Misfortune Cookie (25 page)

Bo’s face lit up. “Oh yes. We have it in the main dining room.”

My jaw almost hit the floor when we entered the mess hall and found it high atop a sturdy wooden shelf. Similar to the vessel in Tien’s office, this jar was twice as big and large enough to hold the ashes of two adults.

“How soon can we start the purification ritual?” I asked. Hard to believe a jar had caused so much misery.

“As soon as—”

My cell phone rang, the shrill noise startling a few of the nearby monks. “Sorry. This is my sister.”

I moved into the hall, a smile on my lips, happy with the knowledge that Lillian would be re-interred before the day ended.

“Radiance!” Selene wailed. “I went into her room to wake her from her nap. And she was gone!”

Shock tore through me.
No
. I crumpled to the floor, but kept the phone steady against my ear. “Who’s gone, Selene?” I knew the answer. I didn’t want to believe it.

“Grace. She’s been taken.”

Chapter 18

Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.

Grace
. My darling niece. How dare they? Red-hot pokers of hate pierced me.

In a controlled rage, I promised Selene every resource would be used to find Grace. And that she should call me if anyone made contact. Under no circumstances was she to involve the FBI or police. The matter would be handled by the family. She didn’t argue. Good thing, because I knew who took her.

“Radiance?” Luca’s hand rested on my shoulder.

I pocketed my phone, hands shaking with rage. “That bastard took Grace. Bo, how quickly can you perform the purification ritual?”

The monk wrung his hands. “I would love to do that, except I can’t perform the ritual until sunrise.”

My phone rang again. I snarled when I saw the phone number. “Where is she? If you’ve harmed her . . .”

“That’s up to you, cousin. I didn’t take her. Lillian did. Bring her the jar and sweet, little Grace goes free.” Reg muttered something too muffled for me to hear to someone else in the room.

Pain lanced my jawbone because it was clenched hard enough to chew glass.

Luca paced in front of me. The shadow of his wings grew more pronounced with each revolution.

“You have two hours to bring the jar. I’ll text the address when the deadline nears. Tick tock. Better hurry.” He laughed then hung up.

“That son of a bitch!” I raised my arm to launch the phone against the wall.

Luca’s hand shot out and captured my wrist. “Do not lose your cool. If you smash the phone, how will we get the address?”

True. I leaned against the wall and counted to twenty. “He doesn’t know we have the jar.” My thoughts returned to the hedge maze. Reg never played fair. It was time to use that against him.

“Bo, may I see the vessel?”

“Of course.” He left and returned moments later. “Here it is.”

I took it in my hands, the weight straining my muscles. I faced Luca and Bo. “What is special about this jar? Why is this so important to Lillian?”

Bo rubbed his chin. “Jade is believed to have magical properties.”

Luca took the jar and studied it. “There is nothing magical about the jar itself.”

I placed my palm on the side. “Okay, I see various monks wiping the jar with a soft rag. Someone’s thinking about the evening’s meal. Oh, this guy is thinking about gardening.” I dropped my hands. “Maybe it’s not the jar that will set her and her brother free.”

“She would believe in the power of the vessel,” Bo said.

“I’m not following. Because she believes it has power, it does?” I rubbed my temples. We didn’t have time for this.

“No. It won’t have actual power because she wills it. But it does hold their remains.”

“And those have value,” Luca said.

“The question is, does Reg know that?” I asked. “They want the jar. They never specified that they wanted the contents.”

Luca touched my shoulder. “Are you sure you want to bet Grace’s life on that?”

“Absolutely not. And I don’t plan to. You’ll have to trust me on this, okay?”

He nodded and kissed my cheek. “Then let’s prepare.”

“I will need a living ancestor for the ritual,” Bo said.

“Not a problem.” Luca took out his phone. “We know exactly where a relative is.” He stepped away to call Gabriel leaving me and Bo alone.

“You do not believe your cousin will honor his word,” Bo stated.

“No. And I sure don’t trust the Jiang Shi.” I wrapped my arms in a tight hug around my chest to steady myself.

“Don’t be too quick to judge the honor of the spirits. They can be made to remember their human selves as they were in life. What did your power tell you about Lillian?”

I sifted through my memories, forgetting her behavior as a pissed-off ghost. “She was honorable in life. Both of them were.”

“I do not mean to suggest you should ignore or excuse the deaths they have caused, but they are also slaves to the whims of the living. Since your last encounter, has she killed anyone?”

“As far as I know,
she
hasn’t killed anyone. That was all her brother’s doing. The slaughter ended with his capture.” The facts made me think about the timeline of events. Other than trashing Soul Kitchen and fighting us, she had not hurt any innocent people. Joanna had confirmed the remains were animal and not human. It galled me to admit it, but her situation had scary similarities to mine. Forced to serve at the will of another. “Shit.”

Bo nodded. “Now what will you do, Redeemer?”

“Offer her the peaceful rest she deserves.” As to Reg, he wouldn’t escape my wrath or judgment. His ass was grass.

“Allen is on his way,” Luca rejoined us. “Bo, do you have a place where we can . . .?”

I stopped paying attention. Again, that nagging feeling tore at me. I was missing something obvious. The hedge maze popped into my head. Then, it struck me. Bo had given me the final clue. The spirits will cling to the familiar parts of their former lives. With every retrieval mission, the soul always returned to some place they knew: their house, their school, a business.

“Guys.”

They stopped talking and looked at me.

“I know where Lillian is hiding. And Reg is not going to give us two hours. Luca, we need to go there, right now.”

Allen had mentioned an old property. We’d seen the property before when Joanna first gave us the case notes and the stone.

“As you wish,
cariad
. Give us five minutes to prepare the jar.”

I left them to their planning. After I contacted Meadows and instructed him where to leave my new equipment, I reached into my pocket for the fortune cookie. The clear wrapper crinkled as I turned it over and over.

I was taking Grace back. Reg wasn’t the only one knew how to break rules.

Allen handed me a slip of paper with a street address.

As I suspected, it was the same place he’d found his grandmother’s collection.

“Are you sure this will work?” he asked.

No, I wasn’t sure. Not that I’d tell him that. I was nervous enough. “Allen, please work with Bo. I need everyone to do their part if we’re going to end this nightmare.”

Gabriel interrupted Allen before he could question me again. “I’ll make sure everything is prepared before sunrise.” He wasn’t happy about being left behind. We’d hashed it out and he agreed to safeguard Allen and ensure the temple was protected. He also promised to help with Selene.

Selene continued to call me at regular intervals. As much as it pained me, before we left I turned her over to Gabriel, leading her to believe that Gabriel was an agent for the family working on locating Grace. I couldn’t afford the distraction where we were going and she’d have someone to contact. Gabriel seemed to be a master of reassurance and would string her along so she wouldn’t panic and alert the actual authorities. I’d like to think that Selene would tow the family line, but the instincts of a mother were strong and would eventually trump family loyalty.

“We’ll be back when the sun rises,” I said with grim determination.

Luca and I traveled by car. He feared opening a portal could alert the Jiang Shi of our arrival, losing the advantage of surprise.

A dangerous cocktail of anger and anxiety stirred my blood. Luca remained silent, deep in his own thoughts. We didn’t need to speak to understand what we needed to do. Capture the Jiang Shi or die trying. Except death was not an option. I had to live to spare Grace and to save her.

“Before we go in, I have to retrieve my bag,” I said, noting the passing scenery through the window. We were close. The neighborhood had grown shabbier and more derelict. One block away, the car stopped and we got out.

The driver’s side window rolled down, revealing the last person I expected to see behind the wheel.

“God speed to both of you,” Meadows said. He drove away before I could reply.

I found the bag in the agreed upon location. With a smooth slide of the zipper, I retrieved my new weapon, a stun gun designed to fire 12-gauge shells. Each casing held special, individual stun charges.

“Impressive.” Luca examined the ammo. “Blessed and cursed.”

“Of course. Meadows took care of it for me. I planned to use it on the first Jiang Shi. Guess Lillian will be the lucky recipient.” I slung on the holster containing enough shells to bring down an elephant sized spirit.

“Remember, when we get in there, stick to the plan. Don’t let emotion overrule your judgment,” Luca admonished.

“I won’t.” I hoped. With Grace’s life in the balance, it would be hard not rip Reg apart.

We walked down the deserted streets, approaching the building from the front. I stopped, Lillian’s memory of the store superseding the shabby reality in front of us. I saw it as she remembered it. Red and white striped awnings anchored over the wide storefront windows. Bins of fresh fruits and vegetables neatly lined the sidewalk. Her brother smiled at customers and bagged their produce. She worked behind the scenes handling the bookkeeping, ordering, and supervising deliveries. Happiness and accomplishment filled her.

“Radiance?” Luca touched my shoulder, wiping away the vision.

For a moment, my determination wavered. Lillian didn’t ask to be disturbed or brought to the mortal world. Bo’s words echoed in my head. I vowed that if there was a way to spare her an eternity locked up in the Hereafter’s equivalent of Alcatraz, I’d take it.

“I’m ready.”

Luca shifted into his beast form and flew us to the rooftop. After he changed, we took the rooftop stairs down to the next level, our route already pre-determined. Unfettered wealth had its advantages, like being able to obtain blueprints and floor plans from city hall anytime. We still proceeded with caution. Unregistered renovations could have changed the layout, not to mention the poor state of the floors and ceilings made conditions treacherous.

Luca motioned for me to veer right. We approached a door that in Lillian’s time was the warehouse where they stored all their stock. I hoped like hell this is where they had Grace. Otherwise our surprise would be for nothing. We stopped and I placed my palm on the knob, searching for signs of Reg. He’d been there, but I couldn’t tell when. Jumbled thoughts and his plans for glory had occupied his head when he’d opened the door.

“They’re here,” Luca said in a low voice. “I can smell them.”

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I turned it off without looking. Stupid. I should have left the thing in the car. Luca’s cross look told me he was thinking the same thing. His face softened and he leaned forward.

His lips brushed mine. “Be safe, my love.”

“You, too.” I gripped his wrist. “I love you.”

“And I you.” With a sharp nod, he prepared to enter, his face stone.

Nervous energy raced down my spine. Calmness filled me. I was ready.

Sherlock Holmes was a big advocate of believing in improbable truths. If the fictional detective lived in my world, he’d shit a crumpet when he saw what waited on the other side of the door.

A rational person would have expected to find a rundown abandoned space, straight out of a horror novel. Dirty floors, filth-encrusted windows, the smell of urine, and the skittering of tiny rat feet.

None of those things greeted us. Instead, we entered a richly appointed space. Bookcases lined the far walls. A fire crackled in the marble adorned hearth. The mantle even had photographs on it. With a slow headshake, I realized it was nearly an exact replica of Sebastian’s library, right down to the mammoth desk and the sofas arranged in front of the fire. The only thing missing was the giant-sized portrait of Grandfather.

I put my hand on the side of the bookcase. Both my senses and my power confirmed it was real. The thick rug sank under my feet. Clean, bright, and scented like cedar, there wasn’t a rodent doodie in sight.

Yup. He was completely unhinged. Bat-shit crazy.

“Come in, cousin,” Reg called from the couch, his arm around Grace.

An open storybook lay across their laps. I recognized the illustrations as my own. Lillian sat on the other side of my niece holding a large bowl of popcorn.

I pumped a round into the shotgun and aimed it at him. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you right now.”

“Really, Radiance. You’d splatter my guts all over Grace.”

His amused tone gave me pause. Grace hadn’t moved since we walked in. Cold fear nearly froze me.

I circled to the front of the couch. “What have you done to her?” Her green eyes were dull and cloudy, like she was in a waking dream.

“Nothing harmful. A little pill to keep her calm. You don’t think I’m totally heartless, do you?”

I glared at him. “Let her go. And spare me the evil bad guy platitudes.”

“Is that how you see me?” he said. “Evil? I’m hurt.”

Like I gave a shit if I hurt his feelings. Out of the corner of my eye, Luca shifted closer to the couch. Lillian shot him a dark look.

“Please enlighten me about how good you are.” Better to keep him talking so I could plan a way to safely retrieve Grace.