The ghost bounced, tickling me. “Yesss.”
“Hold still, I need more information.” I slowly moved my hand into the ghost. She had a lovely energy, vibrant. I’d say full of life, except that she was a ghost.
I caught my breath as our energies snapped into resonance together. “You’re a Guardian like me, aren’t you?”
She bounced again. “Yes, yes, yesss!”
“Really, you don’t need to say things three times. You have some important task to accomplish before you can let go and follow the Light?”
“Yesss.”
At least she said it only once. I sat up and considered turning on the bedside lamp, but that would make her harder to see. We Guardians come from families in which magical abilities run very strong. We’re sworn to help those in need, and not to cause damage. We also keep a low profile—ancestral memory is very strong where witch burnings are involved.
Most of us have one particularly strong talent, and we’re drawn to fields where we can use those talents. I’m a healer, which is why I became a doctor. “What kind of Guardian are you?”
“Hunter…”
My brows arched. Female hunters aren’t unknown, but they’re rare. “Were you killed while hunting?”
“Yes. Children stolen! Hurt! Danger!”
Along with her words there was an image of half a dozen kids aged maybe five to eleven huddled together in terror. That got me out of my comfortable bed in a finger snap. “Do you want me to call 911 to get help for the children quickly?”
“Can’t explain…where.” Her energy vibrated with frustration. “Can guide you.”
“So guide me and I’ll call 911 as soon as I have the location. Then maybe I can help any injured children.” I started grabbing clothes from the chair where I’d thrown them. “My name is Simon Harlowe. And you are?”
“Rebecca. Malmain.”
The Malmain family is famous for producing hunters and enforcers. Tough as nails and rock solid integrity. I narrowed my eyes as I studied her ghost. She’d been coming into better focus as we talked. The Malmains were famously tall and blond and scary good looking as well as just plain scary, but Rebecca seemed smaller and darker than most of her family. I pulled on my jeans, wishing I’d met her when she was alive.
The winds can be very cutting through the skyscraper canyons of New York City so I wore several layers. With two days of whiskers, I probably looked like a homeless man, but there was no time to shave. I headed out. “Where to, my ghostly friend?”
“Not far. First, to Fifth Avenue.” The wind was blasting when I stepped out of the hotel onto the sidewalk. A bundled up fellow from somewhere in the Middle East was presiding over a brazier and selling hot chestnuts, so I bought a small bag full and munched on them as I walked the two blocks to Fifth Avenue.
This close to Christmas, the streets were jammed with shoppers and stores dazzled with their displays as familiar carols laced through the clamor of people and traffic. In spite of the busyness, there was a general good natured air. I blinked at the sight of rhinestone leopards climbing the walls of a famous jeweler. “Now where?”
“Turn…right. Be…careful. Danger.”
I frowned as I obeyed. “Danger from whoever attacked you and the children?”
“Yesss.” There was a silence and I sensed she was trying to organize her thoughts. “Not…human.”
My frown deepened. “Some kind of energy being?”
“Demon.”
I swore under my breath. Negative energy beings were rare but dangerous. They were often behind mysterious, inexplicable crimes. No one knows where they come from. Maybe the pits of hell, or outer space, or an alternative dimension. The Guardian hunters who occasionally had to deal with such creatures just say demons. “I can fix physical injuries, but damned if I know how to handle a demon.”
“I’ll protect you.”
“But you’re dead,” I blurted out, then wondered if it was rude to point that out.
“Won’t…go to Light…till children safe!”
Rebecca Malmain was one hell of a woman. Or she had been.
I continued fighting my way through the crowd, giving barely a glance to the gigantic Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. I almost got run over by a man staggering under a huge box, and I tripped over a little boy who should have been home in bed. Unhurt, he stuck his tongue out at me as I apologized and moved on.
