Page 23 of Into the Fire

“Good, huh? I’ll email it to you. It’s one of those things that’s part magic, part heritage, but there’s a reason it’s been passed down in my family for generations,” Gabriella replied, packing up her things.

“What now?” Simon asked as they headed back to Grand Strand Ghost Tours.

“I will convene my coven and contact my elders,” Gabriella replied. “We will take what we can from the lore and weave new magic from there.”

“I reached out to several friends who are practitioners,” Simon told her. “Do you all need to work together?”

Gabriella chuckled. “We work together because we seek to stop the same problem. We don’t need to share the identical incantation or approach. It would be best if we chose a date for the working, but even that isn’t essential. What matters is that within a short period of time we send concentrated power focused on restraining the entity.”

“I want to go back to whether or not there could be more than one type of spirit involved,” Simon said. “Whatever causes the big blazes, then something that sets the lesser fires, and then dark spirits that glom onto all the negative vibes?”

Gabriella chuckled at his phrasing but nodded. “Very possible. That would also explain why the past efforts to stop the hotel fires didn’t work for long. They weren’t treating the whole problem.”

“I’ve been digging into the lore. Things like the djinn or ifrits are associated with fire, but it seems like a stretch for them to be haunting here,” Simon replied.

“Those are just some of the better-known creatures,” Gabriella said. “Your idea about something like a fire salamander fits with the legends of the Northern Europeans who first settled here. A fire salamander wouldn’t be powerful enough to explain the hotel fire cycle, but it could cause the smaller blazes, feeding off the main ghost.”

“Will your other witch friends need to be onsite to bind the fire spirit?” Simon asked.

Gabriella shook her head. “Not likely. Some of us will come, but the rest of the connections will be behind the scenes.”

“That’s good, because I can’t quite imagine escaping the press if we had a cavalcade of witches convene in downtown Myrtle Beach,” Simon replied.

Back at the shop, Gabriella patted his arm when Simon invited her in to rest. “I’m fine. Nothing a little more tea won’t fix. I’ll get right to work on this; there’s no time to waste.”

Simon walked her to her car and waved as she drove away before heading back inside the shop.

“How did it go?” Pete asked when he finished with a customer. Simon gave him a recap, along with Gabriella’s warning and her certainty that the spirit would strike again if it got the chance.

“I think on some level, people feel that there’s something going on,” Pete told him. “Someone online even called it ‘a disturbance in the Force,’” he added. “Bad vibes. We’ve had a run on amulets and charms, as well as candles and protective oils. All this from people who don’t have any real clue about magic or old spirits.”

“What about you?” Simon was curious about Pete’s sensitivity to paranormal activity given his heightened awareness thanks to the store.

“If I didn’t know what I’ve learned here, I might just think there was bad weather brewing,” Pete answered after taking a moment to think. “Or chalk it up to the way you feel funny after a nightmare that you don’t actually remember.”

He paused, as if searching for words. “I don’t have your abilities or sensitivity to these things, but maybe way down deep we still have a caveman warning system inside that hasn’t been completely squashed by civilization. I feel jumpy, on alert, one step away from drawing a protective salt circle around my couch, loading up as many charms as I can find, covering up in a blanket and saying the Hail Mary until the bad thing goes away.”

“Fair enough.” Simon smiled at Pete’s description. “And pretty accurate. I’m going in the back and working on more research, so you’ve got the store.”

“No problem. You’re saving the world. I’m fine with that.” Pete grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

His cousin Cassidy had sent him an email inviting him to a group call. Simon’s alarm went off to remind him it was time, and he logged in after pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee.

“Hi Simon!” Cassidy greeted him when his picture appeared on the video chat. “I’ve got Alicia and Rowan with me. I already caught them up on what you told me before to save time. How are things going?”

Alicia Peters was a powerful medium. Rowan was a witch who ran a Charleston-based coven. Cassidy’s abilities and her involvement in the city’s supernatural community gave her a unique perspective.

“Thanks for that,” Simon replied. “This situation has me going around in circles. Vic’s looking for the human connections of the entity. I’ve been trying to figure out the magic behind it. I can use all the help you can give me.”

“I told Sorren about the Ocean Visions Hotel and your problem spirit,” Cassidy said. Sorren was her business partner in the store and a 600-year-old vampire and city guardian.

“He was aware of a supernatural spirit in Myrtle Beach, but that’s not really his territory,” Cassidy said. “Once I told him what was going on, he promised to check with some of his colleagues to see if they have insights into how to deal with the entity and whether it can be bound again.”

“Good.” Simon felt his shoulders release a little. “I was hoping he would have some ideas.”

Cassidy chuckled. “Oh, Sorren usually knows the score, especially on something like the Ocean Visions that has deep roots. I’m sure if there’s something worth knowing, he’ll fill me in.”

“I’ve reached out to the ghosts, and they are afraid,” Alicia said. “They felt the spirit be released, and they fear that it will drain their energy like it did in the past.” She paused. “Whatever is going on is also attracting dark ghosts who are feeding off its energy.”