To Seize a Wayward Spirit

by R. L. Naquin

  I didn’t have to be so defensive about it, though. I patted his fingers, then gently removed them from my arm. “I appreciate it. But I’m fine. I’ll be right back.”

  Ash handed me booties for my shoes, for which I was grateful. Not only was it disgusting, it also seemed disrespectful to trample through someone’s remains without at least some kind of protection.

  I entered the room, trying hard to keep my focus away from the sandblast pattern on the ceiling. On the other hand, I wasn’t thrilled with looking at my feet crunching on the carpet, either. I stared straight ahead at the closet door as I walked.

  I gritted my teeth and spoke low. “You’re an idiot, Kam.” I opened the closet door. “Could have grabbed it when you were here the first time. Could have asked Tyrell to send someone to do it. Could have let Tahm or Ash come in here instead.” I bent and gathered the full skirt to push it into the garment bag I found hanging next to it. “No. You have to do everything yourself.” I tucked it all in and zipped up the bag. “Idiot.”

  With the dress snug in its garment bag, I gathered it in my arms and turned toward the door.

  It was hard not to look at the ceiling when something was floating there.

  “Hey, Wendy. I didn’t see you come in.”

  The banshee floated in a corner of the room with her legs drawn up in a sitting position, though she had no chair. Something else moved in my peripheral vision, and I turned my head. Felicia floated into the room from the bathroom—or another dimension. I wasn’t entirely sure how it worked.

  “Felicia. Fantastic. I’m glad to see the two of you are hanging out together now. How nice.”

  The goblin soul took an invisible seat near the ceiling next to the banshee. Both were dressed in short, puffy skirts, thigh-high stockings and animal ears and fluffy tails. Felicia arranged her fox tail in her lap then pointed at the dress in my hand.

  “This? Yes. I’m going to wear it to the convention to try to catch your killer.”

  They smiled and clapped their hands. Then Felicia pointed again, and Wendy made an impatient flapping gesture with her hands. One of her bunny ears drooped in her excitement.

  “What? You want to see it?”

  They nodded in unison.

  I stood in the middle of the sandy carnage of a woman who had been made of rock and shook my head. “If I show you the dress, will you both go quietly into my soul stone afterward?”

  Wendy threw her head back and silently laughed. Felicia frowned and shook her head violently from side to side.

  “Suit yourselves.” I shrugged. “Then you’ll have to wait until the convention, just like everybody else.” I swung the dress over my shoulder and left the room. As far as I could tell, the goblin and banshee didn’t follow.

  Tahm took the dress from me to free up my hands so I could remove the booties. “Who were you talking to in there?”

  “Our missing souls paid me a visit.”

  He groaned. “And you didn’t catch them?”

  “They aren’t ready.” I dropped the booties in the trash. “But now I know for sure they’ll be at the convention this weekend.”

  Ash bounced on the balls of her feet. “Fantastic! As long as we all survive the weekend, we should be able to grab what we came for and move on.”

  I nodded. “Exactly.” I took back the heavy garment bag and held it up. “I’m all settled. Now we have an important decision to make.”

  Tahm gave me a wary expression, apparently suspecting where I was going.

  “We have to decide on costumes for the two of you.”

  “No.” Tahm took a step back, his eyes wide. He held his hands up as if to shield himself from my perceived attack. “Not going to happen.”

  I smiled my sweetest. “We’ll see.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  We returned to the boarding house where I tucked the dress away in my closet next to my tee shirts and worn-out jeans. Tahm and Ash went to their own rooms, since we all felt the need to take a break.

  I unzipped the garment bag and let all the gossamer material spill out of its prison. The dress was a little flat, so I took time to fluff it before leaving it for gravity to pull out some of the wrinkles I’d made in transport.

  My startle reflex had dulled over the last few days, so when I swung around and found Poor Dead Pete sitting in my chair, I didn’t jump. “Well, look at you.” I pointed. “All the way down to your feet. Good for you!”

  He grinned and rested an ankle on the opposite knee and sat back, appearing perfectly at home in my room.

  “You look pleased with yourself.” I sat on the bed so I wasn’t towering over him. “I don’t suppose you’ve learned to make sounds?”

  He shook his head and held his hands palm up in an apologetic gesture.

  “It’s okay. Now that you’re a whole you, we can probably work through it.”

  My door opened. “Hey, Kam, have you seen my necklace? I can’t find it any—Hey! Is that Pete?” Ash stood in the doorway wide-eyed. “Hi, Pete. I’m Ash. Sorry about your being dead.”

  He gave her a friendly smile and shrugged.

  She turned to me. “Can’t he talk?” Before I could answer, she turned her attention back to him. “Can’t you talk?”

  Poor Dead Pete shook his head.

  Tahm walked in behind Ash, further crowding the small room. “Did I hear Ash say she was missing her—Is that Pete?”

  I nodded. “Poor Dead Pete, that’s Tahm. Tahm, Poor Dead Pete.”

  They gave each other a polite nod, then the dead reaper looked at me, frowning, and mouthed his name at me.

  “Am I pronouncing it wrong?”

  He shook his head, paused, then nodded.

  Ash scowled at me. “He wants you to call him Pete, not Poor Dead Pete.”

  I didn’t comment. I’d been calling him Poor Dead Pete for so long, I wasn’t sure I could stop. Or that I wanted to. He’d get used to it, right?

  I took in the faces of the other three people in the room. It seemed my team was finally complete. “Tahm, will you close the door, please?” I waited for him to close it, then took a breath, during which I mentally said the words “Poor Dead” before speaking. “Pete, I’m not really sure why you’re here, but as long as you are, you’re part of the team. Have you been following what’s been going on?”

  He nodded and gave me a thumbs-up.

  “Good. So, it’s important that we talk about this as a team and take a full vote.” I paused for dramatic effect. “Who thinks we need to take a drive into Tulsa to visit the Center of the Universe?” I had no intention of running out and sightseeing right that minute, but I had a hunch Pete was the kind of guy who liked to stop and see the weird stuff along the way. For now, I was only goofing around and maybe teasing Tahm a little.

  Poor Dead Pete’s hand shot up immediately, and he grinned like a maniac. I was right. I was so going to love having this guy around.

  “No.” Tahm scowled. “I thought we were done with that. We have a job to do. We can’t go wandering off to visit tourist traps.”

  Ash scratched her arm. “He’s kind of right, Kam. We need to finish the job first.”

  I sighed. “So, we’re tied?” I threw my head back in a dramatic groan. “Sorry, Poor Dead Pete. I guess we’ll have to wait. But thanks for having my back, buddy.”

  He winked and flashed me a charming smile.

  I winked back, then folded my hands in my lap to show I was now in serious mode. “Okay. So, next on the agenda, what’s up with your necklace, Ash? Should we look for it, or do you think it’s really gone?”

  “I don’t know. But a lot of things seem to be missing since we got here. You lost your gold hairpins. I could have sworn I had twenty dollars in my wallet, but all that’s there now is change.” She touched her collarbone. “I really liked that necklace, too. The
diamonds weren’t real, but it was pretty.”

  “Now that you mention it, I’m missing a pair of silver earrings, too. I figured they were in the truck, but I have a feeling they’re not.” I noticed Tahm fidgeting with the lace doily on my dresser. “Tahm? Thoughts?”

  He shrugged. “I can ask around.”

  “Ask around?” I frowned. “You mean, like, asking your buddies from the Leprechaun Mafia?”

  He gave me a sharp look. “They aren’t my buddies. And what makes you think they’re with the mafia?”

  “Aren’t all leprechauns with the Leprechaun Mafia?” Every single one I’d met had been. I had to admit, petty theft didn’t seem their calling card, though.

  “I’ll ask around.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. “Is there anything else?”

  I could feel that something was off with him and those damn leprechauns. Had he borrowed money from them for gambling? Did I need to intercede and make them back off from him? Beat their heads together?

  Something clicked in my head, and I realized this must be what Tahm felt like when he wanted to fix my problems and I wouldn’t let him. I relaxed and decided to leave him be. For now.

  I softened my expression and backed down. “I’ll help you look for your necklace when we’re done, Ash.”

  “Thanks.” She eyed each of us in turn. “What are we going to do about Wendy and Felicia? They’re the real reason we’re here. What’s the plan?”

  Poor Dead Pete perked up. He pointed to his chest and nodded.

  “Can you bring them to us?” I asked.

  He shook his head.

  Tahm stopped pouting and pushed away from the wall. “Can you tell us where they are?”

  Again, he gestured that he couldn’t.

  We were all as quiet as Poor Dead Pete for a minute.

  “Wait.” I sat straighter. “If we bring you to them, you’ll help them cross into the stone?”

  He nodded enthusiastically.

  “Dude.” I rubbed my temples with my fingers. “I was right there with both of them a little while ago. Why didn’t you come out and help then?”

  His mouth moved and his hands made a series of gestures I couldn’t follow. Apparently, he was explaining himself.

  I held my hands up to stop him. “Okay, okay. It wasn’t possible then, for whatever reason.” I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Five minutes ago, I’d been in such a good mood. “Maybe it was the unfinished business thing. Yeah?”

  He nodded.

  “The plan hasn’t changed then, team. It just includes another person in it. We’re going to the convention. We’ll enter the masquerade contest and watch for Sister to make a move. After we get her, we should be able to pick up our two wayward spirits and get out of here.” I paused, knowing the next part was going to cause an argument and already feeling a headache coming on. “You two need costumes, which we don’t have time to make. We’ll have to go with magic on this.” I held my hand up as Tahm opened his mouth to object. “Pick something and make it happen. You have four days to think about it.”

  He shot me a look like daggers flying from his eyeballs. “I don’t use magic. You know that. And I don’t need a costume for this. I can watch your back as easily in street clothes as I can in a disguise. Nobody knows me anyway.”

  The area behind my eyes throbbed with pain. “Four days. If you do not have a costume, one will be provided for you. Clear?”

  He grunted in answer and looked away.

  “We all good?”

  Ash and Poor Dead Pete nodded. I ignored Tahm’s lack of reaction. It wasn’t like they were soldiers. As long as he cooperated in the end, I didn’t care if he pretended to ignore me now.

  “Great. I think that was an excellent meeting. I need to take some aspirin and lay down for a little while.”

  Ash stepped aside so Tahm could open the door and leave. “Bye, Pete. Welcome to the team!” She waved at him.

  He waved back and popped out of existence.

  She closed the door and sat on the bed next to me. “You’re doing fine.”

  “No, I’m really not. The harder we work at this, the bigger the problem seems to become. I’m out of ideas for where to look for clues. Tahm and I are either hot or cold with no place to meet in the middle. We almost had it when we went for a walk, but then I lost it.” I pulled the elastic from my hair and let my hair fall loose around my shoulders. Maybe that would ease the tension in my head.

  Sure. That was my problem. My ponytail was too tight.

  “You can’t expect the whole relationship to come together in such a short time, especially when you’re in the middle of a bunch of murders. Besides, you haven’t seen each other in a hundred years.”

  “I guess.” I chuckled. “When did you become so smart?”

  Her expression became dead sober. “From my time on the street as a runaway.”

  I laughed. “Please. You were on the outskirts of your hometown when I picked you up. You were on your own for a few hours.”

  She kept her face serious, but her eyes turned up at the corners, betraying her. “They were a hard few hours.”

  We laughed together, and the gray cloud I felt over me lifted a little, but it didn’t disappear. “I hope we’re doing the right thing.”

  “Why would you think we weren’t?”

  I shrugged. “We’re trying to stop a serial killer. Maybe we should leave it to the OGREs and stay out of it. We... I made a mess the last time, and now we have all these souls to capture. What if we stirred things up too much and we get someone else killed? What if we’re making it worse?”

  “What if we’re making it better?” She patted my leg. “Remember, this could all be going down while Ziggy was the only one around to know about it. Who knows how many people would be dead by now with that crap-bag in charge?”

  I snorted. “I hope they haul his ass all the way back to Kansas so Art can lock him up for a while. Give him some awful job like teaching gremlins how to knit.”

  “I don’t know, I kind of like the idea of him living on the run in fear for the rest of his life.”

  I drew my brows together in thought. “Hey, you don’t suppose this place has gremlins in the walls? That would account for the stuff that’s gone missing.” I felt like a genius. Perhaps I’d solved the mystery of the missing items.

  “The only things missing are either of value or look like they might be, like my necklace. Gremlins don’t steal cash, but they do steal stupid stuff, like one sock or a bottle of dried-up nail polish.”

  She was right. So much for my being a genius. “I can’t think of anything to do for the next few days while we wait for the convention to start. Maybe we can at least figure out what’s going on here.”

  “I have an idea that might help us trap the thief.” She bit her lip and looked at me sideways.

  “Will it involve outfits?”

  “It might.”

  I clapped my hands. “Whatever it is, I’m in.”

  “Think maybe we should do this on our own. You know, without Tahm?”

  We scooched together so she could lower her voice to explain her plan without it leaking through the thin walls.

  I flung an arm around her shoulders and gave her a half hug. “No boys allowed on this mission.”

  I had a strong feeling the boy in question was part of the problem.

  * * *

  In order to find out what was going on and who was doing it, we had to be around the rest of the guests. As much as I wanted to hide in my room all night as I had the night before, Ash and I made a point of going downstairs to dinner.

  To my surprise, Tahm declined. He said he wasn’t hungry and wanted to finish a book he was reading. Since I’d never seen him read a book ever, let alone recently enough for him to be finishing one during dinner, I
pressed him about it.

  I might have been a little obnoxious.

  “Why don’t you finish it downstairs in the library?” I flashed what I hoped was a convincing smile.

  “I’d rather read where it’s quiet.” He reached for his door to close it.

  I stuck my hand out. “Wait.”

  He sighed. “Yes?”

  “What are you reading?”

  “It’s a horror novel.”

  “I like horror novels.” I really didn’t. But he didn’t know that. Or, at least, I didn’t think he knew. “What’s it called? Can I see it?”

  He gave me a quizzical look, like he thought I might be losing my mind. “It’s called Palindrome Falls, and it’s by April Kessler.” He picked it up off the table and waved it at me. A bookmark was nestled between the pages close to the end.

  “You know, I think I’ve heard of that book.” I couldn’t think where, but someone had been reading it somewhere that I’d been. “I’ll leave you be, then. Let me know how it is.”

  I turned toward the stairs, and he closed the door. The feeling that something was off with him was hard to shake all the way to dinner.

  But the food, I had to admit, distracted me. Miss Angelica had put together a huge taco bar. I ran up and down the line several times with my empty plate, checking out the choices before I ended up taking a tortilla shell bowl and filling it up with everything I saw in an enormous, gluttonous taco salad.

  Well, except for lettuce. I didn’t go overboard with that. A thin layer at the bottom so I could call it a salad, and that was all. The rest was beans and rice and taco meat and tomatoes and sour cream and guacamole and salsa and lots and lots of cheese.

  Once my plate was full, I set it down on the table, then touched my gems and concentrated. My jeans and tee shirt became a flowered Hawaiian shirt with a red bikini top showing underneath, a sarong and a pair of flip-flops. Tahm wasn’t there to judge, so I could do what I wanted without someone arguing with me.