“Maybe she used up a lot of her power doing that and then had to recuperate. Overextended herself.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
Lindsey answered. “She might be planning something else.Ifit’s her.”
My brows rose. “You don’t believe it is?” If Lindsey really was psychic, shouldn’t she be able to tell?
“I’m psychic, but I don’t know how to actuallydopsychic stuff. It happens to me; I don’t make it happen.”
“That’s got to be frustrating.” I allowed my sympathy to show through. I’d had to figure out my magic myself. I knew what a pain in the ass it was to bumble blindly with something that was clearly a natural part of you, but came without any sort of a manual. If ithadcome with a manual, it would have been written in a language nobody had heard of and in invisible ink.
“I know things that I shouldn’t. Or at least I think I know them.” She tossed her hands up and strode away, then spun around and came back. “What if I’m delusional? Or what if I’m wrong? The visions don’t let go unless I act, and if I don’t, they practically put me in a coma.” She scrubbed her hands over her face. “I’m a freak, is what I am.”
“You aren’t delusional. If you were, you couldn’t have found Beck,” Lorel stoutly assured her.
“Youaren’ta freak,” Rhi said. “Don’t ever call yourself that again, or I swear I’ll kick your ass.”
Lindsey gave her a ‘get real’ look.
“I’ll do it,” Rhi insisted. “Even if I have to get help. Lorelei will help, won’t you?”
“I’d hate to, but of course. Can’t have Lindsey running around bullying herself. Bullying is wrong.”
I couldn’t help cracking a smile. Neither could Lindsey, which I suspected was the point.
“It doesn’t really matter who’s haunting the place. The fact is, you’ve got a ghost.”
All three looked over their shoulders uneasily. I didn’t tell them I’d captured her. I wasn’t ready to reveal I was a witch.
“That’s why we have to sell everything. Once it’s all gone, we can do a cleansing with a shaman or something and she’ll have to leave,” Rhi said.
I had doubts about that. “So you don’t expect me to get rid of Aunt Mitzi?”
Lindsey shook her head. “You arrange estate sales. That must be why the visions pushed me to find you. Anyway, you couldn’t get rid of my aunt.” She hesitated. “Could you?”
“Not that I know of.” I could have told her that her visions had brought her to me for more than my professional expertise. It was too much a coincidence that I was a witch and these women had a supernatural infestation. It didn’t make me a liar, though. I didn’t know if I could exorcize Aunt Mitzi. Damon might know.
I remembered he was on a flight to who knew where at the moment. Could he get texts on a plane? Probably, but did I want to bother him? He might freak out that I was about to do something dangerous.
That left asking my mom, which was a whole other kettle of rotting fish. I tabled the question.
All three women looked unnerved, disappointed, and resigned. Meanwhile, Aunt Mitzi had gone into super spasms and I wasn’t sure how long I could keep holding her. The magical sack I’d put her in had begun to fray and I was playing a game of plug the dike. Sooner or later she’d break free, unless I figured out a better container. Where were the ghostbusters when I needed them?
Getting drunk, probably. I was certainly beginning to think it was a fantastic idea.
“I guess you don’t want to do the sale, then?” Lindsey asked.
And leave Aunt Mitzi to terrorize these three forever? Oh hell no. “I’ll do it.”
All three gaped.
“Why?” asked Rhi.
“BecauseIhappen to know why the visions brought you to me. I’m a witch.”
All three recoiled.
“You don’t need to make fun of us because we believe in psychics,” Lorel snapped. “Lindsey has a gift. Arealgift.”
