Page 50 of Ghostridden
Then I texted Ricky, since our date was about to be collateral damage. His response—OMW—was immediate. Avi was still staring at the library, wringing his hands, so I approached him slowly.
“Hey. Saul and Ricky will be here shortly. We’ll get everything sorted.”
He didn’t look at me. “Will we? How?”
Hunh. Good question. “I don’t know for sure, but I know we’ll try. Until they arrive, though, why not go upstairs for a bit?”
He slid me a sideways glance. “Afraid I’ll go poltergeist on you and make things worse?”
“No. But nothing will happen until Saul gets here, so take a little time for yourself, okay? Time enough to face the… the…” I flipped off the mess in the library. “The latestinvasionwhen we’ve got backup.”
Avi hesitated for an instant, but then nodded. “Perhaps you’re right.”
“Every once in a while, I manage. But Avi?”
“Yes?”
“You’re not alone.”
He met my gaze, and his expression softened. “Neither are you.” Then he vanished.
As a result, I was standing at the library doors, scowling at the second coming of chaos, when Ricky knocked.
I opened the door and motioned him inside. “Hi. Sorry, but I guess I’ll be taking another raincheck on dinner.”
“Forget apologies.” He stepped across the threshold and took my hands. “Are you okay?”
I heaved a sigh. “I’m more okay than Avi.” I angled my head toward the paper pile. “I’ve only got sorting and cleanup ahead of me, but he’s really upset about somebody violating his spaceagain. It’s bad enough that he’s had a new random roommate foisted on him without his consent.”
“Hey.” Ricky squeezed my hands. “I think he’s probably grateful for you. After all, you’re the only one who can see him. The only one who’s looking out for him. It was your idea to trick out the attic for him, after all.”
“I guess.” I pulled Ricky farther into the vestibule as Saul charged up the walk.
“What did I miss?” Saul was out of breath, but his blue eyes sparkled. “Is it another entity? Do you think this house might be a gateway?”
I shivered. “Crap, that’s all we’d need. But no. I’m pretty sure we’re talking about a corporeal vandal this time.”
Saul visibly drooped. “Are you sure?” When I nodded, he muttered, “Drat.”
“The only thing I’m marginally certain about is that they left through the front door because it wasn’t latched. And whoever—”
“Orwhatever,” Saul said.
Gee, thanks for that, Saul. Nevertheless, I inclined my head. “Or whatever it was, they were super focused on the boxes clearly labeled as Oren’s. It doesn’t appear that anything else was disturbed.”
“Really?” Ricky frowned as he let go of my right hand, although he didn’t release my left. “How can you tell?”
I huffed a strangled laugh, as much from the continued contact as the question. “A point.”
“If it was another ghost, though,” Ricky said, “wouldn’t you have been able to detect it?”
“Why would I?” I flailed my free hand. “I’m not the freaking ghost whisperer. I’m not sure why I can see Avi. I mean, nobody else can.”
“Right, right.” Ricky released my hand. “Sorry.”
“No.” I sighed and laced our fingers together again. “I’msorry. But having our house trashed multiple times is getting a little old.” Ricky gave me a weird look. “What?”
“You saidour house.”
