I glanced at Monty. “I’m not entirely sure either of us has the power to restrict let alone kill this particular fire spirit.”
“Maybe not, but we have to try.”
A smile tugged at my lips. Nothing like having my own words used against me. “What about we call in Ashworth and Eli? They’ve been chafing at the bit to get in on some action.”
Aiden snorted. “I’m beginning to believe the lot of you are crazy.”
“That’s more than possibly true,” Monty said. “Especially when you consider I gave up a very secure, very well-paid—if boring—position to take up this one.”
“And I’m betting you don’t regret it,” I said.
“Hell no.” His grin flashed. “Never felt more alive, in fact.”
“Certifiable, for sure.” Aiden shook his head, his eyes gleaming sapphire bright in the light. “What do we need to do?”
“Liz, can you make the call to Ashworth and Eli? I’ll salt her skin, then throw a protection spell around the entire bed, just to be doubly sure.”
“And if she returns before you’ve set everything up?” Aiden said.
“Then we’ll probably end up crisped,” Monty said cheerfully. “But I doubt it’ll happen.”
I glanced at him curiously.
“Why would you think that when she’s already fed tonight? She has no reason to remain away.”
“Except that after draining that poor sod from the club, she then proceeded to make him crispy meat while completely destroying his car. That takes a lot of energy, and not even the most powerful spirit has an endless supply of it. I’d bet every cent I have in the bank that she’s out there feeding right now.”
Aiden scrubbed a hand across his face, the sound like sandpaper in the hush of the house. “I hope to hell you’re wrong, because the last thing we need this evening is another goddamn body. There’s enough unease stirring through the reservation as it is—we don’t need it developing into full-blown panic.”
Monty frowned. “Can’t the council just put a clamp on the media? They’ve got the power to do that, from what I understand.”
“It’s not the media that’s the problem,” Aiden replied. “It’s the gossip brigade. They never miss a morsel—and certainly not when it’s as juicy as this.”
“Especially when one of them was the neighbor of our first victim,” I said.
Monty’s gaze went from Aiden to me and back again. “The gossip brigade?”
“A force of nature that generally works for good but has been known to occasionally flirt with the dark side,” Aiden said.
Monty’s expression was somewhat bemused. “And that totally clarifies everything.”
“The brigade is a group of retired ladies who meet a couple of times a week to discuss all matters great and small,” I explained. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll never get on their bad side.”
“Huh.” He swung his bag off his shoulder. “On the off chance the soucouyant does return early, Ranger, it might be best if you and Liz—”
“And let you face this thing alone?” Aiden cut in. “No.”
“Aiden, you’re about as useless as I am in this particular situation.” I touched his arm lightly; his muscles jumped in response. “If we remain, we’ll not only be targets if the soucouyant appears, but also a distraction, as Monty and co will be forced to protect us rather than hit the soucouyant.”
“Well, the co might,” Monty commented. “I wouldn’t be too sure about me.”
I whacked him lightly. He yelped and rubbed his arm, but the pretense of hurt was somewhat diminished by the laughter creasing the corners of his eyes. “How about the two of you just get out of the house so that I can get down to business?”
“Done,” Aiden said, and led the way out of the house.
As I followed him, I tugged my phone out of the backpack and called Ashworth.
It rang a couple of times, then a somewhat gruff voice said, “If you’re just ringing for a chat at this hour of the night, I will be extremely pissed off.”