Free 1 Grim Tidings by Amanda M. Lee Page A

glare.
    “You didn’t answer my question,” I pressed.
    “I forgot what the question was.”
    “Are you okay with an abomination sucking the afterlife from people and then tossing them away like garbage?”
    Redmond cleared his throat in warning but I ignored him. Madame Maxine didn’t even seem to realize he was in the room.
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “No.”
    “Then why didn’t you tell someone that there was a wraith in the area?”
    “Wraiths,” Madame Maxine corrected me.
    “Wraiths? Plural?”
    “There are at least three,” Madame Maxine acknowledged. “I would guess there are more, though.”
    I wanted to explode. I wanted to shake Madame Maxine until she admitted she was wrong – about more than just keeping quiet on this topic. Instead, I opted for a different tactic.
    “How do you know?”
    “It’s just a feeling,” Madame Maxine answered. “There’s a dark energy descending on us.”
    “And that’s something you just feel?”
    “I can’t explain it,” Madame Maxine admitted. “It’s just something I know.”
    “Why would they be here?”
    “Why not?”
    “It’s Detroit.” I’m not being derogatory. I love the city. Pretending it doesn’t have issues would be a waste of time, though.
    “So?”
    “So, it’s not exactly a bustling community anymore.”
    “That’s why the wraiths are here.”
    I wasn’t following. Redmond was a different story.
    “Because of the abandoned houses?” His hands were steepled in front of his face as he considered the possibilities.
    Madame Maxine nodded.
    I still don’t get it.
    Redmond turned to me, his face voice racing with energy. “Think about it, Aisling. All those abandoned houses are perfect places for wraiths to hide. The streets are full of junkies and prostitutes – throw-away people. The whole area is rife for a takeover.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that. “But how have we not noticed?”
    Redmond’s jaw tightened. “Because we weren’t looking.”
    “Isn’t that our job?”
    “Sure,” Redmond agreed. “If you don’t see the signs, though, you don’t know what you’re looking for. They’re easy to miss.”
    I turned back to Madame Maxine. “What do they want?”
    “I’m not sure they’re on their own,” she said.
    “What does that mean?”
    “I can’t be sure,” she said. “I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach, though.”
    “And what does that feeling tell you?”
    “That something bigger is here and it’s drawing them together for a purpose.”
    Well, that couldn’t be good.
    “What do they want?” I asked, already dreading the answer.
    “A reckoning.”

Eleven
    “What do you think?”
    We had left Tarot and Tea and were now sitting in Redmond’s car in the store’s small parking lot.
    “I think that this could be serious,” Redmond replied after a beat.
    “I’ll get the ark, you get the animals.”
    Redmond wrinkled his nose and reached over and pinched me. “Don’t be smart.”
    “Do you think Dad already knows?”
    Redmond rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I think he has an idea.”
    “That there are multiple wraiths in the area? You think he knows and he’s not telling us? That doesn’t sound safe.”
    “I don’t think that he knows there are multiple wraiths,” Redmond clarified. “I think he knew last night that a wraith was responsible for the body you found but he wanted to be sure before he said anything.”
    “You knew that, too.” I crossed my arms over my chest and fixed him with a petulant stare.
    “I had a suspicion; I didn’t know.”
    “Semantics,” I grumbled.
    “Let’s not get all female here,” Redmond said. “We need to think strategically and not go off on a mission before we even know what that mission is.”
    “Get all female? That’s a little insulting.”
    “That doesn’t mean it’s not true,” Redmond said. “You’ve always been a little dramatic – and this would is a prime example.”
    “I am not dramatic,” I