Page 41 of Choosing Jenny
“With the shift in the economy, I had to find other work. As it turns out, when ghosts aren’t trying to defend themselves, they are interested in home improvement. Sorellamore has been a hell of a boon for us bone carvers, so my business has grown considerably. That’s why I had to add the addition. I’ve got a stack of backorders longer than my…arm.”
“Did Jac tell you why we are here?” I asked him.
He nodded, then motioned for us to follow him as he walked back to his home. “Said something about some kind of orbs you’re looking for.”
“Halla Pearls,” Surge chimed in. “They are of mystical importance to—”
Gram held his hand up and cut him off. “I don’t get mixed up in all that nonsense. That’s my sister’s deal. I’m just here to help you get what you need.” He opened the door for us, and we followed Omen inside.
Modest was the nicest word I could think of to describe the piles of tools and semi-organized chaos of Gram’s home. Stacks of papers were topped with glass balls to stop them from blowing away, due to his open windows. Every tool I’d ever used were scattered and grouped in ways that made no sense to me. There were random glasses of water or banwine wherever there was a flat surface, as though he might get parched going from one end of his three-room shack to the other. It was more of a workshop than a domicile. Not dirty, just extremely messy.
“You have a beautiful home,” Sam said politely.
Gram laughed. “I appreciate the lie.”
Surge stood, frozen in place near the front door, his eyes wide. I would have thought he would have been at home in Gram’s place, considering his own lab back at Mal’s manor. It was just as hectic.
Concerned, I asked, “Everything okay—”
“You’re using theHalla Pearlsas paperweights?” he shouted incredulously.
Gram frowned. “What, these things?” He picked one up and tossed it into the air, only to catch it. “This is what you’re looking for?”
A panicked look flashed across Surge’s face. “Gods, please put the pearl down.Gently!”
Gram smirked, then shrugged. “Sure.”
Surge rushed forward. “How did you get them?”
Gram scratched his head. “I did all the fixtures for a manor remodel in Sorellamore for this prim, classed fool who thoughtit was acceptable to pay me in goods instead of cash.” He shook his head, his annoyance palpable. “Asshole. But then, he had the balls to tell me he didn’t have cash, that all his money was tied up in the remodel. I told him it would cost him his balls for the deceit and he gave me these. I couldn’t argue with him, since Ididtell him I wanted his balls. I should have been more specific. Anyway, he acted as though these things were precious commodities. I had no idea why.”
“They can hold ghosts,” Surge told him.
Gram’s eyes widened. “You mean, like a trap?”
“I’m still researching them,” Surge admitted. “But yes, potentially. What I do know is that the pearls can hold a ghost in them and help transport them between worlds. From here to Orhon.”
“Neat.” Gram pointed at a few of them nearby. “So, these are what you want?”
Surge nodded quickly.
A shrewd look entered Gram’s eyes. “What will you give me for them?”
Faster than any of us could move, Omen produced a bone knife and held it to her brother’s throat. “Your life.”
“Deal.” After she pulled it away, he chuckled. “Glad to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor, O.”
“Call me that again,” she said in a cool tone. She didn’t have to finish her sentence. The threat was implied.
“Do you have any more?” Surge asked.
“Uh, he gave me thirty of them,” Gram replied. “Said that was all he had.”
Sam glanced at Surge. “Will that be enough?”
The magician shook his head. “Jenny thinks there could be hundreds of ghosts to transport from the mountain behind the palace. We’re going to have only one shot at going there, and even that will be risky. We need many more.”
“I wouldn’t know where else to get them,” Gram said, no help at all. “I would ask the client, but he was sent back to the ether not long after I dealt with him.”
