“Shit! Missed. Quinn, again.”
Before I could check my mouth, I asked her, “Can I do it too? I can at least hold it still.”
An unholy grin bloomed over her face. “I knew I liked you for a reason. Brandon, you think you can throw him?”
Brandon scoffed. “He’s not even a hundred fifty soaking wet. I’ve picked up dogs bigger than him. Question is, do you know how to land, Mack?”
“We’re about to find out.” I was reasonably sure I could do this without breaking a leg. Or an arm. Or my head.
“Don’t get hurt,” he ordered me.
He lifted me into the air, my ass cradled in his hands like they were a chair. I felt more than a little ridiculous, to be honest. But I still had every intention of doing this. I wanted that thing caught and gone, and we wouldn’t manage it if it kept hovering up top, near the ceiling and out of reach.
Ken shot the malevolent with his Super Soaker, forcing it back into the common room area and out of the foyer. Eli shot up once again into the air, and I was glad Brandon didn’t immediately throw me up as well, as I’d have crashed into her from this angle.
It all happened in a split second. I saw the malevolent dodge her, Eli’s fingers once against just missing. It dodged my direction, and Brandon threw me up, angling me towards it. I flailed a little—this was seriously disorienting—but I kept my hands up and forward. Inky darkness bit arctic cold against my skin, and I felt more than saw that I had it. I closed my hands around it, using every bit of power I possessed to lock it down, to manifest it enough so I could drag it back down with me. The power was both draining and electrifying all at once. I gritted my teeth, riding that spark as it danced over my skin in an unpleasant tingle.
With all of that happening, I didn’t spare a bit of attention for landing, and I realized a second too late. Oh shit, I really was going to break a leg—
Hard arms caught me, a little off-center against a chest, and the air left my lungs as I made impact. It took me a second to realize Quinn had caught me, keeping me steady even as I scrambled to get my feet properly under me.
“Don’t let go!” Eli commanded, a touch frantic. “Don’t let go, Mack!”
“I’ve got it,” I choked out, still trying to get my breath back. The air around us grew colder and heavier. I felt like I was breathing water, and I wanted nothing more than to get rid of this thing.
She sprinted to us and in a second, thrust her hand into the middle of it. “Come here, you son of a bitch!”
The malevolent tried to escape, tearing at me to get free, but between the two of us, we had a firm grip on it.
Mediums have their own light, their own auras visible to other mediums. Eli didn’t register as a medium to my sight, never had. But I realized now that her general aura was worlds different from her power when she actively used it. She lit up like a beacon as her power unleashed and tore this thing to shreds.
The malevolent howled in pain, writhing and fighting, doing everything it could to get away from her. I held on with gritted teeth, leaning back as if I needed my body weight to help keep this thing rooted.
Light imploded from the center of it, billowing out and out and out, tearing it apart like a bomb in slow motion. Eli put more force into it, her expression wild, hair standing out from her head like a wicked witch.
“Let go,” Quinn said sharply, pulling me free. “We need to get clear.”
I let go, as I trusted him to know, and we both scampered back about five feet. In the process of moving, I almost missed it when the light overtook the inky darkness. The malevolent let out one last screech, this time almost sounding like a human scream of pain.
Gone.
I blinked, breathing hard and looking around the room, making sure it hadn’t somehow escaped again. But I knew it hadn’t even as I panned the room. The air was warming up steadily, back to a normal temperature. The lights were no longer fighting to keep the area illuminated. It was like a theater stage in here. It was gone.
Eli beamed at me. “Good catch!”
Laughing, I patted Quinn’s shoulder. “I could say the same to you. Thanks, Quinn.”
“First time throw is always a bit sticky with the landing,” he said, like it was quite normal for people to throw other people around the room.
Now, at least, I understood his drive to be a body builder. He’d need those muscles to throw his wife around.
Falisa and Ken moved towards us, relief on their faces.
“I can’t believe you guys!” Falisa exclaimed. “You bunch of nuts. Have to admit, it worked, though.”
“It’s not like we can move a ladder around in order to reach it,” Eli said reasonably. “We don’t do it often, fortunately for Quinn.”
I wasn’t about to say it aloud, but the feeling of flying through the air had been quite fun. I might have Brandon throw me again. Take the malevolent ghost out of the equation, see if I like it.
“Wait. Where’s Delaney?” Brandon looked around the room, then moved forward so he had line of sight into the foyer. “Did he duck out?”
“While you were chasing the malevolent around the room, he slipped through the front door,” Falisa confirmed darkly. She shot an irate look toward the door in question. “That’s what distracted me from helping you for a second. I cannot believe that kid. I’m so not giving him any more chances; I don’t care what the higher-ups say. He’s not reliable.”
Him running away from a ghost would pretty much seal his fate. There was no excusing that. But Delaney was no longer my problem. I stretched both arms over my head, getting the kinks out. I was so relieved this was over, words almost failed me. “How about we report in, clean up a little, then go for an early victory lunch?”
Ken sighed as he looked around the room. “And then come back and clean up some more? ’Cause this will take more than a few hours.”
That, I believed, qualified for understatement of the year.
20
‘Clean up a little’ turned into a lot of cleanup because we had made one hell of a mess.
I met everyone at the dorm building, where a small group of students gathered to hopefully get in long enough to extract some of their stuff. Mack was intent on going into the building and finding the good ghost, if she was still around. I leaned down and murmured near his ear, “You really okay with going in there with just Eli?”
“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” he said with a dismissive wave. “The aura here is so much better than it was. But the friendly ghost, if she’s still here, is likely still really spooked. Better if we just sit and talk for a while and let her come to us. No reason to make you sit through that when your time will be put to better use.”
Quinn and I were slotted to head back to Edmée’s in order to repair the sheetrock. We’d had no luck finding someone with an opening in their schedule to fix the damage, but Quinn knew how to hang sheetrock, and Mack was right that it was a better use of our time than hanging around for a ghost who may or may not show up.
It was the first time he was willing to work something without me, and I wasn’t sure if I felt proud of his growth or petulant because he wanted to play with someone else.
Mack must have read the pout on my face, as he leaned up to kiss me softly. “Really, I’m not convinced she’ll show. I’m just going to get to know Eli better and play with her a bit. We’ll probably join you in a few hours. Go fix a wall.”