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But then, I knew what I had to do. I hurried over to Chase. He was peering into a closet, trying to coax someone out. I glanced over his shoulder and saw the vague outline of another child—a little boy. He, too, looked horrified, but he was only about four, and a sickening thud hit my stomach.
“Chase, I need you to come—maybe you can do something.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him along with me. The spirit who was making a beeline for Camille and Morio ignored us as we passed by. He was gearing up to do something awful, and I didn’t want to be in my sister’s shoes when he let loose.
“What is it?” Chase stopped short when the little girl came into view. “Oh no.”
“He’s tied her spirit to his. Can you do anything?” I had no idea why I thought he might be able to help, but something inside urged me to let him try.
Chase licked his lips as he stared at the girl. “I might. But you have to be ready.”
“Ready to do what?”
“When I give the word, throw yourself between the spirit and her. Are you willing to do that? It could be deadly.” He looked frightened, but I could read the determination in his eyes. Chase hated it when anybody hurt a child—be the attacker corporeal or spirit.
I nodded. “Yeah. Go for it.”
Chase reached out to the little girl. A flicker of energy oozed out from his hands, and the girl turned toward him, eyes wide. She reached out to him, then opened her mouth. A haunting scream echoed through the room.
The spirit, startled, whirled around. When he saw what Chase was doing, he roared—his anger shook the room, and pens and pencils and the cookie plate and anything else that wasn’t nailed down started flying through the air.
Camille and Morio began a low incantation, driving forward as if they were plowing through a whirlwind or hurricane, one step at a time, their palms out, energy crackling before them.
A shriek caught me off guard. I stumbled back, turning to see Roz, still pinned to the wall, but now a knife was lodged in his shoulder.
I raced over to him and levitated up to eye level. As I grabbed the hilt—it was a kitchen knife, like a serrated tomato knife—and yanked, he let out a curse and I stuck the knife in my belt, not wanting it to become airborne again. I tried to pry him off the wall, but to no avail. Blood fountained from his wound but it wasn’t in a vital area and, while it might sting, right now it didn’t put him in danger. But if anything else aimed itself for him, he could be spitted like a rotisserie chicken.
Torn—Roz needed me to protect him, but the spirit was bearing down on Chase—I tried to weigh where I was needed most.
“Go, Chase needs you!” Roz struggled to move his head. “Menolly, you know he can’t fight that creature!”
I glanced around. Things were still flying through the air, but Roz was right. Chase was the most vulnerable. I nodded and, wishing I could be in two places at once, raced back to Chase’s side.
He and the ghost were playing tug-of-war with the girl’s spirit, dragging her back and forth. She was crying, but no sound escaped her lips. I landed by Chase just in time to see a chair come flying across the room at him. I couldn’t intervene directly—the legs were pointed in our direction and one wrong placement and I’d have a stake through the heart. So I dove for the detective, taking him down to sprawl on the floor.
His grasp on the girl broke and the spirit reared up again, his laughter shaking the walls. He lunged for the girl, a lecherous look in his eye, but at that moment, Camille and Morio sent a bolt of energy into him.
Spirits dance and spirits writhe,
spirits toil, spirits tithe,
Fire and ice, and spinning wheel,
let your life to this sign be sealed!
A fiery glowing sigil appeared in the air, crackling as it burned with a bright purple flame. A thousand howls of anger came rushing through the rune, and then a black, shadowy arrow broke through, aimed for the heart of the spirit. It pierced his back, driving through to the other side.
Camille made a sign with her free hand. The arrow developed barbs and as she jerked her hand backward, the barbs caught hold of the spirit’s ethereal body and dragged him away from us.
Morio, grinning fiercely, drew another rune in the air with his right hand and it circled around the little girl, severing her connection with the spirit. She went rebounding back, hiding her face.
The arrow quivered and sparkled with the violent flames. And then—as the spirit let out an angry, frightened roar—the arrow exploded, taking him with it. A shower of sparks rained over the room, and the smell of ozone hissed and popped.
Our opponent was gone.
We stood there, staring at the devastated living room. Roz fell to the floor, along with everything else that had been hovering in the air.
The little girl looked up, fear filling her face, but then she saw that the man was gone and slowly walked forward. She cocked her head, looking first at Morio and Camille, then at me. Then she turned to Roz and regarded him with a serious look.
“You’re okay now, honey.” Chase knelt and opened his arms.
