Promise: Caulborn #2 by Nicholas Olivo Read Free Book Online

darkening at the edges. This would be such a stupid death. I could imagine Doc Ryan cursing at my corpse as he conducted an autopsy, struggling to find a way to tell Petra that I’d died of fright and stupidity.
    A blast of white light streaked across my field of vision and hit the ghost right in the face, detonating it in a shower of prismatic motes. With its disruptive field gone, I was able to get my heart pumping again. The world slowly came back, first light, then sound. The sound became a voice. Megan’s voice.
    “Vincent, can you hear me? Are you all right?” I looked up into my partner’s dazzling blue eyes.
    “Peachy, thanks.” My voice sounded strained to my own ears. “What happened?” I moved to push myself up and planted my hand in something warm and wet. I glanced down, but instead of seeing a pool of liquefied ghost remains, my hand was in a puddle of hot chocolate and whipped cream. Megan tsked, conjured a wet wipe from her pocket dimension and handed it to me.
    “We should get him someplace safe,” came another voice. “Preferably someplace warded against spirits.” I turned my head to find Herb Wallenby, benevolent necromancer, a few feet off to my right. A Styrofoam cup of hot chocolate was splattered at his feet, too. Herb wasn’t looking at me, rather his gaze was sweeping the area.
    “Caulborn Headquarters is secure,” Megan said. “Help me get him up.”
    Megan and Herb hoisted me to my feet. I tottered but found my balance after a few steps and could walk unaided.
    “Hang on,” Herb said. His eyes were glowing a faint orange. I jumped back and popped up a shield around Megan and me. Herb glanced at me quizzically then shook his head. His eyes were normal when he looked at me again, and he held up his hands. “I call it specter sight,” he said calmly. “It lets me see things from the spirit realm. You have something in your pants pocket that’s shining like a beacon.”
    “That’s what she said,” I heard myself say.
    “Be serious, Vincent,” Megan said. “What’s in your pocket?”
    I fished out an old, gold coin that I’d never seen before. It was about an inch in diameter, unevenly milled, and had an image of a Templar cross engraved on it. The other side had what looked like a Spanish coat of arms. Herb plucked it from my fingers and held it up to his once again glowing orange eyes. “Yep, this is what they were after. Must’ve been part of the treasure they were sent to guard.”
    “Two ghosts jumped me for a single coin?” I asked, incredulous.
    “Think of it as a magical homing device. They’ll go after the pieces of the treasure that are farthest from the main stash first,” Herb explained. “Once they recover all the little bits, they bring them back to the bigger stash, gradually restoring it to its original amount.”
    “Son of a bitch,” I muttered. “Cather must’ve slipped that coin into my pocket to get the ghosts out of his lair for a while.”
    “Who’s Cather?” Herb asked.
    “A pain in the ass,” I said, waving a hand. “Thanks for the help back there. Lucky for me you were around.”
    Herb looked at Megan. “Does this have anything to do with what we were just talking about?”
    Megan looked at me. “You mentioned Cather, so I’m thinking yes?”
    I nodded. “Herb, do you have time to help a friend of mine with a ghost infestation?”
    “Sure thing.”
    “Fantastic. Give me a second to make a phone call.” I pulled out my phone and dialed Cather.
    He picked up on the second ring. “Vincent Corinthos, what can I do for you?”
    “Oh, not much, Cath,” I replied. “Hey, listen, just curious, you wouldn’t happen to know how a fifteenth-century gold coin with a Templar coat of arms emblazoned on it might have gotten into my pocket, would you? I had a couple of gentlemen of a nautical persuasion most interested in it.”
    “Dear me, did I forget to tell you about the gift I put in your coat? That was terrible manners on my