Page 60 of Jacinth

I resolutely faced east, took the spell out of my pocket and, after double checking my lines, held my hands up toward the noonday sun. Before the first word left my lips, there was a rough tug as Harley ripped the paper from my hand and. Ate. The. Spell.

I watched in horror as she finished the mouthful, turned, and batted me across the nose.

“Bad Fluffy,” she said, then disappeared.

CHAPTER 41

Jacinth

Orion was swearing like a trooper.If I weren’t so terrified that I was stuck in the mortal realm, I’d be impressed at his creativity. I tried again to concentrate and force myself into the spirit realm, but stopped when I decided I must look stupid.

You know when, after watching Peter Pan as a kid, you became convinced that if you thought the right happy thoughts, you’d be able to fly? So you’d think about ice cream and toys, then you’d get desperate and think about your siblings, and eventually you had to decide you must just be a miserable fuck who was destined for a dreary, magic-less life.

Disney had a lot to answer for, let me tell you.

Anyway, long, tangentially related story short; the ghosting thing was a no-go, and I had a scary feeling that I knew how Orion and Skyler had been able to see that old dude get nabbed the other day.

I was fair game for Alisdair if he found me.

“Why the fuck can’t you disappear like you have every other time?” Orion screamed, clearly letting his anxiety get the better of his temper.

“Your language is doing nothing for this situation, you know,” I informed him with a sniff.

His answer was a growl. Yeah, he was shit-scared. So was I, but I prided myself in keeping my cool in any situation. The scream I released as I finished that thought would have made me a hypocrite, had anyone been able to read them. There was a face in the trees. Features I would have been happy to never see again coalesced out of a near solid black fog.

Orion and Skyler were in front of me in a heartbeat.

“It is time we got to know each other a little better, girl,” Alisdair said.

He really didn’t look right. His skin was paler than when we met him on the street: paper thin and brittle. A rictus grin split his face.

“Dude looks like he’s auditioning to be the Joker or something,” I muttered.

Orion shushed me.

I was a nervous talker, all right? I struggled with tense or emotional situations, so I was bound to say something inappropriate to shift the focus.

“She’s not yours, Alisdair. Leave us alone and we can end this peacefully,” Orion called across the small distance.

“You’re killing the bastard first chance, though, right?”

We needed to clarify these things.

This time it was Sky with the shut ups.

“They are all mine because I will it so. You’ve no clue what you’re interfering with here. Walk away now and I’ll let you keep your lives.”

“Funny, I was going to say the same to you.” Orion’s grin was truly unfriendly, and it made me realize he had never disliked me because I had never been on the receiving end of that kind of malice.

“Sky, if I don’t make it through this, I want you to know that I love you. Tell Niko I loved being inside of him. Orion, I’m still upset you wouldn’t suck my dick.”

At least I knew they wouldn’t have to wonder about how I felt. With that release, I turned and bolted from the clearing, hoping to whoever was listening up there that Sky and Orion could handle the freak.

I ran as fast as I could toward the front gate of the cemetery. If I could get out into Silver Springs, I stood a far better chance of remaining hidden. I could try to leave town altogether, then send a message to the guys to meet me.

On my way past, I vaguely registered Niko off to the side, standing alone in a circle of candles, and wondered what that was about. No time. I had to—

I rebounded off the boundary and landed on my ass. There was clearly a difference between the solidity Orion’s amulet had given me and whatever was happening to me now. I was a rat in a trap.

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