Chapter 3 #3
“This is Johnny,” Hattie continues, and the teenager steps forward.
He’s not as old as Joe but has probably thirty years on Hattie.
He’s also eclectic in style, wearing clothes that are undoubtedly similar to what he died in, but sporting a magenta mohawk, a row of piercings in each ear, his eyebrow, and nose, and tattoos on the side of his neck. “And—”
“I am Frederick Walton III,” the last ghost announces pompously. He’s the youngest one here, maybe eighty or ninety years old, and if I had to guess, I’d say he’s still clinging to his old life. It happens sometimes.
“Great to meet you all. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk over the next week.”
The current of shock that runs through the room makes me bite back a smile. Am I an asshole? Maybe. But it doesn’t change the fact that they’re fucking lucky the worst they’ve had to deal with are a soul-eater and a body-hopper. They’re living on borrowed time.
Except the ghosts, because they’re not living. Existing?
“You’re planning to stay?” Josh asks. “For a week. Wow. We wouldn’t want to keep you—I’m sure you have a lot of important stuff to do. Other people to save, you know.” He caps off with a desperate chuckle.
“First I have to finish saving you. Why don’t we start with the gateway to the otherworld you’ve left wide open?” I skim my gaze around the room. Joe is scowling fiercely, fists clenched, clearly ready to do battle. The rest are somewhere between shock and worry.
“Gateway?” Skye manages, blinking rapidly. “Like the one you just made? We don’t know what you mean.”
Josh swallows hard.
“We don’t have anything like that here,” Frederick declares. “It sounds so very low-class, and Mannix Estate prides itself on quality.”
Hattie winces. “Don’t say ‘low-class,’ Freddie. It’s elitist.”
Skye flicks a glance around. “Are the ghosts talking? Two of you doing this is just too weird.”
“The ghosts are talking,” I confirm. “They’re not saying anything useful, though. So… back to the gateway. It’s in the main house, toward the back, on one of the upper floors… second or third, I think. It didn’t feel high enough to be in the attic.”
This time the silence is stunned.
“It’s been open a long time. Maybe too long to be safely closed.
Which means yes, Skye, the body-hopper can come back, bringing with it a whole bunch of its closest friends.
And that’s one of the best outcomes of having an unguarded open gateway, so you need to take me to it and tell me what the fuck you’ve done here so I can fix it. ”
Frederick draws himself up huffily, but Josh holds out a hand in his direction, and he subsides. Skye sighs, probably frustrated at not being able to see everything that’s happening.
Surprisingly, though, it’s Joe who speaks. “You ask a lot of us. How do we know we can trust you?”
Uh… what? “Trust me how? I helped you banish the soul-eater and just freed your friend from a body-hopper. What exactly don’t you trust me with?”
“It’s not you specifically,” Joe concedes grudgingly. “We don’t trust anyone with the power here.”
It takes me a few seconds to realize what he means, and respect fills me.
They’re right to be so cautious—there are a lot of people, a lot of creatures out there who would totally take advantage of the power available in an unguarded gateway.
If it was in a more densely populated area, things would be very different right now.
It’s only luck that’s allowed them to be undiscovered this long.
But…
With a flick of my fingers, I open a gateway. It’s slightly bigger than the one I used for the spirit, because I want to be sure everyone sees it. Except Skye, who won’t be able to. Being a conduit doesn’t give him that ability.
The gush of energy into the room is invigorating, and I hold the gateway for the count of five, letting the ghosts and Josh all experience it. Then I close it.
“I can access that power anytime I want,” I say bluntly.
“I don’t because I understand the danger of it.
I’m a hunter, ghost. I’m committed to keeping Earth safe from the dangers of the otherworld.
” Maybe it was rude to call Joe “ghost,” but I want him to understand that he can’t stand in my way.
Me asking is a courtesy. If he and his ghost friends try to stop me, I’ll send them to their next lives so fast, they won’t even realize it’s happened.
“Sounds like we can trust him,” Johnny says, but he doesn’t sound convinced.
“Whether we can or not, this isn’t a decision we can make.” Josh’s voice is firm. “Kieran’s the boss.”
“Let’s go talk to Kieran, then.” I’m willing to be reasonable. Within limits.
“It’s Friday,” Skye reminds me. “And Josh and I are here. Believe me, nobody’s talking to Kieran right now except the visitors.” He looks at Josh. “We should get to work.”
Josh nods, though his gaze is troubled. “Will a few hours make a difference?” he asks me. “Can we wait until tonight, after the day visitors are gone and it’s just the overnight guests?”
Truthfully? No. Every second that gateway is open is a second something can come through. But they’ve been lucky so far. Who’s to say that luck won’t continue for the rest of the day? Plus, I’m here now. There’s not much that might come through that I can’t deal with.
I hope.
To be on the safe side, I might get my kit out of the car.
“Find somewhere I can wait,” I begin, and their relief is almost palpable.
“You can wait here,” Skye says eagerly. “Daniel and Ewan won’t mind. Make yourself comfortable.”
I shake my head. “Nope. Find me somewhere in the house, so if something else comes through the gateway I’m close enough to act before anyone gets hurt.”
The two living men pale so fast, Josh actually sways on his feet. “The liability,” he mutters.
“Okay,” Skye agrees. “Um. The breakroom?” he asks Josh.
“It’s nearly lunchtime! How could we explain that?”
“Yeah, that would be bad. Where, then? It can’t be any of the guest spaces. The storeroom? But any of the staff would want to know…”
“My place,” Josh says. “It’s private, away from the guests and staff, and you can be comfortable.”
Sounds okay. “Is it close to the house?”
“It’s in the attic.” He hesitates. “I know this sounds rude, but could you stay there? Not all the staff know about… everything. Plus we have guests. It would be bad if people started asking what you were doing here.”
I shrug. “No problem. You don’t have guests near the gateway, do you?”
“Not anymore,” Josh says. Which I guess means there were before, and that’s something I don’t want to think about too much.
“Lead the way.” I could live with a nap.