As soon as James got to work, he told the others what was going on. Gabriella went straight over to Gran’s with a few extra supplies, including weapons. James knew Aunty Jules would be able to fend off anything that attempted to get through the protections Gran has embedded into the property (something very few things would be able to achieve anyway), but the idea of the family being vulnerable scared him enough to potentially overload them with protection.

McGovern texted James moments after Gabriella left. He would attempt to get protection over to Gran’s house too, but there had been so many layoffs that things were spread more thinly than ever. Which of course made James think of the dozens of security agents at the Delinsky cottage last year. Plenty of security available for their business, but none for the babies at Gran’s.

He wanted to go over there now, but Gabriella had it under control. She was going to stick around for at least a few hours and then James would plan to go whenever he could leave Headquarters. It was him and Bradley overnight tonight, so he was hoping that Bradley wouldn’t have any issue with him going over there as long as he stayed in touch.

A couple hours later, James had checked in with Gabriella yet again, to the point of potentially irritating her. He was just hanging up with her as Bradley walked into his office. “Hey,” James said. “Listen, I’m thinking I’m going to go back and forth between here and my aunt’s place. Gabriella is there now, but if you don’t mind taking some of the overnight solo, I’ll stay in touch and do my admin work there. I’m sorry to ask and I’ll be fifteen minutes away if anything comes up. Also-”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Bradley said distractedly. “Can I talk to you?”

That was strange. James looked at Bradley, but like always, he was at least trying to keep his expression neutral. It wasn’t working well at all. Instead, he looked incredibly tense. “Yeah, of course,” James said, motioning him into the room.

Bradley closed the door behind himself and came over to the desk, hovering awkwardly by the chairs. James motioned for him to sit down. “What’s up? That looks better, by the way.”

He motioned toward the butterfly bandages. “Yeah,” Bradley said. He closed his eyes for a second, looking reluctant to say whatever he was about to say. James waited in dread. The last time he’d seen someone look like that in here, they’d been about to resign and had been getting the guts up to tell Robin. 

“Polly Grace,” Bradley said after a moment. “Can she manifest in dreams?”

Even though it honestly made perfect sense in context, the question still caught James off guard. “I don’t know?” he said. “I mean, it would make sense. What’s going on?”

“It’s probably nothing,” Bradley said. “But between that fucking mischief last year and the way she can do… just weird shit.”

He stopped and James watched him, waiting patiently for him to continue with whatever story he didn’t want to share. “I had this dream last night,” Bradley said finally. “It was… you were wandering in a house and you were lost. I could…”

He groaned, running a hand down his face, which was now slightly red. “It wasn’t your cousin’s house, but it was close enough. You went in and I could hear you in there, but you couldn’t get out. And it felt so real, the way the dreams did when the mischief was there. More than the ones at that fucking hotel. I was yelling for you, but you weren’t answering, even though I could hear you calling.”

He was looking past James now, toward the window behind his desk, next to the bookshelves. “And then you and I were on the porch of this house, but I knew you were still trapped inside even though you were sitting next to me. And I could feel the wrongness, like, behind my face if that makes sense. Like this pressure building right here.” He motioned vaguely around the lower half of his face. “I woke up with a headache and it’s still there.”

James wanted to rationalize all of that away. Stress, the events from the night before. Summer allergies could be causing the headache. But no doubt Bradley had already done all of that rationalizing and then some before he’d dared to come in here and share this. “You said it was my cousin’s house?” he asked.

“No, it wasn’t. But it was similar to your cousin’s house. Something about it felt the same. It was an old house set back in the trees.”

“Do you remember what it looked like?”

“No.”

“I’m going to be annoying. Try to remember. Here, close your eyes.”

Bradley scowled, but he closed his eyes. “Take a deep breath,” James instructed, trying to remember how Amelia did this trick.

“Fuck off.”

“Just do it,” James said. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

He cast an automatic guilty look up toward the ceiling, then looked back at Bradley. “Where were you in the dream?” he asked. “Like, where outside the house?”

“The porch,” Bradley said. 

“Can you picture it now?”

“Yeah.”

“Describe it.”

“It’s big,” Bradley said after a second of consideration. “It’s a wraparound porch with no railing. The house is old and there’s flower pots along the edges.”

“Were you in front of it?”

“No, on the porch. There’s a small set of stairs leading up to it.”

James had a bad feeling about this, but maybe he was wrong. Houses like that popped up like weeds in this area. “Alright,” he said, trying his best to keep the tension out of his voice. “What else? Just try to remember. Is there anything else that stands out about the porch?”

“There’s an old swing,” Bradley said after another second of thought. “That’s where we were sitting.”

James swallowed hard. Maybe that guilt over the blasphemy was warranted. “And you couldn’t get in?”

“No.”

“Did you try?”

“Yeah. I heard you scream, but the door was locked.”

“Try and open it now.”

“Do you not understand what dreams are? I can’t just-“

“I know, but just humor me, alright? You remember what the door looked like?”

Bradley sighed impatiently. “Just take the knob,” James said, ignoring him.

“It wouldn’t open. It’s wobbly, I forgot about that. I think I broke it trying to get to you.”

“No, it’s been wobbly for thirty years.”

Bradley’s eyes snapped open. “What the fuck, McManus?”

“You’re describing my grandmother’s house. Hang on.”

James took out his phone and started scrolling through his photos, looking for any pictures from the house. But after a moment, he had to give up and video call Gabriella.

“What’s up?” she greeted him. “I promise you, everything is fine here.”

“Gabs, can you show us the porch?”

“What?”

“Gran’s porch. Can you show us it on the screen?”

“Yeah, sure.” 

She hurried toward the door as James glanced at Bradley. He looked queasy as he watched Gabriella move through Gran’s house on James’s phone screen. “Here,” Gabriella said once she was outside. “How’s that?”

He angled the screen toward Bradley. “That’s it,” Bradley said. “I’m so sick of this shit.”

“Okay,” James said, nodding uselessly as he looked around his office and tried to wrap his head around what the fuck was going on. “So that’s our grandmother’s house. She owned it for something like seventy years and it has every charm imaginable on it. It’s sort of the central hub for our family. Gabs lived there for how long?”

“Three years,” Gabriella said quietly. “When I was a teenager.”

When her dad died of a heart attack at his work desk. Bravo to James for pulling that up. Beside him, Bradley was staring at the porch. “So what does this mean?” he asked. “Is Polly Grace trying to get in the house?”

“I don’t know,” James admitted, his heart going wild even as he tried to stay calm. “Let me think. So you couldn’t get in the house?”

“No.”

“Could you see in the windows?”

“I don’t-”

“Bradley! This is important. Could you see in the windows or not?”

He knew he was on the edge of panic now, but this was Polly Grace and this was his family. Bradley took a breath. “No,” he said finally. “No, I didn’t look through the actual windows, but I tried to look through the window on the door and I couldn’t see anything in there.”

“James,” Gabriella said over the phone. “I put up all the new stuff already. And I didn’t touch Gran’s.”

“Come on,” James said. “Quick field trip before McGovern gets here.”

“Before what?” Bradley demanded as he followed James toward the office door.

***

When they got to the house, Bradley confirmed again that this was where the dream had taken place. “I need to report this to McGovern,” James said as they stood on the porch. “We’re taking the case to the Foundation, we can’t risk it with this kind of power involved.”

Bradley groaned. “You should have brought Madelyn instead of me,” he pointed out. “She’s the one who actually knows the tech. I just know the basics.”

“Gabriella had her on the phone to help set it up, it’s all fine. So here’s what we need to do,” James said, thinking out loud now. “We’re going to make sure that the house is protected. McGovern might be able to send agents, but I’m not holding my breath. One of us is here at all times until it’s done.”

“And what is done?” Bradley asked.

“I’ll let you know when I know. We need to check the security, which won’t take long. My grandmother put seventy years worth of charms on this place and Gabriella has been here all afternoon adding more. Then we need to figure out who was contacting you. Was there anyone else there in your dream?”

“No. Just you and me.”

“And were you you?”

“What?”

“No, I mean…” James looked at one of the dying flowers in the flowerpot closest to them. “I mean, was it like one of those dreams when you’re watching it happen? Or was it like you were living it?”

“Living it.”

“I don’t think it was Polly Grace.”

Bradley looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I think it was about her. I think she tried to get in and couldn’t because the charms were blocking her like they’re supposed to. The door was locked, and the windows were blackened out. But I don’t think it was because you were necessarily seeing it through her eyes. It was something else. But it also wasn’t like the mischief. There was no mistaking him there, remember?”

“Yeah. Or what’s-her-name from the hotel.”

“Sarah Morgan,” Gabriella said, from where she’d sneaked up on them.

The old door slammed shut behind her as she gingerly touched the scar on her face. Meanwhile, Bradley walked over to the closed door and took the knob, recoiling as it wobbled in his grip. “Here’s my theory,” James said. “She tried, but something was keeping her out. Gran’s charms were powerful enough to do that, so I think that’s what it was. But I don’t think Polly Grace was targeting you or showing it to you in particular.”

“Then why the hell did I see it?”

“Maybe some wires crossed, and you just witnessed it.”

“Or maybe it was a warning?” Gabriella suggested.

James shivered. “I don’t like this.”

“How do you think I fucking feel?” Bradley said.

Fair point. “Any idea who would give us a warning?” James asked Gabriella. “Either in general or through Bradley specifically?”

Gabriella looked at him blankly, then shook her head. “Maybe we have a secret friend,” James said, though his hopes weren’t high.

“Either way, we have to keep the house secure and you need to be fucking careful,” Bradley said.

He was glaring at James now, even though James knew for a fact he hadn’t done anything to deserve it. “I will,” he said. “Jesus, are you mad at me because of what I did in your dream?”

“Just fuck off,” Bradley muttered, turning back to look at the door.

Just ignore it, James told himself. “Gabs, are you good to stay here until I can get back tonight?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“And you’re feeling good about the equipment?”

“Yeah, I went over it all with Madelyn.”

“Perfect. Me and Miss Congeniality over there are on the night shift so I’ll be here in a little while. I should go in and talk to them before we go back. “

Celia, the kids, her ex-husband, and her mother were all inside and on board with James’s request to lock down. Auntie Jules seemed pretty confident in the measures taken. 

“Tommy is on his way too,” she said. 

That was actually very comforting to James. Bradley didn’t say much while they were inside. Instead, he looked around the house and James could tell he was thinking about his dream. Someone had warned them about Polly Grace. He was sure of it now, though he had to assume that Bradley receiving the message was random. He could hope the rest of it, him being lost and trapped, was a regular nightmare. But he couldn’t make himself believe it. 

Bradley was still quiet and angry on the ride back to Headquarters. “Look, it’s something that happens to my family sometimes,” James said. “Something about the charms or the energy around the property. Things bounce off people sometimes, it’s not a big deal.”

“I’d never been to that house,” Bradley said, glaring out the window. “And I don’t want messages in my dreams, I don’t care who is sending them. And I don’t care if I’m the recipient or the… the fucking mailbox or whatever. But you were in danger.”

“From her or from someone else?”

“How the fuck would I know?”

“Because it was your goddamn dream!”

“Apparently it wasn’t. And between this, the hotel, and that little Ouija shit, it never will be again. And my head is my own fucking business. The Foundation doesn’t get that too, or whatever creepy shit decides it’s just stopping by.”

That was fair. “Hopefully it’s just a one off,” James said, taking the risk to reach over and rub his shoulder reassuringly. “A mix of Polly Grace, Gran’s charms, and being at Celia’s house with me yesterday.”

“God, you were being so careless, you just went inside.”

James slowed to a stop at a red light on the edge of town, then turned in the direction of Headquarters. “Let me be crystal fucking clear,” he said, keeping his gaze on the road ahead of him. “I’m not apologizing for what I did in your dream last night.”

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 27