Page 96 of Ashes and Lilies
“Please,” I continued. My focus was unraveling, and it was becoming more difficult to think clearly. “You can’t stay here anymore.”
“She needs me,” James said, grabbing at his hair. “I can’t protect her out there,” he told me, and my thoughts spun. “She has to stay!”
“James,” Brayden cut in. “Rosalie has already moved on. We’re discussing you now.”
“Shut your mouth!” James snarled, glaring at the other fae. A dark wave rose over the ghost’s feet as he turned. “I don’t care about that. I don’t have time for this!”
The circle burned an orange-red, and James, whose form had flickered, stood straight as his eyes widened.
“What are you doing?” James asked, hands shaking. “Let me go!”
“The only place you’re going is to the Underworld,” Finn said, crossing his arms. Then, in the most insensitive way he could, he added, “So stop with the dramatics. I have better things to do than deal with you.”
“Finn!” I glowered at him. Why did he have to open his mouth? Couldn’t he see that James was unstable?
“No,” James snarled. “I have to go back—she needs me!” His form began to flicker as he fought against the spell, but ultimately, even Miles—an ungraduated novice in the ways of trapping ghosts—was too powerful for him to beat.
A sense of hopelessness and frustration pulled at me. I’d gotten him here, expecting, on some level, my instincts to guide me—as they had with Rosalie. But there was nothing, and James was not receptive to our communication.
What had I done with Rosalie, exactly?
“James?” I lifted my chin, calling to him, but he did not appear to hear me. I released Miles’s arm, moved away from Anthony’s side, and stepped past the others. “You cannot stay here,” I told him.
I’d touched Rosalie. It’d helped her.
Maybe I could help him too. But we were running out of time. Damen was sure to know that his plan had been foiled by now.
“It’s time to go,” I said, reaching for him. “Before it’s too late.”
Right now, he did not resemble the terrible, violent ghost who’d attacked us. But, instead, was the picture of a confused, lost man. As I drew near, fingertips about to brush across his arm, he looked up.
I froze as something seemed to snap in his expression.
“No, I won’t let you!” James hissed as he raised his arm, reaching for my neck, but Brayden—who’d been the nearest—reacted quickly. He pulled me back as James’s touch met with air, and we fell to the ground.
“Miles,” Finn said, suddenly standing at our side. “Get out of here and reinforce the wards. We can’t let him get away.”
I had enough time to see that the witch obeyed before James became a blur of force. The ghost lunged for me once more—death in his features—before being knocked back by the onmyoji.
James crashed against the circle and landed on his side. An uncontrolled wind ripped through the clearing, and the moonlight vanished behind the clouds, yet the ghost made no move to get back up.
Finn shook his head, and my attention moved to the sword in his hands.
Where had he pulled that from?
“I’m already over this,” he said, raising his weapon. Even Anthony, who now stood beside him, had a blade of his own.
“Don’t exorcise him!” Brayden said, his grip tightening. “Finn, listen to me. There’s another way to make him leave. I only need you to stall for a minute.”
Anthony paused, glancing at us, but Finn disregarded Brayden’s protest.
“There’s only one person I’ll listen to,” Finn replied. “And it’s certainly not you.”
I moved to my feet, my uneasiness rising as the night seemed to crawl over our surroundings, launching everything into shadow. I could barely make out James’s form, but still, my heart raced with an urgency I couldn’t ignore.
“Finn, please.” I moved next to him and grasped his sleeve.
Finn didn’t reply, but after a moment, his shoulders dropped as he threw his head back to stare at the darkening sky. “Fine,” he sighed. “Just so long as—”
