Chapter 53
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Oscar saw the flicker of worry in her eyes, before it was quickly hidden once again. “What do you mean, Mr. Fox?”
“I can’t let this happen. Gloria—this Gloria—might be a tulpa rather than a human ghost, but I’m not about to let Ullman murder another girl—even if she only looks like one. And I can’t cover up the crimes he and his friends committed in life.”
Nigel moved to stand behind him. “Neither can I.”
“Yeah, you can shove your money where the sun don’t shine.” Chris joined them, along with Tina, who said, “I know it’s going to come as a surprise to you, but not everyone can be bought.”
Despite everything, Oscar felt his heart swell against his ribs. Whatever happened next, they’d face it together.
“I’ll destroy you,” Montague promised.
“That doesn’t change my decision.” He’d come from a long line of mediums, and he would do his ancestors proud. “I have a duty to the dead as well as the living. And I’m afraid my duty to the people in that mass grave outweighs anything I owe you.”
“Exactly,” Dr. Lawson said. “So give me the damned box, and let’s find somewhere safer than in here to take cover!”
She reached for the Devil’s Toy Box, but Montague tried to pull it back. For a moment, the two women struggled, each trying to wrest the box from the other. Then one, or perhaps both, slipped.
The box went flying through the air. Time seemed to slow as Oscar watched its arc. He tried to intercept it, but the dining room chairs were in the way, and he’d never been the fastest player on the field.
The box hit the floor with the sound of smashing mirrors. The lid flew open—and darkness boiled free.