Allie knew he was right. The McGill was both mean-spirited and unpredictable—and besides, if she cut them down, where would they go? Even if they got out of the hold, they were still trapped on the ship.
“I can’t free you now,” she told them, “but I will soon. Hang tight.” She grimaced at her poor choice of words.
“So you’re just going to leave us here?” Nick said.
“Don’t be a stranger!” Lief said, merrily.
“I’ll be back soon. I promise.”
“You promise? You also promised the visit to the Haunter wouldn’t be dangerous,”
Nick reminded her. “And look how that turned out.”
Allie made no excuses because he was right. This was all her fault. Allie rarely apologized for anything, but when she said “I’m sorry,” this time, it carried the weight of all the apologies she had never given when she was alive. Then she hugged them awkwardly, setting them both slightly swinging, and left before her emotions could get the better of her.
Chapter 18
Skinjacking for Dummies The Sulphur Queen hugged the shore of the East Coast, stopping now and again to send out a landing party in a lifeboat to see if any of the McGill’s Greensoul traps had snagged any new Afterlights. They were simple devices really;
camouflaged nets tied to Everlost trees. A Greensoul would see a candy bar, or a bucket of popcorn, or whatever else the McGill was able to use as bait, but the second the kid grabbed it, the trap sprung, and there the kid was caught until the McGill’s crew came to cut him down. Easy as catching a rabbit.
The McGill was pleased with the current state of his world. Things were coming together nicely. He had to believe that finding this girl Allie was no coincidence. Forces in the universe were conspiring in his favor. Whether they were forces of light or forces of darkness…well, that was yet to be determined.
The morning after Allie’s unexpected arrival, the McGill went down to her quarters, and found her there, reading one of those blasted books by Mary Queen of Snots.
When he entered, Allie casually glanced at him from her bed, then returned her attention to the book. “Mary’s books are sooo annoying,” she told the McGill.
“You can’t tell the truth from the lies. Someday I’ll set her straight.”
It was hard for him not to smile. She disliked Mary, just as he did. This was a good sign.
The McGill tossed his head in a calculated gesture of disdain. His greasy hair whipped around, and flung some slime against the wall. “You will teach me how to skinjack now.”
She turned a page in her book, ignoring him. “I don’t follow orders.”
The McGill paused, not sure whether to spit worms at her, or treat her with uncharacteristic patience. He chose patience. “You will teach me how to skinjack now…please.”
Allie put down the book and sat up. “Well, as long as you used the magic word, sure, why not.”
She did not appear disgusted in the least when she looked at him. This was troublesome. Everybody, even his own crew, found him utterly repulsive. His power to repel was a matter of pride. He made a mental note that he would have to come up with new and inventive ways to disgust her.
What the McGill didn’t realize was that Allie was disgusted, but she was extremely good at keeping her emotions to herself when she wanted to.
Allie had decided that the McGill already had enough power over her; she wasn’t willing to give him the satisfaction of nausea.
“The art of skinjacking,” Allie began; “lesson number one.”
“I’m listening.”
Allie hesitated. She had truly painted herself into a corner here, because if there was ever a spirit that should not know how to skinjack, it was the McGill.
She barely knew how to do it herself, having only tried it once with the ferry pilot—but the McGill didn’t know that. As far as he knew, she ‘was an expert. As long as she acted like an expert, she could get away with just about anything.
“Possessing the living is a very complicated thing,” she said with authority.
“First we must find…uh … a Vortex of Spirit.”
“A Vortex of Spirit,” repeated the McGill. “I don’t know what that is.”