Ghostland

A thick brass gargoyle with a ring held in its mouth served as a door knocker. An older version of Tamara responded to Aisling’s use of it. She studied Aisling for only a second before looking past her and smiling slightly. “You must be Aisling. I’m A

“I hope so. I’m here about a child who needs a home.”

Dark eyebrows rose, the smile widened. Ice slid down Aisling’s spine with the impression that she’d been expected.

A

The inside of the house reminded Aisling of the luxury she’d found at the church, though the prewar artwork gracing the walls or residing on polished wooden furniture would have been viewed as sinful and destroyed if it had come into the hands of the religious. Naked men and woman danced and worshipped. They coupled in rites of fertility, their faces and bodies full of emotion and life.

“Ah, the shamaness is here,” Leva

She wore a long black dress and was kept warm by a fringed shawl draped over boney shoulders. Her hair was silver, her eyes made sightless by cataracts, though Aisling imagined the Wainwright matriarch hadn’t needed them to see for a long time.

A

“It’s good you came to us about her,” Leva

Cataract-blinded eyes met Aisling’s as Leva

A

“No. Raisa came by my house yesterday and introduced herself. She didn’t tell me about the sex witch, but she told me a governess went missing.”

“We heard about that as well. The governess wasn’t one of us, though we’re making inquiries,” A

Leva

“In my dreams I saw a dark priest and his followers slaughtered by a powerful demon,” Leva

Aisling’s breath froze in her lungs. After trusting Cassandra so readily at the library, she didn’t dare risk making the same mistake by acknowledging what happened the night she’d gone into the ghostlands to find Elena. “Do you know what happened to the vampire’s shaman?” she asked instead.

“He was not a powerful shaman, yet his screams lingered and echoed in a nightmare shared by many of us with talents that brush against the spiritlands,” Leva

“He was strapped to a bed in a cold basement room of the church,” A

Zurael’s words whispered in Aisling’s thoughts. No one is beyond suspicion.

They were followed by John’s taunt in the ghostlands. I see they’ve sent a sacrificial lamb. Or maybe that’s Elena’s role. Then again, maybe third time’s the charm.

Elena’s visit and the pouch full of coins took on a new meaning, making Aisling wonder if the Church had played a role in her abduction, if the man branded for summoning and lying with a demon had repented his sins and sought penance from the Church, only to be disposed of when it was done.

Aisling didn’t think it was likely that there were two men wearing the same brands. She didn’t think it was a coincidence he’d been killed.

She shuddered, glad she hadn’t gone to Father Ursu with questions about the Ghost seller. “Do the vampires know what happened to their shaman?”

Leva

“The vampires are content for the moment to let the Church’s game play out. If the barrier between our world and the spirit world breaks down because of Ghost, then the humans without gifts will once again fear those of us who have them. Their fear will lead to blame and to violence, both of which will soon spill over to the vampires as the Church and its allies are given an excuse to claim the wealth accumulated in San Francisco.”

Aisling nodded in understanding. Stockton and the surrounding areas had come under Church and non-gifted human control because of violence waged as a result of fear and blame. It’d happened long before she was born, when a wave of disease killed children by the dozens.

Weres and vampires were hunted and slaughtered, blamed for carrying the sickness. Some of the gifted were killed as well, accused of creating the illness through magic or for harboring the supernaturals responsible for it.

Leva

Aisling took her cue and left.

“You had a successful visit?” Zurael asked as Aziel launched himself from his shoulder to hers.

“Yes.”

Aisling told him what had transpired with the Wainwright witches as they walked toward her house. When they rounded the corner, they saw Raisa waiting there with a young woman.

“I don’t like this,” Zurael said. “We don’t know where Raisa’s loyalties lie. If this is about the missing sex witch, it could be a trap set for you in the spiritlands.”

Aisling shivered as Leva

“You’ll turn them away without offering your services.”

She stopped and he turned to face her. Strength of purpose gave Aisling the courage to stand up to him. “I’ll listen to what they say and make my own decision.”