I spun in a circle, checking for my ghostly sidekick, and shook my head as Hudson grabbed my arm. “No one.”
“What does that mean?” Dave asked, stalking to meet us in the center.
“It should be just the ghosts here she can’t sense,” Rockhard said with a nod.
“For how long?” Hudson asked.
Lenson and Rockhard shared a look. “Could be permanent.”
“Unacceptable,” I snapped.
“Can you reverse it?” Sebastian asked as tears gathered in my eyes. Harry would be freaking out.
“Harry, I will fix this. I promise,” I whispered. A cool caress against my nape had me squeezing my eyes closed. I was aware of him, at least.
It wasn’ta supernatural disaster if we didn’t end up in the town’s pharmacy run by Lenson and Rockhard. They were good friends and the best spell makers in the country. I counted myself lucky to have them in my corner and not Eloise’s.
I sat on a stool in the back room as they fussed and debated the various permutations of the spell needed to unblock me from seeing the dead. It was a rash and stupid decision to involve me at The Pit; if we’d paused for a second, the consequences would have been obvious. Hudson, Dave, and Dayna had joined me, while Liz and Sebastian returned to Summer Grove.
Dave twisted the lid of a glass jar filled with lilac paste and sniffed it. His eyes watered, and despite the seriousness of the situation, I found myself laughing at the nosy chief of security. He replaced the lid with a glare at me. “A little warning.”
I shrugged. “You shouldn’t stick your nose in other people’s pots without permission. And doing it in world class spellcasters’ mixing rooms? You should know better.”
“At least we aren’t in the underground pools,” Hudson said with a shiver. I didn’t have the heart to tell him this was the prelude. Rockhard and Lenson were formulating a plan, but they would execute it downstairs. It was the best way to contain the magic, and we didn’t want to accidentally make everyone in White Castle ghost seers.
“Okay, we have it,” Lenson said as he tied his pretty pink apron on. “We aren’t giving you the power to see spirits, since you already have it. We just have to remove the block.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed. “What’s it going to cost me?” They never asked for money as they had no need of it, but there was always a transaction. Lenson tapped his index finger on his chin and stared at the ceiling.Oh boy.
“Spit it out. I have a sensitive ghost who needs me.”
Rockhard grinned as he dragged on his leather gloves. “He wants to be in your wedding party.”
“You already have guaranteed invitations. What do you mean?”
“No,” Lenson said with a shake of his head. “I don’t want to come to the wedding—I want to be in the wedding.”
“You want to marry, Hudson? I don’t think Rockhard will be impressed.”
“I have the perfect position for you,” Dayna said with a little clap of her hands. My eyes narrowed. I’m pretty sure I stipulated a small and quiet wedding.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Don’t worry, Cora. All you have to do is turn up.” That was a positive. I could manage that. “I’ll send you the details,” Dayna added to Lenson.
He nodded, looking far happier than I did at the thought of my impending nuptials. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to marry Hudson; I did. I just could do without the fanfare. Also, there was something niggling at me. So small, so inconsequential, really. He hadn’t proposed. He’d sort of announced it, and I’d agreed.
“Fantastic. Cora, follow me.”
I slid off the stool and started after the pair of spell casters. Footsteps sounded behind me, with Hudson hot on my tail. Not surprising. I’d had to warn him about following me to the bathroom—the man lacked boundaries. But Dave and Dayna were taking up the tail end of this little train, determined not to be left out.
“What are you doing?” I asked at the top of the stairs, leading us into the basement filled with pools of water and crystals.
Dave raised a brow. “Where he goes, I go.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out an exasperated breath.
“And I felt left out,” Dayna added.
I sighed and dropped my hand. Looked like I had an entourage.
