GhostTruth Read online

  “He’s such a handsome boy,” Rose cooed as she ruffled the fur on his neck. He lolled his tongue out and gave me a lopsided look as if to say he enjoyed these new friends.

  “He knows what you are,” I smiled. Percy had informed me that dogs could recognize werewolves.

  “Yeah, dogs like us more because of it,” Shane grinned as he tossed the ball.

  Axle leaped onto the opposite couch and hurtled over the back of it to catch the ball mid-air.

  I just shook my head at his enthusiasm.

  After a good hour of talking and showering affection on Axle, they said their goodbyes and thanked me for having them. Rose wanted to get back to her husband and had work starting back up, and Shane needed to do a few last-minute things to help his parents make the move into Rose’s new pack. I promised to tell them more and call them with updates on my magic and how the spell went with finding my body.

  Once they’d left, I sunk right back into the pages of the book as Axle climbed onto the couch with his favorite stuffed purple elephant to rest.

  I’d come across an alphabet of sorts, runes and glyphs. Their meanings and uses. But I couldn’t just use them, I had to work my magic, hone it and slowly build it up to be able to cast runes magic and spells.

  It was fascinating, and the time flew by as I started practicing the most basic of spells listed in there. No runes needed or anything. Just my own power inside and an incantation. Apparently we did have to use some words for most of our abilities and spells at first. It simply focused our power, giving us a faster, better result. Eventually you wouldn’t need the old Latin words. Latin, of course it was. It was always bloody Latin.

  I took Axle for a quick walk to let him do his business in the nearby park, keen to get back and continue my reading and learning. Axle enjoyed the sunlight and frolicked off the lead in a suitable area while I watched him contentedly. I needed to let him stretch his legs properly, and I played a few rounds of fetch with him to get him moving. He was so eager to please, dashing after the ball and darting back with it proudly.

  The way his blue eyes lit up each time I got ready to toss the ball, it was something so pure and innocent that I forgot everything else just for a few moments.

  “Trudo,” I commanded as I glared at the mug on the counter.

  The mug didn’t move, and I opened the book up and reread the word, making sure I’d said it right.

  “Trudo,” I instructed once more, and scowled when the mug did nothing.

  This magic thing wasn’t easy at all.

  “Focus,” I breathed, allowing my body to relax as I closed my eyes to clear my mind. I took a few more breaths, determined to get this right.

  “Trudo,” I breathed as I waved my hand at the mug.

  I squealed as it wobbled ever so slightly. I did it!

  “Having fun?”

  I jumped as I turned around in the kitchen to find my father peering around the corner from the entrance.

  Axle barked from his seat on the couch and leaped into action.

  “Your door was unlocked,” he pointed a thumb back over his shoulder as he moved around the counter and sat on one of the stools opposite me. “Who’s this?” my father asked as Axle planted himself before him and stared him down, waiting for my okay.

  “This is Axle, Axle, that’s my Dad, be nice,” I instructed.

  Axle shot me look over his shoulder, then sighed as if knowingly.

  I heard the soft snorts as Otis trotted into view, and Axle’s tail wagged crazily as he greeted the strange creature.

  “Why a pig?” I asked as Otis just snorted and snuffled as he allowed Axle to give him a full check over.

  “Pigs are smart. I rescued Otis, and he’s now my familiar,” my father stated. “Trying to make the mug move hey?” he changed the subject.

  “It wobbled,” I said smugly, proud of my tiny feat.

  “I saw,” my father smiled as he clasped his hands before him on the counter. He’d changed out of his intriguing purple suit and exchanged it for a boring brown one. It made him look more like the Dad I remembered. “Have you been reading that book all day?”

  “No,” I scoffed as I glanced at the clock on the microwave. 4pm. Crap, where the hell had the day gone?

  “What’s a familiar?” I asked, intrigued by the term.

  “A familiar is a creature you feel an instant connection to, using a familiar binding spell, you can link your minds and communicate. A familiar feeds off your magic and can assist in spells and they grow smarter as time passes. The way they feed off your magic does not affect you in any way, and it actually links you to one another. The most common of familiars is your standard cat. A typical witch familiar. But it can be any animal you feel a connection with,” my father explained.

  “Could Axle be mine?” I asked, intrigued by the thought. I hadn’t gone to the shelter to get a larger dog, but he’d stood out to me and we’d connected easily.

  “Possibly, there’s a spell you have to cast to test your bond. If your connection is strong, it’ll bond you together, telepathically as well.”

  “Wait, you can speak with Otis telepathically?” I gaped.

  “Yes. He assists me wherever possible and informs me of everything he can.”

  “That’s incredible,” I said, my eyes falling onto the excited Axle. Could he be my familiar then? Otis was watching me with keen interest, and I wondered what he was thinking, if he was relaying anything to my father. How incredible, a telepathic connection.

  “How can I try the spell?” I asked, keen to test my connection with Axle.

  “I’ll show you later,” he sighed. “For now, I need to talk to you.”

  “Okay,” I frowned, concerned by his change in demeanor.

  Even Otis snorted softly and looked away.

  “I finished the spell, the one to locate your body,” he averted his eyes.

  “I take it that there’s no good news?” I muttered. His stiff body told me everything I needed to know.

  “It’s not in this world, at all,” he drew his eyes back to mine. They were shadowed and frustrated.

  “Then where the hell is the rest of me?!” I threw my arms up in bewilderment. Seriously, my body couldn’t have just vanished.

  “I think it’s in one of the other realms,” he said slowly. “What I think, is that we need to gain access to the middle realm, together. Pay dear Jasmine a visit and see what the hell her interest in you was and how she even managed to get you there,” he growled.

  “You think she has my body?” I raised a curious eyebrow as I leaned forward, completely disregarding my magic attempts with my mug and my familiar interest.

  “I have no idea, but all I know is your body is not in this living realm. Therefore, I can only think of the middle realm. I don’t even want to think of it being stuck somewhere in the ghost realm,” he shook his head, completely flabbergasted at all this.

  Hell, I was the one without a body. Something I’d tried to ignore for ages. I just assumed it was still somewhat a part of me. But to find out it wasn’t quite that way had been a shock.

  We let the tense silence swallow us as we both tried not to let our minds think of all the reasons as to why my body was in the middle realm.

  “Do it again,” he instructed, and I just frowned.

  “Try to move the mug,” he clarified with an eye-roll.

  Right, my magic attempt.

  “Trudo,” I muttered, my mind still focused on my body.

  “Really? Put some effort into it, focus. It’s one of the first spells we teach now, it can be used as a defensive and offensive incantation. Eventually, you won’t even have to say it,” he said.

  “I’m still coming to terms with my body being lost,” I grumbled.

  “Nothing we can do about that right now, so we might as well practice this while I try to think of our next move,” he stated.

  “You said we need to both go to the middle realm,” I reminded him.

  “Yes, obvi
ously, but I need to think of the right spell for that. You can get there, but I imagine jumping and dragging someone with you through the ghost realm and into the middle realm isn’t something you can do. But you can make others invisible?” He asked for clarification. “Rose may have mentioned some of your abilities while you were out for a breather.”

  “I don’t think I should take others with me. And going invisible isn’t the same as going to the ghost realm. I just, I don’t know, I put one foot into it? I don’t know how to explain it, I just let my ghost ability take over a little bit. I can choose who can or can’t see me. I stick with who can, it’s easier than trying to decide who can’t and trying to make my ability work with it,” I shrugged. It was a hard one to explain.

  “Well, then I need to figure out a spell to either go with you or go alone,” he said.

  “Well, how’d you send Jasmine there?” I queried.

  “We severed her spirit from her body and performed a ritual. I had the help of a far older Warlock who knew of the middle realm,” he frowned, as if he was contemplating an idea. “But I might be able to work with that.”

  “Okay, great.”

  “You’ll still practice this while I think of all the details,” he pointed at the mug before me.

  I exhaled sharply and focused on the mug. I’d let him handle my body finding issue. I didn’t have the energy to stress about that as well. Practicing magic sounded much more fun.

  Axle and Otis had wandered over to the couch to relax, and Axle was curled up while Otis leaned on him and watched me with his head cocked.

  I stared hard at the mug, willing it to move before I even flicked my hand and instructed it to do so.

  “Trudo,” I breathed the words as I waved my hand, and grinned as it wobbled once more.

  “Good, again,” my father smiled softly.

  We practiced this for what felt like hours, and by the time night fell, my mind was exhausted and my body actually ached. My ghost body. Whatever the hell I was meant to call it. And the stupid mug had moved no more than an inch.

  “That’s quite a feat for one intense session,” he said, his tone sounded rather cheery and complimentary.

  “Thanks, I guess,” I tried not to show my deflation. I’d barely achieved anything to be honest.

  “Don’t be like that. You’ve moved an object with your own power and mind. It’s no small feat,” he reassured me.

  Axle was sprawled out on the floor now after having played a game of chase and hide and seek with Otis. Otis was sitting by one of the windows, staring out at the city inquisitively.

  “What about the spell to test my connection, can we try that?” I asked.

  “You’ve been working hard at this, you might be too drained. We’ll do it tomorrow.”

  “This book tells me all about Warlocks and Sorceresses who did great things, and I can barely move a mug,” I pouted and he let out a full belly laugh. The sound brought a smile to my face as memories of Christmas dinners and birthdays flashed through my mind.

  Christmas.

  Why couldn’t I remember if we had family over?

  “You can set things on fire pretty easily,” he reminded me, but my mind was elsewhere.

  “Do I have any other relatives?” I asked, trying desperately to pull any other family from my mind. But I was only drawing a blank.

  My father’s face dropped, and he cleared his throat.

  “Your mother had some family that we saw,” he murmured, his tone pained. “After your mother died, they hated me. Blamed me for her death.”

  “How come I can’t remember them?” I asked. I felt sorry for them, that they blamed him. But if my mother saw them, why couldn’t I remember them?

  “When I wiped your memory of all things magical, it meant them too. They always practiced magic around you, teaching you everything. They were a family of witches after all. And I didn’t want you to remember them, to try to find them and be dragged back into all this. I wanted you to have a normal life,” he said quietly, and I could sense his unease, as if he expected me to blow up.

  Was I upset by this? Yes. Hell yes. Who was he to take that away from me?

  “What family did I have,” I said through gritted teeth as I tried to simmer back my anger. He’d only done what he thought was right. It didn’t make it right though. I’d always thought I was completely alone in this world.

  And now I found out I had some family. Family he’d erased.

  “You had a grandmother, grandfather and aunt on her side. Your grandfather died when you were only young. You have a cousin too. Your mother only really kept in contact with immediate family, although there are big gatherings everyone once in a while where quite a few of the family tree come together,” he answered, and his apologetic tone only made me more annoyed with him.

  “And you thought it was best to make me think I had no one after you left?” I growled.

  “I wanted you away from all this magic and safe,” he sighed in exasperation.

  “They were my family,” I said, my voice low. Don’t burn anything, Ivy. Keep it together.

  “I know, and I’m sorry,” he swallowed as he loosened his tie uneasily.

  I scowled as a knock on the door cut the impending argument short.

  I clenched my fists and huffed as I rose and stalked over to answer it.

  This better be damn good.

  I swung the door open to a surprised Alex about to knock once more.

  I sighed as I managed a soft smile, albeit somewhat strained. His tender blue eyes and carefully styled brown hair was a welcome sight despite all this.

  “Last night was good, I wanted to see if you’d like to grab dinner tonight, but plans got changed, I need to talk to you,” he gave me a sheepish grin, his Australian accent still evident despite decades of living in Portland.

  “It was good,” my mouth tugged into a wider smile at the delicious memory. Of his sweet and gentle kisses and touches. Of how he’d explored my whole body and filled me with bliss before starting on the main event.

  “Everything okay though? You looked ready to punch me at first?” his smile dropped as he searched my eyes.

  “Um, well, you tell me,” I sighed as I stepped aside. “Come on in.”

  He frowned at me but came inside and I led the way to the living room.

  My father stood up, equally grateful for the distraction from our near fight.

  “Alex, meet my Dad, Graham. Dad, meet my boss, Alex,” I introduced them with an emotionless voice.

  Alex shot me a concerned look before nodding at my father.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” he said as he crossed the room to shake my father’s hand.

  “And you as well, call me Grey,” my father nodded as he shook his hand back. “Ivy forgot to mention her boss was a vampire,” he added as he shot me a bemused look.

  “Have been for over a hundred years,” Alex said dryly as he stepped back, unsure as to why that mattered. “And is that a pig?”

  Otis had turned to eye the guest carefully while Axle had rolled onto his stomach to spy Alex. He was content that he meant no harm though as he rested his head on the floor.

  “Yes, he’s my familiar,” my father said matter-of-factly.

  “Alex, I’ve just found out this morning that A, my mother didn’t die from cancer, she was murdered, B, my father wiped my memory of all things magical including my mother’s family, and C, apparently I’m a Sorceress and he’s a Warlock,” I dumped the information overload onto him.

  His stance stiffened, and he frowned at me as he took it all.

  “When Ivy was a child, we believed she was only a witch like her mother. Turns out she’s so much more,” my father stated with a proud smile. One I wanted to slap off his face right now.

  “A Sorceress?” Alex muttered, and I couldn’t tell if he was asking for clarification or just repeating it aloud for himself. I really should’ve called him sooner and told him all this.

  “Yep, appare
ntly my affinity is fire, hence the fire wielding. Not an elemental,” I said as I leaned on the counter.

  “Damn,” he breathed, his expression one of utter disbelief.

  “You said you were planning on taking me to dinner but plans changed, why’s that?” I queried. I wouldn’t have minded ditching my father for a few hours, making him flustered as he tried to come up with ways to keep me calm once I returned. He knew I was mighty upset with him.

  “Right, well, I got a call about a witch caused death, and I figured I’d come to you first,” he straightened his black suit jacket, something he always did when he felt uneasy I noticed.

  “Why’d you think of me first?” I pursed my lips. And why had he been called in the first place?

  “The body they found, it’s at Maria’s place. I put out an alert to our authorities of all the addresses of my employees and their families or close friends so that I’d know first if something happened,” he said slowly.

  My stomach dropped as I gripped the counter. Maria’s house? It’d been quite some time since I’d spoken to her, and I’d been planning on seeing her due to her going radio silent on me.

  “Is it…” I choked on the words as I glared at the mug on the counter, a mere distraction now.

  “It’s not Maria, I thought you may know who though if I got you to tag along. And they’ll be wanting to question her as well, so I figured…” he let the sentence trail off.

  I sighed and relaxed at the news it wasn’t her, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still worried. Maria could never hurt someone, she was too good to do that. But what if she was hurt or being hunted? And who was the deceased in her house?

  Alex figured that because we were practically best friends, until about a month ago when she stopped calling and wanting to see me, I could find out where she was and I.D the body.

  “Okay, I’ll come,” I nodded as I pushed off the counter.

  “I’ll come as well,” my father chimed in.

  “No, you’re not invited,” I shot back.

  Otis snorted in response and I raised an eyebrow at him as my father shot him a look.

  “Well, with it being a witch murder and me knowing much about witches due to your mother and the fact that they are closely related to us and taught us a lot of our spells back in the day, I think I’m of use,” my father raised a knowing eyebrow at Alex.