Angelique sauntered past them. “Just the spirits of more than a dozen murdered girls and a Turk who was buried alive. I’ve already been through here once, when I broke out of the labs.”
“So there are definitely ghosts in there?” Link asked, wishing she hadn’t told him. In his experience, knowing nothing was a hundred times better than knowing the wrong thing.
Necro flinched, as if something had startled her. “That’s an understatement.”
I knew this was gonna suck.
Link took a deep breath. “Ghosts or no ghosts, I’m still goin’ in.”
“Of course you are. We all are.” Liv checked her selenometer, then glanced at Floyd. “Unless any of us are having second thoughts.”
Floyd stepped off the curb. “Nice try. I’ve never met a Mortal girl who didn’t freak out at the sight of a Sheer.”
Liv headed toward the back of the house. “Well, you have now. Like I said before, I’ve gone head to head with Vexes.” She waited for John to catch up as Sampson and Necro followed Angelique to the gate ahead of them.
Lucille trotted along next to Sampson like she was his personal Seeing Eye cat.
When they reached the back of the property, they saw that the iron gate was secured by a padlock. They probably weren’t the first people who had tried to break in. Partying in haunted houses was practically a rite of passage in a city like New Orleans.
Link peered through the gate and into the overgrown courtyard. Magnolia trees lined the walkway, with a huge stone fountain in the center. Tangles of sweet jasmine and bougainvillea snaked their way through the garden and up the back porch. Just like every other courtyard in New Orleans, Link thought. Ghosts included.
Necro yanked on the padlock and glanced at Link and John. “Are you two gonna Rip us inside?”
John laughed and walked over to the gate. “That would be a waste of a trip.” He closed his hand around the lock and pulled, breaking it off effortlessly.
“Nice one, dude.” Link held up his fist and John bumped it.
Necro looked impressed. Not to be outdone, Sampson grabbed one of the gates and jerked his arm up. The heavy hinges ripped right off and clattered onto the sidewalk. He stood there for a moment, holding the gate in the air.
“Shh,” Necro whispered. “You want to wake up every Sheer in there?”
“Seriously, Sampson,” Floyd said. “Put that thing down.”
Angelique patted his arm as she strode by. “We could’ve just climbed over the gate like I did last time.”
Sam looked embarrassed and propped the gate against the side of the house. “Just trying to help,” he said sheepishly.
“Show-off.” John winked as he walked past Sampson.
Liv and Floyd exchanged one of those weird girl looks that always went right over Link’s head.
Girls. They’re like aliens.
When they crossed the threshold and stepped into the paved courtyard, Necro stopped and inhaled sharply.
“What is it?” Sampson sounded concerned.
“Just what I said before. Some real bad stuff went down here.”
Link swallowed. “Like, how bad? Slasher movie bad?”
“The dials on my selenometer are going crazy,” Liv said, studying her weird watch.
“If I can go through the house a second time, the rest of you will survive,” Angelique said impatiently.
“Will the ghosts give us any trouble?” Link asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Angelique waved a dismissive hand. “They’ll stay out of your way if you stay out of theirs.”
“That’s kinda hard to do if we can’t see them,” Link said.
Necro looked at Angelique. “The Sheers didn’t bother you because you aren’t a Necromancer. They can sense when one of us is around. It wakes them, for lack of a better word.”
Sampson stepped in front of her. “Then you shouldn’t go in.”
Necro seemed confused for a moment. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Or save your life,” Sampson said. “Depending on how you look at it.”
“He’s just watching out for you, Nec.” Floyd put her hand on Necro’s arm gently.
Necro’s expression softened. “Sorry, Sam.”
Sampson gave her a rare smile. “It’s all good.”
“But I’m still going inside,” Necro said, taking another step into the courtyard. “Stay together and don’t touch anything.” She paused in front of Link. “Got that?”
“Yes, ma’am. I won’t touch a thing.” Link raised his hands and clasped them behind his head.
The last thing I wanna do is piss off a whole buncha ghosts.
As they followed Angelique, moving into the center of the courtyard, Sampson sniffed the air. “Smell that?”
Necro nodded. “Yeah. It’s strong.”
Link inhaled deeply and snorted a few times for good measure. “What? I don’t smell anythin’.”
“Then you’re lucky.” Sampson took another step and winced, like he couldn’t bear the stench. “This whole place reeks of blood.”
John bent down next to where Necro was standing and inspected the ground.
Suddenly, Link felt like the emperor in his new clothes. “Dude, can you sense it, too?”
John shook his head. “No. I just wanted to see if I could pick up anything. Sampson’s and Necro’s powers are a lot stronger than mine when it comes to this kind of thing.”
Necro stopped a few feet shy of the back porch. Her eyes traced a path up the steps to the back door. “The blood is coming from underneath the door.”
Link craned his neck to get a better look. He’d never seen ghost blood before—not that he could really see it now. But he didn’t like the idea of it either way.
“I don’t mean to be morbid, but is the blood hazy or opaque?” Liv asked, flipping open her journal.
Floyd shot her a disgusted look. “You aren’t seriously asking her that.”
“This isn’t a diary.” Liv tapped a pen on a fresh page. “I’m a Keeper-in-Training, and it’s my responsibility to record anything of note. As far as I’m concerned, this is scientific data. The average Necromancer can’t see apparitional residue.” Liv scribbled something in the little book. “This is quite remarkable.”
Angelique leaned against the door that led into the house. “Are you guys always this much fun, or did I just catch you on a bad day?”
Floyd ignored her and grabbed Necro’s arm, pulling her away from Liv and the blood no one else could see. But within the space of a few feet, Necro froze, the color draining from her face.
Lucille leaped onto the edge of the fountain with her ears pulled back and hissed like she was ready to tear someone—or somethin
g—to shreds.
Link caught up to the girls. “Why are you stoppin’?”
Necro’s eyes widened, and she stumbled back a few steps, reaching for something to grab on to. “The bodies,” she whispered. “I can see them.”
A chill ran up the back of Link’s neck as he looked around, but he didn’t see anything.
Sampson, John, Liv, and Floyd glanced around the courtyard, too.
“How many bodies are we talkin’ about?” Link asked, feeling jumpy.
“Dozens,” Necro said, growing paler.
The air shifted subtly, like waves of heat coming off hot asphalt. At first, Link thought his eyes were playing tricks on him in the dark.
Until the bodies began to materialize.
One by one—bare feet peeking out from beneath billowing silk harem pants; thin arms covered in gold bracelets from wrist to elbow; long, dark hair. They were hazy, but Link and the others could still see the blood all over them. These were the girls Liv told them about—the ones who were slaughtered along with the Turk who kept them locked up. Even though the murdered girls’ Sheers were still a little hazy, they looked terrified.
Liv gasped and clamped her hand over her mouth.
John pushed her behind him, and the pencil tucked behind Liv’s ear dropped in a puddle of blood at their feet.
Don’t freak out. They’re just ghosts, Link reminded himself.
Which only seemed about half true when the ghostly bodies began to rise.
Floyd shoved Necro toward the porch. “Keep moving. Don’t look at them.”
Link tried to follow Floyd’s advice, even though he knew it wasn’t meant for him. He jumped the stairs two at a time.
Sampson took Necro’s elbow and steered her toward the steps. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Link tried the door, but it was locked.
“I locked it on my way out,” Angelique said. “In case someone was following me.”
“At least we know Nox hasn’t been here,” Floyd said, coming up next to him.
“What do you mean?” Link asked.
She gestured at the door. “It’s still locked. Nox isn’t an Incubus. He would’ve had to break in.”
Link knew it was stupid, but secretly, he was glad Nox hadn’t made it here first. That guy had caused enough problems between Ridley and him. Link didn’t need Nox getting in the way of his big rescue.