Felix shot up into a sitting position and stared at the man standing over him. “Who the hell are you? How did you get in my house?”
“You left the front door open,” the man said blankly. He looked younger than Felix had initially thought. Mid-twenties, maybe? It was hard to be sure, thanks to the black mask pulled up from around his neck to cover the bottom half of his face. The only feature offering any hint of expression were his stern honey brown eyes. His jet-black hair was just long enough to be held back in a ponytail, save for the short pieces hanging around his light face.
He wasn’t alone. The woman next to him gently elbowed him in the side. “Maybe I should talk to him, Archer.” She and the man were dressed in similar outfits that Felix guessed were a uniform. Black boots, black pants, black jackets. The man—Archer, apparently—wore a deep red shirt under his jacket, while the woman’s shirt was a bright yellow, a striking contrast to her dark brown skin and tight coils of black hair.
Archer shot her a sideways glance. “What makes you say that?”
The woman didn’t answer. She cleared her throat and flashed Felix a sad smile. “Are you Felix Carver?”
“How do you know my name?” Felix asked.
“We’re from the Bright Guardians.” When Felix’s only response was an empty stare, the woman frowned. “You haven’t heard of us, have you?”
“Your family didn’t tell you anything about us?” Archer asked. “Our records say you don’t have an ability, but we assumed you at least knew about us.”
“No idea what that is.” Felix’s heart was going to explode. “I’m sorry, I have no idea what’s happening. Do you know my family? Or where the rest of them are?” Maybe he should have clarified that he was asking about their ghosts, not their bodies, but his thoughts were far from organized.
The woman lifted her gaze, expression darkening. “Did you not see…?”
“Kendra,” Archer cut her off. “He’s radiating magical energy. We need to get him out of here.”
“Yeah, I can feel it,” Kendra replied. “What about Gideon’s body?”
“Even if some part of his soul is sticking around, he won’t be able to leave the house on his own. Let’s get Felix outside, and I’ll come back and kill whatever’s left of him.”
“My ability would be better for tracking his ghost.”
“Fine,” Archer said. “I’ll babysit the kid. But we need to take a look at the bodies, too. Before police get here.” He shot Felix a questioning look. “You haven’t called anyone yet, have you?”
Felix shook his head. The motion triggered a ringing in his ears. “Hey, uh, I think I might need to go to the hospital or something.”
Kendra looked worried, but Archer seemed unconcerned as he folded his arms. Black leather gloves hid his hands. “He’s in shock, I’m sure,” he said.
“I think it’s more than that,” Kendra said. “Some kind of magic is affecting him.”
“Then we’ll deal with it back at the castle. It’s not our area of expertise.”
Castle? Felix didn’t know of any castles here in Washington.
A crash came from the next room. Archer and Kendra whirled around. Archer had a dagger in his hand now, leaving Felix to marvel at how quickly he’d drawn the weapon.
Ezra stumbled into the kitchen, clutching a potted plant of all things. “Relax, it’s just my brother,” Felix said as he stood up. Archer and Kendra exchanged glances. Kendra’s dark eyes widened with concern.
Ezra was the first person to look genuinely upset. In fact, he looked like he’d been crying, and his brown hair was disheveled. “Felix, I’m so sorry.”
Kendra spoke as if Ezra hadn’t said anything at all. “Felix, your brother’s…dead. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, but he’s right there.” Felix frowned. “Didn’t you just hear what he said?”
“Felix, I think you’re the only one who can see my ghost.” Ezra set the plant on the counter, making Archer and Kendra jump as if it had appeared out of nowhere. “This is our fault. We should have told you about the Bright Guardians sooner. But we wanted to keep you safe as long as we could.”
“Well, it’s not surprising there are ghosts here,” Archer said. “But it’s strange he can see them when we can’t.”
Ignoring the comment, Felix moved toward Ezra. “Where are Mom and Dad?”
Ezra rested a hand on Felix’s shoulder. This time, there was no flash, though that buzzing sensation was returning. “I think you need to do with me what you did with them,” Ezra said. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but your ability seems to involve ghosts.”
“What do you mean?” Felix asked. “I haven’t seen Mom and Dad yet.”
“Yeah, you did. When you came in here.”
Felix’s brow furrowed. “I don’t really remember coming in.” Wait, had he seen them? He had the vague impression he’d tried to hug them, touched them, and then there’d been those lights…
“It did happen quickly,” Ezra murmured.
“He’s overwhelmed,” Kendra said. “Let’s get him out of here.”
“Wait!” Felix grabbed his brother’s arm. “Ezra, why isn’t the same light-flashy-thing happening with you?”
“You probably need a secondary material to channel your magic. Mom and Helena need metal, and I need dirt. But I don’t know what you were using with everyone else.” Ezra’s hands were shaking, Felix realized. Could ghosts have panic attacks?
“I don’t remember much,” Felix said. “My nose started bleeding while I was talking to May, and there was a bright light—”
Ezra’s face lit up. “Blood.”
“What?”
“Felix, your blood. That could be what activates your ability.” Ezra leaned forward to squint at Felix’s face. “Your nose stopped bleeding, so we’ll have to try something else.”
“Care to explain your brother’s side of the conversation?” Archer asked.
“Uh, yeah, in a sec.” Felix glanced back at Archer. “Hey, could I borrow that dagger?”
Archer’s eyes narrowed. “Absolutely not.”
Felix’s gaze darted across the kitchen counter and landed on the knife block. “Okay, fine.” He hurried toward it. He really hoped he was understanding Ezra correctly.
Alarmed, Kendra took a step forward. “Felix!”
“Wait.” Archer held up a gloved hand. The concern didn’t leave Kendra’s expression, but she didn’t move to stop Felix, either.
Felix yanked a random knife from the block and pricked his thumb on the tip of the blade. A single drop of blood welled on his skin. “Is that enough?” he asked, looking back at Ezra.
Ezra managed to look even paler than he already had. “Let’s find out.” He walked forward to stand in front of Felix.
“What’s going to happen to you?” Felix asked.
“I don’t know, but I think everyone else is still…here. With you.” Ezra reached out a hand toward Felix. “I can feel them.”
As soon as his fingers grazed Felix’s shoulder, there was a flash of bright green light. Ezra’s dark hair, green eyes, shaking hands—it was all gone in a heartbeat.
Felix flicked his gaze to Archer and Kendra. “You guys saw that, right?”
“The bright flash of light and the outline of a boy?” Archer asked. “Yes.”
A new voice spoke. “Is it my turn, now?”
Felix, Archer, and Kendra turned in unison as a man entered the kitchen. “You,” Felix hissed. His grip tightened around the kitchen knife as he pointed it at the man who’d killed his family. “Please tell me you guys can see him.”
The man grinned.
“Yeah, we can see this one.” Archer twirled his dagger around in his hand. “Gideon Pollock. I warned you you’d end up dead, didn’t I?”
Gideon laughed. “That little knife’s not going to do you much good.”
Archer’s eyes narrowed. “You think you can ignore banishing sigils? You’re a ghost, Gideon. Bound by the laws of magic.”
“And you of all people should know that some ghosts are more powerful than others.” Gideon lifted an eyebrow. “You had a hard time getting rid of that old friend of yours, didn’t you?”
“Archer—” Kendra warned.
Archer lunged forward, dagger swinging. Gideon dodged the blade, laughing as he did. A second dagger appeared in Archer’s other hand, with a black and red handle that matched the first. He stabbed at Gideon’s abdomen. Gideon disappeared before the blade reached him and reappeared behind Archer.
Kendra moved forward now, holding up her empty hands. “Felix, open that window. The screen, too.”
Felix dropped the kitchen knife and hurried to the window over the sink. He struggled with the latch for a moment before getting it open, then shoved against the screen’s frame with all the strength he could muster. The moment the screen popped free, something darted past him. A butterfly. Three more followed, and he could just make out strange markings in the patterns on their wings.
Archer attacked again. Gideon vanished and rematerialized at his right. Claws appeared at Gideon’s fingertips as he swiped a hand at Archer’s face, forcing Archer to duck. Archer retaliated a moment later, and this time his blade grazed Gideon’s neck. Gideon flickered a few times before disappearing.
Kendra lowered her hands. More butterflies had entered the kitchen now, and they flapped in slow circles over her head. “Is it too much to hope that banished him?”
Gideon answered her question by reappearing behind her. “I’ll admit, that stung. But I’m still holding on.”
The butterflies Kendra had summoned flitted around Gideon’s head. Gideon glared at them and flickered out of view. His disembodied voice echoed around the kitchen. “Your insect friends are going to have to move faster than that if you want to trap me.”
“He’s gotten a handle on being a ghost remarkably quickly,” Archer said. He returned his daggers to his sides, then reached behind his back and drew a sword from its scabbard. Symbols etched into the metal reminded Felix of Helena’s blade, though these ones were larger and more detailed. A red metal rose was embedded in the black pommel, and the matching red grip came to a stop beneath the small but intricate black crossguard.
More of Helena’s sword admiration had rubbed off on Felix than he’d realized, he thought as he bent down to pick up the kitchen knife he’d dropped. As his hand neared the metal, his stomach turned, and an odd sensation in his chest made him feel like something was trying to break free. A crackling sound cut through the air around him.
Felix was distracted by the reappearance of Gideon mere feet from where he stood. Gideon smashed a fist against the wall to his left. The cupboards flew open, and dishes slid off the shelves and rained down on Archer, who lifted an arm to shield his head as he continued his approach. Plates and bowls shattered on the ground.
“I think this might be better than being alive!” Gideon exclaimed. He vanished again.
A swarm of bees came in through the window. Felix yelped in surprise and ducked. The bees flew over his head in a tight formation and moved toward a spot in front of the fridge.
“You can’t hide from me, Gideon,” Kendra said. The bees took on a roughly human outline. Archer raced forward and swung his weapon through their formation.
Drop the knife and grab my sword!
The exclamation took Felix by surprise. He could hear Helena’s voice, but he couldn’t see her. “Helena?” He straightened up and turned in a circle. “Where are you?”
I’m seeing what you’re seeing, Felix.
“What? How?”
I don’t know, Helena said. The last thing I remember is talking to you in the entryway. But I think I can still use my magic. Let me kill that guy!
“He’s already dead.”
Then we’re going to kill him again. Grab my sword.
Felix raced past the ongoing fight between Gideon, Archer, and Kendra. “Felix!” Kendra barely got his name out before she was dodging an attack from Gideon’s clawed hands. She’d drawn a dagger of her own, too, but the swarm of bees—whose stripes formed strange patterns—formed a shield in front of her that was apparently enough to deter Gideon.
Ignoring her concern, Felix returned to the hallway where Gideon’s body still lay. He grabbed the handle of Helena’s sword, doing his best to avoid looking directly at the corpse. As he pulled the weapon free, a surge of energy flooded his veins.
“Wait, I don’t know how to use a sword!” Felix lifted the weapon. This was going to be much harder to swing than a tennis racket.
Come on, both hands on the grip, Helena told him. All you have to do is hit him, and the sigils will do the rest. Hopefully. We may need to dump some holy water on him.
“Holy water?” Felix asked. “Since when are we religious?”
We’re not, but that stuff kills ghosts!
“They’re already dead!”
You know what I mean!
Felix didn’t, but he adjusted his grip on the sword and headed back to the kitchen. He’d failed a lot today, but maybe he could do one thing right.
Archer looked Felix up and down as he reentered the kitchen. “Stay back. That sword’s not going to work on him.”
“Let us handle this,” Kendra added.
Helena huffed. They think I wouldn’t use a weapon with sigils on it?
“Helena says the sword’s got sigils,” Felix said. “Whatever that means.”
“They might not be strong enough for Gideon,” Archer replied.
“Guess we’ll see.” Felix’s hand tightened around the sword’s hilt. “Helena, you got anything else to add?”
Yeah. This.
Bright blue-green electricity jumped up and down Felix’s arms. The sight sent a brief panic through him, but there was no pain and seemingly no damage to his skin. So, after taking a steadying breath, he charged toward Gideon.
“Well, that’s interesting,” Gideon said. He reached back and grabbed the toaster sitting on the counter behind him. In one swift motion, he yanked it free from the wall and chucked it at Felix.
Felix didn’t move out of the way fast enough. The toaster smacked into his forehead. He gasped in pain as he stumbled sideways into a wall, the lightning on his skin dying out in a shower of sparks. He lifted a hand to his face and found fresh blood trickling from a gash. When he moved his gaze to where Gideon had been, the man was gone.
Archer and Kendra hurried to Felix. “Gideon’s strong enough to pick up material objects,” Archer said. “Not for long, but long enough to do some damage.”
“Felix should leave,” Kendra replied with a nod. “We can’t keep an eye on him and Gideon.”
“I agree.”
Kendra lowered her voice. “I have sigil-marked insects around the house. I can close the perimeter until we have him trapped in one place. But I have to bring them in slowly, so the circle doesn’t get disrupted.”
Felix climbed to his feet. “Can you control insects or something?” he asked.
“That’s part of it.” Kendra rested a hand on his shoulder. “Felix, go outside. I promise we can handle him. I’m sure your parents kept holy water around here somewhere—”
Gideon appeared behind Kendra and Archer. His eyes met Felix’s. A smirk crossed his face.
Anger boiled Felix’s blood. He lifted the sword and darted forward between Kendra and Archer. The blade moved through Gideon’s form. He flickered. Disappeared.
And then he was back, laughing again. “That really hurt. But it still wasn’t enough. Maybe if you’d used Archer’s sword.”
Felix let Helena’s sword clatter to the ground. The lightning was back, jumping between his fingers and casting a teal glow across the kitchen. “I’m getting rid of you one way or another!” He lunged at Gideon with his bare hands.
Felix collided with Gideon, whose form was solid to his touch. Electricity jumped from his hands to Gideon’s ghost as they staggered through the kitchen, making the man hiss in pain. Good. Felix grabbed Gideon’s shoulders. “Why did you kill them?” he demanded.
A blinding flash of white light knocked Felix onto his back.
It took Felix a moment to get air back in his lungs. Gasping, he sat up. Gideon was gone. Felix scanned the kitchen, waiting for the man to reappear, but his family’s killer was nowhere to be found.
Archer returned his sword to its scabbard. “I wouldn’t dare hope that was a real banishment.”
Kendra helped Felix to his feet. “That lightning wasn’t yours, I’m guessing,” she said.
“I think that was my sister.” Felix tipped his head back. “Helena? Can you hear me?”
Nothing. He was alone again.
“You’re carrying their ghosts,” Archer said. Eyes narrowing, he added, “And you’ve got Gideon, too.”
“Huh?”
Archer lifted a hand to pull down his mask, exposing the lower half of his slim face. “We’ve known for most of recorded history that ghosts can be contained inside of objects,” he said. “But outside of active possession, as far as we know, no living being has ever held a ghost inside of them. Let alone multiple.”
“He has an ability after all,” Kendra said, sounding a little awed.
“And he can use the abilities of the ghosts he’s holding.” Archer pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is a nightmare.”
“Nightmare?” Felix asked. “Why?”
“You have access to six different abilities, you haven’t trained to use any of them, and you’re carrying the soul of a dangerous magician in a way that’s never been done before,” Archer said. “We have no idea how long you can hold him, if he’s conscious, or if he’s capable of breaking free.”
“Archer, now’s not the time,” Kendra said. “Let’s get him to the castle.”
“Right,” Archer muttered. “The King’s Council needs to hear this as soon as possible.”
Kendra hesitated. “Sure. Felix, go get a bag and some changes of clothes. If you need to come back later, we can arrange that, but pack light for now.”
A bee followed Felix to his bedroom. He didn’t say anything, but he had a feeling Kendra was somehow using it to keep an eye on him. He did his best to keep his outward appearance calm, but his internal monologue was mostly just screaming at this point. Ghosts! I fought a ghost! With magic!
Maybe he was still in shock, but he couldn’t say he was completely fazed by the existence of ghosts, or other mild supernatural phenomena. Maybe it was his family’s weirdness that he’d picked up on—no matter how hard they tried to hide it—but deep down he’d always thought there might be something more to them. To the world.
Actually seeing it with his own two eyes, though? Unreal. And wielding the magic was something else entirely. A small part of him was convinced this was all a dream he was going to wake up from.
He wished it was just a dream.
After packing up the essentials, Felix wandered in and out of his family’s bedrooms. At first, he thought he was just stalling, but as he stood in the middle of his parents’ room, something compelled him to open the bottom drawer of their nightstand.
Dad’s leatherbound journal. Felix ran a hand across the forest green cover before opening it. He was surprised to find the entire thing was written in a language he didn’t recognize, though the letters themselves were from the alphabet he knew. As he slid it into his backpack, he spotted one of Mom’s silver rings sitting next to where the journal had been in the drawer.
Strange, he swore she’d been wearing that one this morning. It was her favorite. He picked it up and examined the flames engraved around the band.
It was too small to fit him, so he searched Mom’s jewelry box for a plain silver chain, slid the ring on, and hooked it around his neck. The cool metal slid underneath his shirt and rested against his chest.
Ezra’s plants had found their way onto just about every shelf and table in the house. Felix picked one—a cactus that he figured was the least likely to die in his care—and carried it with him. He also checked his pocket to confirm he still had the stone May had left behind in the front yard.
On the way back to the kitchen, he paused next to Gideon’s body. Being near it made his nausea return, but something caught his eye. He forced himself to kneel down and take a closer look at the gold necklace that glinted in the low light.
Several items were attached to the chain: an animal fang, a large dark brown feather, and what looked like a fragment of bone. Frowning, Felix lifted the chain to get a closer look. It must have snapped at some point during the fight, because it came free from Gideon’s neck easily.
“Felix?” Kendra called from the next room. “Are you ready to leave?”
Felix hastily shoved the necklace into his hoodie pocket and stood up as she walked into the entryway. “Yeah.”
Kendra held out Helena’s sword to him, which she’d found the scabbard for. “You should keep this with you.”
Felix nodded as he took it. “What about…my family?”
“Don’t worry, they’ll be taken care of. Other Guardians are already on the way to handle all of this.” Kendra placed a hand behind Felix’s shoulder and steered him away from Gideon’s body. “Right now, we’re going to get you somewhere safe.”