“She used to surround the house with salt,” he muttered.
I kept going through the file. “That works unless it’s winter or windy. Wards work much better.” I was looking at a family tree. Down at the bottom was my name under my parents’ names. Wait. I had never known my grandmother. I looked at the writing. It was different than the handwriting Dad and Rory’s names were in. Marvin must have added them. But there was no Tara. I folded it back up and put it aside.
“What do you mean wards?” he asked gruffly.
I picked up more records in clear cellophane. The date said late 1892. Neat. “They’re a symbol painted on a surface, with a drop of my blood in the middle. They keep the dead out of the house. Well, that and the betony that Rory planted around the house,” I explained absently. Nothing, it was just a will. I moved on.
“Betony?” Marvin asked.
“Yeah, it’s a flower. It keeps the dead away, along with salt, black salt, tar water, some sage to create a barrier…” I trailed off as I opened a small book. Inside was scrolling handwriting.
“And that works?”
“Yeah. So does Hades.” I turned the page.
“Hades?”
I scratched my baby’s ears. “He can see the dead and they’re scared of him. It’s something about his breed.”
“Where did you find this information?” he demanded.
I looked up and met his eyes. “One of my friends is really good at research.” I went back to the book in my hand.
“Huh.” He grunted. “It seems you're doing better with the Sight than anyone so far.”
I stopped scanning to meet his eyes. “Well, that’s because it’s not the Sight.”
He frowned at me. I was starting to think that was his usual face. Like resting bitch face, except his was resting frowny face. “What?”
“My abilities? They’re not from the Sight. It’s… something else.” I put my nose back in the book.
“What is it?” he demanded.
I sighed. “It’s Necromancy. The Sight is just seeing, being a witness. To interact with the dead, that’s Necromancy.”
“How did you find that out?” he growled.
“A witch told me,” I hedged and kept reading. Nothing. It was one of the men’s journals, and he was an only child. I set it down and kept looking through boxes. “Basically, they kept having trouble because they were working with the wrong information.”
“And you’re sure you’re working with the right information?” he countered. I raised my head as something occurred to me.
“Did Amelia ever mention a Witches Council?” I asked.
He scowled at me. “No, never.”
I nodded. So, they might not have killed my grandmother. That was a small relief.
“She’d never done anything strange,” he told me.
“Except see the dead?” I countered as I picked up some photos.
“Yeah, except see the dead,” he said. I started going through photos just because they were in the box. A redheaded woman was standing with a younger Marvin. I held it up. “Is that her?”
Marvin looked up. His face slightly softened. “Yeah, that’s my Milly.” He went back to his stack. “How are your grades?”
Taken back by the question, it took me a minute to answer. “Um, good. I was on Honor Roll last semester.”
“Good. Got any college plans?” he muttered.
“Art school - at least, I’m hoping to get accepted,” I said awkwardly. Was he trying to get to know me? “I’m planning on being a tattoo artist.”
“You’re an artist?” he asked, his voice softening around the edges.
“Yeah.” Silence filled the room as we continued searching. I set down the stack of photos and grabbed a fresh stack. I froze. Dad. A younger Dad, but still, it was him. My eyes burned and filled. I took a shaky breath.
“What?” he demanded.
I shook my head. “Just… found Dad.” My voice was small. “When we lost the house, my mom wouldn’t let me take any pictures of him.” I bit the tip of my tongue, forcing the tears back. I flipped to another picture.
“Take them,” he told me gruffly. “There’s no point in them sitting in a box in the closet.”
I looked up and met his eyes. “Thanks.”
He nodded. I started sorting Dad’s pictures out of the rest. We worked in silence for an hour more before I decided something.
“You know, Tara is pretty smart,” I began. “She’s on the Student Council, the dance committee, even the cheerleading squad.” He said nothing. I put everything back in that box, closed the lid, and moved on to the next. Screw subtle. “You should stop by and meet her.”
“She’s not my granddaughter,” he stated.
I raised my head and watched him. Seriously? “She doesn’t know that. All she knows is that she’s never met her grandfather.”
His gaze snapped to mine. “She doesn’t know?”
“No.” I started looking again. “And I’m sure as hell not going to tell her.”
“Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath.
“What is?” I asked directly.
“Rory, not even having the stones to tell her she’s not his.” He closed the box he was working on and opened another.
I eyed him. “Yeah, it’s unbelievable. Wanting to protect your daughter by keeping a secret. Doing everything you can to make sure she’s happy, healthy, and doesn’t feel different or unwanted. How dare he?” My sarcasm was so thick you could practically see it.
He turned to me. “It was his choice not to have kids, he has to deal with the consequences.”
“What pisses you off so much about Rory’s vasectomy?” I asked. I was going to die soon, I had nothing to lose here. His face was dark as he met my eyes.
“Milly gave everything she had for those boys. And he just threw it away,” he said, his voice hard. “That’s what I can’t forgive.” He went back to searching.
I gaped at him. “Yeah, ’cause watching his sister die was so easy. He should have just sucked it up and watched his daughter die too. Who in their right mind would want to avoid that?” I shot back. He grew still. I went back to looking. The room was quiet for another hour before he closed his last box, got to his feet, and headed for the door.
“You know, I have an expiration date,” I told him without looking up. “A lot of things suck about it, but I’m still kinda lucky in a way. I know what matters to me. My friends, my family. I don’t have the luxury of holding grudges because I can die any day. So, I do my best every day to make sure they know I love them.” I looked up over my shoulder at him. “I know my expiration date. Do you know yours?”
He walked out of the room. I went back to work. It didn’t bother me; I had come here without a grandfather, I’d leave without one. No one needed something like that in a short life. I continued searching and only found more pictures of Dad. So, it wasn’t a total waste of an afternoon. I put all the boxes back carefully, and then started down the hall.
“Strong kid?” Marvin’s question had me stopping in my tracks.
“Yeah, strong as hell,” Rory answered, his voice hard.
“Think she’ll get past thirty?” Marvin asked. There were several heartbeats of silence.
“If anyone can, she can,” Rory said. “But… she’s showing signs already.” The roughness in his voice made my heart hurt.
“She’s got Henry’s mouth,” Marvin pointed out.
Rory snorted. “Yeah, she curses like a sailor. But she sounds like Mom when she argues. It’s uncanny.”
“I noticed,” Marvin admitted. “Why is she with you?”
“After Henry died, Lisa started drinking, moving them around a lot,” Rory explained. “She started doing drugs. She was already treating Lexie like dirt, but it only got worse. Lisa beat the crap out of her. She’s been charged and is waiting in jail since she can’t make bail.”
“You need a lawyer?” Marvin asked.
“No, I’ve already got one ready to keep her in red tape if I need to,” Rory admitted. “We’ve only got a few months left.”
Silence fell. Hades started moving towards the great room. Rory was on the couch, Marvin in the recliner.
“I didn’t find anything,” I admitted before holding up the stack of photos, “except more photos of Dad.”