Kasper grinned. “Well, I knew that already. What is Harriet afraid of?”
Vini made a cut-off noise of delight.
Rufus tilted his head, then turned to meet Vini’s gaze. “You can tell him.”
Vini looked flattered. “Her grandmother.”
Felix blinked, interested despite himself. Harriet loved her gran. Hadn’t she been trying desperately to leave the building so that she could get back to her?
Kasper pushed on. “Boring. I was hoping it would be snakes. Hey, is Leah really your sister-in-law?”
Felix cast a desperate look at Rima, begging her to do something.
“Indeed,” Rufus said. Strangely, he was humouring Kasper’s endless questions. Felix hoped that his entertainment value lasted long enough for them to leave the basement.
“Man, that’s wild. What was she like when she was alive?”
Felix frowned, but Kasper ignored him.
“Aeliana has always been completely herself.”
“Legit! She’s the best.”
Rufus raised his eyebrows.
In desperation, Felix leant over the pool table and scraped the eyelid into his palm. It was slightly warm and sticky, leaking a clear, viscous substance. It might have been his imagination, but it wiggled slightly when he curled his fingers over it.
“Kasper, come on! Let’s go, now, now, now!” He dragged Kasper off the pool table and away from Rufus, ushering him through the door.
“What the hell was that?!” Felix hissed at Kasper when they were safely outside.
“What? I was just chatting!” Kasper shrugged.
Felix rolled his eyes. “Rufus was probably seconds away from strangling you.”
Kasper examined his cuticles. “It wouldn’t have made any difference if he had.”
Felix gave up. Whatever was going on with him, it could wait. “Let’s get the eyelid up to Leah.”
“What do we do if Harriet comes after us on the way?” Rima asked.
It was disconcerting to think that Harriet could be here, right now, maybe metres away, invisible and waiting in the shadows for them to leave. They couldn’t fight her until they were ready. Who knew how many other ghosts she was preying on? She could be growing stronger by the day, gathering powers all the time.
There was a beat of silence.
“Cross that bridge when we get to it?” Felix suggested, voice tight with stress.
Kasper started, inexplicably, to chuckle. What had he done when he was alone in the basement? What if he’d given them his power after all? Felix brushed away the thought. Whatever he’d given the Tricksters, they would deal with it later, once Harriet was out of the way.
RIMA
“It’s all going to be fine,” Rima said, for the third time, sitting cross-legged on the floor while Leah examined the eyelid.
“Relax,” Kasper told Felix, who was pacing back and forth across the room.
Rima was intensely curious about what kind of deal Kasper had struck with Rufus. She really, really hoped that Kasper hadn’t done anything stupid just because he felt guilty about Oscar.
“I am relaxed,” Felix said, then immediately started biting at his nails. Cody was hunting a mouse, and kept looking up at him in annoyance, his pacing disturbing her prey.
“Nearly got it,” Leah said, staring at the eyelid. “It’s like tuning into a radio frequency. I can feel her energy. She’s … she’s so strong.”
Rima crossed her fingers, hoping this would work. Leah said she could use the eyelid to leach Harriet’s energy out of her spirit, wherever in the building she was hiding. But Leah had never tried it before. She was basing this on something she’d been told hundreds of years before. Was it even possible?
It was their best shot at making Harriet weak enough that they could get her into the basement. If they tried to take her down now, then she would probably destroy them.
“Leah, are you related to the Tricksters?” Rima asked.
Leah breathed out through her nose. She kept her focus on the eyelid, but she’d gone completely still. “Rufus and Vini are my brothers-in-law.”
“You were married to their brother?”
She nodded. “Fabian. Claudia’s father was their older brother.”
Claudia whined.
There had been three of them when they were alive? Rima couldn’t imagine anything worse.
“Why did you never—”
“I don’t really want to talk about it. And especially not right now.”
Leah looked utterly miserable, so Rima decided not to ask any more questions, even though she was burning with them.
“Can we just get on with this?” Kasper asked, lounging back against the wall.
“I think it’s ready, actually,” Leah said. “We need to make sure we’ve found Harriet before I use it, though. Once she’s weak, we’ll have to get Qi to help us move her into the basement as quickly as we can, before she fights back. She’ll still be able to use her powers, even if she’s not got much energy.”
Rima nodded. It wasn’t like they needed to do a vote with the whole building. Harriet had killed a living human. She had to go to the basement, there was no question.
“How about we make a big commotion, so she’ll come and see what’s going on?” Felix said. “As soon as we start talking to her, she won’t be able to resist answering back. She’s never turned down the chance at an argument yet.”
“It’s a plan,” Rima said. “We can play the rest by ear, as long as we have the eyelid. If Leah waits out of sight with that, then the rest of us can handle Harriet.”
Some of the other ghosts would have helped them fight Harriet, too, but most of them had hidden away inside the walls since Oscar’s murder. They probably wouldn’t come out until the danger had passed.
Leah rolled her eyes. “If you just want me to stay out of the fight, that’s ridiculous. There’s no way I’m going to let her hurt you if she starts—”
“I’m not risking you disintegrating, Leah. It’s not worth it. If there’s a fight, we’re more than capable of dealing with it.”
“Yeah, we are. She’s going to regret ever coming near this building.” Kasper was clenching and unclenching his fists, desperate for a fight.
Leah shrugged. “Fine. I guess I’ll stay out of it seeing as Kasper has decided to fight her single-handedly. Are you drunk, Kasper?”
“I’m just – ready. I’m done with this. I want to get it over with.”
“Well, let’s get on with it, then,” Rima said. “Let’s huddle, guys. Come on, Leah – you too.”
“Pass,” she said.
“Liven up, squad!” Rima said. “This is our moment!”
Leah reluctantly let Rima pull her into the circle, intoning, “I will treasure this moment for ever.”
“Same,” Rima said, entirely serious.
Then Cody started yipping behind them. Someone was coming. Though it wasn’t Harriet. It wasn’t even another ghost. It was a human.
Fabian. The lost brother. The worst of the Tricksters. I haven’t mentioned my father much, have I? Rufus and Vini might be unpleasant, but in comparison with my father, they were practically doting aunts. At least they knew my name.