Page 25 of Chillingham Castle

“Uneasy. We’re hearing so much now, and it’s frightening. This isn’t the Chillingham I love,” she replied.

“We’ll find out what is happening,” I promised and meant it.

Evie nodded and walked away, heading for her car.

I opened the pictures and paused. Staring at them, I began to frown. They were images of the courtyard, with chalked runes.

I headed over to the steps and sat down, enlarging the first.

“Damn,” I muttered, recognising it. I moved onto the second and winced. Someone had misbehaved badly, I realised, looking at these. The third was drawn incorrectly, and the fourth made my blood chill. They’d clearly been part of a summoning circle, but judging by the error in the fifth, it had gone wrong. Christ.

I began putting the pieces together, and what I discovered terrified me.

“Jack?” Haunt said, and I glanced up. I didn’t know what my expression looked like, but Haunt turned grim. The guys stood behind him.

“I know what’s happened and what we’re up against. The problem is, I’ve no idea how to beat it.”

“Let’s get coffee,” Haunt remarked, and I got to my feet.

“What do you know?” Haunt asked as we grabbed drinks.

“We’re facing a La Llorona,” I said.

“No, that must be wrong,” Cammie interrupted. “They haunt water.”

“Yeah, which is why I think we might be screwed,” I replied.

“Explain,” Haunt ordered, sitting back and crossing his arms.

“Okay, La Llorona is a woman who either murdered her own babies using water or lost her children to drowning. She’s a vengeful spirit and never rests until she is convinced the person who wronged her has paid. Or if she killed her kids, she’s destined to roam the lake, river, whatever for eternity,” I said.

“Yup, know all that.” Haunt nodded.

“A staff member responded to Evie today and submitted these. Dive, can you put up the images I sent you?” I asked.

Dive pulled up the first, and Haunt hissed. “That’s the rune for summoning.”

“Yeah. It was drawn in the courtyard. With the next few along with it.” I motioned for Dive to bring up the following one.

“Power,” Ghoul said.

“Obey, but that’s written wrong,” Lucky commented, frowning.

“Yeah, and that’s where everything got fucked. Because it was copied wrongly, the spirit they raised didn’t have to comply,” I stated.

The fourth caused everyone to wince. “Rise,” Lich responded.

“Ah, crap,” Suga exclaimed. “Revenge.”

“Whoever was messing with this made some mistakes and, by doing so, released a vengeful ghost. This was drawn in the courtyard, where what happened exactly?”

“The men, women, and older children were burned alive after the war,” Cammie remembered.

“Yup. I bet at least one of those women was a mother. Perhaps her older child was killed with her. Maybe a younger one hacked to death upstairs, and then their body parts thrown in the lake,” I surmised.

“That’s why the ghosts there went after you!” Reaver figured out.

Nodding, I said, “That explains why Haunt described the transference as feeling like a woman’s.”