Haunted

by Kelley Armstrong

  "I thought you said--" I began.

  "We must at least appear to leave. That will also provide us with the opportunity to sneak back and find out what Savannah meant--what she and Jaime needed to discuss."

  48

  LUCAS PARKED THE MOTORCYCLE AT A TINY COMMUNITY vegetable garden half a block away. We left our helmets locked to the bike, then hurried back to the house.

  "Blur spell?" I asked as we drew close. "Or can you do that one yet?"

  "I believe you'll find my spell-casting much improved since our last meeting. Being bested by a witch casting sorcerer magic is bound to have a rousing impact on any sorcerer. I finally mastered the blur spell last year."

  "How about Paige? 'Cause I'm restricted to her level of magic here. My Aspicio powers aren't working worth a damn."

  "Paige is reasonably adept at it as well. Anything I know, she knows..." A quarter-smile. "Or she is doing her best to learn."

  "How about the cover spell? If you can't do it, I can cover you--"

  "Paige isn't the only one driven to expand her repertoire. I can cast most witch magic she knows, including the cover spell and binding spell, though she continues to be more proficient at the latter. I believe I've hit the racial-crossover wall with that one."

  "Well, you're the first sorcerer I've met who can do it at all, so you're well ahead of the game."

  We paused behind the neighbor's fence. Lucas stood on tiptoe to peer over it. I tried...then realized I didn't have a hope in hell of succeeding. Not at this height.

  "There," Lucas said. "I saw a movement in the living room. They're in there, or just inside the dining room on the other side."

  "Hey, speaking of the dining room, did you know you have a resident residual?"

  He frowned down at me.

  "Er, never mind. I'll explain later."

  We used our blur spells to get to the living room window, then replaced it with a cover spell. Sorcerer blur spells, as the name suggests, only blur your form. They don't make you invisible. Witch cover spells make you invisible, but only if you're standing still. Put the two together, and you have a decent stealth package.

  Although the weather was still nippy, most of the windows in the house were cracked open. When we stood beside the living room side window, we could hear voices, but no words. After a moment of closed-eye concentration, I picked up Savannah's conversation.

  "...but if it's dangerous--" she said.

  Jaime laughed. "And since when has that bothered you?"

  "It has to bother me. With my power, I can't just go casting spells any way I want. I need to know exactly what I'm doing and what can happen or--"

  Jaime laughed again, the sound taking on a harsh tone of mocking. "God, you sound like Paige. I never thought I'd see the day. Your mother would flip."

  I gritted my teeth. No, baby, I wouldn't flip. Paige is right. You do need to be careful. You need--

  "Sure, Paige tells me to be careful," Savannah said. "But it doesn't mean I listen."

  "Look, Savannah, either you want to summon your mom or you don't."

  My heart thudded.

  "Of course I do," Savannah said.

  "Well, then, you have to be willing to assume the risks. Like you said, you have the power. This ritual wouldn't work with anyone else. But you can do it. I'm sure you can."

  A hand touched my arm. I looked up to see Lucas, who'd broken his cover spell. He jerked his chin toward the sidewalk. I broke my spell and pointed at the house, gesturing that I wanted to hear more.

  "Heard enough," he mouthed.

  I hesitated, then cast the blur spell and darted across the lawn and behind the neighbor's fence.

  "So that's how she'll do it," I said. "She'll make Savannah think she knows a way to contact me. And when we--you and Paige, I mean--wind up dead, she'll say it was because of the spell, that Savannah screwed up."

  Lucas nodded and motioned for us to talk as we returned to the motorcycle.

  "But how is she going to kill us while Savannah's performing the ritual?" I said. "Necros can't kill anyone--not with magic, at least."

  "I suspect the plan is to kill us ahead of time," Lucas said. "Probably individually. That may have been part of her ruse with the bike. Find a way to kill me, hide the motorcycle, and claim I went off on an errand."

  "Then kill me--Paige--and, after the ritual, find us dead. Leaving Savannah to think that in her eagerness to contact me, she killed you two. God, when I get hold of that demi-demon bitch--"

  "Careful. We have to take this slowly. Play at her pace." He glanced at me. "Is that going to be a problem?"

  "Not if it means I finally will get hold of her."

  As safe as we assumed Savannah was with the Nix, neither of us wanted to test that theory more than necessary, so we skipped the take-out run, and instead decided to tell Savannah and Jaime that the wait had been too long and we were opting for pizza--delivered--instead.

  Lucas would do the explaining, leaving me to retreat to Paige's office once again. Then, when he had the chance, he'd get Savannah away from Jamie, and with any luck, Jaime would take advantage of the opportunity to strike at me.

  Up in Paige's room, I did a quick drawer search. Took me a few minutes, but I found what I wanted: a length of strong ribbon. I used it to tie back Paige's long, thick curls, adjusting the knot so it would pull free with only a tug. Lucas and I had decided on suffocation as the safest way to "almost" kill Jaime's body. While I had every intention of putting my bare hands around her throat and looking into that demi-demon's eyes as I throttled the life from her, I needed a backup tool. The ribbon would do.

  Twenty minutes later, a loud thump sounded outside, followed by a shout from Savannah. I bolted from my chair and flew to the window. Another thump, coming from behind the house. Savannah groaned and yelled something. I opened the window farther, pried off the screen, and leaned out. Savannah and Lucas were at the far end of the driveway, playing basketball.

  As I watched them, I thought of Kristof. I'd dreamed of boy-talk with Savannah. Is this what he dreamed of? Is this what I'd taken away from him? The thought pinged another, and I remembered what he'd said before I'd transmigrated into Paige's body. That he'd stay close. My head shot up so fast I hit the windowsill and yelped. I imagined him laughing, and a shiver ran through me. I turned slowly.

  "You're here, aren't you?" I said.

  I scanned the room, and strained to listen, to see some sign of Kristof. It was one thing having a ghost around when you didn't know it. But if you knew it, and if you tried hard enough, surely you should be able to pick up some sign. But I couldn't.

  "Savannah's outside," I said. "Playing basketball with Lucas."

  Nothing. Not even a twinge of awareness that told me he was there.

  "Basketball was never your thing, was it?" I said with a smile. "Mine neither. But she's good at it. And she likes it. That's what counts."

  The silence swallowed my voice. I shivered, and the quaver went right down into my gut. What if something went wrong, and I couldn't get back? Was this what it would be like, stuck here, talking to myself, wondering whether he was still listening? At least on the other side, I could see this world. From here, the separation was absolute.

  Savannah yelled something outside, and I jerked up. If Savannah and Lucas were outside, that meant I was alone in here with the Nix. And if she was making no effort to come and get me, I had to give her a push.

  "Sorry, Kris, but we gotta run." I grinned. "Time to try getting myself killed."

  I found the Nix in the living room, sitting on a chair--my chair--and staring into space. At first I thought maybe she saw the crying woman residual. She wasn't looking toward the dining room, though. She was staring straight ahead, eyes as blank as a mannequin's.

  "There you are," I said, walking into the living room.

  "No!" the Nix leapt to her feet, lip curling in a snarl.

  "Get out!"

  I feigned a wide-eyed back-step. "Jaime? Uh, are you ok
ay?"

  Her eyes flicked to mine and she frowned, as if just noticing me.

  "What?" she snapped. Then she blinked fast. "Oh, Paige. Sorry."

  "Ghost bothering you?" I asked.

  Another quick blink, startled. Then a sharp head shake that morphed into a nod and a wry smile. "Yeah. You know how it is. They never leave us alone. So is your work done?"

  "Pretty much. I just popped down to see whether we had anything in the freezer for dessert. I should be able to dig up a pie."

  "Sounds good."

  "If Lucas or Savannah comes in, just tell them I'm downstairs. In the basement. I may be a while--that freezer's packed with stuff."

  She nodded, then sat back down, gaze going blank, as if she'd already forgotten I was there. I headed for the basement steps. When I reached the back-door landing, I looked outside. Lucas caught the movement and glanced over. I motioned that I was going into the basement. He nodded, then distracted Savannah before she saw me, and they resumed playing.

  "Heading downstairs now," I murmured under my breath. "Into the dark basement. All alone."

  For a second, I thought I heard Kristof's chuckle, but the sound turned into the thumping of a dribbled basketball against the driveway.

  Once downstairs, I had to look around for the freezer. I knew there was one here somewhere, and I was pretty sure there'd be a pie in it. Not a store-bought one, but something homemade, probably from berries picked by hand. I don't know how Paige found the time. I never did. Of course, I'd never tried to, either.

  I finally located the freezer. Sure enough, it was just as full as I'd imagined. There was a whole stack of pies, so I moved some bread on top to hide them, then busied myself pretending to hunt. Upstairs, all was silent.

  "Come on, come on," I muttered. "One secluded victim, head conveniently stuck in a freezer. What are you waiting for? Until I've cleared enough room to stash my body?"

  The words had barely left my mouth when footsteps sounded overhead.

  "About time. Now hurry it up before I get frostbite."

  The footsteps crossed the kitchen, then descended to the landing, and paused there, as the Nix presumably reassured herself that Savannah and Lucas were busy outside. I shuffled two boxes of cookies. Chocolate-chip cookies. Were those made with Ruth's recipe? Mmmm. It'd been twenty years since I had those. Maybe I could slip a couple--

  The Nix's footsteps stopped.

  "I know there's a pie in here somewhere," I muttered.

  Paige wasn't the talks-to-herself type, but the freezer was around the corner, meaning the Nix might have some trouble finding me. Yet at least a minute passed, and nothing happened. Would I hear her footsteps? On a concrete floor? What are you, stupid? I backed out of the freezer fast, before I did an Abby Borden and caught a hatchet to the head.

  Still facing the freezer, I strained my eyes as far as I could to the side. The bare bulb cast my shadow across the floor, along with the shadow of the freezer and stacked washer-dryer combo. But no Jaime-shaped one. For thirty seconds, I stood there, neck cricked slightly off-kilter, watching the floor for a fresh shadow. Finally, I gave up, quietly lowered the freezer door, and slid along the wall to the doorway. Aspicio powers would come in real handy right about now. Damn, I was spoiled.

  From the left of the doorway, I could see the bottom of the stairs. No sign of the Nix. I cast a blur spell, then quickly leaned out for a peek, and jerked back. Unless she was hiding in the cold cellar--with the door closed--she wasn't down here. I'd definitely heard her on the steps. Had I heard her descend all the way? No, because I'd been distracted by cookies. There's a defense for the books.

  I was pretty sure I'd heard her continue past the back-door landing. What was it Lucas had said? Considering what we were dealing with, "quite sure" wasn't good enough. So "pretty sure" really didn't cut it. I should have been more careful. She could have headed back up while I was ogling a box of frozen baked goods.

  "No!"

  I jumped, nearly stumbling into the open doorway and blowing my cover.

  "I didn't ask--No! This is mine!"

  It was the Nix, that same un-Jaime-like snarl I'd heard upstairs. The voice came from the enclosed stairway. Who was she talking to? Not Lucas or Savannah, that was for sure--not in that tone.

  A hackle-raising growl reverberated down the stairs. Then a thud-thud-thud as the Nix marched, heavy-footed, back up. The screen door squealed open. I hurried from my hiding place to the foot of the stairs.

  "Jaime? Is that you?"

  She kept walking, letting the door swing shut behind her. I galloped up the stairs and out to the yard. By the time I got there, she was at the edge of the driveway. Lucas stopped mid-throw, and the ball rolled from his hand. Savannah dove to catch it, chortling at his fumble. Then she saw us and stopped.

  "Jaime!" I called, jogging after her.

  She ignored me.

  "What's with her?" Savannah whispered.

  Lucas shushed her and said something under his breath, distracting her attention from Jaime. I caught up to the Nix, and touched her arm, but she flung me off and growled something about needing some air. When I turned, Lucas caught my eye and motioned for me to leave her be.

  "Time to order that pizza, I believe," he said as he scooped up the ball. "What does everyone feel like? I think Hawaiian might be a nice change. We haven't had that in a while."

  "Duh," Savannah said, snatching the ball from him. "We don't have it because I hate pineapple."

  "Really?" he said. "I do believe I saw you put pineapple on your banana split last night."

  "That's because banana splits are sweet, and pineapple is sweet. Pizza is not sweet. You don't mix sweet stuff and nonsweet stuff. It's gross."

  "But you always put plum sauce on chicken strips, and that is definitely mixing sweets and nonsweets, so your logic, it would appear, is faulty, and--"

  "Oh, stop being a goof." She whipped the ball at him.

  "I'll order the pizza and get what I like."

  She marched off into the house, hair flipping behind her, thoughts of Jaime long gone.

  "Nice save," I said when she'd left. "You're really good with her."

  He only nodded and returned the ball to its place at the foot of the hoop. I often wondered what it was like for Lucas, this package deal. If he'd wanted Paige, he had to take Savannah, too. How many twenty-five-year-olds would have gone for that? Not just accepted the inconvenience of having a kid around, but embraced the whole foster-father role? Well, okay, I've known a few twenty-something guys who wouldn't mind having a teen girl as a ward, but there was never any question of that with Lucas. Right from day one, he'd been exactly what Savannah needed--a combination big brother and father figure who balanced her ideological conflicts with Paige. I wanted to thank him for that. I really did. But I couldn't think of any way to do it that wouldn't embarrass him...and probably me, too.

  "I think it's a ghost," I said when Lucas returned.

  "Hmmm?"

  "What's happening with the Nix. She was acting pretty freaky inside, staring into space, then snapping at herself. If I have Paige's abilities, then she must have Jaime's, meaning she's probably seeing a ghost. When I mentioned that, I startled her--maybe she didn't realize that's what was happening."

  He nodded. "It could be. It could also be Jaime herself."

  "Trying to get back in, you mean."

  Another nod, then a pause before he glanced over at me. "Does Paige know?" He cleared his throat, tamping down the note of anxiety. "That is to say, you were able to explain this to her, weren't you? What you did?"

  "Uh, no. I couldn't, or believe me, I would have."

  "So she doesn't know what's going on." He adjusted his glasses, then glanced over at me again. "Is there some way to tell her? To check on her?"

  "She's okay, Lucas. I swear she is. And I'll get out of here as soon as I can."

  A slow nod. "We should get inside. It doesn't take long for pizza to arrive, and I doubt Savannah is planning to
pay for it."

  "I hope she ordered mushrooms. Pizza isn't pizza without mushrooms." I shook my head. "This is getting more absurd by the second, isn't it?"

  "Playing basketball and arguing over pizza while we wait for an evil demi-demon to get around to trying to kill us?" A tiny smile. "Absurd? Not at all. Though I do wish she'd get on with it. Savannah rented Pirates of the Caribbean, and Paige really wanted to see that."

  "She's welcome to it. I've had my fill of pirates for a while."

  He arched a brow.

  "You don't want to know. As for the Nix, I'm starting to think we might need to give her a push. Especially if she is preoccupied dealing with ghosts or Jaime's spirit. Maybe--Whoops, here she comes."

  The Nix strode around the house, without so much as a glance our way.

  "Jaime!" I called. "We've ordered pizza. It should be here--"

  "Not hungry," she snapped. "I'll be upstairs unpacking."

  Lucas and I waited until she was gone, then exchanged a look.

  "I believe a firm push is in order," he said.

  "Before or after the pizza?"

  "After. While I trust that we will be able to resolve this situation satisfactorily, in the unlikely event that things do go awry, I believe I am entitled to a last meal, even if it is pizza without pineapple."

  "You want cookies?" I said. "I saw cookies downstairs."

  "Chocolate chip?"

  "Sure looked like it."

  "Paige has been hiding them on me, has she? Bring some up, then. Savannah knows how to bake them."

  The Nix spent dinner in Savannah's room, ostensibly unpacking. As we ate, I tried to resume the boy-talk conversation with Savannah, and earned myself a look of such horror that I spun around, expecting to see Jaime behind me with a hatchet. Seems that engaging in boy-talk while boys--or men--are present just isn't done, at least not if you're fifteen. Lucas seemed more than willing to join in, but after a murderous glare from Savannah, I changed the subject.

  After dinner, I helped Lucas load the dishwasher and, with the aid of privacy spells, we discussed our next move. We decided to give the Nix one last chance. Lucas would help Savannah with her math homework while I retreated to Paige's office.

  Once the cleanup was done, I thumped upstairs loud enough for the Nix to hear me. Then, for good measure, I called down from the top of the stairs, telling Lucas to hold my calls for the next hour.