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Aiden didn’t bother disputing that statement, though his expression suggested he didn’t exactly agree with it, either.
As the filaments in the bottle drew tightly around each other again, and the tracking pulse grew stronger, I leaned forward and studied the houses up ahead. My gaze swept past a house with a large old gum out the front of it and then snapped back.
That was it.
That was the soucouyant’s hiding place.
“It’s the brown brick place.” I tucked the bottle into my pocket and then dragged my backpack onto my lap.
Aiden stopped two houses down. As the headlights went out and darkness closed in once again, he said, “How do we play this?”
“We need to know if the soucouyant is there before we can actually do anything,” Monty said. “I know the spell led us here, but this thing is obviously smart, and it’s possible it left that ember behind deliberately.”
I twisted around again. “And why didn’t you mention this possibility before?”
“Because it only just occurred to me.” His grin appeared, but just as quickly faded. “What are your psychic senses telling you?”
“Right now, absolutely jack squat. I think our best option is to just suss the situation out.”
I opened the door and climbed out. Various bits of my body had stiffened up over the short journey, but I studiously ignored the aches and kept my gaze on the house ahead. There was no light coming from inside the house, no sound, and absolutely no indication from my psychic self that there was anything to fear, either inside that house or out.
And yet....
And yet, uneasiness was once again stirring.
But maybe it was based on nothing more than the notion that if something could go wrong, it most certainly would.
Aiden came around the truck and stopped beside me. “Anything?”
“Maybe.” I wrinkled my nose. “And maybe not.”
“I’m not sensing a spirit in that house,” Monty said. “Although there’s an odd pall of evil shrouding it that certainly suggests occupation by some form of entity, even if not our one.”
I narrowed my gaze and, after a moment, saw the dark shroud he was talking about. It was almost as if the air around the immediate vicinity of the house had been stained by its presence.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before.” I rubbed my arms against the chill that was gathering. “And the fact that it’s falling so heavily around the house suggests the soucouyant might have been here for a while.”
“Or that it’s an extremely old and powerful spirit,” he said.
“Well, she certainly appeared to be daring me to go after her.”
“Why would a dark spirit do that?” Aiden asked.
“Humans aren’t the only ones addicted to the thrill of the chase,” Monty said. “And for the very old spirits, the prospect of danger or of being caught and killed is the only thing that makes them feel alive. Or as alive as the spirit would ever actually get.”
“Which suggests the spirit world can be just as fucked up as the real.”
“It can indeed.” Monty’s gaze returned to the house. “I’m not sensing anything untoward in that house, but that doesn’t really mean anything. As a fire spirit, she can pretty much blow that house apart from some distance away.”
“Now isn’t that a cheery thought,” Aiden muttered.
“It’s always better to consider the worst outcome when undertaking these sorts of investigations,” Monty said cheerfully. “That way, they’re less likely to catch you unawares.”
“Says the man who’s done so many investigations,” I said, voice dry. “Do you want to go around to the back door? Aiden and I will hit the front.”
“And if the door is locked?”
“I dare say you’ve a spell that’ll fix that.” Aiden touched my back, his hand warm against my damp shirt. “You ready?”
