Page 58 of Mack's Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town
Gwyn didn’t seem dismayed by this, still bouncy. “That’s okay, I’m just happy I can do it soon!”
Wait until she realized it meant she had more work. Then her enthusiasm would fade, quick smart. But I wasn’t about to tell her that.
“For now, just fight them off physically if you have to.”
“Oh, uh, about that?” She lifted her wrist to show where a green bit of yarn had been tied on like a bracelet. “Booker soaked the yarn in salt and said if I hit something with it, the ghost will scatter because of the salt soaked in.”
I stared at her bracelet, then leaned past her to yell down the hallway, “Booker!If you know a good trick, share, dammit!”
His laughter floated toward us.
Gwyn pointed to the yarn. “Uh, this isn’t standard?”
“No, goddammit,” I said with a sigh. “But it’s ridiculously smart. I need do that from now on.”
The man himself appeared out of a side room, all innocent looking behind his glasses. “What am I not sharing?”
“Your yarn trick!” I lifted Gwyn’s arm in illustration. “Where was this smart idea in Scotland?”
“Didn’t know the trick in Scotland,” he said easily. “Learned it two weeks ago, in fact. A witch friend soaks up her yarn in salt so she can lay down a casting circle without getting salt all over her floors every time. She just cuts the cord, burns it with the rest of the spell ingredients afterward. Not that you need to do that. You’re not casting a summoning circle, you’re just using it for ghosts. But it’s a grand idea, right?”
“It really is.” I felt some arts and crafts coming on strong.
Eli caught up with us. “Quinn’s gone back to the car for more lights. I swear, it somehow gets darker the farther you go. Mack, you need to keep Gwynveryclose. There’s at least two ghosts down here who are right on the edge of going demonic.”
I closed my eyes and made unhappy growly noises.
“I know, I know, but I can handle them. I just have to lay hands on them first.”
“Either of them Joey?”
“No, trails aren’t dark enough to be him, although they are heading toward being demons. These two are others. That said”—she pointed to Gwyn’s bracelet—“the yarn will hurt them. Gwyn, if you see something spooky, punch first, send apologies later.”
Gwyn was back to being nervous, but she lifted her other wrist. “Booker, can I have more yarn?”
“Yeah,” he agreed, immediately rummaging in his bag. “Not that we want to scatter the ghosts, but I’d rather you be safe and we come back another day to finish the job.”
I couldn’t disagree with his analysis. It wasn’t helpful to us over the long run, but I’d rather Gwyn be safe. And if there were two almost-demonic entities in here? Then this was about to get gnarly. Fuck me, three ghosts turning demon was so much worse than one. Deep down somewhere in my soul, I was crying sad, angry tears. Why did this case just keep getting worse? Wasn’tthere an upper limit? How the hell was I supposed to keep Gwyn safe when danger seemed to be dogging our every footstep?
Swear to god, if I wasn’t surrounded by some of the best experts I knew, I’d already have Gwyn on a plane to Tennessee. Hannah’s advice notwithstanding, I wasn’t taking chances with Gwyn. Even with this bunch here, knowing how much she was learning, I was still of two minds.
The only thing really stopping me from sending her on was her not knowing a single living soul at home. She’d already gone through a lot of change and stress; I didn’t want to put her through yet another major change in such a short amount of time. Still, in Tennessee she’d be safe and cared for. I knew the Havilis would make sure of it. If today went sideways, I’d probably do so. Girl had enough trauma, I shouldn’t be adding more to it.
That said, I got the feeling I’d be doing more exorcising than passing on. Thankfully Eli was with me. If I had to tackle it all myself, we’d be here until the zombie apocalypse. Maybe after.
With a sigh, I resigned myself to a long day. “Let’s get this started, shall we?”
The sooner we got through this, the better.
16
We put another salt circle down next to where Beau and Davina were passing ghosts. It was a precaution more than anything, but I wanted Gwyn to have somewhere safe to retreat to. She’d be helping them pass on ghosts, as she had the essentials down and just needed some practice.
I hovered nearby for a moment, watching as they started gathering spirits. Gwyn didn’t do the herding—she appeared too nervous to approach a rando ghost and say hi—but if they cooperated enough to come to Beau’s lit path, then she relaxed enough to help.
Mack leaned in to her to murmur something and she listened before nodding. What was this?
Then Gwyn stepped forward. “Um, Beau? Can I try passing?”
