Page 7 of Jacinth

“No, Jace. You don’t get it. There’s a reason I refused the pumpkin spice latte this morning. There’s this rumor, you see. Well... basically... um.” She looked at the formerly ugly crier, turned shockingly great ninja kisser. “Skyler, right?” Of course, she remembered his name.

Nerd.

“Skyler is your mate. Plus, you’re likely to find a couple more before you have to give that amulet back.”

There was only one response I could formulate as a loud roaring suddenly replaced my normal auditory faculties. Of course, it was a quote from an old favorite. I’m a slave to pop culture, whether dead or alive.

“Exsqueeze me? Baking powder?”

And then, like a total amateur, I fainted.

CHAPTER 6

Niko

“I thinkhe’s waking up. Geez, guy, you were really passed out.”

My eyes felt like sandpaper. My throat was well on its way to being fossilized, it was so parched. I ran the complicated math equation of why I was hearing a woman’s voice right now through my aching head. I was sure I hadn’t been laid in months. Then again, with the amount I had been drinking lately, anything was possible.

“Who are you talking to?” Well, I had a voice, at least... kind of.

“You can hear me? Oh em gee! I’m totally in the right place then. I was talking to myself, silly. Needed to get some expert advice, y’know?”

Aaaaand that’s when I realized my mistake. I had engaged a spirit in conversation and now it would be impossible to get rid of... I recoiled in horror, slapping a hand to my throbbing head at the sight of the being before me.

“Why the actual fuck am I seeing Harley Quinn right now?”

Her giggle was nasal and fried my poor nerves like electricity through water.

“Well, you see, my daddy wanted to play Harley and Joker, and it was fun, but got a little out of control. Turns out falling into a large vat from a great height won’t turn you into a superhero. You just go splat.”

“You... Wait. Your father did that to you?”

Again with the giggle.

“No, silly, mydaddy, not my daddy.”

I could hear Orion moving around deeper in the house and prayed he didn’t come looking for me. I knew exactly what this spirit wanted. The same thing they all did.

“Niko!”

Shit.

Heaving myself into a sitting position on the floorboards, I cast around for the bottle I was drinking last night. If I was quick, I may hit that level of inebriation where Harley over there would disappear. Maybe the golden boy would go with her.

“Niko!”

Louder now. I winced as my brain took offense at the volume.

“Ooh. He’s gorgeous.” Harley stepped back from the cracked door as it swung wide, and the necromancer extraordinaire darkened the void.

“If you introduce me, I’ll let you be my new daddy.” Harley sashayed toward me, clearly trying to show off her ‘assets’.

Every time.

This happened every time.

Spirit seeks out Niko, only good for the intro to the golden boy who can give them life.

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