Page 20 of Love Lives
Aldrich made himself nod. As difficult as that witch could be sometimes, he knew his stuff. Aldrich would trust him with Remy if he had to. But as Remy entered the room and glanced at him, he hoped it wouldn't come to that.
* * *
Remy sat cross-legged on a pillow on the floor. Elena sat facing him, while everyone else stood or sat at the side-lines, watching the spectacle. Aldrich was still convinced that it was stupid, but he couldn't tear his gaze away either. Elena had one hand on her brother's shoulder, and one on a leather-bound notebook that lay on the floor between them. One of their dad's old notebooks as an anchor for the spirit.
There was also a set of crystals, the size of earrings. Something that Caspar had procured for Elena. They sparkled as they caught the light, much brighter than anything non-magical would. Caspar called them containers, used to store and enhance magic. Since Elena’s powers weren’t strong enough to summon a ghost in one burst, she’d poured her magic into the crystals instead, slowly charging them until they were at capacity. Now they were basically ghost-summoning devices.
A shudder went down Aldrich's spine at the thought. He'd seen some truly creepy things in his time as a vampire, but the idea of zombies still freaked him out a little. Even if he would never admit to that.
Dead things should just stay dead.
Vampires excluded.
Elena closed her eyes and hummed softly. Aldrich wasn't sure why he thought that was creepy, but it was. Especially when Remy started humming the same tune in sync with her, his eyes closing as well. Elena pressed the crystals to Remy’s forehead. They glowed once, brightly.
Aldrich's mouth went dry. Someone needed to put a stop to this. He needed to put a stop to this.
But it was already too late.
Remy's eyes opened again, but his irises were black. Forget about zombies and silly tunes,thatwas creepy. Aldrich's fists balled by his sides as he readied himself to jump into action at any moment. If that thing that had taken hold of Remy was going to attack people...
Remy just kept sitting where he was, though, his black eyes focusing on everyone in the room in turn. As his gaze swept over Aldrich, a deep chill crept over the vampire's skin.
"You're all here," Remy spoke, but his voice wasn't his. It was much deeper than any sound Aldrich had heard come out of the mortal's mouth so far.
"Dad?" Elena asked, cautiously optimistic.
Aldrich nearly gagged. Was that horrifying thing really their dad? And here he'd thought havingZenonas his sire was bad.
Remy--or the thing inside of him--focused on Elena. "You've grown so much, my little doll."
Elena gave a high-pitched sound that was so uncharacteristic of her that Aldrich startled a little. "It's really you!"
"I can't stay long," the summoned thing warned. "This is not my realm anymore."
"We have a few questions."
"I know that you've been struggling. I'm so sorry that I couldn't prepare you better."
Okay, maybe the thing wasn't a monster. Still, Aldrich was going to watch it closely. And if it refused to give Remy his body back...
"You did what you could," Elena said. "We should have believed you."
"Did you know about the prophecy?" Collin asked from the sidelines.
Remy fixed him in his gaze. "Collin. I have to apologize for all the grief I've caused you."
"It's..." Collin faltered. "It's okay. Just uh... The prophecy?"
"I did not know its contents," Ghost-Dad said. "I knew it existed, but I wished for none of you to have anything to do with it. I wanted quiet, normal lives for you. Alas, I fear it's too late for that." He paused, then said, "I believe the death mentioned in the prophecy refers to the God of Death. The God who created the very first vampire."
"Vlad mentioned him," Collin said. "But we don't know anything about him. At least, not anything we can use. We don't even know why he created vampires."
"It isn't well known," Ghost-Dad agreed. "As I understand it, he didn't do it with the intention of creating vampires, but that's what ended up happening anyway." He shook his head regretfully. "Then he vanished after unleashing this abomination onto the world. Disappeared without a trace, or so the lore says."
Collin tilted his head to the side. "I'm not sure how that helps us."
"If you wake him, he might eliminate the abomination he's created," Ghost-Dad mused. Aldrich kind of wanted to spit in his face, but that would have meant spitting in Remy's face, so he refrained.
