Page 55 of Haunting the Deep

Nothing.

“Alice, is there another way to do the spell without whatever was in that bag?”

The lights go out. Mary screams.

“Damn it, Elijah!” I march over to the light switch and flick it up and down. Nothing. I open the door. The dim light from the hallway floods in. I peer inside my floor lamp. He didn’t just turn the light off. He took the bulb.

“Sam?” My dad comes to the door, concern written all over him. “What happened? I heard someone scream.”

I steady my voice. “Lightbulb blew.”

He examines the lamp. “You mean gone?” He sounds unsure.

“We took it out.”

“Oh. Well, let me get you another one. You girls get in bed.”

“Okay, thanks, Dad.”

Mary doesn’t hesitate. She looks all kinds of relieved we’re not doing that spell and jumps under one of the comforters.

My dad leaves the door open and makes his way down the hall.

I pull the covers up over my shoulders.

“So Elijah’s back?” Susannah asks.

“Apparently,” I say.

“Wasn’t he a pretty important part of figuring out what was going on with your stepmother?” Susannah asks.

Damn it.“Yes.”

“Screw Susannah’s gentle approach. I don’t know what happened between you two, but are you really that stubborn?” Alice asks. “You know we’re already in the danger zone with this. Weren’t you the one just saying you’re all in?”

“Point taken,” I say begrudgingly. The black cat curls up against my side and blinks at me. “Move over, cat.”

“Maybe you should call the cat Spirit,” Mary suggests.

“Or bed hog,” I say, rubbing its head between the ears.

“His name is Broome,” Elijah says.

I scowl into the blackness.

Istand in front of the mirror in my cabin. Mollie repositions the lavender sash on my white afternoon dress. I look like a giant doily.

“Now yer hat, miss.” Mollie holds up a wide-brimmed white hat trimmed with purple flowers.

“Are you sure I need it?” I ask, eyeing the hat like it’s a foreign object.

Mollie smiles, and the freckles on her cheeks rise. “Unless ya want ta get sunburned while yer walkin’ round the promenade deck?”

“I can handle a little sunburn.”

“And get me in trouble? Not likely.” She places the hat on my head without hesitation and pins it in place. A sheer veil drops over my eyes.

“Done?”