Geist Read Free Page B

that crinkled, folded up page into my bra. I hadn't known I'd even possessed that piece of the Grimoire until I'd been in here for some time. Had I always had it in my hand where I'd found it? Was it possible I'd taken it when we found Maureen with Dags? I just...didn't know. I'd hidden it in my bra because it helped me feel close to him and I didn't want it taken away. "How did you know—"
    "I am Geist." 
    And I was going to get really tired of hearing that as an excuse. "How does this page—" 
    "Darren McConnell's ghost is woven into the pages of the Grimoire . The witch did this with her magic. But the book is incomplete until that page is returned. It is a link back to him. A bridge." 
    "So..." I kept my hand over my chest as I narrowed my eyes. "I can use this page to project my ghost—what I call my astral self—into his body? I don't want to possess him, Geist. I want to talk to him. I need to hear his voice." 
    "Don't want to possess him..." Geist put a hand to his chin. It was the most animated I'd seen him since I first noticed him hanging about. "That might be difficult. Possession is the outcome of projection." 
    "Maybe not always. " I thought about the Familiars that resided inside of the portals tattooed in Dags' palms. "Dags has two entities already connected to him." 
    Geist snapped his fingers. It looked incongruent since his facial features didn't change. Stoic worked better for him. "The two ghosts held within the magic seals." His eyes widened and he looked at me. "This man is...an Irin?" 
    "No....and yes..." I said. "It's complicated. Wait..." my lips turned into a frown. "You knew he possessed a Grimoire , but not about the Familiars?" 
    " Sometimes I only know what I can see. Much of him is veiled from the planes. Such a veil is very common with Irins—or it was. But there are no Irins left in the world. The former Phantasm had them destroyed." 
    "Right, in the Bulwark. That infamous battle between the planes and the Irin. Or something like that." I had to figure this out. I could in theory, according to this Geist, link myself to Dags. But I didn't want to possess him. I needed to get to him so I could let him and everyone else know I was okay. And where the hell I was so they could do something to come get me out. "Does him being an Irin change whether or not I can link to him?"
    "No," he said and shook his head slowly. "But you will have to be careful. The throne is set for Irin contagion. If he were to get too close to it—" 
    Oh I did not like the sound of that. "You mean it'd take him in too? But wouldn't he have to be here physically? He can't do that. He's a living being." 
    "He is many things," Geist said. "I would not be surprised if he could slip into the Abysmal plane in physical form. He would be protected by the Grimoire . Zoë, this idea must be thought out more thoroughly. Your essence complicates things, as does his. I would ask that you wait before you attempt contact—" 
    "No." 
    He lowered his hands. "Zoë—I am not sure what the effect would be." 
    "Geist—what is it the Ethereals want? Why do they want me to agree to seal the borders? They're closed now, right? Why seal them?"
    "They wish to re-establish order between the planes." He tilted his head again and his eyes got a far-away look; as if he were remembering something. Or looking at something I couldn't see. "The Ethereal once ruled the planes without chaos. All things bent to their will alone." 
    "Honestly? I thought you said there had to be polarity?" 
    "This was a very long time ago. Samael came from the abysmic to give true balance. Nature corrected itself. Once Samael commanded the Abysmal, order was restored." He refocused on me. "I have downloaded the information on Darren McConnell." 
    Huh? I put a hand on the egg's surface. "You downloaded—oh-kay? What does that mean?" 
    "The Ethereals keep records of their meetings—they are a very organized group. This prevents disruption." 
    "You mean