldn’t let me.

Cammie had hedged her bets. She’d ordered four. That worked for me. If we broke a couple, we had backups. And if we didn’t use them, we had them for the future. I’d wanted to unwrap one and check it over, but Cammie had said we couldn’t because they’d been purified. If they were opened, contamination could seep in.

Parking up, I took a few moments to compose myself. People might get hurt; the team’s safety rested on my shoulders. That worried me as it always did, and I needed to prepare myself to lead and not be a mother hen. Of course, we could hand over our findings and leave. This wasn’t our fight, our fuck-up, or our mistake. But we’d been called in to help, and none of us would walk away from a battle.

“Ready for this?” I asked as I got out.

“Not got a lot of choice; this is what we do,” Reaver replied.

I turned to Cammie, Jayne, and Lynnie. “This isn’t your problem. You don’t have to stay.”

“Yes, we do,” Lynnie said with an enigmatic smile, but didn’t elaborate.

“Okay, we’ll head to the tearoom. Gizmo, you and the ladies watch the screens. Ghoul and Lucky, you’re our secret weapons. The containment circle worked on the demon; I want to see if we can make it work on La Llorona. If it doesn’t, we use the Spirit Traps. Cammie, I’m not doubting them, but I’d like them kept as a last resort.”

Cammie shrugged. “They’re expensive and valuable; I can’t blame you. I would try the same.”

We headed for the tearoom, surprised to find Evie waiting.

“I was asked to attend, but I’ll stay out of the way. The owner is just worried,” Evie said.

“Understandably so,” I replied.