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if you won t tell me. She instantly knew what response she would get to this.
 No, do not do that. I ll tell you what I know. Lucretia s voice sounded reconciled
to the fact that she could not do anything else.  I can t have you getting yourself killed.
 You re a wonderful woman, Lucretia.
 And you are so bloody vexing.
 I know. So tell me.
Chapter Fourteen
The spell to summon the dead seemed awfully simple. You just needed a photo of
the deceased and the will to do it. Ainslie had expected more involved stuff like you saw
in the movies but then, you paid for the thrill of that adventure. This was anything but.
Necessity was rarely ever thrilling. The photo had been easy to get off the Internet. She
had momentarily contemplated trying to summon Jacinta and her mother, but Ainslie
realized that she would see them when she was ready to. Summoning Lisa Arano was a
matter of urgency. Lucretia explained the deceased would only appear if they wanted to.
Ainslie hoped like hell Lisa would.
She sat down on the carpet and once more lit candles. Ainslie focused on the woman
in the picture. She was quite lovely. How had she come to be with Ascanius? Had he
always had that maniacal edge within him? No one but the parties involved ever really
knew what went on in a couple s relationship. Things got hidden. Or was it a case of lost
love embittering Julius Arano, making him turn into Ascanius in his guilt? Whatever it
was, she knew she needed to concentrate. After forty minutes of staring at the picture and
trying to will a dead woman to come to her, Ainslie was over the whole raising the dead
thing.
 Frigging hell, what a waste of time this was. She threw the photo on the carpet and
leaned forward to blow out the candle. Ainslie knew that everyone had some psychic
ability and that it was just a matter of whether they chose to use it or not. Despite what
everyone thought her powers were, this clearly wasn t one of them. As the flame was
extinguished, she felt a sudden rush of soft warmth enter the room. The fine hairs on the
back of her neck stood up and her heart rate quickened in anticipation. Was this Lisa
Arano?  Cripes, I hope it s not someone else, Ainslie muttered to herself warily. She
had enough to deal with without summoning strangers to answer her call.  Lisa? She
looked around her and waited for well, what? A wraithlike spirit? A full-bodied
woman?
Or in this case, a soft voice that whispered in her ear, making her jump.
 Who are you? the voice asked. It was not unfriendly, merely curious.
 My name is Ainslie and I need to talk to you about your Julius. Although she could
not see the woman she felt her presence near her.
 Julius? There was great love in the spirit s voice.
Ainslie realized she had been holding her breath hoping Lisa Arano would listen to
her. She let it go in a rush, words tumbling out the same way.  Yeah, he s doing some
stuff he shouldn t.
 I know.
Well, duh. Of course she did. Ainslie had heard somewhere the spirits remained
connected and watched over those they loved.  So I need you to talk to Julius. He s been
a bad, evil sod.
Lisa sighed sadly.  He has shut himself off from me.
Crap. This was not what Ainslie wanted to hear.  I m sure it s because he s still
grieving and he s not thinking clearly.
 Yes, Lisa whispered in agreement.
 He has hurt a lot of people and I fear he will hurt more. And there was no way
Ainslie was going to let him injure Ramsay.
 I worry that he will.
 Can you please try talking to him again?
 Yes.
 Will you come to me again if I call? Hopefully without the forty-minute delay next
time, Ainslie almost added impatiently. But then, spirits probably had stuff to do like
everyone else.
 Yes. The word was uttered as a simple promise.
 Thank you. Ainslie was grateful for whatever aces she could stash up her sleeve
when dealing with Ascanius.
* * * *
As churches went, St Mark s was like any other to Ainslie. But then, she wasn t
religious and she wasn t there to convert to their faith or seek forgiveness. She was there
to stop fate from making her dream come horribly true. She crept warily inside. Ainslie
did not want Ramsay to see her and question why she was there. She had not made up a
good enough lie yet that she thought he would believe. It would not take much for
Ramsay to put two and two together and work out she was at the church due to a dream.
Luckily for her, there seemed to be no one around. That gave her plenty of time to scope
the area out and work out the best place to hide and yet not miss out on being able to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]