by
Ghost wards are failing. Mediums are vanishing. Someone—or something—is stirring up the ghosts of Toronto. It’s up to psychic medium Harlan Brand to find out why.
After defeating a serial killer who could control ghosts, psychic medium Harlan Brand is feeling much more confident in his abilities working for the Toronto Police Service with his partner, Hamilton, as they protect the city from dangerous spirits.
He is expanding his social circle, however reluctantly, to include the other police mediums and Morgan Vermeer, another graduate from the Centre—a school for training psychic children.
Harlan and his boyfriend, Charles Moore, are continuing to explore BDSM, their relationship and Charles’ strange ability to shield people from ghosts.
Hoping to find answers about Charles’ power and the serial killer, Harlan returns to the Centre only to find that one of its ghost wards—magical symbols that spirits can’t cross—is broken, and it’s a mystery as to how and why.
The calm and order that Harlan has been building up in his life are shattered when wards start failing across the city and mediums begin to disappear, including one of his new friends and a student from the Centre.
Someone—or something—is stirring up the ghosts of Toronto.
Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of violence and murder. It is best read as part of a series.
- 1 To Be Read list
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Editors:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 4
Romantic Content: 3
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay, Transgender
Protagonist 1 Age: 18-25
Protagonist 2 Age: 26-35
Protagonist 3 Age: 26-35
Word Count: 83000
Setting: Canada, Ontario, Toronto
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
“Mr. Cavendish, what’s the last thing you remember?” It was more convenient for Harlan if he remembered that he’d died, that he’d been a ghost before tonight. He hated having to tell people they were dead.
“I was with— No, that’s not right. We were— No, no.”
Harlan wasn’t sure if the confusion was left over from whatever had made Miles leave his haunting ground and attack him or if it was the normal kind a lot of ghosts had when questioned. There was an art to it, asking them things without overwhelming them or influencing their answers.
READ MORE“No. No, I remember. I was—I am—dead. I was at my corner…where I died. Where I’ve been since… I haven’t been able to leave there, not until tonight. I haven’t been anywhere new in so long,” he said, with an edge of hunger Harlan didn’t like.
None of what he said was very useful. It didn’t give Harlan any idea of what had gone wrong with the wards or the ghosts. “It’s time for you to move on, Mr. Cavendish.” He inclined his head in the direction of the portal without releasing his grip.
Miles leaned over and peered down it. “Oh. Oh, that is beautiful! Is it…?”
“Yes. It’s for you,” Harlan assured him. Quickly, because he wanted to get this over with.
“Is it—?”
Before Miles could finish his second question, another bolt of pain struck Harlan. He lost his grip on the ghost when his left hand spasmed.
Miles didn’t pull away. He doubled over, screaming from the same pain Harlan had just felt.
The portal caught Harlan’s eye. The edges were…pulsing, flashing with bursts of bright purple, green and shades he couldn’t name because they weren’t meant for human eyes to see. “Hurry!” he shouted over the sudden rush of sourceless wind. “Get in the portal, now!”
“But what if I…?”
“It’s where you belong!” Harlan told him. He wanted to lie and say he knew there was a good place waiting for him on the other side, but he knew at least what he’d said was true—whatever was waiting for him, it was where Miles belonged—where he should have gone when he’d died and was only catching up to him now.
“Please. Hurry.” The portal was fighting him, struggling to open wider. Hot blood poured from his nose, pooling on his upper lip, then running down his chin and dripping on the floor. He was down on all fours now, with no energy or concentration to spare on anything but the portal. He had no idea what was wrong with it, only that it seemed almost…contaminated.
His whole body was shaking. His vision was going dark at the edges and his ears rang. He knew he might black out at any moment, and that he had to close the portal before he did—with the ghost trapped here on Earth or where he belonged. He’d never tried to open a gateway for the same ghost a second time. He wasn’t actually sure it was possible. He wanted to help Miles cross over, but his first priority was making sure he didn’t lose complete control of the portal.
“But—”
“Get. In. Now.” Harlan pushed his hands closer together on the floor, using the physical motion to reinforce what he was doing with his power to keep it from growing.
Miles looked at the opening, then back at Harlan. He was clearly afraid—and Harlan couldn’t blame him for that, no matter how inconvenient it was for him personally—but he finally stepped through and immediately vanished. As soon as he was gone, the portal tried to close on its own, the way it was supposed to, but something was still blocking it.
Harlan slammed a palm on the floor on either side of it.
The edges of the portal shivered, and for an awful moment it continued expanding.
Harlan screamed, frenzied and primal, pouring every ounce of himself—his will, his soul—into closing it.
