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Silently, I reached out to them.Listen, if you can hear me, I know you’re angry. If you want to join us, there’s a man inside who could use a good haunting. Leave us alone, and you have free rein to make his life a living hell.
At first I wasn’t sure if they heard me, but then three of the shades moved forward, ragged grins on their spectral faces. They stopped right in front of me, and one of them belted out a threatening laugh as he turned to face me. He had been a tall, lanky man in life, but now he looked like a corpse, the right side of his face eaten away by time and decay. The strands of muscle beneath the missing skin were raw and bloody, and his eye sockets burned with a pale orange fire. Whoever he had been, he had been dangerous. I felt queasy bargaining with him, but I had the sense he might be willing to work with us. If we didn’t strike a bargain, I could easily see him helping Mills.
You offer a sacrifice of this man?
The man within—not any of my friends who accompany me today. Do as you like, but we will be in there, fighting him as well. He, and he alone, is our target today.
Well then, my comrades and I will have ourselves some fun. But you must promise to leave us alone for our help. No coming back to banish us.
Very well, I give you my word I won’t return to banish you.I didn’t like helping ghosts like this one, but the ends justified the means, and we needed these spirits to be on our side and not work against us. And I had promised only for myself. By the feel of the Haunt I was talking to, unless there was something in it for them, they would end up being troublemakers.
I glanced at Hank, who was staring at me with a worried expression, and at Killian, whose hackles were standing at attention. “We have three spirits on our side. They aren’t pleasant, but they’ve agreed to help us since I offered them Mills up on a silver platter.”
Hank grunted, then turned to the door. The old screen door was half off its hinges, and I cautiously opened it, grimacing as I waited for a squeak. The door wavered as though it were going to fall off, but Hank caught it and cautiously propped it against the wall. He motioned me to back away from the arch as he reached for the handle.
I held my breath as he slowly gave it a turn. But the door wasn’t locked. Surprised, I waited as the door opened with a softclick. Hank quietly pushed it open. He looked to the left and then the right, then inched inside and flattened himself against the wall. He motioned for Killian and me to follow him.
Inside, the light was dim, showing that we had entered the foyer right next to what looked like a living room. I scanned the room, but saw no one. Killian began to sniff the floor, raising his head as he looked around. He froze, raising his paw to point at a door on the opposite side of the room.
The three spirits glided past me. They were headed for the door, too. At that moment, Rowan and Tarvish appeared from a hallway. Rowan shook her head, and I pointed toward the door. As Killian led the way toward it, Rowan and Tarvish joined us.
Rowan stopped. One of the spirits walked directly in front her, then disappeared through the doorway. She turned to me, and I held my finger to my lips, then quickly texted her.
we have three spirits on our side. they’re dangerous but i promised them they could do what they wanted to mills if they don’t interrupt what we’re doing and don’t attack us.
She gave me a nod as Hank stepped to the side of the door.
He texted me:i’m going to bilocate and see what we’re dealing with.
I held up my phone to the others so they could read the message as Hank wavered a moment. Then a faint nimbus broke off from him and vanished through the door. Tarvish reached inside his jacket and brought out what looked like an iron hammer. It was about the size of a mallet, but it looked like it could deliver a good blow.
I wanted to yank open the door and take the offensive, but I forced myself to wait until Hank returned, merging into his body again. It felt like we’d been waiting forever, but in actuality, it had only been a few seconds.
When he opened his eyes, he pulled out his phone.he’s down there, all right. he’s actually asleep, and in the astral, i could see those three spirits. they’re waiting for us, but they’re surrounding his bed and they seem impatient. i suggest a quick attack. there’s an anti-magic spot to the right of his bed, so if you end up there, none of your magic will work. however, if we push him off the bed into that spot, he won’t be able to cast anything at us.
He put his hand on the doorknob, turning it as he pulled open the door. Behind the door was a staircase heading down, cloaked in darkness. I had no desire to make my way in the dark, but before I could suggest looking for a light, a shout came from the depths of the basement. I jumped back, as did the others, as the sound of footsteps hit the staircase.
Oh crap, I thought.It has to be Mills.Maybe the ghosts had startled him, or maybe he realized that someone was in his house, but whatever the case, he was coming up. I pulled out my dagger in one hand, the war water in the other. Rowan’s ring began to glow as she held her hands out, and Killian growled as we waited for our enemy to surface.
The next moment, Mills McFarland burst into the living room. He halted when he saw us and held up his right hand. A blinding light exploded in the room, stabbing me right through the head like a bayonet. I yelped, instinctively turning away from the flash.
“Fire for Light!” Rowan’s voice forced me to open my eyes and, although everything was blurry, I saw a streak of flame go streaking toward Mills. Another flash filled the room, this time with the smell of smoke.
I pulled out my war water and sprayed it in Mills’s direction, not sure if I was hitting my mark. But the next moment, Killian leapt past me and landed on Mills’s chest, knocking him flat. Mills screamed as he simultaneously tried to fend off Killian and—with his other hand—rub his eyes. I noticed the pale gray color spritzed across his face and realized I had managed to hit him in the eyes, which had to hurt like hell. At that point, Killian had Mills’s throat in his jaws and my stomach lurched as he closed his teeth. A trickle of blood began to trace its way down his neck.
Rowan strode over and tapped Killian on his shoulder. “Move.”
Killian looked at her, then backed away, still growling, his jaws stained with blood.
Rowan glanced at me. “Turn around, all of you.”
“But he’s—”
“Turn around,” Rowan commanded, and the tone of her voice bucked no denial.
We turned around, and though I wanted to look, I couldn’t force myself to—Rowan had used a Command spell and it would take a much more powerful witch to override her.
There was a sharp snap, and all went silent.
