No Humans Involved

"What happened?" I said.

"I'm… not sure. Someone…" Hope shivered. "I think someone was killed back there. Just now. I can still feel it."

She wrapped her arms around herself, shuddering, but her expression wasn't one of fear or concern. She looked almost… rapturous. The hairs on my neck rose.

"Don't listen to her bullshit," Eve said. "She'll say anything to get you-"

I tuned her out. Hope glanced over her shoulder, toward that far corner.

"I think we should check it out." Her voice was high with barely contained excitement.

"Do you?"

Her gaze stayed riveted to that deepest, most remote, shadow-enshrouded corner of the garden. My fingers tightened around the gun. Eve had gone silent now, tense, as if waiting to jump in, as if she could jump in.

Hope motioned for me to follow, took a couple of steps then, seeing I hadn't moved, wheeled back. Her fingers grazed my arm. Eve started a cast. A spell? But it wouldn't work in my dimension.

Hope's fingers wrapped around my arm. I raised the gun. Eve lifted her hands over her head, something materializing between them.

I swung the gun. A crack as it co

I dropped beside her, my hands going to the side of her neck.

"Forget her," Eve said. "Get your ass back in that house before they realize you didn't fall for the bait."

Hope's pulse was strong. I pushed to my feet.

"Good," Eve said. "Now grab the gun and, next time, try firing it, presuming it still works."

"It probably didn't work even before that. Why would Hope hand me a working firearm?"

"Good point. You did the right thing then, braining her with it."

"Don't sound so shocked."

"And you're even wearing sneakers. I'm doubly impressed."

I grimaced and started for the house.

"Eve?"

Kristof's deep voice sounded behind us. We turned as he strode around a garden bed. A brisk nod to me, then his gaze returned to Eve. "There's something I think you should-"

He stopped as he walked through Hope's still form. He frowned down at her.

"The Espisco half-demon," Eve said. "Bitch tried to lure Jaime out here with some bullshit story about sensing a murder."

"Mur-?" Kristof rubbed his chin. "I, uh, think she might have been right. There's a body in the back corner, and a very confused spirit hovering over it, trying to figure out why she's not inside that body."

I turned toward the back corner, but Eve jumped in front of me. "Uh-uh. Even if Hope wasn't lying, that doesn't mean it isn't a setup. You're getting back in that house right now."

I stepped behind Hope and grabbed her under the armpits.

"What part of 'right now' don't you understand? There's a body in the back corner. That means there's a killer in this garden."

"Then I'm not leaving Hope out here, am I?" I glared up at Eve. "Not when she didn't betray me."

"We don't know that. Now put her down."

"She's probably a hundred pounds, if that," I said through gritted teeth as I heaved her up.

"And you're a hundred and twenty, if that. Now put her down-"

"Eve's right," Kristof said. "I'll watch over her. You get back in the house-"

"Jaime?"

A small woman with long blond hair staggered from behind the hedge. For a moment, I thought it was Gabrielle Langdon. Then she looked up.

"Angelique?" I said.

"You-you can hear me?"

She lurched toward me, but stumbled. Kristof caught her. As his hand made contact, breaking her fall, my gut sank.

She looked up at him as he righted her. "You can see me. You can touch me."

Kristof's face stayed neutral as he nodded.

"Oh, thank God," she said, the words tumbling out on a deep sigh. "I thought I was-" She shuddered and didn't finish.

I stepped closer to Angelique, careful to keep out of touching range.

"What happened, hon?"

"Jaime?" Eve's voice was brisk but gentle. "Get inside. We'll handle this."

"Angelique?" I said.

"I-I knew you and Grady were up to something finding that body, and you kept me out of it because I'm the new kid."

"We never-"

"Jaime, in the house. Now."

"I understand," Angelique said. "I probably would have done the same thing. But I wanted to know what you were doing. Not to mess things up, but just to prove I could help."

Oh, God.

She went on. "That woman came back. The one who was here this morning looking for you. From the paranormal society. The guards said you'd left with your boyfriend. So I followed her out and told her to meet me in the garden."

Eve motioned for me to stop listening.

"She was there," Angelique said. "I told her I was working with you. That I knew all about the bodies and the murders. She lifted a gun. I saw it, but I couldn't believe it, so I just stood there and she fired and-" Her fingers flew to her breast, searching for a hole that wasn't there. "It was special effects, wasn't it? The bullet and the blood and my-my body, lying there…"

I stepped toward her to say-

To say what? The same thing I'd been telling her all along? Don't worry, hon. heave everything to me. I'll fix it.

I couldn't fix this.

Angelique reached for me. Her fingers passed through my arm and she gasped. Kristof pulled her back.

"Jaime," Eve said. "In the house now't"

Something smacked into the side of my head. As I tottered, I stared at Eve, as if she'd somehow reached through the dimensions and slapped me. I swayed, my legs suddenly too weak to hold me up. Eve's mouth opened, alarm in her eyes. Kristof pointed at something behind a row of bushes. A shout.

The second blow knocked me out.

THE KILLING ROOM

I WOKE LYING ON A COLD, SMOOTH FLOOR. I opened my eyes, but the world stayed dark. To my left, someone was breathing deeply. A voice came from above the breathing. A male voice, young and anxious.

"Come on," he said. "Wake up. You need to wake up."

A second voice, older, weary. "She can't hear you."

"How do you know? People see ghosts all the time. Maybe if you'd help me…"

Ghosts…?

I thought of Angelique and my gut twisted. I'd genuinely wanted to help her, but when helping her interfered with my own agenda, I'd brushed her off and promised myself I'd look after her later. Well, there was no later now. Not for Angelique.

"I think she's waking up," the younger voice said.

"It's probably better for her if she doesn't."

I blinked and lifted my head. High above me a tiny greenish light, like a smoke detector, was the only source of illumination. I blinked hard. After a moment, I could make out figures. One on the floor, long dark curls pooling around her. Hope. That was the breathing I heard. I let out a soft sigh. Unconscious, but alive. Thank God.

A young man hovered over her. No more than a teenager from what little I could see in the darkness. Pale hair. Wiry. Small for his age. He looked more like a hologram than a ghost; I could see Hope through him. Another ghost stood at his side, this one opaque, like most spirits. Middle aged and stout, his arms crossed, he watched the boy try to wake Hope.

"She can't hear you." My voice was breathy and weak, as if I'd strained my vocal cords.

Both men turned to stare at me.

"She can't hear you," I said. "But I can."

The boy smacked the man on the arm and gri

"Where am-?" I swallowed the rest. My throat was dry, eyes burning, brain fuzzy, but slowly it came back. Someone had knocked me out with a spell. Kidnapped. Again. If I had the energy, I might have laughed.