Now that she’d made her decision to go through with this, she was resolutely refusing to question or second-guess herself. She knew she’d never manage to do it, if she thought too hard.
Harriet held her breath until she became invisible, and stepped through Qi’s door. Something immediately punched her in the chest. She staggered backwards, electrocution ringing through her jaw and down her limbs. The doorway was glowing with a pure white light, like the barrier on the basement door did when she stepped through it. But this one hadn’t let her through.
Rubbing at her jaw, she touched the light with one finger. A stabbing pain ricocheted into her palm. She pulled back, hissing. The light was sparking around the doorway, growing brighter and brighter. Her hair started to sizzle, filling the air with the acrid scent of burning.
“Who’s there?” Qi called from inside.
Harriet took a moment to let the pain recede, and then said, in a chirpy voice, “It’s Harriet! I think your door is broken! Can you let me in?”
She gave a little false laugh, high-pitched and girly.
“Harriet. I see.” Qi’s voice was inscrutable.
“I have an urgent message for you from Rima,” Harriet added, when the light started to glow even brighter. “You’d better let me in!”
“You know what, Harriet? I don’t think I will. You’re up to no good again.”
Harriet sunk back against the opposite wall, furious and terrified. This wasn’t going to work. Qi had been suspicious of her from the beginning. There was no way that she was going to believe her now.
She’d failed.
“Really?!” she said, laughing through a snarl. “You’re making a mistake, you really do need to let me in! Rima needs your help!”
“Goodbye, Harriet,” she said, quiet and firm.
Harriet pictured herself punching Qi. She replayed the image in her mind, turning it over and over like a boiled sweet on her tongue, embellishing it, adding spitballs and bite marks and clawed fingernails separating skin from flesh.
She tore her apart in her mind. And then she set the image free.
She smiled.
“No worries if you’re busy!” she said, cheerfully, hiding her teeth and claws and nails. “Sorry to bother you!”
She hadn’t even come close. She was going to have to go back to the basement empty-handed. The Tricksters would send someone after her if she didn’t return to pay off her debt. Someone worse than Greg, with his mysterious aura that made her do whatever he said. It was starting to occur to Harriet that she always seemed to make bad decisions when he was around. It had been Greg who’d made her walk into the basement just now, totally unprepared for what was waiting for her. He’d done something to make her less alert.
She could see how someone could use up all their energy trying to pay back the Tricksters. Once they had you, there was no way out.
Well, if she couldn’t give Qi to them, then someone else would have to do. It would be a distraction, so they didn’t quench their bloodthirst on Harriet. Choosing a first-floor door at random, she turned invisible and walked inside. A boy was dozing on a rotting mattress. It was Kasper’s rowing mate who’d accused Harriet of staying at Hotel Back Yourself. Jonny.
She touched the base of his neck, deciding to send him some lust, with a bit of loneliness. That should do the trick.
A shudder ran through Jonny when she pushed the emotions inside him. He groaned. Making herself visible again, she shook him awake. “Hey, pal.”
His eyes dropped to her chest. “Er…” His pupils were already blown wide, and there was a bulge in the front of his trousers. “Hi,” he replied in a hoarse voice.
She draped one hand across his chest, and purred, “Hi. Are you busy? Would you like to come –” she paused, watching him swallow – “for a walk?”
“Anywhere,” he said on an exhale, and stood up. She took his hand, smiling over her shoulder at him.
She hovered outside the basement door, while he stared at her arse. Could she really do this? There was no coming back from this, or way of denying it – she was sacrificing a stranger, wholly and undeniably. But wasn’t she fighting for her own survival here?
She stepped through the lightning barrier, hoping desperately that it would let her out again. Jonny followed her in, leaning against her back and breathing in the smell of her neck. Rufus and Vini were waiting for her.
“I couldn’t get Qi,” she admitted, all her muscles braced for attack. “But I brought you someone else.”
Rufus curled his lip. Jonny moaned and licked her neck in a haze of lust. She nudged his head away.
She couldn’t tell if Rufus was furious or just disappointed.
There was a pause, and then Rufus laughed. “Of course you couldn’t catch Qi. She’s far stronger than a little thing like you.”
They’d been setting her up to fail?
He flapped his hand at her. “Don’t look so traumatized. You tried your best. You can live for another day. And look at this independent thinking, bringing us a snack instead. Quite a self-motivated worker we’ve got here.”
Vini tugged Jonny away from Harriet. “You might want to wait outside,” he told her.
As soon as his skin stopped touching hers, Jonny finally paid attention to their surroundings. “What…?”
Harriet stepped out of the room just as the Tricksters descended on him. She stood outside and listened to the screams. There was something immensely satisfying about causing pain, emotional or physical. It made her feel alive again, drowning out the energy buzzing inside her. She wasn’t pretending to be normal, not any more. She was something … better. Something stronger.
She gave the Tricksters five minutes, until the boy went silent. Then she went back inside.
Rufus had a sated curve to his mouth. Vini was snoring blissfully, curled up in a puppy pile with some other ghosts. Both Tricksters were glowing a little bit brighter.
“That hit the spot.” Rufus raised his arms above his head and bent backwards, long and luxurious. He flicked his eyes at Harriet. “We’re even. Now get out of here. If it turns out there’s anything else which you’ve … forgotten, we’ll find you.”
“I can go?” Harriet was surprised. She’d been expecting them to say that one random boy didn’t equal Qi. From what she’d heard, she’d thought they’d ask for another two or three ghosts. But Rufus seemed satisfied already. It was like he hadn’t been interested in getting her to pay off her debt at all. Had he been testing her? To see if she’d actually go through with it?
And she’d done exactly what he wanted, like an obedient little lamb.
“You can leave. Unless you’d like to make another deal altogether…? There’s still a lot I could teach you.” His voice was like tar, slick and rich and thick enough to trap her.
“No, that won’t be necessary.” Her eye was still crying out in pain.
“No hard feelings, hey?” He ran a hand through his silvery white hair, the colour that perfectly matched her own. “It’s just business.”
Harriet’s mouth tightened. “I’m not sure I have any feelings at all. Thank you for all your help. Goodbye.”
Before Rufus could reconsider their temporary peace, she walked out. Greg was hovering nervously in the hallway, holding a wriggling mouse spirit like a joint. The sight of it made Harriet’s mouth water. The more energy she consumed, the hungrier she seemed to get.