Felix sighed. “I don’t know how she could possibly have an explanation that will redeem everything she’s done. Please brace yourself, OK? Even though you – you know, like her—”
“I don’t like her,” Kasper said in a rush. “I used to, but – I made a mistake. Clearly she’s not the person I thought she was. I want to be with someone who actually cares about me. Not someone who pretends to.”
Felix was staring at him, eyes wide, expression beaten raw. Kasper was suddenly very aware of how long and black his eyelashes were.
He swallowed, feeling hot and shy. He could trust Felix not to use this against him, but it still felt strange to spill his heart to him. It was different from their usual playful banter. It was … intimate.
Maybe it was time to pull back. He tried very hard to never think about this. Felix. Whatever they were both doing, beyond spending time in each other’s company.
“I want to give Harriet the chance to make things right,” Kasper said at last, forcing himself to focus. “And if it turns out she’s…” He trailed off. He couldn’t say it.
Felix finished for him. “We’ll deal with that if it comes to it.”
Kasper sighed, rubbing his face against Felix’s shirt. He wanted to stay here for ever.
Kasper was almost asleep when Rima found them.
“Boys!” she yelled. “There’s a kitten in Felix’s room! Come look!”
Kasper grinned. Whenever a cat died in the hall, every ghost wanted to stroke it, because they could actually touch the spirits, unlike living cats – or Cody, who only ever let Rima cuddle her.
He pulled Felix to his feet so that they could follow her downstairs. A cat day was better than Christmas. It was just what they all needed.
HARRIET
Harriet had to find Kasper. There was a thrumming under her skin whispering, Hurry, hurry, HURRY, which refused to be ignored. She needed to get him down to the main entrance, so that when Greg found a human for Kasper to possess, they’d be ready and waiting.
As she searched Mulcture Hall, she couldn’t stop rubbing at her eye. It stung, throbbing in time with her breaths. When she finally spotted Kasper in Felix’s room, they were all passing around the spirit of some small animal, taking turns inhaling it. No, they weren’t inhaling it. They were cuddling it.
There was no way she’d be able to get Kasper to come with her if the others were around to defend him. They wouldn’t even let her touch his skin, now they knew what she could do. She was going to have to wait until she could get him alone. He’d give up his energy easily, then.
In the meantime, it couldn’t hurt to hear what they were saying about her. She turned herself invisible and slid inside the room to listen.
Chapter 15
FELIX
“What are we going to do about Harriet?” Rima asked.
Felix stopped cooing over the tiny black kitten that was cradled in Kasper’s lap. There was a long silence.
“I don’t think she meant to do anything bad,” Kasper said eventually. He sounded raw. He also sounded unconvinced.
“I disagree,” Felix said. “There’s been something off about her from the very beginning. I tried to tell you all. We shouldn’t trust her.”
The kitten batted at his fingers. It was newly dead, still full of enough energy to want to play. It wrapped its mouth around Felix’s thumb, gnawing on him with sharp teeth.
Rima sighed. “I don’t think she did anything wrong. She’s new. I think she just misunderstood what the Shells are.”
Felix had a sudden moment of doubt. Kasper and Rima were both such staunch defenders of Harriet. Were they seeing something in her that he’d missed?
But, no. She’d killed the Shells. Kasper was being guided by his libido, and it was a historical fact that Rima was too trusting of everyone she’d ever met. Felix was right.
“She wasn’t thinking about them!” Felix said. “She was only thinking about herself. How can you not see that? She made Kasper possess a police officer!”
“She had nothing to do with that,” Kasper said defensively. “That was all me.”
Rima immediately leant over the kitten to hug Kasper. “It wasn’t your fault, either. You can’t help what your power is.”
“You managed to avoid possessing anyone for decades,” Leah added. “I think the fact that you only succumbed now says more about your strength of will than anything.”
Kasper looked embarrassed, and relieved. “Thanks guys. I, er. Just, thanks.”
“We love you, Kasper.” Rima kissed his cheek. When no one else spoke, she prompted, “Right, guys?”
Leah leant over to ruffle his hair. “You’re a decent sort.”
Felix clapped Kasper on the back, biting back the urge to declare how he felt about him.
“We’re a family. We’re going to get through this.” When Rima finally stopped hugging Kasper, the kitten had made its way from his lap to the inside of her cardigan.
Kasper ran a hand through his hair. “Can we talk about something else now, please?” He’d turned slightly pink, to Felix’s delight.
“I think we should make her give up the energy she took from those Shells,” Rima said. “Even if it was a mistake, we can’t let her keep it. It sets a precedent.”
Leah made a noise of disagreement. “When did we decide that it was a mistake? People have been banished to the basement for less before.”
“But she’s new,” Rima said. “She didn’t understand the rules. We can’t punish her for that.”
Felix rolled his eyes. Rima was being completely ridiculous. Before he could reply, someone outside said, “Hello?”
Felix turned to look at the door, thinking in a second of pure panic that it was Harriet. But Qi stepped through the door.
“I thought you’d probably want to hear the news,” she said, folding her arms. “Greg’s gone. He disintegrated.”
Felix was baffled. When Greg had come to fetch Harriet for the Tricksters, he’d been glowing with energy, like normal. He spent most of his time hunting rats and topping up his energy with them. Plus, he got a lot of favours from the Tricksters in exchange for working for them.
What had happened, since he’d led Harriet down to the basement?
“He walked out of the main entrance,” Qi said. “Several people tried to stop him, but evidently he didn’t listen.”
“Why would he do that?” Kasper asked, confused.
Greg hadn’t seemed the type to commit “suicide”, like some ghosts. He had been very calm and content as a ghost, as far as Felix had been able to tell.
“He claimed he was going to fetch something for his girlfriend.”
“What?” Felix said. Greg had never had a girlfriend. Felix had kind of thought he was gay.
Qi cleared her throat. “His girlfriend, Harriet Stoker.”
That was even more interesting. What was Harriet up to now?
“Harriet and Greg weren’t dating,” Rima said, but she sounded unsure.
“Greg was quite insistent about it, I believe.”
Kasper was pacing back and forth like he was trying to get rid of his shadow.