Page 8 of Ghostmaker

“I see I’ve touched a nerve.” Crawford offered a stately bow. “It is not always easy to hear upsetting things about loved ones, as your friend Tennyson knows all too well, what with his parents kicking him out of the house for being gay and psychic. Talk about a double whammy, huh?”

Carson stepped forward. “Mr. Crawford, we wanted to stop by today to introduce ourselves and to wish you luck on your new venture, not for you to use your gifts against us.”

“Oh, but I’ve not yet gotten to you Carson, son of Bertha. You with your philandering father and your time as a fake psychic, scamming your mother’s hard won clients with your particular brand of bullshit until you grew into your gifts.” Crawford smiled, darkening his eyes. “As nice as it was to meet you all, I’ll offer some words of warning: stay out of my way. You will not like what happens if you cross me.”

Without another word, Cope turned intent on getting out the door and into the fresh air.

“One moment, Mr. Forbes, if you would.” Crawford called after him.

“Yes, Mr. Crawford?” Cope didn’t bother turning around.

“You are welcome here anytime. I would very much like to learn Elizabeth’s dark magick from you. Rumor has it that you are in possession of the Devereaux death spell. It would come in ever so handy, don’t you agree?”

Cope felt himself wanting to agree with Crawford. He wanted to stay in the strange shop and talk about Elizabeth and all that she’d taught him. Instead of doing that very thing, Cope pulled his phone out and pointed the camera at Crawford. The man wore a deep frown. “Just making sure you’re not a vampire, Mr. Crawford.”

“How very humorous.” Crawford cracked a smile that was somehow even more terrifying than the annoyed look on his face.

“Guys,” Cope ushered Ten and Carson out the door and into the bright afternoon sunshine.

“What the fuck was that?” Ten asked. “I felt like I was being compelled. In all my years, I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

“I felt it too,” Cope admitted. “Let’s get the hell out of here and we can talk about what happened. “Are you okay?” His eyes were on Carson, who looked as if he wanted to punch something or someone.

“No, I don’t think I am,” Carson admitted.

Cope led his friends to Lobster Charlie’s, which was half a block away from Crawford’s shop. He ordered each of them lobstertinis; a martini complete with a lobster claw garnish. With all that had just happened, Cope knew the alcohol would calm them down.

They waited in silence until the drinks came. Thankfully, they were the only ones on the patio, but all the same, Cope didn’t want anyone to hear the conversation that was about to take place.

“Who the hell is he?” Ten asked, after taking a long sip of his drink. “I’ve never felt anything like him before.”

“Neither have I,” Carson added. “I hope you won’t take offense to this question, Cope, but I have to know the answer.”

“How did Crawford know I can wield the death spell?” Cope hadn’t needed to use his gift to guess Carson’s question.

“Yeah, that. I thought we were the only ones who knew about it.”

“We are,” Cope said. Well, them and Everly, who could also use the spell. “Crawford is powerful, no doubt about it, but I wonder if he was hitting us full force with his abilities, while mining our brains for information.”

“You know,” Ten shivered. “That’s exactly how I feel, like I’ve come home to find everything in my house gone through.”

Carson nodded. “Me too. It never crossed my mind to ward ourselves before we left West Side Magick. We’re going to need Madam Aurora’s help. I’ll text her and see if she can meet us here with the supplies we’ll need to cleanse ourselves.”

“We’ve got sage and stuff back at the shop,” Ten said.

“No!” Carson said, forcefully, as if his word was the last word. “I don’t want us going near anything familiar with the stink of Crawford on us. Not to the car or the shop or home or the people we love.”

Cope nodded and ate his lobster claw while Carson texted Aurora. “Why did he want me to stick around and not the two of you?”

“You have something he wants,” Ten said. “Obviously he wants the death spell and to get his hands on your mother’s grimoire and he was trying to compel you into giving him what he wanted.”

“That’s why I checked to see if he was a vampire.” Cope laughed. It sounded hollow to his own ears. He wasn’t fooling anyone. None of this was anywhere close to being funny. In fact, it felt deadly serious. “This is the exact reason I moved the grimoire out of my house.”

“You did?” Carson asked.

“It’s somewhere safe.” Cope couldn’t help but feel like nowhere was safe with Crawford around. Only Jude knew where it was and hadn’t shared those details with Cope. With him not being able to read his husband, Cope would never learn where it was hidden. He hoped Jude had a backup plan just in case something happened to him.

“For the love of the goddess, what the hell have the three of you gotten into?” Madam Aurora stood several feet away from the psychics.