Page 34 of Amber Gambler

Aretha must have updated him on her way out. From the parking lot, he could see when Josie and Matty came in. It appeared he had given us a few minutes alone before venturing up to see me himself.

“Let him in.” I adjusted my covers but made no move to stand. “And be nice.”

“He almost got you killed tonight.” Matty hadn’t let go of my hand. “Niceis asking for a lot.”

“I’m the one who invited him to go with me, not the other way around, and he pulled me ashore.”

“Weirdly enough, Mary, that doesn’t make me feel any better.” Josie did as I asked, scowling the whole time. “All this proves is you two are a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Hello to you too, Josie.” Harrow didn’t bat an eye at her hostility. “How’s the patient?”

“Alive—” I glared pointedly at my siblings, “—thanks to you.”

“It was the least I could do.” He folded his arms across his chest. “I still don’t get how I lost you in six feet of water. I jumped in right after you, afraid I would land on you, but you weren’t there.”

“Sounds like you’ve got an asrai.”

Peering around Harrow, I spotted Carter, who was dressed like she just got off work. She tipped her chin at Matty, winked at Josie, then claimed Josie’s spot on the bed next to me. I angled myself toward her. “You know about the asrai?”

“Don’t be too impressed.” She drew a bag of cheddar puffs from the ether. Or maybe from her pocket. It was hard to tell with her. She could have worked in Vegas as skilled as she was with sleight of hand. “All I did was plug in the information Harrow sent over and let the database do its thing.”

Josie, worrying her thumbnail with her teeth, bumped Matty onto the floor. “What’s an asrai?”

“Damn it, Mary.” Matty landed with a thud then rubbed his tailbone. “What was that for?”

Carter wiped a smile she couldn’t hide by dragging a hand across her mouth. “A water spirit.”

“Spirit.” Josie leaned in closer. “Not sprite?”

“That fits with Johnny’s warning.” I nudged Josie’s thigh with my toe before she climbed onto Carter’s lap in her attempt to snare her attention. “He warned me the spirit we went to see was dangerous.”

“I, for one, am shocked.” Matty propped his forearms on the mattress. “The Frankie I know wouldn’t get a vague warningfrom one spirit about another spirit then hare off to discover for herself how dangerous it was by going for a swim with it.”

“As I was saying—” I accidentally kicked him in the jaw when aiming for his stacked arms, “—I took every precaution. I brought Harrow for backup. I stayed on the shore. I told you two where I was going.” There was a thread of concern knotting my chest the more I thought about it. “The spirit was newly risen. As is the case with any soul who elects to remain on Earth, she had a reason.”

“Murdering you?”

“Negative energy produces vengeful spirits.” Too bad he moved out of reach of my foot. “That close to a road? She could have made cars swerve and strike pedestrians or spun vehicles to face oncoming traffic. That near the water? She could have lured in the unwary with cries for help and drowned them.” Mostly kids and women. “I can’t ignore a potential threat on that scale.”

“Particularly if it’s related to the case you took on,” Matty grumped from his sprawl on the floor.

Poor thing had decided it was safer for him down there than anywhere near his sisters, which was fair.

“Frankie might have discovered a serial killer,” Harrow volunteered, allowing that news to settle.

“Your case…? The girl…?” Josie gripped my calf. “She wasmurdered?”

“We don’t know yet.” I pried her fingertips loose before she left bruises. “We did find her best friend.” It hurt to admit that much. “She drowned, but she can’t recall any specifics, and we don’t have a body.”

“Yet.” Carter set her jaw. “We’re going to locate Farah’s remains, and Audrey.”

The way she kind of lumped them together but kind of didn’t left me queasy with the realization she had zero expectations of finding Audrey alive. Us Marys knew from bitter experience howhard it was for the kids the world had forgotten to scratch out an existence on their own. Farah and Audrey had each other, but safety wasn’t always found in numbers, and often survival cost you slivers of your soul.

“I don’t get it.” Matty had drawn his knees to his chest. “This asrai thing is a vengeful spirit, right?”

“An asrai is formed when a person who died in or near water is so angry at the world about their death their soul is unable to move on. Spirits who want revenge bad enough, those who want others to suffer as they did… With enough hatred comes power, and with enough power comes the ability to manifest an element. An anchor is required,” I explained, “physical as well as emotional, meaning they can only bond to the body of water containing their remains.”

Unfortunately, this culvert channeled Placentia Canal, which gave the asrai access to the Wilmington River.

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