the sound, no rest from it or her guilty conscience. Pain or no pain from the baby, she would go to it and try to make at least one wrong into a right.
Toby would just have to understand.
The only thing she could find to cover her blooming stomach was an oversized T-shirt and a pair of stretch pajama pants. Getting dressed and grabbing her purse she headed for the front door. It felt strange to suddenly be weighed down by the normal needs of being human.
Outside, the bright sun caused her to blink and raise her hand to shield her eyes.
The call of the dead grew louder and she turned in the direction it came from.
Not too far, but far enough, she figured. Better take the car. Luckily, the keys were in her purse and she slid behind the wheel of her vehicle, hoping it would start after all these months. To her relief, it did.
Now to follow the call.
Jacqueline listened and let the sound guide her, only dimly aware that she had started to hum an eerie tune of her own.
To her surprise, the call led her straight to Merlin's Bar.
With a pounding heart, she sat in the empty parking lot, wondering who inside the bar needed her help. Maybe it was a trap. She should call Toby; send him a message or something. He would want her to do that.
Don't tell me you can't even do your job now without his help, Death taunted.
Jacqueline got out of the car and entered the bar.
Once again, she had to take a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dimness of the room. As she glanced around, a feeling of nostalgia came over her. How many nights had she spent seated at the bar? How many glasses of wine had she and Angela consumed together while commiserating their luck with men?
Jacqueline gasped as Angela came out from the store room carrying a case of beer. The pretty red head froze at the sight of her.
"Jacqueline?" Angela tilted her head to the side, wary. "Is that really you?"
"Yes."
"Oh my god!" Angela beamed and put the beer down. "Come here and give me a hug!"
Laughing, Jacqueline moved to her friend and embraced her.
"It’s so good to see you!" Angela squealed. "I've been worried and when Gabe told me about everything going on…well, I didn't know what to think. And wow…you are really pregnant!"
Angela looked at Jacqueline's stomach.
"That's a hell of a baby bump," she said.
"Yeah, it is. Wait a second. Gabe told you about everything going on? What do you mean?" Jacqueline frowned. "How much do you know?"
"Well, let's see…you're a banshee, Gabe and Toby are wizards, and apparently, you're creating zombies."
"Zombies?"
"Yep. In fact, I have one right here." Angela grinned at the confusion on Jacqueline's face. "Hey Daniel! Could you come in here?"
A red headed man came in from the pool room. Jacqueline would have considered him handsome except that his skin was a pasty white and his eyes were sunk into his head. Something about the way he walked bothered her, too. It was a jerky gait, almost as if his feet couldn't keep up with the rest of him.
"Daniel, this is Jacqueline," Angela said.
The call of the soul. This was where it had come from. Jacqueline could hear it wailing, but it seemed locked down, trapped almost.
"What the hell?" Jacqueline circled around Daniel, listening. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's dead. And it's getting worse."
"Dead?"
"Gabe says he is one of your kinsman, an O'Grady. This poor guy got knifed last night right here in the bar." Angela grimaced. "I watched him die and then come back to life. At first, he seemed okay, but he's definitely taking a turn for the worse. His mental capacity is slipping away."
"I didn't claim his soul." Guilt assuaged Jacqueline. Because of her, this poor man was trapped in a horrible limbo. "This is what happens when I don't do my job."
"Is it too late? Can you help him now?"
"I hope so."
Jacqueline placed her hands on Daniel's shoulders and focused on the sound of his soul. The banshee song welled inside her and she could feel the need to let loose its melody, to reap the soul from this man. Her head fell back, and the song burst forth as her eyes turned a deep green.
She could see the soul pulling free and she prodded it with her song, tugging until it loosened from Daniel into a great ball of white energy. The light floated against