Kelley Armstrong - Haunted

"I think it's a ghost," I said when Lucas returned.

"Hmmm?"

"What's happening with the Nix. She was acting pretty freaky inside, staring into space, then snapping at herself. If I have Paige's abilities, then she must have Jaime's, meaning she's probably seeing a ghost. When I mentioned that, I startled her-maybe she didn't realize that's what was happening."

He nodded. "It could be. It could also be Jaime herself."

"Trying to get back in, you mean."

Another nod, then a pause before he glanced over at me. "Does Paige know?" He cleared his throat, tamping down the note of anxiety. "That is to say, you were able to explain this to her, weren't you? What you did?"

"Uh, no. I couldn't, or believe me, I would have."

"So she doesn't know what's going on." He adjusted his glasses, then glanced over at me again. "Is there some way to tell her? To check on her?"

"She's okay, Lucas. I swear she is. And I'll get out of here as soon as I can."

A slow nod. "We should get inside. It doesn't take long for pizza to arrive, and I doubt Savannah is planning to pay for it."

"I hope she ordered mushrooms. Pizza isn't pizza without mushrooms." I shook my head. "This is getting more absurd by the second, isn't it?"

"Playing basketball and arguing over pizza while we wait for an evil demi-demon to get around to trying to kill us?" A tiny smile. "Absurd? Not at all. Though I do wish she'd get on with it. Savannah rented Pirates of the Caribbean , and Paige really wanted to see that."

"She's welcome to it. I've had my fill of pirates for a while."

He arched a brow.

"You don't want to know. As for the Nix, I'm starting to think we might need to give her a push. Especially if she is preoccupied dealing with ghosts or Jaime's spirit. Maybe-Whoops, here she comes."

The Nix strode around the house, without so much as a glance our way.

"Jaime!" I called. "We've ordered pizza. It should be here-"

"Not hungry," she snapped. "I'll be upstairs unpacking."

Lucas and I waited until she was gone, then exchanged a look.

"I believe a firm push is in order," he said.

"Before or after the pizza?"

"After. While I trust that we will be able to resolve this situation satisfactorily, in the unlikely event that things do go awry, I believe I am entitled to a last meal, even if it is pizza without pineapple."

"You want cookies?" I said. "I saw cookies downstairs."

"Chocolate chip?"

"Sure looked like it."

"Paige has been hiding them on me, has she? Bring some up, then. Savannah knows how to bake them."

The Nix spent dinner in Savannah's room, ostensibly unpacking. As we ate, I tried to resume the boy-talk conversation with Savannah, and earned myself a look of such horror that I spun around, expecting to see Jaime behind me with a hatchet. Seems that engaging in boy-talk while boys-or men-are present just isn't done, at least not if you're fifteen. Lucas seemed more than willing to join in, but after a murderous glare from Savannah, I changed the subject.

After dinner, I helped Lucas load the dishwasher and, with the aid of privacy spells, we discussed our next move. We decided to give the Nix one last chance. Lucas would help Savannah with her math homework while I retreated to Paige's office.

Once the cleanup was done, I thumped upstairs loud enough for the Nix to hear me. Then, for good measure, I called down from the top of the stairs, telling Lucas to hold my calls for the next hour.

Thirty minutes later footsteps sounded in the hall.

"Ready, Trsiel?" I whispered. "You'd better be right where you said you were going to be, cause this demi-demon is going down."

I reached up to Paige's hair and fingered the ribbon. As much as I longed to use my hands for this job, the situation seemed to call for something different. I slid from my chair, grabbed the second one, and pushed it behind the door. Then I climbed up on it, adding the extra elevation I needed. Life is so much easier when you're tall.

Balancing on the chair, I tugged out the ribbon. Then I wound it around my hands and waited. The doorknob turned. I crouched, ribbon at the ready.

The door opened, and Lucas walked in.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT WOULD HAVE WORKED?" he asked, looking from the ribbon to me.

"With a binding spell, it would have," I said as I hopped down. "Let me guess. Our Nix is showing no signs of impending murderous rage."

"She came down to ask me to take a look at Paige's car."

"Huh?"

"She said it was making a noise when she drove it this afternoon."

I slumped into the chair. "I don't believe this."

"She insisted on giving me a demonstration, even when Savannah 'reminded' her that I know nothing about repairing automobiles, that my mechanical expertise is limited to motorcycles."

"Oh? Oh. I get it. She wants you outside. Away from me, and away from Savannah."

"Precisely. Either she is uncomfortable taking on you with me in the house, or she wants to begin with me, preferably outside, where"-he waved at the window-"it is fast growing dark."

"Ah-ha. Maybe we're making progress after all. But if you go outside, I'm going with you, which is going to cause a problem if I'm the target-"

A scream ripped through the house.

"Oh, my God," I said. "Savannah!"

As I jumped from the chair, Lucas raced across the room, toward the window.

"They're in the living room," he said as he yanked open the window. "Take the stairs. I'll come in the front door. Whoever is first, distract. Whoever is second, attack from the rear."

I was in the hall as his last words floated out to me, muffled as he climbed through the window. I hit the top of the steps running so fast I nearly flew down them face-first.

Another shriek. Then, "You little bitch!"

A blur raced around the corner from the living room and plowed into me as I galloped down the last few steps.

"Get down!" Savannah hissed, pushing me down on the stairs.

"Sav-"

She clamped a hand over my mouth and, holding me down, cast a cover spell over both of us. The Nix strode into the doorway, knife in hand. Blood poured from her nose. She swiped a hand across it.

"Where'd you go, bitch?" She looked from side to side. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

She smiled, voice taking on a high-pitched singsong that I knew didn't come from the Nix. A ghost had indeed crashed the Nix's party-but it wasn't Jaime.

The woman turned and strode into the living room. I moved, breaking the spell. Still pinning me to the stairs, Savannah cast a privacy spell.

"It's not Jaime," she whispered. "She's possessed, some kind of ghost got into her. We were sitting there talking, and all of a sudden she-"

As the footsteps returned, Savannah cast another cover spell. She held me down. Protecting me. I knew it was Paige she was really protecting, but still, the thought of my little girl taking charge like this, escaping from a killer, protecting me … Kris was right. Savannah didn't need my help anymore. She hadn't needed it for a long time.

The woman walked into the hall, and took another look around, snuffling blood.

"Can't hide, sweetie-pie," she said. "Cheri knows all your tricks. Yes, indeed. All the tricks. No one escapes from her."

Cheri MacKenzie. Shit! So that's what happened. The parasitic Nix was getting a taste of her own medicine, having her body invaded by a past partner. Ironic, and I'm sure I'd appreciate it a whole lot more if it didn't complicate matters so much. Was the Nix still in there? What if I risked Jaime's life and found no one inside except Cheri MacKenzie?

MacKenzie took one last look up and down the hall, then strode into the living room. Savannah broke the cover spell. As she did, I noticed blood seeping through her sleeve. I grabbed her arm and tried to push up the sleeve.