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I halted beside him. The rather sad remnant of humanity lay near the edge of the plateau, wobbling unsteadily in the strong breeze. I walked over to the edge. The ground dropped down vertically for forty or fifty feet then ended in a huge pile of rubble, suggesting the cliff had given away at some point in the past. I carefully leaned over a little further, trying to find some way down. There was none.
I stepped back. “It's obviously resumed its real form to escape.
Jaz knelt next to the pile of skin and hair. “There's one thing I want to know.”
“And that is?” I crossed my arms and tried to ignore the vague sparkle of energy that was hovering nearby. I rather suspected it was Alice's ghost.
“What happens to the clothes?”
My gaze jumped back to the skin. While there were visible remnants of hair left, there was nothing that suggested material of any kind. “I don't know.”
“If we're dealing with a fire spirit,” Monty said, “then they're probably being destroyed when the spirit leaves the flesh and resumes its normal form.”
“Except you'd expect there'd be at least some material or at the least ashes to remain,” I said. “And if the material is being cindered so completely, why isn't the skin? Why is it instead being left in a misshapen pile?”
Monty shrugged. “That's one of the many questions I can't answer—not until we uncover what we're dealing with.”
I rubbed my arms. Though the wind was in no way cold, a chill gathered deep inside of me. One that was, I suspected, due in part to the nea
rby ghost and the anger emanating from her. Whether it was caused by the situation or my presence, I couldn't say. Belle was the one who could talk to spirits, not me.
Do you want me up there? It's usually fairly slow on Tuesdays—I'm sure Penny will be able to cope for an hour or so.
Not if the brigade come in. And they would, given Mrs. Potts would need to update them all on the murder of her neighbor. If it is Alice's ghost I'm seeing, do you know why she's here rather than with her body?
Couldn't say, but it is rather unusual. She paused. It's possible that she was rising when the spirit claimed her flesh, and somehow got entangled in the process.
Meaning she's bound to her skin, wherever it may be?
Unless she was set free when the dark spirit fled, possibly. She paused. We could always do a deep-level connection, and I can tell you what I see.
Could you communicate with her remotely? Through me, I mean?
I honestly don't know, but we can give it a try.
Give me a second to word up Monty and get comfortable.
Penny's just arrived so she can open up. I'll head into the reading room, just to be safe. Give me a shout when you're ready.
Will do.
Jaz's phone rang, the sharp sound making me jump. As she unclipped it from her belt and stepped away to answer it, I said, “Monty, I've just been talking to Belle—”
His expression held a hint of confusion. “I thought there were distance limits to telepathy?”
“There are, but we're witch and familiar, remember?”
“Oh. Yeah. Handy.”
“Especially in a case like this, when she's the spirit expert and there's a rather cross soul hovering nearby.”
His gaze turned to the sparkling wisp that now hovered above the mound of skin. “Is she coming out to talk to it?”
The soul has a name, came Belle's comment. Tell him to use it if he doesn't want to rile her up some more.
I did so, and then glanced around as Jaz returned. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. “It was just Aiden wanting a check-in. I've got to go back to the car to get the crime kit and record events here. Do you two mind staying here to keep an eye on things?”
