“I am Temple Herrmann Finn,”I said, centering myself and gathering what strength I had left.“Wizard. Enforcer of the peace. Protector of this world.”I threw the axe into the portal.“Get the hell out of our shop.”
Several seconds passed, and then a rumbling scream filled the basement. The sound was so low, it wasn’t heard but felt, a drumbeat of pain and rage.
R’gngyk’s limbs jerked back.
A gasp of energy surged through the house. Limestone shifted and re-formed. The flames of R’gngyk’s doorway flickered and died.
“That felt good.”My voice was strange, stronger and clearer but slower. Each syllable lingered longer. I removed my glasses and squinted as my eyes adjusted to normal vision. Only it wasn’t normal. It was both brighter and darker. Most of the beings gathered in the basement were more solid, morerealthan I was used to.
I looked down.“Ah. Right.”
Jenny was performing CPR on my body. Annette knelt by my head, whispering words I couldn’t hear. Our other guests were tending to their injuries and keeping a wary eye on the now-solid wall.
The only exception was the harvester, who stared directly at me. I nodded. She did the same, then turned to leave.
“Well, that was dramatic.”Margaret Wentworth stood on the bottom step of the stairs, her arms crossed.
I’d never seen her clearly. She was shorter than I’d thought, with sun-browned skin and shoulder-length brown hair and a wide, confident face. She wore a sleeveless yellow shirt that showed off the muscles of her freckled arms.
She was beautiful.
“When did it happen?”I asked.
“Toward the end, when you were finishing your game of Mad Lumberjack with the eldritch horror.”
“When I waswinningmy game, you mean?”I felt surprisingly good, considering I’d just died. The release and the relief from the daily aches and pains of my physical body were exhilarating.“What are you doing here? I thought you were tied to your van.”
“I stayed with Ronnie long enough to see him safely out of Salem. Then I came back. I had a feeling you might need company soon.”
I’d read about ghosts breaking free of their anchor, but it was a rare and difficult thing, one that required a strong will and equally strong emotions.
Oh . . .
“I’m not going to abandon Ronnie,”she said.“But I can finally step away for a bit, knowing he has people who will look after him and teach him what he needs to know.”She gave Jenny and Annette a significant glance.
I felt the house calling me to join it, to add my power and memories to the generations of Finn spirits here.
Instead, I stepped toward Margaret. I marveled at the easy movement of my hips and knees, the balance and stability I’d lost decades before.
She smiled.“It takes a while to adjust.”
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to show me the ropes?”
The house pulled at me again.
“Be patient,”I snapped.“I’ll get there eventually. All things in their proper time.”
I took Margaret’s hand. We climbed the stairs together.
I’d spent almost a century fighting for this world. I’d earned a bit of R&R.
CHAPTER29
Annette
Jenny had converted part of our stock room into a makeshift exam room. The pink-and-white gingham tablecloth on her exam table wasn’t exactly hospital-quality, but it kept shoggoth goo from seeping into the oak table.
She was currently listening to Morgan’s lungs with a stethoscope, though with her senses, she hardly needed it.
