Chapter 18 #2
We split up as planned, with Mack, Eli, Quinn, Lachlan, and Davina going up to the attic, with me trailing behind.
Beau and Hannah stayed to herd and pass along the good ghosts.
Gwyn was quite happy to stay on the main floor and work rather than go up into the spooky attic with spiders, wannabe demon ghosts, and tripping hazards.
I couldn’t blame her. Also, if Joey was up there, I didn’t want Gwyn anywhere near him.
I noticed Davina had a short sword strapped to her back, but she wasn’t really armed otherwise. “Uh, Davina, you good?”
She didn’t glance back as we walked up the very narrow stairs, but she did tilt her head to speak more over her shoulder. “Why, ’cause I only have the sword? Don’t worry, I’m not exorcising, I’ll just hand ghosts over to Eli. The sword’s in case Joey’s up there.”
“Ah, wise precaution, then.”
“I’m at least better at herding ghosts than this one,” Davina teased, jerking a thumb at her cousin.
Lachlan sighed gustily as he walked ahead of her. “Like being better than me is some trick. More like, any lower, I wouldn’t have Sight at all to herd them.”
Eli barely got her foot on the top tread before she was rushed from all sides in a clearly pre-planned ambush.
Quinn stepped ahead of us all, Super Soaker at hand, and laid down cover fire in a smooth arc, then did it again, forcing the ghosts back and clearing the doorway enough that we could all quickly get fully into the room.
The fact he had to do so was honestly chilling.
He called, “B! Get that salt circle down!”
“On it!” I slung the bag of salt off my shoulder and immediately put a salt circle down near the stairs.
It was so dusty up here, you could create whole new creatures with dust bunnies.
An army of dust bunnies, no less. It made laying down a complete circle difficult.
The air was musty up here, too. It smelled like dead dreams, rotten floorboards, and tripping hazards.
The second I had the circle down, everyone retreated into it.
Mack was just as busy as Davina, both grabbing ghosts, holding them steady while Eli poofed them out of existence.
Eli’s hands flew like she was in some kind of MMA throwdown.
I could already see sweat dewing Eli’s temples, so this might be a two-day fight up here.
I went shoulder to shoulder with Quinn, also laying down a cover fire of rock salt, forcing the ghosts back. I wouldn’t let them overwhelm our Mediums. I could hear Lachlan behind me, swearing in Gaelic and covering his cousin’s flank.
This shouldn’t be an actual fight, dammit!
As quickly as they’d rushed us, the horde of ghosts pulled back, disappearing farther into the attic. One of them called from the shadows, “You can’t catch all of us, bitches!”
Why did I think this was a trap?
We all took a second to catch our breath, not leaving the salt circle. I caught Mack’s eye. “I’m going to lay another salt circle farther in so we don’t have to retreat to this one every time.”
“Good call, mon cher.” Mack grimaced a smile at me. “I have a feeling today’s going to be a short workday.”
Because they’d be too exhausted to continue for much longer. Right. I was really starting to hate this theater.
Grimly, we moved farther in, but we stayed in a tight formation.
I certainly didn’t trust anything in this area.
I’d been right, the attic was full of tripping hazards—like, there were as many old posters for movies and cutouts as the basement held.
Up here, though, there were no divisions.
Just one big open space with duct work and insulation and very poor lighting.
I think there were four bulbs here for the entire attic.
It looked like a place no one would go to.
And the view through my googles told an entirely different story. “Uh, honey? This entire attic looks dark blue. Like…how many?”
Mack’s back was to me, but he sounded very grim. “Too many, cher. Too many. But only way through is forward. Lachlan, if you’ll help me?”
“Aye, sure.”
Davina volunteered, “I’ll assist Eli, then. Try not to exorcise, Mack.”
My fiancé sighed and nodded.
Oh shit, was him exorcising on the table? Not a great idea.
Mack cracked his neck from side to side like a prize fighter about to enter the ring. “Right. Let’s get this started.”
Then he grabbed two ghosts with either hand and hauled them to Eli. “First order, coming up!”
I quickly found a spot to put another salt circle down, making it big enough that we could all comfortably stand in it, then second-guessed putting the bag down, deciding to salt the stairs so none of the ghosts could flee down.
Because with these three poofing ghosts out of existence, someone would surely make a break for it, and today of all days, I wasn’t in the mood to hunt them down.
Eli started twirling like a dancer, laughing like the mad loon she was as she moved. Maybe I should try to film her. If nothing else, it would be great entertainment later.
I stood at Mack’s back like a buffer so nothing could attack him from behind. I was a living shield, which wasn’t unheard of, but it wasn’t normally this bad.
I watched the Mediums grabbing ghosts and hauling them to Eli, watched Eli move through the room slowly, touching every ghost she could, her eyes fierce with triumph and concentration.
Quinn stood much like me, a living shield at her back.
Our eyes met as we moved, rotating around our Mediums like asteroids to a planet.
Yeah, this would take a while.
And we wouldn’t leave our Mediums until it was done.