Jake (Immortals of New Orleans #8)(67)

"I feel magick but it's not necessarily from an adult. I don't live in a place where I have access to many hauntings. I've seen a stray ghost over the years, but I've never encountered ones like these. They almost feel musical to me." Kai reached her fingertips into the air and one swooped down to buzz her. She waved her hand away as it rebounded up into the attic. "Playful. Like kids."

"Kai's right," Quintus agreed.

"They're children. But something bad happened here," Jake said, his voice heavy with sadness.

"Are you all right?" Kai asked him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I've never sensed a human's pain so much." Jake cocked his head in confusion.

"Your mate. She's affecting you. As Alpha you feel your wolves. As the mate of a pixiu, you are realizing the good fortune of others she's absorbed … their psychic gifts. It's opening pathways to humans. These children … they were all once human." Quintus' eyes met Jake's. "They've been here for a long time. Someone did this to them."

"I can see them." Jake closed his eyes, his brow furrowed. "They were murdered. By three adults. A human was involved. The human was a male. I see a vampire. I can't see if it's male or female but the fangs …  And … " Jake hummed as the visions passed before him. His eyes flew open in shock, meeting Kai's. "Jesus. A wolf."



       
         
       
        

"A triad. Interesting," Quintus mused.

"I don't know what it means." Kai kept her eyes trained on the balls of light.

"Triple deities," the vampire stated.

"Goddesses?" She'd deliberately avoided researching the occult for fear it would draw attention to her, but she regretted her lack of knowledge of other creatures.

"One demon or Goddess but there're three beings," Jake said. "I've never met a triad, but to be fair, it's not like this wolf is looking for that kind of shit. No thank you. That kind of stuff is not my thing."

"It's rare when it's natural. But these three may or may not have been organically created. They can use demonic forces to conjure the magick."

"Demons?" Kai asked. A horrifying thought ran through her mind and she blurted out her suspicion. "Were the kids murdered as part of a sacrifice? I've heard that vampires stay away from babies and children because their life forces are so new."

"Did the vampire take their lives?" Quintus asked.

"The human. The male. He did this," Jake said, his attention on the stairs. "But something else happened to them … I don't know exactly. We need to go upstairs."

"Are you sure?" Kai asked as her Alpha headed upward, holding onto the rails.

"They're harmless but … the way they look … " Jake sighed.

Before Kai had a chance to respond, her mouth gaped at the sight of the three girls. The smallest wore a white nightgown, blood splattered down the front, her spine visible through the five-inch wound in her neck. A second girl, who appeared no more than ten years old, wore a blue school dress. A bright red bloom gushed from her stomach, while the white ribbons in her hair bore the bloody fingerprints of her attackers. A teenager stood nude, her body mottled with bruises.

"Oh Goddess," Kai whispered. Tears sprung to her eyes. "What happened to you?"

"We see. You can change now," Jake told them.

"What is happening?" Kai asked in amazement as their transparent apparitions morphed into a youthful innocence, appearing as they'd once looked when they'd been alive, happy. The youngest, who appeared five years old, held a teddy bear in her arms.

"Humans. It's amazing how the spirit can remain on Earth for so long." Quintus came up behind Kai and Jake.

"I … I don't know that I'd call it amazing. These girls have been living in this attic for over a hundred years. It's … I don't know. It's sad. Tragic. Who would do this to them?" Kai asked.

"The triad," Jake responded. 

Kai ducked to avoid hitting her head on a beam as she navigated through the claustrophobic room. Its oak floor had been painted seafoam green. Pink insulation lined the ceiling and walls of the unfinished attic.

"They aren't confined to this room but they are to this home. They've chosen it." Jake kept his eyes on the girls, who all wore a solemn expression.

"But they are … were just children when this happened." Kai wrapped her hands around her waist as a cool breeze crept through the roof space. "Imagine how terrified they were."