Louise stared at me, then groaned. “So this place is a smorgasbord of ghosts and other creatures.”
“Yeah, it is. Oh, I have a question,” I said, pausing as a series of loud thumps sounded on the stairs. We both tensed, waiting, but nothing happened and so I continued. “When you were little, did you ever see any of the shadow people? It’s important for us to know.”
Louise thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “No. I don’t recall ever seeing one. I believed in ghosts, because my grandmother used to hang around our house—she died when I was three. I saw her several times. She was friendly, though, and I always felt safe when she was around. I think she watched over our house to protect us.” She paused, then added, “I think that’s why I was so surprised when the ghosts here started acting out. I’ve only ever dealt with friendly spirits.”
“That would be a bit of a shock,” I said. I started to ask her if I could get a glass of water when there was a rattling from behind the counter.
“Get down!” Louise yelled, diving beneath the table.
I followed suit, just in time. A large bottle of booze—I wasn’t sure what kind, but it was big—flew off the counter and straight across the room to smash against the window at our table. Had it strayed a few inches either direction, one of us would have gotten our heads slammed by it. The window cracked but didn’t break, but shards of glass from the bottle scattered all over the table, and the alcohol—it smelled like some form of whiskey—showered us, dripping off the edges of the table.
I hastily crawled away from the booth, out into the aisle. Louise followed suit, but we stayed down, creeping toward the door. Another bottle flew off, this time landing short of the table, right where I had been kneeling. It barely missed Louise.
“The hell with this,” I shouted, scrambling to my feet. “Knock it off!” I yelled, my anger flaring up. “Just knock it the fuck off.”
In answer to my challenge, a bottle of vodka sailed my way. I ducked and it hit the wall. At that point, I decided we would brave the cold and grabbed Louise’s hand, dragging her outside. As I slammed the door behind us, there was the sound of yet more glass hitting hard against the wood.
I stood, panting, my heart racing. “I’m so glad we didn’t take our purses in there because I sure wouldn’t want to have to go back for them.”
“You and me both,” Louise said.
My heart sank, though, as I realized my phone was still sitting under the booth. “Oh crap. I have to get my phone. You stay here and watch for Killian.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. “I need it. If for some reason I don’t come out, tell Killian what happened and ask him to get Rowan Firesong and my aunt Teran down here.” I took a deep breath and then, bracing myself for more attacks, I pushed the door open and, crouching low, hurried inside. It was dark, but I knew where I had left the phone.
The air felt incredibly tense, as if something large was looming in the background, waiting. I felt eyes on me—I was being watched. Cautiously, I made my way back to the booth and there, on the floor next to it, I saw my phone. I pocketed it, then backed away toward the door. As I neared the exit, there was a flash of light and I heard carnival music flare up, and a loud male laugh that ricocheted from wall to wall. He sounded crazy and all I could think about was the Joker character in the movie The Dark Knight. I raced through the door and Louise pulled it shut behind me, but even from outside, we could hear the laughter echoing through the restaurant.
I motioned to Louise. “Let’s get off this porch.”
As we headed down the steps, I froze as the soft squeak of hinges sounded. I glanced over my shoulder to see the door opening behind us. That was enough for me. I grabbed Louise’s hand and dragged her down the steps and across the sidewalk to my car. We turned around to see a long, filmy tentacle of pale green light reaching out, like the arm of an octopus.
“What the hell?” A voice from behind us startled me and I jumped, turning around to see Killian parked in the middle of the street, standing by the passenger door, staring up at the building.
“Get us out of here, please,” I said, unlocking my car door with trembling hands. I could barely press the button on the key fob. “Louise, grab your bag.” I found my purse and tote bag, then locked the car again as we scrambled into Killian’s SUV. As we drove off into the mire of blowing snow, I leaned back against the passenger seat with a sigh. It was nearing three p.m., but I was so exhausted that it might as well have been midnight.
“I think I’m going to sell the restaurant, move to a nice quiet little house, and never stick my head out the door again,” Louise said after the Spit & Whistle Pub was far enough behind us so we couldn’t see it.
Her teeth were chattering and so were mine. Killian turned up the heat full blast and I held my hands over the front vent, shivering.
“I don’t blame you. I’m not sure how we’ll do it, but Conjure Ink will do our best to clear the place out.” I was scrambling in my mind, trying to figure out just what the hell we were going to do.
There were cases we just explored, but left alone as we wrote up stories about them. But when a client paid us to investigate, we actually had to do something. And that was what Louise Haymer had done. She had paid us to cleanse her restaurant. But for this, we would need a medium who could not only perform an exorcism to talk to the ghosts and send them packing, but also someone who could close the portal in the basement.
Killian cleared his throat. “Make sure your seat belts are fastened. The roads are incredibly slick.” He was doing his best to focus on his driving, but we kept skidding from one side to another.
The good news was that there weren’t many drivers on the road. Most everybody had managed to either go home, or hunker down where they were. The fury of the storm had increased and I caught my breath as I pressed my nose to the window. I could barely see anything, it was coming down so hard.
“Are we going to be able to make it up Arnica Avenue?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but we’ll try. I do have all-wheel drive, so we may be able to make it.” He squinted, peering through the windshield. “The turn is coming up in another block. Please let me concentrate.”
“I’m not doing anything,” I said. I hadn’t said a word. I was just thinking about how much I’d like to curl up in his arms right now. After all Louise and I had been through I just wanted to feel safe and protected, and I was coming to realize that Killian made me feel safe.
“I know, but I can…sense your thoughts,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I can smell the pheromones, love. So please, think of something else while I try to navigate up the hill.”
I stared at him. This was the first time he had ever said he could smell my desire, and even though it was mostly just cuddling I had been thinking of, I wondered how many times he could smell when I was horny. Cripes. Now I was embarrassed.
“Not a problem,” I said, resolutely staring out at the snow. I moved my thoughts over to the Spit & Whistle briefly but that sparked a buttload of anxiety, so I brought up my phone and texted Ari, asking if she was okay. Luckily, she worked out of her house, so she should be safe, but I wanted to make sure.