Ghost Of A Chance Part 9

Pixie started to follow us, but I waved her back. My father flitted over to introduce himself. I knew between him and Adam she would be safe from Spider's disgusting attentions.

Spider shoved me up the last few stairs with a couple of choice swear words.

"Take your hands off me," I snarled when we were out of everyone's sight.

I jerked my arm away from him, but he just grabbed my wrist and hauled me into the room Adam had indicated.

"I'll touch you whenever and wherever I want," he spat, flinging me against the wall. I saw stars for a moment as my head cracked against it, but Spider's rubbing himself suggestively against me was what raised the nausea in my belly. "Don't pretend you don't want it. I know how hot you polter b.i.t.c.hes are."

I swore under my breath, put both hands on his chest, and shoved as hard as I could. He stumbled backward and landed on the bed. He laughed and patted the bedspread. "See? Can't wait to get me into bed, can you?"

"Why did you bring that G.o.d-awful machine?" I asked, ignoring the taunts. "Why would you bring it if you arranged for me to clean the house?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't do it. I knew you'd simply move whatever parasites are living here to our house rather than destroy them as you should.

Don't look so surprised; you don't seriously think you can pull anything over on me, do you? I've known all along about your little friends that you keep hidden whenever I'm around. I let you keep them because I knew the day would come when we'd need to test Meredith's machine."

"Why is it so important the ent.i.ties be destroyed?" I asked, my arms wrapped around me to keep the pain and the guilt at bay. "The end result of a cleaning is the same: the house is empty of all Otherworld ent.i.ties. Why does it matter what I do with the spirits I transport?"

"Because they're filthy, evil things," he said, slowly getting off the bed and stalking toward me. "They're unnatural freaks, just like you. The spirits are worthless, and the others, the poltergeists, like you and your family, are good only for one thing."

"Why did you ever marry me if you hate polters so much?" I couldn't help asking. I didn't want to get sidetracked by a discussion about our relations.h.i.+p, but I was genuinely curious. "I explained to you about my father before we were engaged. Why did you propose if you think I'm such a freak?"

He grabbed my hips before I could move, rubbing himself against me. "I told you, Karma: polters are hot. Very hot. The younger, the better, and you were very young when I met you. Not quite as succulent as that sweet little cousin of yours turned out to be, but still, enough to keep me happy for a bit."

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Rage unlike anything I'd ever felt filled me. I shoved him away, escaping to the other side of the room, the realization of what he was saying making me physically ill. "You had s.e.x with Bethany? That's illegal!"

"She wasn't human. There's nothing in the laws that says minor polters can't have s.e.x."

I swear to G.o.d, I was about to vomit on him. "She was fifteen, Spider!

Fifteen! She was just a child!"

"Mmm." A repulsive smile curled his lips. "A very sweet fifteen. So limber.

Limber enough for two, as Meredith and I found out."

I stared at him in horror, my skin crawling with the realization of what he was implying. "You mean that both of you ..."

"Oh yes, both of us. Didn't you know? Meredith is my partner in all things, and he shares my taste in young polter flesh. You wouldn't believe the things your cousin did with us. We had a lot of fun, the three of us together...But then she went and slit her throat. Stupid b.i.t.c.h."

I fell to the floor, retching up the contents of my stomach. I wanted to hide from what Spider was saying, but each word pierced my body with blade-like accuracy.

"You've looked better," he commented, strolling to the door. "Since you don't seem to be in the mood to talk, we will continue this discussion later.

Meredith and I need to figure out what the h.e.l.l we're going to do with this polter who thinks he can get the better of us. When will your kind learn who your masters are?"

I waited until the door closed before vomiting again.

"You look worse than ever," a female voice said from the shadows at the end of the corridor. The darkness parted as Pixie stepped forward. "Worse than roadkill, even."

"Thank you, that makes me feel infinitely better. Fortunately, the migraine has receded, so I can live with looking like roadkill. What are you doing hiding in the shadows?"

Her face was inscrutable as she approached me. "I dunno. I just seem to like them."

Most polters had an innate ability to blend into shadowed areas, making themselves all but invisible to mortal eyes...but somehow Pixie didn't seem to be aware of that. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Tell you?" She was the very picture of innocence. It redoubled my suspicion that something was up with her. "Like what? You're not going to third-degree me again, are you?"

"I've never third-degreed anyone, and I certainly wouldn't you, but I did want you to know that if there was something you wanted to tell me about yourself, I promise I wouldn't be judgmental."

She looked for a moment like she was going to speak, then shook her head. "You get to have your secrets, so I get to have mine, too."

"Fair enough. What have you been doing while I was out of things?"

"Deus, you just said you weren't going to question me! I wasn't doing anything, all right? I was over there in the shadows!"

An icy chill, spiked with guilt so thick it choked me, gripped my guts.

"Did Spider follow you?"

"No." Her eyes avoided mine, but she flitted around in a manner that said she was agitated about something. "You're an exterminator, right? Can you do the reverse? Can you bring Sergei back?"

A shaft of pain cut through me-but not the familiar pain of a migraine.

This was sadness and remorse, heavily painted with guilt. "I don't know. It depends on what that machine that Spider had did to him; if it sent Sergei to the Akasha, then there is a chance he can be retrieved. If it actually destroyed him..." I sighed.

"That'll suck if you can't. Sergei was kinda cool, even if he was a grunt."

"He wasn't a grunt, and yes, he was cool." I looked at the towel twisted between my hands, forcing myself to relax them and toss the towel into a hamper. "If it makes you feel any better, Spider will pay for what he's done."

"That's a given," Pixie said, an odd look on her face that cleared quickly when she realized I was watching her. "So, what now?"

"Now we go down and see how we can clear up this mess. Where is everyone? What's been going on?" I walked quickly to the stairs, then paused at the top to listen for sounds of arguing. To my surprise, there were none.

"Do I look like some sort of personal-information slave?" Pixie flounced past me down the stairs. "They're down there, I guess. I came up to escape the Monster from the Planet Flower Child. Oh, by the way, your dad is cool."

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "He is?"

"Yeah." She twirled a strand of long black hair around her fingers and peeked at me from the corner of her eye. "He told me if she gets too nosy, I can flash at her."

My jaw dropped a hair. "Flash?"

"Yeah, you know, turn on and off really fast. Matthew says it unnerves mortals."

"You mean flicker?" I put my arm on hers, stopping her for a second.

"Pixie, what's going on here?"

She pulled her arm away, a wary look on her face. "I don't know what's with you, but you're acting weird."

"I'm acting weird? I'm not the one who doesn't understand basic polter abilities like flickering and shadow melding. You act as if you don't know anything about being a polter."

"Deus! You're so nosy! I hate it here! I just want to be left alone! Why can't you leave me alone?"

The anguish in her voice-genuine anguish, not the normal put-upon teen whine-stopped me from pursuing the issue. "I'm sorry. I seem to be pus.h.i.+ng a lot of your b.u.t.tons tonight, don't I? We'll leave it for now, all right?

As to the flickering-no. Savannah is bad enough without you displaying the more showstopping polter abilities."

"Matthew said you'd say that," she answered, apparently appeased by my apology. "He said that it's against my civil rights for you to tell me I can't celebrate my heritage by flickering."

"Oh, for G.o.d's sake ..." I grabbed her arm and stopped her before she could reenter the living room. "My father is not responsible for you; I am. At least...well, we'll worry about that later. I'm in charge, and I say no flickering.

Got it?"

She tipped her head to the side. "When are we going to leave?"

I blinked at the change of subject. "I don't know. It depends on Adam, I guess. Do you want to leave?"

She watched me silently for a moment.

"We'll go as soon as it's possible, OK? And...er...about the future ... I know you're supposed to stay with me a month while we see how we suit each other, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen."

Her eyes narrowed, filled with suspicion and pain. "You don't want me, do you? No one ever does. It's OK. I'm used to it," she said with an attempt at an indifferent shrug.

I felt about as low as a snail's belly. The poor kid desperately needed to find a permanent home, but the sooner she realized that couldn't be with me, the happier we'd all be. "It has nothing to do with not wanting you to live with me. It's just that things are a bit complicated right now, and what with Spider...well, you're not going to be able to stay. I'm very sorry. I'll talk to Mrs. Beckett as soon as the seal is lifted."

"Whatever," she said with another shrug.

Guilt, anguish, dread, and many other emotions that had been stirred up in the last few hours made my stomach roil, but there was nothing I could do.

"Thank G.o.d you're here," a low male voice rumbled from behind, distracting me from my personal h.e.l.l.

Pixie turned her attention to the man marching toward us, his jaw set, his light eyes flas.h.i.+ng pale blue. "He looks p.i.s.sed again."

"He certainly does. It seems to be a normal state for him."

Pixie snickered as Adam stopped in front of us. "Your father I can deal with; I know how to keep him occupied. But that woman-" He waved a hand toward the closed double doors in front of us. "You're not going to believe what she wants to do."

"That bad, is it?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Yes. I had to order the ghosts and Amanita to stay hidden so she wouldn't see them. Not that they're of a mind to come out while an exterminator is present." He paused, eyeing me carefully. "You didn't rest for long. Did it help your headache?"

"Incredibly so. Oh, before I forget: I owe you for a towel. I'm afraid I was sick in the bedroom, and I threw away the towel I used to clean up."

"Yuck!" Pixie said.

"I have bigger things to worry about than a towel," Adam said grimly.

"Oh, there you are!" Savannah slid open the double doors and hurried over to us. "Head better? You look much more animated, and not nearly so pale. You're just in time, too. We need to get started in the next three minutes.

Obsidian Angel, you must join us, as well."

Savannah's hand clamped around my wrist as she dragged me into the large living room that took up the entire width of the house. The decor was the same as in the sitting room-clunky, uncomfortable-looking Victorian furniture, lots of china, muddy paintings on the wall, and dark, heavy velvet curtains at the windows. It was slightly less dusty in here than in the sitting room, but it clearly hadn't seen a good spring cleaning in a few years.

"I'm just in time for what?"

"You sit here, Karma, next to me. Obsidian, on Karma's left.

Matthew...Now where did he go? Matthew?"

My father, his eyes avoiding mine, flitted in through the far door, wearing an air of suppressed excitement. I wondered what he'd been up to. "Right here.

I wanted to have a look around the place." A faint pattering followed my father as he hurried over to us.

Adam bent to pick up a small smooth stone, looking at it curiously before narrowing his eyes at Dad. I did the same. My father normally had unusually good control over things like apports.

"Excellent. Now we just need Meredith and Spider, and we can get the seance started. Matthew, you're on my right. I've never had a real poltergeist in my circle before, so I expect great things with three and a half polters!" she said, beaming at us all.

My father beamed back at her, taking her hand in two of his own. "I am honored."

"We can even call one of your kind, if you like! Wouldn't that be an experience!"

"I suppose, although I can't think of anyone I'd like to see right now,"

Dad said after a moment's consideration.

She squeezed his hands, then moved to the doorway and opened the door to bellow toward the stairs, "Meredith! Seance! Bring Mr. Marx!" before turning back to us with another of her sunny smiles. "Meredith should be right along. Shall we take our places?"

"I'm not sure a seance is really such a good idea," I said, not wanting to partic.i.p.ate, but not sure how to avoid it without offending her.

"Sit!" she ordered.

I gave in and sat. Hopefully it would be over quickly.

"Adam, if you could sit across from me, that would be lovely."

"Er...you don't really need me, since you already have the others," Adam said, clearly trying to get out of the seance.

"Nonsense! I don't know much about poltergeists, but I am guessing that the more of you we have, the better our chances at making contact," Savannah said, giving him such a pointed look he reluctantly pulled out one of the dining room chairs she'd set around a large round table.

"Misery loves company," I murmured to him as I sat to the left of Savannah's place. "I'm surprised you're giving in to her, though."

"I think she'll continue to nag if I don't," he answered, then c.o.c.ked an eyebrow as he asked, "What's got you looking so confused?"

"I don't exactly know. I've got a horrible feeling that Savannah just said something I should have paid attention to, but I can't figure out what it is."

"What was the something about?"