Page 27 of Christmas Spirits

“Zachary,” I said.

“Ah, my grandson is Paulie.” His gaze switched to Laurence and his broken wrist still in a sling. “You all look like you’ve been through the wringer.”

“You have no idea,” Laurence grumbled.

“Poltergeists can be powerful and relentless spirits, which it looks like you all can attest to,” he said. “Can I ask what supernatural you are?” The question was directed toward me.

“I’m a Medium,” I said.

He paused, brows pinching as if he wasn’t sure I was telling him the truth. “And you weren’t able to get rid of this spirit on your own?”

His question threw me off guard. What was he implying? That this was easy?

If I could reason with the thing, you think I wouldn’t have done it by now?

“Obviously not,” Laurence snapped.

“Hmm…” Rhys rolled his shoulders back. “Well, I’ll do whatever I can to help. I just need the payment.”

I peeked at Laurence. That’s right, the three grand…

Without hesitating, Laurence reached into his pocket, pulled out a folded check, and passed it to him. Not even bothering to look at it, he stuffed it into his coat pocket with a satisfied grunt.

“We also were able to figure out the spirit’s living name and dug him up,” Arianna said.

Rhys’s eyebrows shot up at that. “You did all the dirty work already.”

“Does that mean we can get some money back?” Laurence grumbled. I elbowed him in the ribs.

If Rhys heard him, he didn’t react to it. Instead, he walked over to the counter, plopped his duffle bag down, unzipped it, and began pulling out the contents. Candles, mostly. A dagger. A jar of dirt. A jug of clear liquid with a cross sunken inside—Holy Water was my guess. And what looked to be a folded, embroidered tablecloth.

Glancing between the three of us, he said, “We have only a few hours until midnight, and while I set up, there are still a couple things I need for this to work. I’ll also need every protection spell taken off this place to allow the spirit to enter during the ritual.”

“I’ll handle that,” Arianna said, already moving to the shop’s display window to start the long process of taking off the wards.

“I can help,” Laurence offered.

“I think it’s better if you help Kay,” she said with a sympathetic look. “My aunt and I put them up, so it’ll be better if I’m the one who takes them down.”

Even though it had been a kind way of saying no, Laurence frowned.

Rhys plucked a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it to Laurence. “These are the other objects I need, including a wide table to set everything up.”

I leaned over and scanned the list with him. “A permanent marker. Kosher salt.” I read aloud. “Matches and a fire extinguisher?”

“After trapping the spirit, we’ll have to burn the body at the end to banish it from both sides of the veil. To prevent it from coming back for you,” Rhys explained. “Sometimes the fire part can get a little out of hand, so that last one’s precautionary.”

“What about the four bottles of sparkling water?” Laurence asked to the last item on the list. “Wouldn’t regular water be just as good as dowsing a fire?”

Taking his hat off and placing it in the duffle bag, Rhys cleared his throat. He was balding up top and graying everywhere else. “The bottles are for me. Banishing an evil spirit can make a guy thirsty.”

Laurence rolled his eyes my way, his expression telling me he was having second thoughts about this guy. But if Arianna suggested him, and her Aunt Marla had him in her book, he had to be legitimate. Even as ridiculous as his requests were…

At least, that was what I was telling myself.

* * *

Just before midnight,Arianna had managed to get every protection spell and extra magical ward off the store and Laurence and I had found all of the items on Rhys’s list. Well, except the sparkling water. He’d have to deal with a half-carton of orange juice that Arianna had left in the minifridge.

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