by Elle Adams
Weird. I’d definitely heard a noise that hadn’t sounded like the usual grumblings of an old house creaking away to itself. The only other explanation I could think of was that the other Reaper had been upstairs, and he’d used his shadow-jumping trick to sneak out when I came looking for him. Maybe I should have used my scanning ability from the start, but opening the afterlife on top of those kids would have been a bit much, even if they could benefit from getting some sense knocked into them.
If it was the Reaper, he wouldn’t come back until the coast was clear, so I retraced my steps and climbed down the stairs to join the detective. As I’d predicted, he’d waited for me instead of going outside. Carey and Casper had stayed with him, too, though I wouldn’t have wanted to be alone with those kids either.
“Any luck?” Drew asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “False alarm, I think.”
“There weren’t any ghosts up there?” asked Carey.
“Didn’t look that way.” I walked over to the pile of herbs and dug my heel in, grinding them into the floorboards. “That’ll stop anyone else from doing any summoning spells.”
Cris’s indignant voice came from the other side of the boarded-up window. “Hey! You can’t do that.”
“We bought those herbs ourselves,” Ann added.
“Tough.” Job done, I left the house behind Drew, Carey and Casper bringing up the rear. “You should have saved your money instead.”
“Go on,” Drew said sternly to the students. “Go home to your parents. Did any of you tell your families you were coming here today?”
Mutters broke out among their group. Guess not, huh. Not that it came as a surprise. They struck me as the kind of kids whose parents let them do whatever they liked and were then surprised when their teenage children went off the rails. Still, their annoyance was not my problem. As long as I’d stopped them from summoning an angry poltergeist, I considered this a win.
Our group waited for the students to traipse away before leaving the house behind us.
“Shelton didn’t come back,” I remarked to Drew as we left. “Whatever he was doing here yesterday. Can’t say I know why he’d have told those kids to come ghost hunting here, so I’m guessing someone else did.”
The house was close enough to the site of those two students’ deaths to make me wonder if it’d shown up in a story from the time that I hadn’t heard yet, but the more pertinent issue was how in the world they’d found out how to do a summoning spell. It wasn’t the sort of thing they were taught at the local witch academy, though I supposed they might’ve borrowed a book from the library to look it up out of curiosity. I doubted either of the librarians would have expected them to come here and conduct a summoning ritual.
That means I need to head back to the library again.
Drew nodded slowly. “Tell you what, we should speak to the Reaper and tell him there’s a bunch of schoolchildren who went to the house after he was there. See how he responds to that.”
“Bet that gets his attention,” I agreed. “But do you want to do that before or after we ask old Harold if Shelton’s name is on the list of Council-approved Reapers?”
“We’ll stop at old Harold’s place on the way,” Drew said decisively. “Once we make sure those kids don’t go back to the house.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
We walked at a slow pace behind the group of retreating students. Drew took the lead, while I fell back to talk to Carey.
“You okay?” I asked her.
“Yeah,” she said. “I wonder why you didn’t find anything upstairs.”
“I guess they didn’t succeed in summoning any ghosts,” I said. “Lucky for all of us, really. I could banish any ghost if I found one, but it’d be a bit traumatising for Cris and her friends if it turned out to be a violent poltergeist.”
She blanched. “Like Mrs Renner.”
“Exactly,” I said. “She’s pretty much the worst-case scenario, but anyone might’ve got hurt if they’d kept trying that spell, ghost or no ghost.”
“So you want to talk to old Harold?” she asked.
“I think you should go back home first,” I said. “Before your mother comes after us. Trust me, you won’t miss much by avoiding the Reaper.”
“Agreed,” Drew said.
I half expected her to argue, but she nodded. “Sure. I’ll tell her you’re visiting the Reaper and you’ll be back soon.”
Once we’d ensured the students were out of sight of the house, we walked across the bridge and dropped Carey off back at the inn.
“It’s up to you whether you want to tell your mum or not,” I said. “She won’t be amused at me for taking you with me to turf those kids out of the house.”
“I’ll just say it was like a regular ghost-hunting mission,” she said. “She already lets me go on those anyway. It’s no big deal. Not like anything happened.”
“Fair point.” Allie was laid back as far as parents went, though I had an inkling she was just relieved her daughter had any friends at all, even an antisocial Reaper like me. Oh, and the detective. I wouldn’t lie; I’d been glad to have him with me when I was confronting those kids.
The authority he wielded had got the students to leave the house with minimal fuss, where they’d probably have argued to the ends of the earth if I’d confronted them alone. Small mercies.
“See you in a bit,” said Carey as I waved her off.
After she’d gone back into the restaurant, Drew and I turned around and crossed the river again, heading for the Reaper’s cottage. As usual, the place was overgrown with weeds and wreathed in an air of neglect. I knocked on the door, mentally preparing myself for his annoyed shout in reply. Instead, nobody answered.
I knocked again. After no response came once more, I tapped into the afterlife and found nothing waiting on the other side.
“He’s not in?” I said disbelievingly. “Does he ever leave his house?”
“Not often,” said Drew. “We can check the cemetery. He might’ve gone for a walk.”
I scanned the gravestones littering the hill past the cottage, but the graveyard was small enough that I’d definitely have spotted the grumpy old Reaper wandering around. I did see a few ghosts, which at least was a sign that the new Reaper hadn’t run amok in here with his scythe.
“Where’s he gone, then?” I remarked. “I have no idea if he took his scythe with him or not, but I’m not going to break into his house and find out. He probably has defensive mechanisms on his door.”
“Yes, that isn’t advisable,” said Drew. “Besides, he doesn’t need his scythe to defend himself if need be.”
“Guess not,” I said. “Right… we’ll go and speak to Shelton. If he’s anywhere to be found, that is.”
Why had old Harold chosen now to go wandering off? Admittedly, he likely didn’t know about the kids going to the old house and had no reason to check up on them, but it looked as though we’d have to go and speak to Shelton again without knowing whether he was an official Reaper. Still, we could always talk to Harold later and see what he had to say about our mysterious friend. After all, I didn’t want to waste any more time. If Shelton had been connected to the reason those kids had been poking around the old house, then I’d rather find out before they took another risk and someone ended up getting hurt.
Drew and I left the cemetery and headed down the road out of the town, keeping both eyes open for our wayward Reapers. None appeared, but I hadn’t expected it to be that easy to pin Shelton down.
“This is ridiculous.” I halted in mid step, my patience fizzling out. “Which Reaper do you want to find first?”
“Why?” asked Drew.
“Because I think we’ll have to use a shortcut if we want to get anywhere.” I took in a deep breath. “Want me to use my shadows?”
Drew’s brows rose. “You can bring another person along for the ride?”
“If you hang on tight,” I said. “I haven’t done it for a while, but if you w
ant to give it a try, I can give you a tour of the afterlife.”
“All right,” he said. “I think we should talk to Shelton first, since he’s our priority.”
“This method has its drawbacks,” I warned. “If I use my Reaper skills to pin him down, I can’t see his physical location until we step out of the afterworld. We might land on top of him while he’s showering, for instance.”
“Thanks for putting that mental image in my head,” he said. “You can’t check whereabouts he is before you appear next to him, then?”
“Nope,” I said. “But I’m willing to make the sacrifice. I’ll warn you if he isn’t wearing clothes.”
He grinned. “I’m a shifter, remember? I’ve seen it all before.”
I smiled back. “C’mon, let’s get this done.”
He took my hand, and I turned on my Reaper powers, letting the afterlife surround me. Then we stepped through the shadows together.
11
Luckily for all of us, Shelton was not naked in the shower when we stepped out on the other side of the shadows. Spared that mentally scarring experience, we landed on the country road between Hawkwood Hollow and its neighbouring town. A cool breeze greeted us, and farther down the road, Shelton wheeled around to face us.
“You again?” His eyes went to Drew. “You brought someone through the shadows with you? That’s yet another Reaper rule broken.”
“I wouldn’t have to break the rules if you weren’t so determined to avoid everyone, you know.” I walked over to meet him. “What are you doing out here?”
“What did I say about minding your own business?” he said.
“I would like you to tell me what you’re doing in Hawkwood Hollow,” said Drew. “I’m sure you understand why I need that information.”
“Not in the slightest,” said Shelton.
“You’re new in town and a Reaper,” Drew elaborated.
“So’s she,” said Shelton, eyeing me. “You’ll have to try harder than that.”
Fine, then. “A group of students found their way to the old house where you were hanging out earlier and were attempting to summon a ghost,” I told him. “You don’t know anything about that, do you?”
“What?” he said. “No. You think I’m a bad influence on the local teenagers?”
“I think you’re hiding your real reasons for being here,” I said. “And I’m not convinced it’s because of your devotion to protecting the secrets of the Reaper Council.”
“What I’m doing here is classified,” he said.
“By whom?” said Drew. “I’m the chief of police here in Hawkwood Hollow, and I’m the highest authority by default.”
“Not where I’m from, you’re not.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “So you’re saying you are with the council, but you won’t say so directly because it violates whatever promise you made to maintain secrecy. You’d have saved us a bunch of trouble if you’d just come out and said it, you know. I doubt the council would care.”
He scowled. “That’s not for you to decide.”
So it was a secret council mission that had brought him here? If he hadn’t been so secretive, I might not have suspected foul play. Yet it must have been an important mission for him to ignore the swarm of ghosts inhabiting the town. That was a glaring red flag for most Reaper Council members. What, then, was his real purpose here?
“Two ghosts have vanished,” I added. “Both of them were in the same location and vanished shortly after your arrival in Hawkwood Hollow. Since you refused to say what you were doing in town, it naturally drew my suspicion. Can you blame me for jumping to conclusions?”
“Yes,” he said. “No true Reaper would make friends with the local ghosts, though given what I’ve heard about your background, I can’t say I’m surprised.”
My hands clenched. “You’ve been asking people about me?”
“Of course I did,” said Shelton. “You can’t be trusted to tell the truth, and the local Reaper is not a reliable source, so I did some background research on you. You would have done the same.”
That’s how he knew about my brother. Yet he hadn’t banished Mart, not even when I’d sent him to spy on the Reaper. Why he’d chosen to spare Mart when he clearly didn’t care for me in the slightest, I couldn’t say I had the faintest idea.
“That was the plan, except I’m not an active Reaper, and I have no idea who you are,” I said. “A ghost asked me to find his missing friend. Then the ghost himself vanished not long after. Of course I got suspicious about the person walking around with the ability to banish any spirit with zero effort, especially when he refused to answer my questions and had zero respect for local law enforcement.” I indicated Drew with a raised eyebrow. “Or the ghosts, for that matter. Do you even know who the two spirits who vanished were?”
“Am I supposed to care about the local ghosts’ sob stories?” said Shelton.
“If they were potentially the victims of the same killer, then it’s relevant,” I countered. “Eric and Lara were thought to be victims of the floods, but if it turns out their deaths weren’t accidental, then it looks suspicious that both vanished at the same time. Just saying.”
“Not all of us get personally involved with ghosts,” he said. “In fact, I might accuse you of inventing the story in order to drive me out of town and disparage the Reaper Council.”
I bit back my frustration. “If you speak to any of the ghosts living in or around the Riverside Inn, they can back me up. Yes, I suspected you of banishing the two ghosts, mostly because of the giant scythe strapped to your back and the fact that you won’t tell anyone your mission. The town’s been this way for more than two decades, and nobody mentioned any ghosts vanishing beforehand, so if a new person walks into town carrying a giant ghost-killing weapon, it’s going to draw my attention, isn’t it? Even if I wasn’t half Reaper.”
“If you weren’t a Reaper, you wouldn’t have got involved.”
He just had to keep needling me. Unfortunately, it was starting to look as if he was innocent after all. Despite his attitude, he clearly didn’t know who Eric and Lara were or what had led to their deaths or the banishment of their ghosts. He was here for some other reason and had crossed my path by sheer chance, as unlikely as it seemed.
“If you researched my background,” I said, “then everything you think you know about me is years out of date. Anyway, if you had nothing to do with the disappearance of the two spirits, then you won’t mind my asking if you’ve seen anything unusual and ghost related around town, right?”
“Unusual in what way?” he said. “If you expect me to help you with something illegal, then you’re mistaken.”
Drew cleared his throat. “I think we’ve had a misunderstanding here. I was led to believe you were a rogue operating outside of Reaper jurisdiction. If you want to avoid further incidents like this, then might I suggest letting the authorities know you have important business in town? Even if you prefer not to disclose the reasons for your mission, telling us you’re with the council would prevent any further issues.”
Shelton’s face flushed, but he clearly didn’t have a response prepared. He should have told the police why he was here, secret business or not, or at least spoken to Harold if not to local law enforcement. If the old Reaper had given a damn, of course, he’d have confronted him along with me, but the blame still lay with Shelton.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said through gritted teeth.
“And if there’s anything we can do to help you, then let us know,” Drew added.
“Happy to help.” I put on a cheery voice, unable to resist taking a jab at him, and the Reaper glowered at me again. “I’d be glad to back you up if you need me to deal with a wayward spirit.”
“I don’t take assistance from rogues,” he said stiffly. “And I hope that you plan on walking back to town on foot, not breaking the law by using your Reaper talents again.”
Ah. We were way out in the middle of nowhere, an
d getting back on foot would take a while. Still, I refused to regret taking a shortcut to find him. At least we’d eliminated one person from the suspect list, albeit the person I had been so sure was guilty that I had zero substantial evidence for the rest.
“Of course.” I shot him a false smile. “Have fun with whatever you’re doing out here.”
And with that, Drew and I turned and began the long walk back to Hawkwood Hollow.
“What was he doing out there?” I muttered. “Does his secret mission involve standing in random fields and meditating? He’s lucky he didn’t end up trespassing on a farmer’s property and getting chased off.”
“Looks like he’s making a phone call,” Drew remarked.
“I guess the signal isn’t the greatest back in town,” I allowed. “But come on. I can’t believe he won’t tell me what his top-secret business is.”
“Isn’t that Reaper code for ‘looking for a ghost’?” he asked.
I tilted my head. “He’s not the only one who did his research, is he?”
“Guilty,” he said. “It’s true, though, right?”
“Yes, to a point,” I said. “He’s either hunting a ghost or a rogue Reaper most likely. But given the state of things here, I can’t discount the possibility that he’s spying on the town and reporting back to the council on the ghost situation. I mean, even if that wasn’t his original job, he has good reason to start now, if he hasn’t already.”
Drew’s expression darkened. “Yes, he does, considering the state of things here. Do you think the odds are high that he’ll leave and bring more Reapers along with him?”
“Hard to say,” I admitted. “I don’t think he has a whole team behind him. He doesn’t strike me as the cooperative type.”
Not that unusual for a Reaper, but he must have had a supervisor who’d sent him on the mission to begin with. Someone who might follow behind him if he ran into difficulties.
Which, unfortunately, meant that if necessary, I might have to cooperate with the guy. If it turned out whatever he was looking for here was something I could actually help out with, that is. The odds of him accepting my help, though? Not great. And the lingering question remained of who’d banished the two ghosts if not the Reaper. The old house he’d been sneaking around was a source of suspicion, too, because we still didn’t know why he’d been there—or why those kids had picked it as a target too.