Page 20 of Mack's Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town
We were barely through the door when Quinn caught my eye and relayed, “Lachlan’s cousin Davina has a bad bout of food poisoning, so she’s out for the count, probably for the next three days or so. Lachlan’s stocking up on things for her before he leaves with you, and hello, who’s this?”
I sensed Gwyn behind me and half turned, sliding an arm around her shoulders to support and encourage her forward. Everyone rose, studying Gwyn with rampant curiosity.
Gwyn sucked in a startled breath, eyes fixed on Eli. I knew why, of course. Eli’s aura was quite distinctive even in direct sunlight. Anyone with the Sight would be caught on her aura. I leaned in a little to tease, “She’s bright, isn’t she?”
My Medium-in-training nodded dumbly.
Eli was pleased with this praise but equally fascinated by Gwyn. She came in closer, head angled a little as she did her own study. “Who’s this darling?”
“This is Gwyn,” Brandon introduced, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We just took her in as an apprentice.”
“Dammit, how come you guys always find the cool people?” Eli made a face at me before focusing on Gwyn again. “Hi. I’m Eliana, an Exorcist and Medium with the FBI.”
“Hi.” Gwyn was more than a little breathless, eyes still wide. “You aresupernovabright, my god.”
“You’re pretty bright yourself, kiddo.”
“Gwyn,” I said, continuing the introductions, “these are some of the best people you’ll ever work with. This is Quinn, an anchor. He’s married to Eli, and their husband and anchor, Booker.”
Gwyn shook hands with both of them. “Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Hi yourself,” Quinn responded, looking her over. “Sorry to ask, how old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
“Oh-ho. That’s a great time to start learning the business.” Quinn inclined his head toward me and Brandon. “Not sure why you’ve got them, but you’re in very good hands.”
Eli pursed her lips, nodded, then linked arms with Gwyn before dragging her away. “You come with me. We need to talk about how a woman navigates the biz.”
Eli apparently would step in as a big sister mentor. Gwyn could do far, far worse. Also, thank god, please help. I needed a village right about now.
I heard Gwyn comment as they walked, “Your arm is so cool.”
“Thanks! Booker built it for me after I lost my arm. See, what happened was, I got challenged by this eighty-year-oldgrandmother to an arm wrestling competition, andboydid that not go well—”
The second they disappeared up the stairs, I realized I had two very curious men staring at me. I sighed and sat down, gesturing for them to do the same, which they did. Brandon and I took turns telling the story of what had happened in the past hour.
Booker whistled low when I finished. “Poor kid. She had an air about her of one hunted and hounded.”
I nodded grimly, agreeing. Yes, she unfortunately did.
“I realize this is a bit much to spring on you guys.” Brandon spoke slowly, with caution, studying their reactions. “And if you’d rather we keep her at the hotel while we’re working, or—”
Booker immediately threw up a hand. “No. Will it make it a bit more challenging to safeguard a teen while we’re working? Well, yes. But the experience will be invaluable to her, and I like kids. She’d be conversely safer with us than in a hotel room.”
The damn towns in this area were so haunted, he was unfortunately correct. This hotel had two ghosts who lingered nearby, for that matter, although they’d had the good sense to leave our group alone. I might have to deal with them before they could hassle Gwyn, though. Depended on whether or not we stayed here.
“Beau and Hannah, when they hear of this, will absolutely help us with her.” I knew it as I knew I’d draw my next breath. “I haven’t had a minute to call them yet.”
“Let’s change plans for today,” Brandon suggested. “I don’t think Lachlan will be comfortable going up to the mines when Davina might need him. We can leave him here, or he can briefly join us in Black Rock. How about we scope out the city today, get the lay of the land, and organize a meeting with the mayor? At the same time, we can be teaching Gwyn some basic stuff so she’ll know how to safeguard herself, at least.”
He’d come up with a better plan, as our first one, as usual, had fallen apart quickly.
Quinn seemed to think it was valid, too, as he grunted. “I’d feel better doing that. Mack, take a second to call Beau. I’m going to call the mayor—I’ve got her number—see if she can meet with us today.”
Booker stared at the stairs, clearly contemplating something. “Mack, I think I can put together a go-bag for Gwyn with what I have in the car. You okay if I make her up something?”
Relief and gratitude tangled in my chest. “Thanks, man. This was so last second, I don’t even know where to start.”
