“I’ve got you.” His fingers peeled hers away, and she felt like she was another person watching it happen. “Addie, look at me, not at her.”
It was then that she realized that she was staring at the body. Her mind was fuzzy on a few things. Like when did the sheet get put over Ellen? Where did the police officer go? How long had she been sitting in this chair? Nick said her name and she looked at him again. There was blood on his face, but she couldn’t seem to lift her arms to wipe it away.
“Can you hear me?” Nodding made her sick, so she answered him instead. “Can you see her? Can you see Ellen now, baby? Tell me what you see.”
Addie looked at the body. Nick told her no, Ellen’s ghost. Looking around the room, she saw her then. Ellen was being held by Ana and another woman. It was Summer…she was there as well.
“Yes. She’s being taken away.” As she watched, not only was Ellen being pulled by the women, each of them at one arm and one leg, but another person, a male, was there as well, helping the women as they continued to pull her along. “They’re pulling her apart. Tearing her limb from limb.”
Addie giggled then, the sound of it kind of scary. Then the man turned to her, the man that had just pulled Ellen’s leg free from her body. It was Joel. Joel was helping them take care of Ellen, and she told Nick everything as she was overwhelmed by it all.
Nick held her while the police asked questions. The body, the shell that had been Ellen, was still in the house, but she knew that she’d never bother anyone again. Addie was asked about the gun, why she’d killed Ellen, and a few other things. Addie answered all their questions, but said nothing of the ghosts that were there with them. All of them were speaking to her, and she understood.
As they were leaving the house, Addie went to find Steele. He and Kari were holding one another, and she asked to speak to him alone. There were several things she wanted…no needed, to tell him, and if he was mad at her, she didn’t want to be embarrassed.
“They said I was like you.” Steele nodded, not saying a word. “I’m to help you in ways that no one else can. That since…since I’ve been chosen to help you, my children will be able to do this too.”
“That’s what I heard too.” He looked around. “Kari knows. She said you need to tell Nick. He’s going to be afraid for you for a while.”
“I love him.” Steele put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead. “What was that for?”
“Because, my dear necromancer, I love you as well.”
Chapter 13
“They’re all gone.” Nick knew that without Steele having to tell him, but to be honest, he was really glad to hear it from someone else. “And we have a lead on Evie. She’s being held in her daughter’s home. Addie seems to think that her mother has gone off the deep end. Donny found her for us.”
Donny had told him first that he’d found her. He even told him to make sure that Addie knew he’d done it. There was some fear there, and Nick hoped that his young friend would get over it soon. Nick had called Benson the moment he’d learned where Evie was.
“I’d say it has to do more with the money than anything else. Did you talk to Bentley?” Steele said that he had. “The poor man is beside himself with worry. He’s terrified that she’ll be killed before he can tell her how much he’s loved her.”
“She’s in good hands.” Which Nick also knew, but only nodded at his friend. “Addie is…she said she was going there. I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s too…raw, I guess.”
She was too. Addie had been hiding in their bedroom since the police had released her from the shooting. Nick had a feeling that Steele had had a lot to do with the reason she’d not seen any jail time. As soon as an hour after the shooting, Addie was going home with him.
“The others, the ghosts, are driving her a little nutty. They want to work for her.” Steele nodded. “I don’t know how to help her with that. She’s seeing more than I can.”
“She sees what I do now. And I’m trying to help her with it. But it’s just too much.” Steele had been like this his whole life, Nick knew, so he’d needed very little in the way of adjustments. Addie was simply overwhelmed. “She’s getting better, but it might take her a bit.”
“Do you know why she is like you?” Nick wasn’t jealous about what Addie could do. He was very proud of her, as a matter of fact. But he was concerned. This was a lot to hang on one person. Especially one that, up until a few weeks ago, hadn’t even believed in ghosts. “She said they only told her that she’d be helpful to you and that you’d be the same. No explanations, just that.”