Page 31 of Bad Medicine

“Nothing,” I told him, going tosit behind my desk. “The angel was here, but he just left.”

“What’d he want?” He went tostand behind me, and I knew that no matter how much I ordered otherwise, hewasn’t leaving the room.

“He wanted my blade.”

He scoffed. “He was here foranother reason and used that for an excuse. If he wanted your blade, he’d just takeit, wouldn’t he?”

“That’s what I believed, but…”I shrugged. “He didn’t take it.”

Max knocked on the door onceagain and showed a man and woman into the office. “This is Jerry and AmeliaFritz, Kait.”

I greeted them and pushed theangel out of my mind, but the worry lingered that eventually I would needsomething so badly I’d be forced to give my blade away to get it.

I was nearly certain Lucasbelieved that I would—and he was biding his time. He could absolutely havetaken it from me. It was anyone’s guess as to why he hadn’t.

Amelia and Jerry Fritz satnervously before me, darting glances at each other, unsure. Finally, Ameliatwisted her hands together and told me, with a sickly and slightly shamed grin,that they were being plagued by a ghost that, while not exactly unfriendly, wasrather distracting with his constant shenanigans.

“What does he do?” I asked.

“Messes with the electronics,”Jerry told me, a little more confident since his wife hadn’t gotten laughed at.“Turns the lights off and on, things like that.”

“He doesn’t seem…bad, exactly,”Amelia said. “He just…”

“Wants to be noticed,” I toldher. I smiled. “He came with you today.”

They both gaped at me for a fewseconds before turning in their chairs to look. “You see our ghost?” Ameliaasked. “Really?”

“Son of a bitch,” Jerrymurmured. “We really have a ghost. And he followed us here.”

“Yes. Which,” I said, gettingup and walking to the spirit, “is unusual. I had the office warded. Heshouldn’t have been able to get past them.”

Even the spirit seemed shocked.He was ancient, though when he’d died he hadn’t been all that old. He hadn’tbeen human, though, which was the most surprising of all. He was around fourand a half feet tall with a bushy, dark-red beard, braids and twigs andcolorful leather bands in his equally bushy red hair.

He flicked dust off his wornovercoat and then hefted the thick brown belt around his broad middle.“Girlie,” he said, offering a wide, slightly crooked grin. “I’m not done withthese two yet, but there’s a reason for it, and you can’t be making me go.There’s a reason I’m here to see you, too, so listen up, will you?”

He had an accent, maybeScottish, and thick enough to make me have to work to figure out some of hiswords. “Who are you?”

“My name is Arran, and I have agift for you.”

I wrinkled my nose, ignoringthe three humans watching us—or me, rather, since they couldn’t see thedwarf—with awe and interest. “Why?”

He reached for the blade in thebattered leather sheath at his side, and automatically, maybe because the angelLucas had just left the room, I went on the defensive. I shoved myselfbackward, reaching for my own blade, and Joe sprang away from the wall, his gunin his hand.

“Er, that’s a bit of anoverreaction, then, isn’t it?” Arran asked, pausing with his fingers touchingthe handle of his blade. “This is a gift, girlie, not a threat.” He pointed hishair-covered chin at Joe. “Maybe tell that one that he can’t shoot a spirit,eh?”

“Joe,” I said. “You can’t shoota ghost.”

Jerry and Amelia shrank back intheir chairs, their eyes wide, probably unsure whether to be scared or ask forpopcorn.

Arran held up his hands. “Seehere. I’m going to pull my blade and toss it at your feet. I don’t aim to hurtyou, Kait Silver.”

Cautiously, I sheathed my demonblade. “Why do you want to give me your blade?”

He pulled his blade suddenlyand flung it at my feet, where it stuck in the wood floor not half an inch frommy toes. “You’ll need it. You’ll know why when the time comes. Hang on to it ifyou can, but chances are…” He shrugged. “Chances are it won’t be yours forlong.”

I didn’t make a move to pullthe blade from the floor. “Why are you hanging around these two?” I gestured atthe two humans who continued to stare at me—and at the blade that had flownthrough the air and landed at my feet—with mouths agape.

“I need something the boy has.It’s a bauble that’s useless to him, but I lost it long ago and have come tofetch it.”