Page 71 of How I Met Your Murderer

“Yet you’ve handled every ghost in this place so far,” she pointed out, her tone matter-of-fact and meant to be bracing. “You’ll handle this one, too. That’s why ExorSquad sent you.”

I shook my head, holding onto calm as hard as I could. “This isn’t a human ghost, though. I told you. It’s hungry, and it’s angry that I’m here messing with its food supply by trying to move all these ghosts on—but I don’t think my leaving would make you and your guests any safer. Not this close to Halloween.” I paused for some air. Eric would be proud of how I was holding it together, and that helped me continue. “The more people die here, the stronger this thing gets. If we open the dining hall, we’ll be feeding it. Giving it more to work with.”

Caoimhe leaned back in her chair, arms still crossed. “Raff, I respect your expertise. So far, I’ve even been impressed. But you’re asking me to bankrupt my family because of something you can’t show me, can’t measure, and can’t prove.”

When Jordy spoke, his voice was softer, more restrained. “Raff wouldn’t have told us all that unless he really believed it.”

“I know that,” she said, turning to him. “But the risk doesn’t seem great enough to close the place down before we’ve even gotten started.”

The weight of her words took a moment to hit me. I was losing them. Pepper shifted restlessly in my arms, and I rubbed his ears again as I searched for my next words.

“I’m not trying to scare you or waste your time,” I said carefully, my patience nearing the end of its tether. “I like you, both of you. I’m trying to keep you alive, and I’m telling you now that I don’t have the weapons or training to end this thing properly.”

Her expression softened for a second—enough to show she had heard me, even if she probably wasn’t about to change her mind. “I appreciate your hard work, and where your heart is at. But we’re opening on time. Tickets are sold out from now until April, the staff are all hired, and the investments aren’t going to repay themselves.”

Jordy looked distinctly uncomfortable, like his collared shirt was trying to strangle him, as he glanced between us. “I’m with my sister on this,” he said finally, without any real conviction behind it. “We can’t just walk away at this point. Not over a death we don’t know is actually going to happen.”

“And not over a few missing ghosts,” Caoimhe chimed in again, frowning. “Getting rid of them was kind of the point of all this, wasn’t it? The whole reason you’re here? I respect whatever courage it takes to admit that something else is doing your job for you.”

She gestured to the logo on my overalls, and it struck me for the first time how terrible I was at spirit extraction. Maybe Gerald was right not to waste time or extra resources on me. I’d come to care too much about the dead.

“Right,” I said heavily. “Figured you’d say that.”

Caoimhe’s brows drew together. “Then why come to us at all?”

“Because you deserved to know,” I told her firmly. “And if anything bad happens . . . I didn’t want you to think I’d kept quiet.”

Silence settled over the room again, heavy as the stone walls around us. Pepper lifted his head slightly and gave a low, uneasy growl. The hair on my arms lifted.

“Just keep up the good work until opening, Raff,” Caoimhe said as she started to turn back toward her laptop. “Keep the ghosts in line, and our investments safe. A few more weeks, and you’ll be on your way. Ardruin will be our problem then.”

I managed a stiff nod. “I’ll do my best, then.”

As I trudged toward the door, a shudder rattled the walls, and a draft curled through the office, distinct enough to make me shiver and reach for my jacket that was still in the van.

The large fluorescent overhead light flickered once, twice, then steadied.

Jordy stared up at the ceiling, frowning. “Did you all feel—?”

“It’s an old building,” Caoimhe said briskly, tapping away at her laptop. Her voice just a little too controlled. “They’re always settling.”

Settling, right. That had been more like displeasure. Or warning. Or maybe even hunger.

I shifted Pepper in my arms, and Jordy met me halfway to gently take the dog back. “Hey,” he murmured, low enough not to carry to his sister. “Basil and I will see you later, yeah? Still on for tonight?”

The D&D game. Our first session of the campaign. Another step toward me and Eric leaving this place, though not together.

“Yeah,” I murmured. “Still on.”

“Anything Basil and I can bring?” Jordy asked, rubbing his tattooed arms as he shivered slightly—trying to shake off the gloom getting under his skin, too. With a shade of his usual cheerful grin, he added in a whisper, “Not like we’ve had any experience knockin’ about with ghosts on a dungeon crawl. Should be a grand bit of craic, anyway.”

“Grand, yeah.” I couldn’t quite bring myself to smile, even though Jordy had been more or less a friend in my time here. “It will be. Síofra’s great, and she’ll tell you all about the history of this place. And Eric . . .”

“Eric, huh?” Jordy picked up what I couldn’t bring myself to say with a knowing smile. “You two should go for coffee sometime. Works a charm.”

Something skittered inside the walls, unseen, claws scrabbling as it raced by.

Jordy and I exchanged a look, and he swallowed. “Right, then. Tonight in the parlor. We’ll be there—with dice and a prayer. Might not believe in them, but it couldn’t hurt.”