under Wickham’s arm and wrapped itself around the sword’s tip. In a fraction of a second, panic shot up Darcy’s back, and he snapped a quick glance at Wickham’s face, only to find the grey eyes closed
CHAPTER 28
Damon and Elizabeth stood in the middle of the headstones, waiting for they knew not what.“Stay close,” he cautioned.
“Count on it.” Elizabeth turned slowly in a circle, scanning for a possible attack. “When do you suppose…?” She did not need to finish the thought; the colonel understood.
“Any moment now,” he whispered.
Almost as if the earth heard them, the ground beneath their feet began to vibrate so violently they barely could maintain their balance, and they jumped to safety. “They want out,” the colonel gasped as he caught Elizabeth before she fell. Shrieks of pain rang from the earth; chasms of sorrow—eerie howls of anguish begging to be set free. “So it begins,” he murmured to himself. “One at a time, Elizabeth,” Damon warned as he reached for a white thorn stave, seesawing on the nearest mound.
They stepped back as a deliciously beautiful young maid, dressed innocently in a white gown, like one for a girl at her debut, rose from the mist seeping from the center of a grave. Her features became more defined as the breeze lifted the vapor until she floated alluringly only inches from the ground. She smiled seductively at Damon and rolled her shoulder, letting the bodice of her dress sag, exposing the curve of her breast. “Would you like to come with me, Sir?” she purred.“It is my introduction to society.”
The colonel simply nodded and gestured for the spirit to lead the way. He followed her at a healthy distance. Behind him, the shrill drone continued. He could see Elizabeth out of the corner of his eye paralleling his movement on the other side of the markers.
When the girl reached the back of the site, she paused, swaying to a silent tune.
“Is something amiss?” Damon asked behind her.
The girl did not turn, but she spoke.“Someone blocks my way.” Sadness laced her voice.
Damon steadied himself, expecting an attack.“
“Why?” A man’s deep voice boomed, but it was the girl who threw her head back and howled.
Elizabeth jumped with the verbal explosion, but the colonel simply waited. Within a split second, she was on him, pushing Damon back with savage force. Her jaw snapped as she lunged for his throat, but he used his own weight against her, sending the girl flying through the air and crashing against the side of a mausoleum.
Immediately, she attacked again, climbing on his back while clawing at his arms. Damon struggled to throw her off, but suddenly, Elizabeth appeared from nowhere. She scooped a handful of millet from that placed about the graveyard and unceremoniously threw it in the girl’s face.
Instantaneously, the girl released her hold and dropped to the ground on all fours. Using her fingers, she began to separate the seeds, lining them up and organizing the grain in structured piles.
Meanwhile, Damon staggered forward a few steps, trying to recover from the intensity of the fight, but then he turned, ready to begin again, only to see the girl’s spirit groveling in the dirt.
Elizabeth seemed as stunned as he.“What do we do?”
“Put her to rest forever.” Reverently, he bent over the girl and plunged the sword deep within her, aiming for her heart. The vapor rose from the wound, and with its exodus, the girl’s shape disintegrated into the night air.
Elizabeth’s mouth fell open.“Mercy.”
“Amen.”
“No more waiting for them to attack.” Elizabeth moved to the next grave.
The colonel half laughed.“I wanted to see what would happen when she reached the salt line.”
“Admit it, Damon.You were enticed by the girl’s
He took a fighting stance before Elizabeth reached for the stave. “How could you think so, Elizabeth?” Damon smiled at her mockingly.
Elizabeth removed the stave, and they waited, but nothing happened. “That one is clear,” Damon noted. “Put the stave in the ground like a spear next to the headstone. That will be the mark tomorrow to pass over this one.”
Moving down the row, Elizabeth lifted the next stave.This time, the mist took on the visage of an old man. Once he stood before them, Damon struck out with the sword, hitting this one in the side of the neck. The revenant lashed out at Damon, as Elizabeth, on the other side, swung an arcing stroke of her weapon, also slashing at the man’s neck. He growled at her and bared his teeth, preparing to strike, but Damon lunged and hit the heart once again.The man fell backwards across the grave and disappeared into a bloody haze.
“That was better,” Damon commented as they moved to the next mound.
“Look at the size of this graveyard!” Elizabeth peered around them, realizing what they still faced. The vibrations continued, but the corner in which they stood no longer rocked. They had checked twelve graves and fought two apparitions.
The colonel moved around the last headstone of the row. The upright staves marked all those safe from Wickham’s evil.“The next row,” he said ominously.
“Where do you suppose Fitzwilliam is?” She glanced towards Wickham’s house.
“My cousin is well, Elizabeth,” he assured her. “Are you ready for the next one?” She signaled her agreement as he bent again. “We have our job, and Darcy has his. It is up to us to ensure that Wickham has no reinforcements. One on one, Darcy will prevail.”
The skeletal hand tightened on Darcy’s arm as Wickham sat up, like Lazarus rising from the dead. “I knew you would return.” The
