“That’s the spirit!” Kasper said under his breath. “Go, team!”
If they didn’t start this fight now, Felix would probably decide to have a nap instead. Whatever they’d done inside his head, the Tricksters had wiped him out.
Rima laid Cody on the ground, kissing the top of her head. She handed the disgusting lump of hair and skin to Kasper. “Hang on to that. Wait here.”
Then she disintegrated into atoms. No – not atoms – but a cloud of tiny gnats.
One of the flies headed straight for Vini, a little speck that he wouldn’t even notice. He was glowing with a golden light that kept getting brighter. He must be feeding off the fear of every ghost on the rooftop.
Kasper strained his eyes to watch as the gnat hovered by Vini’s ear, then darted inside, quick as a flash. Vini rubbed his earlobe absently, but nothing happened for a long moment.
Then Vini brought his hand up to his ear again, rubbing it hard. He shuddered, and crumpled to the ground. Rima must have done something deep inside his ear.
Kasper lunged forward, grabbing Vini’s head and twisting hard while Felix pinned him down. A ghost from the basement yelled out, turning away from her fight with a second-floor girl to run at Kasper. She engulfed Kasper in crackling flames.
Kasper gritted his teeth and kept pulling at Vini’s head, until the skull came free of the spine with a crisp pop. Rufus ran at Felix, tearing him away from Vini as he disintegrated into atoms. Rima flew at Norma’s face, covering her skin in gnats.
The flames were burning his skin, so Kasper threw himself at the floor, rolling until the searing pain disappeared. He climbed to his feet, smoke oozing from his skin. When he looked up, Felix was dragging Leah away. Kasper gaped at them, confused. How had Felix got all the way over to her while Kasper was on fire? The protective barrier around her and Claudia must have broken during the fight.
Norma swatted the flies away, her face swelling up from bites. She peered out through half-closed eyelids, and her eyes widened when she saw that Leah was free of the bubble shield.
Norma ran towards Felix, knocking him around the head and tearing Leah away. Felix crumpled to the ground and didn’t move.
Norma held Leah by the back of her neck and shook her hard. Something like surprise crossed Leah’s face, like she’d realized what a mistake she’d made. And then Norma took her energy, making Leah and the baby in her arms dissolve into dust.
Rima re-formed, crying out, “Leah, no!”
She jumped forwards, trying to stop them. Kasper grabbed her arms and held her back.
“Let me go.” Rima turned into a bird and slipped free.
By the time she’d reached Norma, it was too late. There was nothing left of Leah except a shred of energy drifting on the floor. Norma tilted her head back in ecstasy as she absorbed it.
Rima cawed, circling the room in long flaps of her wings, screaming as loudly as her raven throat would let her. Felix rolled over, grimacing and climbing to his feet.
“Rima!” Felix said, holding out his hand. She flew to him, curling into his chest as a mouse. He cupped her in his hands as she whined desperately against him.
Kasper wanted to do something for her, but he couldn’t. He stood and watched Felix comfort her in the middle of the battle.
“Rima!” a voice said. “I’m right here!”
Kasper spun around to see Leah was standing in the middle of the roof. She was still trapped with Claudia inside that glowing shield.
Rima stopped sobbing and morphed back into human form. Felix staggered, letting her go.
“What?” She wiped her face. “What?”
Kasper looked around. Rufus was missing.
FELIX
When they had finally defeated Vini, Felix had known that he needed to think fast. The three of them weren’t going to be able to overpower Norma and Rufus together. The only way Felix could think of getting rid of them was to use trickery.
When Rufus had run at him, while Kasper was covered in flames, there had been a moment when Rima covered Norma’s eyes in flies. While she couldn’t see, Felix broadcast a subtle command to everyone on the roof, making them see Rufus as Leah. It looked like Felix was fighting her instead of Rufus. He’d hidden the real Leah and Claudia out of sight, hoping that Norma would assume Leah had escaped while Norma couldn’t see.
He’d maintained the hypnotism as Norma swatted away the flies and saw Leah grabbing at Felix. Rufus had kept fighting him, with no idea what Felix was doing. He’d dragged Rufus away, trying to make it look like Leah was escaping.
Norma had attacked them, picking Rufus up by the collar. He’d stared at her in surprise – using Leah’s face. Then Norma shook her brother and took all his energy, until there was nothing left but dust.
Exhausted, Felix let the hypnotism drop. Leah and Claudia flickered back into visibility, still safely hidden in their bubble. He’d never used such a huge command before, and he would have lost control if he’d needed to hold it for any longer. But it had worked.
Rima stared at Leah, joy transforming her features. There wasn’t time for Felix to explain what had happened. Instead, he gestured at Norma, who was still enjoying her new rush of energy. “Rufus is gone. What are we going to do about her?”
“Whatever we do, we’re going to need Harriet’s help,” Rima said. “I’ve got a plan.”
HARRIET
Harriet had seen everything, and thought Felix was unbelievably clever. Norma was swaying on her feet, stoned out of her mind with all the new energy she’d taken from Rufus. In a few seconds, she’d open her eyes and the fight would continue. Harriet had to act now. She could use this.
If she could convince Norma that she was on her side, and would help her fight, then maybe Harriet could keep her distracted while the others came up with a plan.
She tightened the scarf holding her neck in place, and pushed away all her fear. She had to act like Rufus – as confident and relaxed as him. Norma would respect that. There was nothing she hated more than cowardice.
Harriet was just bracing herself to go over to her gran when a bird landed on her shoulder.
“Harriet, it’s me!” Rima said. “Listen, we need your help. We have a plan. We’re going to take away Norma’s powers, so she’ll disintegrate. But we need time. Can you distract her?”
Harriet didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I promise.”
Rima whispered, “Thank you, Harriet.” She flew off back to the others, her tiny wings working hard as she darted between the fighting ghosts.
Harriet watched her go, and then turned to Norma, who was just coming out of her energy high.
In a drawl, Harriet said, “Congratulations! It must be thrilling to get rid of her at last.”
Norma grunted. “Where are my brothers?”
Harriet winced. “We lost them. I’m sorry.”
Norma’s expression went blank and taut. She seemed taken aback for a moment, like the possibility of their disintegration had never even occurred to her. “I see. Well, there’s a lot for us to do without them. Time to tidy up the rest of this mess.”
Harriet’s heart jumped. She had started to relax, but this wasn’t over yet. Just because Rufus and Vini were gone didn’t mean that Norma was harmless.
Harriet tried to steer her away from Leah, expanding the protective shield to include Rima, Felix and Kasper, too. She made it as solid as possible, so that there were only blurred shapes visible inside, with indistinct features. As long as Norma didn’t look closely, they were hidden. Harriet was going to protect them until her dying breath.