Once a Gypsy Read online

  There was a long pause. “I’m afraid not, but as you know, Herbert has been channeling the spirits more and more lately—he’s been jealous of Mary and talking about the incident with the codex. If Mary’s missing, then I’m afraid that it’s possible he has something to do with her disappearance.”

  “That son of a bitch.”

  He hung up, furious.

  Graham drew the diamond-encrusted necklace from his pocket. He wrapped the chain around his fingers, letting the metal dig into his flesh. The blood, which had been smeared across the surface of the diamonds, had rubbed off in his pocket.

  He started the car and, as the air kicked on, the floral aroma of Helena’s perfume wafted toward him. He closed his eyes and took in the soft scent. She’d looked so nervous outside the broad doors of the exam room.

  If so much hadn’t been going on, he would’ve done more for her. Maybe brought her a dozen of the freshest red roses he could find—anything to help her keep her nerves in check and show her his love and support. Instead he was in a rush to go find the owner of one blood-stained necklace, two missing women, and a killer.

  His mobile buzzed in his hand. “What’s the problem?” Graham grumbled.

  “You need to get back here,” his stepfather ordered. “I can’t believe you left.”

  “I had a prior engagement.”

  “I heard.” Ice clinked against a glass.

  Graham ran his free hand up and over his forehead. “The nurse just called. Herb’s missing.”

  “Bloody hell. Not another one. These types of events are not acceptable. We can’t put our guests or our staff in harm’s way. We already had one murder… Do you know how much that cost me? Paying off the police doesn’t come cheap.”

  “You knew? You knew that there was a killer on the loose and you didn’t say anything?”

  “What was I supposed to do, Graham? I know the infirmary is important, but I still have a business to run. I can’t have a murder happening on our grounds. We’d be finished.”

  “Who cares about the damn business? The people who needed help would still come to us.”

  “You think people who are scared of what they are and the curses they must face would come to a place where they may be put in even more danger? You can’t be that daft. Besides, we can’t have cops all over the property… Think about it. Think what they would find.” There was a pause. “If you don’t hurry up and get Herb, Mary, and your mother back, it’s hard to say that there won’t be more deaths.”

  His stepfather was right. They couldn’t risk having the guards nosing around the manor.

  “How long’s Herb been gone?” Mr. Shane asked.

  “He’s been missing since this morning. One of the nurses found a bloody knife under his mattress along with Chester’s wallet.”

  “First thing I want you to do when you get back is return the necklace to its rightful owner. Say it was found in the laundry. Whatever you do, you need to keep this all under wraps.”

  Graham started the car. “I’ll be right there.”

  He sped all the way to the manor, but it still took almost an hour to reach the estate. Upon his return, there were extra security guards posted at the gate. A man stood at each post, wearing black sunglasses, black suits, and little white earpieces. Another two waited on the other side, presumably to check cars on the way out.

  Graham slowed to a crawl, and the men waved him past. He found a strange comfort in the awareness that no one would come or go without them knowing.

  He pulled the car into his spot. The car park was almost empty. Thick clouds rolled over the green grass of the lawns, blocking out what little sun there had been. A light breeze carried the scent of rain.

  A few of the wait staff stood quietly in the drawing room. When they saw him they nodded in welcome.

  “Have ye found Ms. Mary Margaret?” one of the waiters asked.

  “No… No word yet.”

  The man at his side glanced worriedly out the massive windows that lined the dining room.

  “Don’t be fretting, boys. I’m sure she’ll turn up.” Graham forced a smile.

  They didn’t look reassured.

  In the main hall, the receptionist waved him over. “Mr. Shane said he would like you to use this to return the necklace.” The woman held out a black velvet box.

  “Thanks.”

  The owner of the necklace was staying in the Lady Caroline Room, the finest of the manor. He knocked on the door and waited until it was cracked open. A thin man in a black suit opened the door; Graham recognized him as the golfer he had seen chatting up the receptionist. “May I help you?”

  “I believe we’ve located a necklace you reported missing.” He held out the box.

  The man nodded. “My wife will be so pleased.” He took the box from him and opened it up. “Where did you find it?”

  He thought of Mr. Shane’s orders. How would the man react if he told him they had found the necklace covered with blood in the depths of the kitchen? The reputation of the manor would be ruined.

  “One of our staff found it in the laundry. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you or your wife.”

  “I suppose some type of reward is in order?” the man continued.

  “No,” Graham said with a bit too much force. “Seeing you all during your next visit will be enough reward.”

  The words rolled off his lips with professional grace, but they left a bitter aftertaste. When had this place turned him into a version of Mr. Shane?

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The pencil fell from Helena’s tired fingers, rolled off the table, and bounced onto the floor with a wooden sound. Clothes ruffled as people turned to look at the Traveller making all the noise. Helena smiled at their gawking faces. She was done. Done with exams. Done with being forced into a life she didn’t want.

  Grabbing the pencil and her purse, she stood up, letting the chair scrape against the ground. Let them think what they wanted. This would be the last time she’d see their sneering faces.

  She dropped the test on the table in front of the two stone-faced women in charge.

  “Good luck,” the thicker woman whispered.

  Nodding, Helena turned and walked out.

  She sighed as the door closed behind her. Never again would she have to go through the pressure and stress of these exams.

  Whether she passed with high marks or skimmed the bottom, she had done the one thing she had wanted to do. Now she could move forward with her life knowing that she’d tried her damnedest, that she’d given schooling everything she’d had. She was the first woman in her fam to finish. She could be proud.

  Graham wasn’t in the car park, so she made her way to the main building. A few of the little cafes were bustling with students, and she passed a window full of university books and souvenirs. On a hanger, just inside the shop’s door, hung a green jersey like the ones worn by the Republic of Ireland Footballers.

  Helena smiled.

  She owed Graham a thank you for showing her that there was more to life than she could have ever expected—he’d shown her love. It was time she shared one of her loves with him—the Boys in Green.

  She picked out the shirt and brought it to the girl at the counter.

  She made her way back out to the car park and waved as she spotted Graham. He smiled, but he had a worried expression on his face. It all hit her at once. For the last few hours the realities of life had been gone from her mind, but seeing him brought it all back—Mary, her mam, Rose, and Danny.

  The bag slipped in her fingers, but she forced a smile to her lips. For one more moment, she wanted to savor the feeling of accomplishment that swelled within her. She had done it. The roadblocks scattered throughout her life had almost stopped her from finishing her exams, but with Graham’s help and reassurance she had made it through.

  She opened the door and sat down next to him. “I did it.”

  In his lap, Graham held a dozen long-stemmed red roses. H
e smiled and handed them over. “Congratulations, my love.”

  “What are these for?”

  Graham reached over and ran his hand through her hair. “I’m proud of you.”

  “They’re beautiful.” Tears threatened to spill over.

  “Don’t cry, love.” He kissed her cheek. She put her hand up to his face and ran her thumb over his light stubble.

  “Thank you. For everything.”

  His lips were strong and firm as hers caressed them. Her tongue explored the edges of his mouth and pulled at the contours of his full lips. He held her tighter to him, owning her. Her heart thrashed with unbridled excitement. She was his, and he was hers in this stolen moment.

  He reached up and pulled the pencil from her hair. “Did you forget this?”

  A giggle slipped from her lips. She took the yellow pencil and dropped it in her purse. “Here.” The plastic bag crinkled as she picked it up and thrust it at him. “I got you something too.”

  He opened the bag, and his eyes grew large as his laugh filled the small car. “Oh nay, love. I won’t be wearing this!” He pulled out the emerald green shirt.

  “If you want to be with me, you have to cheer for the right team.” She giggled.

  “Is that how it’s going to be?” He raised an eyebrow.

  She answered with a wicked grin.

  “If you say so,” Graham said. He reached down and drew his work shirt over his head. The bare muscles of his chest tensed as he grabbed the jersey.

  Helena drew in a ragged breath. Every part of her wanted to reach over and touch the rippling muscles of his body. She thought of her vision, his naked body standing before her. A need pulsed up from deep within her. “Graham…”

  “Aye?” He gave her a sexy smile.

  “You need to put a shirt on.”

  “As you wish.” He laughed as he pulled the shirt on and ran his fingers over the smooth fabric.

  What she wished for was something far different from him putting his clothes on… rather, her fantasy ended with his clothes on the floor.

  • • •

  Graham parked the car in the spot farthest from the side door of the manor, near a row of well-trimmed hedges.

  There was a tap on his window. A gray-haired woman with sunken cheeks and wild eyes frantically gestured at them. From the waist down, she was dripping wet and covered in green algae.

  “Mum?” Graham pushed open the door.

  Helena gasped. She had seen Rose in the hospital, but the wet, skeletal gray woman who stood before her was sicklier-looking than she remembered.

  “I tried to stop him. He wouldn’t listen.” There was an edge of terror in her voice. “He wouldn’t stop holding her under the water… The woman… she’s dead.”

  “What happened?” Graham took his mother’s hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

  “Herb… he was channeling a spirit. He said something about Chester… how he tried to take Mary away. He said the spirits told him to find the Codex Gigas—that if he didn’t, they would kill him and Mary and condemn their souls to roam the earth forever… He said he’d been looking, but couldn’t find the book… He said he couldn’t let them take her… he was going to take matters into his own hands… I tried to stop him, but he just went crazy.” Rose pointed at the gardens. “They’re by the river.”

  Helena raced around the garden with Graham and Rose close on her heels. Mary had done so much for her—she’d given her a job and a purpose, and pushed her when she had needed pushing. She couldn’t be dead.

  Two bodies lay on the bank of the river. Herbert’s feet floated in the water like black bobbers.

  Mary’s face was ghostly white and her eyes closed; a droplet of water dripped from her wet hair and slipped down her face. There was a slash on her neck, near her collarbone. A gray-haired man with heavy lines across his forehead and an overly large nose lay on the ground next to her. His face was limp and mottled.

  Helena knelt down and pushed her fingers against Mary’s thick neck. No pulse. She pressed hard, willing herself to feel the rhythmic whoosh of blood.

  Helena put her hands over Mary’s heart. The buzz of energy started in her core, stirring the will inside of her. It built up, spilled over her heart, down her arms, and out every pore in her skin. The pulse of energy moved through her body as if she and Mary were no longer separate people, but one shared being.

  Mary’s pain became hers. Her head thundered like a thousand drums. Helena pushed her energy into Mary’s head. Focusing on the pain, she wound the energy around the pulsing mass of red pain that ran along the inside of Mary’s skull. She pulled at the tendrils of red and drowned them in silvery light, smothering them one by one until the pain abated.

  The energy moved down into Mary’s body, warming the river-soaked flesh with its ethereal fire.

  Mary shifted beneath her hands, and Helena moved toward the pale, mottled Herbert. Her fingers trembled as she moved them to his throat. As her flesh touched his, his body jerked. Helena gasped and looked down. A slimy, scale-covered green hand protruded from the water, grasping Herb’s ankle. The same hand that had tried to claim Charlie—the Glashtyn. The river spirit reached up, her yellow hair flowing in the direction of the moving river like a grotesque doll.

  Herbert’s body jerked, and he slid into the water up to his waist.

  “Stop! You can’t have him!” Helena yelled. She tried to grab the man beneath the arms, but she couldn’t get a firm hold. “Graham, help!”

  Graham sprinted to her, but it was too late. Herbert disappeared into the green water of the River Maigue, his body becoming property of the spirit world.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Graham lifted Mary into his arms and made his way to the service entrance at the back of the manor.

  “Why?” Mary repeated over and over. Her eyes were bloodshot, and tears streamed down her face as she looked up at Graham. He forced himself to look away.

  They all came to the painting of the men with their nets. Helena feathered her fingers around the edge of the frame and pushed the little button, and the door to the basement swung open. Graham took the lead, making his way carefully down the steps. He looked up the stairway to Rose.

  “I can’t,” Rose whispered. “I can’t go back there.”

  Of course his mother wouldn’t want to enter the prison which had held her for so long. “Mum, Mr. Shane wants to see you. Why don’t you—”

  “Why doesn’t she what?” Mr. Shane interrupted Graham as he stepped into the doorway beside Rose. “Hello, my dear.”

  His mother looked at the man. Her gaze reminded Graham so much of the way Helena looked at him.

  “John?” She reached up and took his face in her hands. “Is it really you?”

  Mr. Shane’s lips curved into a tight smile. “I’ve been looking for you, my Rose.” He lifted his hands to hers, and lowered them from his face. He turned to Graham and Helena. “Is Mary going to be all right?”

  Mary’s eyes had finally closed, and her body had relaxed in his arms. “Thanks to Helena, she’ll survive, but I need to get her to the infirmary.”

  “What about Herb?”

  Helena shook her head. “He belongs to the Glashtyn.”

  There was a greedy gleam in Mr. Shane’s eyes. “So, you’ve harnessed your abilities?”

  Graham moved between Mr. Shane and Helena. “Stop right there. Whatever ideas you’re getting, you need to stop.”

  Mr. Shane took a step back, but the triumphant look never left his eyes. “I completely agree, but she’ll come to see that there are many rewards for helping those that need it the most.”

  Mr. Shane turned to his wife.

  “Don’t send me back down there, John,” she begged. “Have your guards stay with me, do whatever you need to do, but don’t send me back to that place.”

  Mr. Shane pulled her into his arms and kissed her head. “I won’t, my love, as long as you promise to never run away again. We can help you. Right, H
elena?” Mr. Shane sent her a questioning glance.

  Helena nodded.

  “Aye, Helena can help, just as long as she’s allowed to stay here,” Graham interrupted, “and so is her innocent father.”

  Mr. Shane nodded. “The necklace has been returned.”

  Graham shifted Mary in his arms. “And there’ll be no more threats. Aye?”

  “Fine.”

  “And you will hire ten new nurses. We need more hands on deck.”

  “That is going to cost us a fortune… You’ll need to think about other ways to start generating revenue for our business if you want to make it work.” Mr. Shane looked at Mary, but his arms never left Rose.

  “Is that a yes?”

  Mr. Shane’s face pinched into a scowl. “Fine.”

  • • •

  The infirmary was filled with the sounds of nurses and the shrill beeps of IVs that had run dry. A nurse carrying a clipboard rushed toward Graham as he moved to the nearest empty bed. The nurse’s hair sat half undone on top of her head. “Mr. Kelly, we’ve been trying to get in touch with you. We haven’t been able to find Herbert.”

  “I’m aware,” he said, laying Mary down on the bed. “We had to move him to another facility.”

  The nurse frowned. “I thought we were working to rehabilitate?”

  “He was beyond our help.” Graham drew the blanket up over Mary. “But there is some good to come of his escape and relocation. I’ve convinced Mr. Shane to hire ten new nurses for your staff. You are responsible for hiring those who can be trusted.”

  “Thank you, sir… Thank you so much.” The nurse stared at Helena. “What about her?”

  “I’ll start next week.” Helena said with a wide smile. “But I’m just learning.”

  The nurse reached over and squeezed Helena’s hands. “God bless ya, love.”

  Graham stood up and looked at Helena’s bright smile. “Are you sure, Helena? What about school?”

  She stopped him. “When I was taking my exams… my power weakened. Everything I truly am, is all because of this place.” She motioned around the room. “I finally know who I am, and where I belong… If I learn how to control what I’ve been given, I can do more good here than I could ever hope to do by goin’ to school. The nurses here can teach me what I need to learn. Aye?” She looked toward the nurse.