“What happened to the candles?” Buck asked shakily.
Someone sucked in a sharp breath, and Ink tensed beside me. Well, I thought he tensed until I realized he was trying to hold back his laughter.
“Is anyone else cold?” Walter asked.
Buck said the same thing I was thinking. “I wasn’t until you asked!”
“Did the temperature shift because a spirit is near?” Ink asked, trying to sound spooky. “Or did the A/C kick on and blow out the strategically placed candles?”
“The lights?” Dice asked insistently.
Ink straightened in his seat and slightly turned toward Dice’s voice. “You good?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Daphne didn’t feel great after dinner. I want her to be able to see if she needs to leave.”
“I really don’t know what’s going on with the lights,” Mom said. “I have the remote right here, but it’s not working.”
“Let me see that,” Dad said, followed by a loud smack.
Then another.
“Fixed it,” my dad said proudly when the lights came back on.
I exhaled in relief, closing my eyes as I sagged back into my chair. “I think that’s enough for me for one night.”
“Daphne?” Dice called, sounding concerned. “Daphne!”
My eyes popped open and searched the room.
Daphne’s chair was empty.
“Daphne!” Dice yelled again as he ran toward the door with Walter and Buck right behind him.
Ink jumped to his feet, grabbed my hand, and pulled me along with him.
“My parents!” I said, tugging on his hand.
“We’re right behind you!” my mom called.
“She probably went back to the room,” Ink said while Dice repeatedly pressed the elevator call button.
“Without telling me?” he asked incredulously.
“Maybe she couldn’t tell you,” I said.
“What?” several people shouted at me.
“Like if she threw up in her mouth,” I explained. “You said she didn’t feel good after dinner.”
“She would’ve squeezed my hand or something.” Dice shook his head and slammed his palm against the wall. “Where is the fucking elevator?”
Ding.
We piled into the elevator and headed to the third floor.
“Daphne!” Walter shouted while Dice unlocked the door to their room. “Daphne!”
Between Dice, Ink, Walter, and Buck, they determined Daphne wasn’t in the large suite within a matter of seconds.
