Page 19 of Feathered Web

Kerris and I raced inside. Abernethy was still out like a light, so I dashed up the stairs, Kerris following, to the bedroom where I’d met Agnes.

She was there, waiting, her eyes filled with hope.

I took Kerris’s hand and we built the energy together.

I conjured the image of a door, opening into the Veil, and for the first time, thanks to my connection with Kerris, I saw exactly what the Veil was.

The room faded around me and I found myself standing in front of a shimmering shroud of light that stretched across the horizon. Shades, figures cloaked in shadow, moved through it—most heading to the other side, but a few coming back through to our side. The lights sparkled, strands that glistened and beckoned, whispering a summons to the dead.

I gasped—it was so beautiful—and I wondered whether Esmara had been through the Veil and returned, and my mother and father. And once they passed through, how could they bear to return? Drawn, I stepped forward, but Kerris caught hold of me.

“No, you can’t go there. I can, as a spirit shaman, but you can’t. Your place is here, January, on this side. Until your day comes.” She shook her head, drawing me back. “But now you understand my world. I’m one step in, one step out. And if you need advice learning about your death magic, I can help you.”

I blinked, and there stood Agnes, along with a handful of other spirits.

“You can go through, if you like. It’s time to let go,” Kerris said.

Thank you, Agnes said. I’ve been waiting a long time for this.

Will you tell my great-grandson goodbye for me? Tell him, it’s all right. I know he remembers me, another ghost said—this one a woman who looked somewhat older.

I knew immediately who she was. You’re Abernethy’s great-grandmother, aren’t you? Carolina?

Yes, I am. Please, tell him to find a happier job?

I will, I said.

Kerris held out her hand then. The Veil parted. Agnes and Carolina and the others moved forward and, as they passed through, their forms vanished, shifting into orbs of light that twinkled like cold starlight.

The next moment, we were back in the room, and Agnes and the others were gone.

“Let’s go,” I said. “Our work here is done. At least for now. I dread what’s going to happen here when they open their ghost tours, but we can’t do anything about that now. We have to focus on the task at hand.”

Downstairs, before we left, I wrote a note to Abernethy, stating only: i want you to be happy and find a better job. i’m gone now, and i’m at peace. great-grandma carolina.

Leaving it tucked next to him, we headed out of the house. The men had managed to take out the skeleton warriors, and they were loading the sarcophagus in the back of the truck. Rowan joined us.

“Did—”

“Agnes and the ones who wanted to go to the Veil made it through. And…” I paused, then said, “I saw the Veil. It’s beautiful and vast and…like nothing I expected.”

“How are you from the attack earlier?” Rowan asked.

“No worse for the wear, I think,” I said. “Let’s get moving.”

We returned to my car. Once again, Kerris, Rowan, and Killian rode with me, while Bryan and Tarvish took the truck. We were heading for Whisper Hollow.

We had an hour’s drive to Mukilteo, where we’d catch the ferry over to Clinton on Whidbey Island. Then we’d drive up to Coupeville, where we’d catch the last ferry over to Port Townsend. After that, we had about an hour and half drive along the winding and at times, dangerous, highway that encircled the peninsula. We’d stop at Crescent Lake and Whisper Hollow. Kerris had offered for us to stay the night, and then we’d return home the next morning.

“Are you ready?” Rowan asked.

I nodded. “We’ll stop at Starbucks on the way, and then—I guess I’ll get to see Whisper Hollow sooner than I expected.”

And with that, we were on the way.

CHAPTER EIGHT

It was close to midnight by the time we neared Whisper Hollow. I leaned back in my seat. Rowan had offered to drive once we reached Port Townsend, and I gratefully ceded the driver’s seat to her. The road was harrowing at night, winding and narrow, but we made it, stopping right before the junction leading to Whisper Hollow. Once there, Kerris took the wheel.

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