Vendetta by Gail Z. Martin

Author:Gail Z. Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd

“I CAN’T BELIEVE people pay good money for ghost tours to bring them down here,” I said.

“They’re getting entertainment,” Teag replied. “You’ve had too much of the real thing.”

He was right about that. It was close to midnight, and we were in Philadelphia Alley, a short, straight side street with high, mostly windowless walls that earned its nickname, Dueler’s Alley, in blood. Not coincidentally, there’s an archway that used to lead directly into St. Philip’s cemetery. Convenient, in a macabre way.

“I can’t believe dueling still happened into the late 1800s,” Alicia Peters, our medium, said. She shivered, and rubbed her hands on her arms to warm up although the night was a pleasant temperature.

“It went on longer than that, in secret,” Teag said. “Lots of men died. It was a stupid way to settle an argument.”

Now that we were here, the whole trip seemed like less of a good idea than it had during daylight. Teag carried Josiah Winfield’s dueling pistols in a duffle bag that included his martial arts fighting staff and a variety of protections against supernatural bad guys. I wasn’t taking any chances tonight, so I had my athame and Alard’s walking stick, plus my agate necklace and the old Norse spindle whorl that helped me focus my magic.

“Let’s see if we can make contact with Josiah,” Teag said. Alicia found a spot she favored in the alley, and Teag made a protective circle with salt around her, then for good measure, made one for the two of us as well. Salt alone won’t hold off the worst supernatural predators, but it keeps most of the general nasties at bay.

Being careful not to smudge either salt circle, I passed one of Josiah’s pistols to Alicia as a focal point. I kept the other one. They were both loaded. I had questions for Josiah, but I wasn’t entirely certain that if he did show up he would be pleased to see us, so I viewed the loaded pistols as a form of insurance.

Alicia began to sing quietly, swaying back and forth. The alley grew colder, and wind stirred on what had been a still night. I’ve seen plenty of ghosts who had the power to show themselves or the will to become visible, but my magic can’t contact ghosts like Alicia’s. Watching her work always made me awestruck and a little frightened.

The air felt thick around us, and I heard a man whistling a jaunty tune. The ‘whistling doctor’ was one of Dueler’s Alley’s more famous ghosts, but I was sure that tonight, with Alicia calling to the spirits, we had standing-room-only for haunts. But was one of them Josiah?

“Josiah Winfield,” Alicia called quietly. “If you are present, make yourself known.”

A handful of pebbles rose into the air and hurled against the alleyway wall. I’ll take that for a ‘yes’.

“We have your pistols, Josiah,” Alicia continued. “And we’d like to have a word with you. The enemy you fought has returned. We need to know how you destroyed it.

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