The Reckoning (Darkest Powers 3)

As I folded the page with the information, Margaret reached for it.

I handed it over. “I guess it’ll have to be mailed from someplace far from here, huh? Just in case. ”

“It’s not being mailed. ”

“What?” Tori and I said in unison.

“You never promise to deliver a message for a ghost, Chloe. Never. ”

“But-”

Her hand cupped my elbow, voice going gentle. “You can’t. If you do, then what you saw today will be only the beginning. Word will get out that you’re willing to help, and while there are perfectly good requests, like this one, you heard some of the others. Most of those ghosts were in limbo. Sentenced to limbo. You can’t help them, and you don’t want to, but that won’t keep them from hounding you day and night. So you have to ignore both: the good and the bad. ”

I looked up into her face and briefly saw someone else there, a younger, sadder woman. I realized that what seemed like cold efficiency was self-preservation-the tough, no-nonsense necromancer, her heart hardened to the ple

as of the dead. Was this my fate? Toughen up until I could throw that note in the trash and never think of it again? I didn’t ever want to be that way. Ever.

“Are you okay?” Tori whispered.

Margaret had moved away and was dumping out the ashes of the vervain. Tori touched my arm. I realized I was shaking. I wrapped my arms around myself. “I should have brought a sweater. ”

“It’s still chilly when the sun goes in, isn’t it?” Margaret said as she came back to us.

She held up a baggie of dried stuff.

“Vervain,” she said. “I’ll give you some back at the house. Obviously you could use it. ”

She tried to smile, but she was out of practice and only managed a twist of her lips.

“Thank you,” I said, and surprised myself by meaning it.

“Are you up to some more work?” she asked.

I glanced down at the bag she held, like it was a prize for a lesson well done, and as much as I wanted to quit, that eager-to-please part of me blurted, “Sure. ”

Twelve

“IT’S EASY TO SUMMON ghosts who want to be called,” Margaret said, “but sometimes you need to speak to a reluctant one. While we try to respect the wishes of the dead, you’ve just seen the importance of maintaining the upper hand in the necromancer-ghost relationship. Some really believe we exist only to help them, and we must quickly disabuse them of that notion. Being firm in your summoning is one way to establish the proper reputation. ”

Margaret took the lead, going from grave to grave. We visited four ghosts, chatting with them for a minute, before she found one that didn’t want to answer her summons.

She let me try. The ghost didn’t answer me either.

“Do you know how to increase the power of the summons?” Margaret asked me.

“Concentrate harder?”

“Exactly. Slowly increase your concentration and sharpen your focus. Start doing it now. Gradually, gradually…”

We kept on like this for a while, Margaret getting frustrated by how slowly I was ramping up the juice. Finally, I felt an inner twinge that said “that’s enough,” and I said so.

She sighed. “I understand you’re nervous, Chloe. Whoever raised those bodies has frightened you. ”

“I raised-”

“That’s not possible. Yes, you are clearly a powerful young necromancer, but without the proper tools and rituals, you just can’t do it. I don’t even have the ingredients with me. ”

“But what if that’s one of the modifications they made? Making it easier for me to raise the dead?”

“There would be no reason to-”

“Why not?” Tori interjected. “Raising the dead must have some use. ”

Armies of the dead, I thought, and tried not to remember the old pictures I’d seen, crazy necromancers raising undead hordes.

“All right,” Margaret said. “You girls are worried because you don’t know what’s been done to you. But the only way to overcome that fear is to understand the extent of your powers and learn control. I’m not asking you to give it everything you have, Chloe. Just a little more. ”

I did, and caught the first shimmer of an appearing spirit.

“Wonderful. Now, just a little more. Pace yourself. That’s it. Slowly, but firmly. ”

That inner alarm clanged louder now.

“No more,” I said. “It doesn’t feel right. ”

“But you’re making progress. ”

“Maybe, but I’m not comfortable with going further. ”

“If she doesn’t want to-” Tori began.

“ Victoria?” Margaret held out the keys. “Please go sit in the car. ”

Tori stood. “Come on, Chloe. ”

I got to my feet. Margaret’s fingers wrapped around my leg. “You can’t walk away and leave a spirit like this. Look at him. ”

The air shimmered. An arm poked through. A face began to take form, then faded before I could make out any features.

“He’s caught between limbo and the world of the living,” Margaret said. “You need to finish pulling him through. ”

“Why don’t you?” Tori said.

“Because this is Chloe’s lesson. ”

Tori started to argue again, but I silenced her with a shake of my head. Margaret was right. I had to learn to fix this problem. I wouldn’t be responsible for trapping a ghost between dimensions.

“I’ll push him back,” I said.

“Banish? That doesn’t work on trapped spirits. ”

I shook my head. “I mean push him. Like summoning, only in reverse. I’ve done it before. ”

The look she gave me reminded me of when I was seven and I’d proudly informed our housekeeper that I’d donated half my clothing to a charity drive at school. It had seemed perfectly sensible to me-I didn’t need so much stuff-but she’d stared at me like Margaret was now, with a mix of horror and disbelief.

“You never, ever push a ghost back, Chloe. I’ve heard it’s possible, but-” She swallowed, like she was at a loss for words.

“I think it’s a bad thing,” Tori whispered.

“It’s a terrible, cruel thing. You have no idea where you’re pushing them. They could be lost in some-some…” She shook her head. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but you can never take that risk again. Do you understand?”

I nodded. “So I keep tugging this one…”

“That’s right. ”

I knelt and kept at it until sweat trickled into my eyes. I went past the mental alarms and finally the ghost began to materialize.