Free Vowed by Liz de Jager Page A

not counting you as an average human.’
    ‘Huh. Thanks, I think.’ He nods. ‘You explain stuff well.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    I turn to watch the banshee just as she drops her arms to her sides and floats back down to the ground. At the same time she transforms from ethereal frightening wailing woman to a pretty
twenty-something brunette with large eyes and a smiling mouth.
    ‘Ah, an actual Blackhart. And you’ve brought a friend?’ She’s suddenly very close to Dante, really in his face, but he stands his ground and doesn’t flinch when she
takes a deep whiff of him. ‘He doesn’t smell of your blood, Kit. Who is he?’
    ‘He’s a Spook,’ I say and watch her recoil as if she’s just stepped in fox droppings. She’s at my side in a flash.
    ‘And you’re
talking
to it?’ Her voice rose incredulously. ‘Does Andrew know?’
    ‘He knows.’
    ‘Oh.’ She deflates a little and I grin, knowing she was hoping to get some gossip to hold over me so that I had to do her favours. ‘That sucks.’
    ‘What are you doing here?’ I ask her. Female banshees just love talking about their jobs.
    ‘There’s a descendant of the MacDougal clan that lives here. I’m tied to their family so I’ve come to sing him home.’
    ‘Is he dead, now?’ Dante asks, unable to keep out of the conversation.
    ‘No. I have three more visits to do before he dies.’ She frowns at him and then at me. ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘Have you seen anyone here that doesn’t belong?’ I counter. ‘Children have gone missing from this estate in the past and we’re thinking of investigating.’
    She crosses her arms over her chest. ‘And what’s in it for me, if I answer questions?’
    My hand slips into my jeans pocket and I draw out a single white pearl, not too large, maybe the size of my little fingernail.
    ‘I’m happy to part with this
if
what you tell us is worthwhile.’
    The banshee flutters. I see her real form overlay her corporeal body and I try not to flinch. Next to me Dante mutters under his breath but he stands his ground and, to my surprise, he moves
closer to me, as if he’s actually thinking of backing me up in case things go south.
    ‘There is something here,’ she says, her voice low. ‘I’ve sensed it in the past when I’ve come to check on my charge, and each time I felt that it had grown
stronger.’ She sighs dramatically. ‘I’d like to call it a ghost, but it isn’t that. It is something different. Something that is pretty old. Older than me,
certainly.’
    I frown and look around, taking in the derelict little garden and play area. ‘Has it ever tried to make a move against you?’ I ask her.
    ‘No. It watches and seethes. It feels angry sometimes too. As if it’s annoyed I’m in its territory perhaps.’ She reaches out a hand to me. ‘Give me the
pearl.’
    ‘I’m not done yet,’ I say vehemently.
    ‘How often have you been here?’ Dante asks her.
    The banshee stares off into the night, gathering her thoughts before answering.
    ‘I have come here for the past six years, in human time, at least twice a year, if not more, to check on him. Then I go away because nothing in his immediate future showed me that he would
die.’
    ‘And you saw the
creature
each time?’
    She nods mutely, her attention focused on my hand holding the pearl.
    ‘Have you ever spoken to it?’ I ask her and her gaze meets mine reluctantly.
    ‘I am not in the habit of hanging around conversing with things that are likely to do me harm, Blackhart.’ Her tone and gaze as she flicks a look over Dante is rather pointed.
    ‘Is it male or female?’ Dante seems unfazed by her regard and I can’t help but feel a little impressed by his attitude.
    She shrugs elegantly. ‘I don’t know. Look, Blackhart, I have places to be and litanies to sing. I don’t know who or what this thing is that you’re seeking on the estate.
But I know it’s here often and I know it makes things unpleasant for me