Eternally Devoted (Frostbite 4)

I pointed to the skeleton in the trunk. “The ghost those bones belong to.”

Chapter Twelve

After I retold the story right from the beginning, filling Amelia in on all the missing bits and pieces that we had hid from her, I was exhausted, still worried, and frightened, too.

Even if I knew the spell on the Lux wasn’t conjured by Wayde to kill us, it also didn’t remove the danger. Wayde wouldn’t want anyone to find Sammy’s bones in his basement, and I hated all the ideas running through my head at what he’d do to stop this information from getting out.

By the time I retold what I had learned from Sammy, explaining in full detail Wayde’s motivations for killing Alexander, he and Amelia both stared at me with something that looked close to horror.

“Exactly,” I agreed with a short nod, “Totally fucked up, I know, but there it is.”

Amelia finally blinked, settling back on her legs, as she still knelt in front of her father. “He killed you because he knew Tess would find out about him.”

Alexander’s eyebrows furrowed. “Wayde wouldn’t have been able to do anything to Sammy to ensure he didn’t out him.” Alexander rubbed his jaw in such a manly move that looked ridiculous on Caley. “He would’ve had no power over him, since he killed him. He must’ve thought he had no choice.”

“Ah, thought so,” I countered, not focusing on the latter topic, but the one he mentioned right before it. “I wondered why he couldn’t force Sammy into the Netherworld, like he tried with you.”

Alexander inclined his head, pushing off the floor to stand. He offered his hand to Amelia and, once she joined him on her feet, he turned to me, “When you kill a person, you’re bound to them in a way that would make you unable to control them, and also unable to bind them with magic.”

As I processed that, once again I realized all these theories had big holes that didn’t add up. “Okay, wait, but Wayde used magic on you.”

Alexander shook his head slowly in clear frustration. “I suspect he used magic before he killed me. Perhaps the spell to remove the noise to hide his approach also shed sensation from me, so I didn’t notice the magic.”

I rubbed my throbbing temple again, totally floored at how complicated magic was. Really, who wanted to use this funky stuff? I vowed, once I confirmed Kipp was safe, and everyone in this room was out of possible danger, I would leave all magical spells up to Gretchen.

If I needed to use a spell, I’d use a major guilt trip on Gretchen until she agreed to help me. Then again, if Kipp was safe, I planned to stay away from all this magical crap altogether. From what I had experienced, magic only led to danger.

Amelia’s deep sniff snapped me out of my thoughts, and Alexander wiped her tears, which again looked odd from Caley—too sweet and gentle. With sad eyes, she asked him, “How can we save you now?”

“Oh, I know that, too.” I reached into my pocket and took out the spell I’d ripped out of the Lux. “This will help you cross over, right?”

Alexander eyed the rough paper in my hands and Caley’s face paled further. His hard stare finally lifted to mine. “You tore a page out of the Lux?”

I nibbled my lip. “Err…yeah.”

When they continued to gawk at me, I snorted. “Stop looking at me like I killed something. It was the best option at the time. It kept the spell we needed for you close to me witho

ut having to take the book. Besides, we can always staple it back in.”

Amelia barked a laugh, sounding more shocked than amused. “Staple it back in?”

“Okay, if that won’t work, glue it,” I offered.

Alexander shook his head, incredulous. “You’re right—I should have saved my laughter until this moment.” He chuckled, which was much deeper than Caley’s laugh and without the spark I loved about my best friend. Then his amusement faded, and he said, “What’s done is done. Show me what you found.”

I offered him the paper, more than happy to get the damn thing out of my hand. “It says it’s an Angelic Banishment.”

Alexander’s eyes widened before he looked down at the page in his hands. He gazed over it a moment before he nodded, and then he handed it to Amelia.

She scanned over the paper. “This should work. It’s stronger than the spell that Wayde has placed on my father.” She looked to me. “It’s a pure, white magic spell, so it’ll overpower the one that was used in darkness.”

Max’s soft snore drew my attention to him as I exhaled in relief. I’d been only guessing, but really, the Lux was right in the trunk. Now seeing that Wayde wasn’t somewhere in the house to kill me, if that one didn’t work, they could come up with a good solution, or so I assumed. “So, we have a plan?”

Alexander accepted the paper from Amelia, and then gave me a firm nod. “We do.”

“But father, what about the crime against you?” Amelia grasped her father’s hand tight enough that her knuckles turned white. “How can we let Wayde get away with killing you?”

Alexander smiled, and it looked undeniably soft on Caley’s face. “Wayde will be arrested for the murder of Sammy.” His grin faded, darkening his eyes. “We have no evidence against Wayde, other than all of us knowing his motive. Even if you told the police, do you honestly think they would believe you?”