Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts, Book 2)

Chapter One

The penalty for summoning the dead back to earth is death; if the summoned spirit does not kill its summoner, be assured the Church will.
—The Book of Truth, Laws, Article 3
Ghosts were stronger underground; no witch willingly went below the surface of the earth, not without a Church edict or a death wish. Chess had both to varying degrees, but that didn’t make the doorway looming behind the skinny man holding the cup any more appealing. The doorway, and the stairs. Down into a basement, down into the ground.
Chess’s skin crawled from more than just the squatfaced, wizened appearance of the man, more than the bizarre energy in the dirty shack. Something told her this was not going to end well.