“Donny and DJ are five minutes out,” he says, then his eyes go to Ed. “Our colleagues will take you to the hospital. Can you stand?”
“I-I… think so,” Ed says meekly.
I help Ed to his feet, keeping a hand on his elbow until I’m sure he’s steady.
“We need to get you home,” Nico tells me. “That ectoplasm is going to take root soon, and when it does, you and Griffin will wish you were dead.”
Wonderful.
Nico slides an arm under Griffin’s shoulders. Griffin’s head lolls forward, a fresh stream of ectoplasm dripping from his nose onto the floor. I watch Nico adjust his grip, pulling Griffin upright with an efficiency that makes it look easy even though Griffin’s basically deadweight right now.
“Can you make it down the stairs?” Nico asks me.
I nod, even though my legs feel like they’re made of rubber. “Yeah.”
“Good,” he says. “Stay behind me.”
He moves toward the door, Griffin sagging against him. I hadn’t noticed just how much taller Nico is than Griffin until now. Nico shifts Griffin’s weight onto one shoulder like Griffin weighs nothing, which is objectively insane given that Griffin has at least seventy pounds and a good four inches on me.
Ed leans on me more than I expected as we move into the building’s hallway, his steps unsteady and too big. I guide him after Nico, trying to project a calm I absolutely do not feel.
A door opens two apartments down, and a woman in a bathrobe pokes her head out, her eyes going wide. “What happened? I heard gunshots?—”
Nico doesn’t even break stride. He pulls a badge from his pocket with his free hand, flashing it just long enough for her to see the seal. “Police. Everything’s under control. Please return to your apartment.”
The woman’s mouth opens, then closes. She retreats inside, and I hear her deadbolt engage.
The casual authority in Nico’s voice does deeply inappropriate things to my nervous system. Why is competence under pressure the sexiest thing ever? I need to get a grip.
Nico jerks his chin at me, a clear command to come here. I ease Ed toward Benji, who takes over supporting him, and I hurry to catch up with Nico before he starts down the stairs with Griffin. I reach out to take Griffin’s other arm to help Nico, but it’s clear that even going down the stairs, Nico has it handled.
“Did you see which way Morrow went?” Nico asks, keeping his voice low enough that only I can hear as we descend the echoing stairwell.
“No.” I grip the railing. “Do you think he’s still around?”
“Doubt it.” Nico adjusts his grip as Griffin slumps further against him. “Probably looking for a new host. He won’t come back to Mathis now that he knows we’re onto him.”
“Will he switch to someone else on our list?”
“It’s possible,” Nico says. “Or he could change things up to throw us off.”
Great. So we lost our only lead and nearly got ourselves killed for nothing. If Morrow changes up the type of host or where he’s killing, will we be able to catch him at all?
The van idles at the curb, its back doors already open. Nico maneuvers Griffin inside and lays him across the metal floor, where equipment has been hastily pushed aside. Griffin groans, curling onto his side. I climb in and sit on the floor next to him, my back against the wall.
DJ’s Jeep screeches to a stop behind us. Donny jumps out before it’s even fully stopped, and both he and DJ sprint toward Ed. Donny flashes a badge, and Ed gets into the Jeep with them, his face blank and confused.
Nico climbs in after me and slams the doors. He snatches a radio from the wall mount, the scanner crackling to life with static and voices.
“Real cops are two minutes out,” he says, his brows knit in focus as he monitors the feed. “Someone called in the gunshots. Donny and DJ need to move fast.”
Benji throws himself into the driver’s seat, and the van lurches forward. I grab the wall to keep from sliding into Nico.
Griffin retches beside me, his body convulsing as more ectoplasm drips from his nose.
“What can I do?” Watching Griffin suffer is making my pulse stumble and trip, and I need to do something.
“Get in an actual seat and put your seatbelt on.” Nico digs through a metal case. “You need to rest.”
