Darkness crept up around my dad, and the screams of tortured souls filled the room.
I yanked Roan’s arm down. “Stop it! Stop it right now!”
The screams of the dead faded as quickly as they had surfaced.
My father glared at me, and saying words that sliced right through my heart, he bellowed, “You betrayed me.”
Then he vanished, taking Lucky’s soul with him. Papers fluttered to the floor, and a dead calm overcame the room.
Zelda glanced at me. “Well? Did you get what you wanted?”
The last of the energy drained from my body, and unable to stop myself, my eyes closed and I slumped into Roan’s arms.
Chapter 8
Iawoke on Zelda’s chaise covered in a light, silky blanket that felt like cotton candy against my fingers. She sat on the chair across from me.
“Don’t get up,” she said. “You’ve had a shock. Lie there for a moment. Drink this tea.” She handed me a cupful of brown liquid. “Dandelions,” she explained. “It will help. Drink it.”
I did and didn’t like it. I nearly gagged but took a few sips. “What happened?”
She smirked. “What happened was that you and your father got into an argument and then your power drained from you.”
Panic swept through me. Could I still see spirits? Where did my father go? How would I get him back now?
Zelda patted my hand. “Don’t worry, I sense a lot of the gift still in you. You should be fine. Oh, and Roan should return in a moment. He wanted to get you something to eat in case you woke up.”
Roan. He’d almost sent my father to the bad place. I cringed just thinking of it.
Zelda eyed me while I sipped tea. She pulled her vaping tube from her pocket and took a long, luxurious pull. “You want something from your father.”
“Not me,” I said sternly. “Someone else. I’ve been hired to help another spirit because—and I’m sure you got the gist of the conversation—my father stole something from him.”
“Yes, I gathered that.” She took another drag. “I can help you, you know.”
“How? My father won’t see me again. He won’t want to come near me after that encounter.”
Everything had gone so wrong. The touching reunion had turned into a catastrophe.
Zelda leaned over. “Your father won’t have gone far. He’s crossed over from the other side, which means he’s here, in the land of the living with us. He’ll be drawn to you, whether he likes it or not. There are ways,” she added in a low, mysterious voice, “to get him to come to you.”
I was more than skeptical. The spirits that I encountered haunted places—graveyards, houses. Rarely had I dealt with a spirit that wasn’t tied to a particular place. Lucky was one of those said spirits, and it had been a real pain in the neck to track him down.
“How can I get him to come to me?” I asked, not expecting a real answer.
A knock came from the door. Zelda scoffed. “Come in!”
Lemon scurried inside. “How is she feeling?”
Zelda gestured to me. “Ask her yourself.”
“Feeling better?”
“Yes,” I said.
Annoyed, Zelda said, “What is it you want, Lemon?”
“Luis needs you?”
