It all clicked into place. Jerry’s missing skull, the partly neutralized binding spell, and now the curse.
An opalescent skull leaned over my shoulder.
I started and then huffed out a breath. “I can return you to the rest of your skeleton. I can fix you.”
The phantom horse scooted closer to me until I could feel the faint buzz of energy creating its form. If it had been a real horse, it would’ve been resting its head over my shoulder, its cheek pressed against mine.
I lifted my hand so it could sniff. I would’ve scratched its nose, but my hand would go right through the phantom. “Can I call a friend? He knows how to get to your bones. He’s the one who told me your skull had been taken. He wants to get you back where you belong just as much as I do.”
The phantom side stepped and bobbed its head.
“Thank you.”
All around the room, skeletal equines, unicorn pumpkins, unicorn dog costumes, and an adult-sized unicorn onesie retreated down the aisles.
I dialed Jerry’s number and waited as it rang. When it went to voice mail, I called again.
“This better be important,” he rasped.
“I have your unicorn skull. I can meet you at the museum.” As much as I wanted to get back to bed, curses weren’t known for their patience. The sooner this was dealt with, the better.
“Narzel.” He groaned. “It’s the middle of the night.”
“Curses aren’t much for telling time.”
He swore. “I’ll send you the address and meet you there. Umm. I’ll have a staff member there too.” He hung up.
I shoved my phone back in my pocket and smiled at the phantom. “Now, I need to take you home. Will you let me transport you?”
It bobbed its head again.
I’d never given much thought to how much a unicorn skull weighed, but it was both lighter than I expected and heavier than it looked. I credited a good portion of the weight to the horn.
The phantom unicorn followed me out of the building, past Kent and several other officers, and to my car. It watched me settle the skull on the passenger seat and belt it into place. That was the best I could do for the drive.
I turned to the phantom. “I need to talk to the officers, and then I’ll take you back. You don’t have to continue this projection unless you want to.”
The phantom bobbed its head but stayed visible.
“Suit yourself.” I joined Kent and two other officers. “Everyone okay?”
“Other than being completely drunk, they should be fine.” Kent said. “Montoya got them all loaded into ambulances and saw them off to the hospital.”
“Good. I found the curse. I know how it was created and how to break it.” I filled them in on the details. A quick glance back at the car confirmed the phantom was still there. “I’ll need an escort too.”
Kent nodded. “I can’t leave, but I’ll assign someone.”
Five minutes later, we were on the road. I took a moment to thank the earth that it was the middle of the night. The curse wasn’t thrilled with our escort, but the phantom unicorn trailed my car all the way to the museum without causing any problems, in no small part because there weren’t many people out and about at two in the morning.
Marietta Nature Museum was in a brick building on the outskirts of downtown. A rumpled Jerry and an immaculately put-together woman with silver hair waited on the steps.
I unbuckled the skull, and with the phantom keeping pace, went to greet them.
“You found it!” The woman hurried down to meet me.
The phantom blocked her path.
She looked at it evenly. “None of that. I’ve taken care of you these past few years.”
The phantom backed away.
“Devi Douglas.” She smiled, more at the skull than me. “Thank you. I’ve been worried, and I know his family has worried too.”
“Michelle Oaks. It is my pleasure to return the skull.” I kept going up the steps. “Shall we break this curse?”
“Oh, yes.” Devi hurried to the door. “This way.”
Jerry gave me and the phantom plenty of room before following us in.
At first, it seemed like any other museum, with a skeleton of a large bird hanging over the entry. That impression didn’t last long. She took us through an enormous room with a dragon skeleton, or a very good replica of one. It was an adult, taking up more than one hundred feet from head to tail. Other skeletons of large, intelligent races lined the walls. Two gryphons guarded over a nest of baby gryphons. A giant stood between large doors to the next room, and a wyrm took up the entire far wall.
From there, we went through a hall of humanoids. Here they’d been preserved in several configurations, often including the cartilage. Dwarves stood next to fey and witches beside werewolves. A column separated elves and dark elves. Vampires and humans were beside one another.
As we walked, Devi told us about other parts of the museum, where they showed shifters in both forms. She pointedly said every single skeleton had been donated to the facility. Her chatter carried us to another hall with intelligent non-human races, including unicorns.
A rearing skeleton, hooves high in the air, drew my eyes to the center of the room. It would’ve been perfect, if only it had a head.
“Uther was a recent addition, only three years with us. His family is so proud and loves to visit.” Devi gazed at the skeleton. “Bless you for finding the skull. I don’t know what we would’ve done.”
“I’ll have the curse corrected as quickly as I can.” I extended a probe.
A binding spell draped across the bones like a tattered rag. I winced and continued to examine the area. Where the spell was broken, it was as if it had been dissolved into nothing. Motes of magic drifted through the gaps in the weave. Jerry had mentioned a nullifying spell, but it was long gone.
I retracted the probe. “Did you remove any spells?”
“No.” Jerry shook his head. “I did my investigation, and they closed off this room. It’s just as I left it.”
“Any suggestions?” I tipped my head toward the phantom.
It didn’t respond.
“We’ll try easy and then the hard way.” I leaned into the display, setting the skull roughly under the unicorn’s hooves. “In theory, this should be enough.”
The phantom stood behind me.
I watched the magic.
“Should I be seeing something?” Devi asked.
“The easy way isn’t working,” Jerry said. “Ladder or levitation?”
I sighed. Nothing was ever easy. “How do you get up there to attach a skull?”
Devi beamed. “We just upgraded our scissor lift last year. I’ll bring it around.”
The phantom seemed fine waiting, so I sat down on the floor and leaned my head against the platform.
“I brought you tea. It’s in the car.” Jerry crouched down in front of me. “How’d you find this thing?”
“Oh, tea. I can’t wait. I ran out on the way here.” I huffed out a breath. “You’re going to get to work with Cherokee on this one. It was terrorizing a Halloween Essence.”
He rocked back. “How in Narzel’s name did it end up there?”
“That’s your problem.” I shrugged. “But when you find out, give me a call.”
Jerry gave me a crooked grin. “I’ve heard about your in-laws to be. I’ll come up with a pressing reason we need to have lunch.”
“You’re a gem.” I gave him the short version of events.
A high-pitched, mechanical groan interrupted the end of my story. Devi rolled in on a bright blue scissor lift, sporting a hardhat and a safety belt. The lift had a platform large enough for two people if they enjoyed each other's company. “Will this do?”
“It’ll do.” I picked up the skull and moved out of the way.
Devi got the lift in position. I belted myself in, and Devi got us in the air.
Wires and a metal rod stuck out from the vertebrae. This would’ve been useful if I had any idea how to securely attach the skull. I peered down at the phantom. “She’s going to have to do this part.”
“I’ll take good care of you,” Devi said solemnly.
To her credit, Devi told me just how to support the skull while she positioned it and wired it back into place. It wasn’t the quickest process, but when she was done, the skull wasn’t going anywhere.
Devi dusted off her hands. “How’s the curse looking?”
“Well, the phantom is still here, so not great.”
She leaned over. “You’re back together. What more do you want? You know I can’t have a curse in here. We teach children.”
The phantom reared up and then landed back on four hooves.
Back together. The phrase rattled around my tired brain as I switched my vision to see the magic. The binding spell was still broken. Ideally, I’d strip the magic away and recast the spell. Since the binding was part of what had created the curse, that didn’t seem like the best idea.
With a twist of my wrist, I summoned my wand. This binding was a more complex one, but the fragments of the original spell blended seamlessly with the new magic. I finished the spell with a flourish. “Purisaz esaz Algiz.”
The binding spell snapped into place, coating the entire skeleton, including the skull. The phantom faded away. I probed the skull, but it didn’t have any hint of magic or curse left on it. “It’s done.”
Now I could go home and get some sleep. At least until the next emergency.