Protecting His Windflower (A Spirit Hunters Series Novel Book 1) by Temperance Dawn (best black authors .txt) 📕

spirit. He had his best friends and Dave. He knew they had his back—both his and Emily’s.

“Banks.” Liam gathered all of his will power to tamp down his fear and anger once more. The last thing he wanted to have happen was for Emily to see him scared. But he was scared. Down to his core, he was terrified and pissed the fuck off too. He blew out a breath and managed to speak with a clear and calm voice. “Why are you still here?”

“You stole her from me.” The voice came through, clear.

Liam answered, “No. She was never yours.”

“She was mine,” it growled.

“You lied to her. You killed Abigail’s parents just to get to her.” Now, Liam was yelling. His hands shook with the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

“She is mine.”

“I was never yours,” Emily shouted. Her voice shaky but stern. “You took my life and the life of the man I loved. You’re a monster.”

“Good girl.” Liam leaned into her and whispered in her ear. “You heard her, Banks. Over a hundred years later, and she still feels the same. And so do I. We found each other again. You still lose. You will never have her.”

“I’ll have her.”

“You’re dead, Banks. You may be haunting this house, but you’re still dead. We are alive, and you’re going to leave us alone.”

A frightening growl then came through the audio of the spirit box. Liam turned off the box. He looked at Emily and held her close. “Dave?”

“Right here.”

“What do you suggest? How do we get rid of this son of a bitch?”

Dave bent his head and closed his eyes for a few moments before looking back up at his friend. “He feels conflicted. Mentally, when he was alive, he wasn’t right in the head, for lack of a better term. He was always conflicted. Knowing what he wanted to do wasn’t right, but he couldn’t help it. He was mentally unstable and knows what he’s been doing by haunting Emily isn’t right. Knows what he did was wrong. But he doesn’t know any other way to be. I think doing a cleansing will work. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but he’s scared and is worried about what he will encounter once he moves on. This place has become his safety zone. He was trapped in this house?”

“Yes,” Liam confirmed. “Phil stated in his note that a seer trapped him here, to keep him contained. I have a feeling she was more of a witch. He mentioned spells and that she put one on Phil as a boy to keep him alive. Phil was the son of Charles, Banks’ Butler.”

“Oh. My. God,” Dave said in disbelief. “Okay. This is making more sense to me now.”

“What do you mean?” Trey asked.

“I’ve been seeing flashes of a woman. Not Abigail, another woman. I think she may be the seer Phil is referring to. She left these images specifically for me. She’s showing me that her spell can be broken. That Banks can be released from this house if I can convince him to move on.”

Everyone looked to one another as Dave spoke words containing a glimmer of hope. “Because he’s so strong, Emily, he was able to keep an eye on you. He wants to continue controlling you even from afar. He still feels like he has the right to be possessive over you. It will take a lot of convincing, but I feel like I may be able to move him to the other side.”

Twenty-Eight

“W

hat’s the plan?” Liam stated in a half growl when he entered his living room where everyone had gathered. He hadn’t meant to sound brash, but he couldn’t help it if he tried. His only concern at that moment was getting through the rest of the night and sending Banks to wherever the hell he needed to go was. He wanted to move on with his life with Emily. He’d left her in the bedroom of his flat with Lexi. The sight of the marks Banks had put on her killed him.

Luke looked up and put his finger to his lips in a hushed motion. That’s when he noticed Dave sitting in the corner of the room, meditating. He’d seen Dave in this state before and knew he was preparing for what was to come. Dave needed to ground himself and gather energy. This was going to be a hell of a fight.

Liam sat in a chair next to Trey and Luke. The three men huddled close together and spoke in a whispered tone.

“Dave is going to open a portal and try to move Banks toward the light.”

Liam nodded.

“This is going to be intense. Not just because Dave feels the need to prepare like he is, but we haven’t come in contact with as powerful an entity as Banks in a long time. He’s not going to go without a fight.”

“I agree,” Liam told his friend.

“Liam?” Luke spoke. “I know this is a personal case for you. For us. But I have to ask, do you want us to continue to roll the cameras and equipment and gather evidence. Because we’ll understand if you want to keep this private?”

“Hell fucking yes,” Liam replied. “I appreciate your guys’ concern, but this is still a case. We gather evidence. All of it and treat it like we do all of our cases, with confidentiality and respect.”

The sight of Dave making his way over to them caught their attention. “Liam, I think it goes without saying that this is going to be hard. Banks is agitated. He may lash out. He has the power to physically harm the living. I need to warn all of you that it is more than likely he will become violent during this. And as much as I hate to insist that Emily be present, I think it’s necessary.”

Liam’s instinct was to tell Dave absolutely not. But knowing Emily and not wanting to take her power and