Soul Cage Read online

  The Revenant grinned back at him. "Yeah…it's me. With Morgan. Whoa, take it easy. We're still cleaning up the mess."

  Mess was right. Joe pushed himself up on his elbows to look around. He was on a gurney, low to the ground, an IV stuck into his arm. Manuel was kneeling beside him, dressed in set of pajamas as an army of ten or so men and women in brown coveralls cleaned up.

  Joe looked past them to the other side of the room. Jason and Umayma were gone. So were Rhonda and Dags. "Where's—"

  "Joe?"

  Nona hurried toward him from the door and with Manuel's help, knelt down as well. She had a band aid on her left temple and a smudge or two of something dark on her face. Otherwise she looked fine.

  "Nona what—"

  "Shh," she put a hand on his arm. "Just rest. You expended a lot more power than you're used to, young man. I think your power might rival my own."

  "But—where are Jason and Umayma—hell where's Rhonda and Dags?"

  She pursed her lips. "Jason and Umayma are resting in main infirmary. I'm afraid Rhonda used a bit of arcane on them, something she apparently swiped from the Grimoire. But they'll recover. As for Dags and Rhonda," Nona licked her lips. "I was hoping you could tell me."

  "No…" he shook his head. He retold what he could remember of what he'd seen, and what Dags said. "But I need you to tell me what was going on before I got here?"

  "I was letting her see Dags like you wanted. But Dags wouldn't talk to her—in fact he seemed angry. Rhonda got angry and accused us of turning him against her," she sighed. "That's when she flipped out. Zapped Jason and Umayma immediately and then came after me. I was about to blast her ass into the wall when everything went dark and I woke up on the floor with Lilly over me. They found you against the wall and Rhonda and Dags gone."

  Joe rubbed at his head then ran his fingers through his hair. He felt the dust and debris buried in it. "Where's Azrael? He was with me when we found the dragon," he looked at Nona. "Are there more than one of those ceramic nightmares?"

  "I suppose. Truth is, I don't ever remember putting it back in my house till you mentioned it."

  Okay that was fucking weird. "I assume it freed Morgan?"

  "Yes," Manuel said.

  "And no Azrael?"

  Nona shook her head. "No, we haven't seen him."

  Joe went back over what Dags said to him. "Nona…I don't think that was Dags you were talking to." He refocused on her. "It was Maureen."

  "I know," Nona nodded. "I mean I know now, I just wasn't sure before."

  "Just before he went to Rhonda he said I needed to summon Zoë home and work with you. And then he said to tell you that Maureen said hi."

  "She did it," Nona smiled at Manuel. "Maureen broke through and took control. Which could explain why Rhonda couldn't get back into the Grimoire. Manuel, tell Joe what happened to you."

  Joe looked at the young man. "Was it Rhonda?"

  "Yeah. She was in the archive, and Mephistopheles said to keep her busy while they got Dags off the grounds. I did, and then she came at me." He made a face. "Only I didn't see Rhonda just before everything went dark. I saw him."

  "Him?"

  "Zacharel. The Dominion Zoë and I confronted at the club. He was there in the room with us when she attacked."

  Joe looked at Nona. "I thought he was in holding."

  "Not anymore. Apparently what we were watching on the monitors was a shell that'd been abandoned and left sitting there. It's dead."

  "And the Dominion—" he searched Manuel's face. "You think it's possessing Rhonda."

  "I think it's with her, but not possessing her." Manuel said. "And if he is, and Dags is wherever Rhonda is…"

  Joe groaned softly as the reality of what'd happened hit him. "Then they have the Grimoire."

  -----------

  To be continued in the next Zoë Martinique Investigations, book 6.

  About The Author

  Phaedra Weldon is a writer and mother of one. Born in Pensacola, Florida, Phaedra was raised in the lush, green southern tropic of Georgia. She grew up on southern ghost stories told while eating marshmallows around campfires, or on the back of pick-up trucks in the middle of cornfields on chilly October nights. She worked as a Graphic Artist for over twenty years in the publishing and sign industries until she became a full time writer in 2009. Phaedra currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and daughter.

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  Author's Websites

  www.phaedraweldon.com

  www.zoemartinique.com

  If you liked this story drop the author a note at [email protected]

  Other books by Phaedra Weldon

  Revenants Novels

  Native Soil

  Back Door Series

  Back Door Magic

  Back Door Curse

  Zoë Martinique Investigations

  Wraith

  Out Of The Dark

  Spectre

  Phantasm

  Revenant

  Geist

  Siobhan and Abyssinian

  Mirror Mirror

  Here Be Monsters

  Table of Contents

  Soul Cage

  Midpoint