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“Oh?” Jeff sat back down. “What did you come up with?

While Amaliya continued to grow in power, Samantha was feeling stuck of late. Though she constantly saw ghosts, she found it difficult to control them the way she was supposed to be able to. Only when Amaliya was with her was she able to get the ghosts to do her bidding. Alexia and Benchley had provided a lot of information for her to read and she was sure she had finally found a way to get her abilities firmly under her dominion.

“I want to go find Roberto in Fenton.”

“Roberto?” Baptiste cocked his head. “Who’s Roberto?”

Samantha saw Jeff flinch. Taking a deep breath, Samantha said in a rush of words, “He was Cian’s bitchy human right-hand dude that drove me fuckin’ crazy until he betrayed Cian and Amaliya to The Summoner. He became a vampire and betrayed them again, then got himself staked by a zombie under Amaliya’s control. Then he survived this epic ghost apocalypse when The Summoner basically used all the ghosts in the graveyard in Fenton to infuse himself into Bianca all the way over in Louisiana. So he’s still out there and cranky.”

“And you want to go talk to him and then what?” Baptiste looked skeptical.

“Get him to come with me,” Samantha said, avoiding Jeff’s look of disbelief.

“You hate Roberto,” Jeff said.

“Well, yeah. He’s a snarky bitch,” Samantha said, “but he’s the only ghost I know really well. We kinda have a connection. He’ll totally want out of that town and I can offer him a way out. Aimee is going to make me a foci.”

“It’ll tether him to Samantha,” Aimee explained.

“Can you do that with another ghost?” Jeff leaned toward Aimee to emphasize his next words. “Because any other ghost may be a much better option.”

“Well, yeah,” Aimee said, “but then she’d be stuck with a ghost who may not be sentient or cooperative.”

“Jeff, Roberto knows me. He knows our situation. He’ll be on board.” Samantha tried to sound more confident than she felt.

“He tried to kill Cian and Amaliya. How do you think they’ll feel about this?” Jeff stared at Samantha with an incredulous look upon his face.

“They’ll deal. Because I need him. I know him. He knows how to fight. He knows what’s up. He’s a fuckin’ jerk and a half, but he knows what’s up. The Summoner would have eaten him up like all the other ghosts and he knows that. He’ll want payback. Plus, Jeff, he did try to warn us something was up in the graveyard the night it all went to hell.” The thought of Innocente’s tiny broken body brought tears to Samantha’s eyes. Using a napkin, she dabbed at her eyes. “He tried to warn us.”

Jeff exhaled and flopped forward, his head in his hands. “Shit.”

“If this can help her...” Baptiste said, then fell silent.

“You need to do it.” Aimee’s voice was firm. “You need to be at full strength. If you need a ghost to help you channel your power, then go get him. Cian will understand.” A slight smirk appeared on the witch’s lips. “Maybe Amaliya won’t, but Cian will.”

“How can we chance this?” Jeff asked. “If she leaves the city, it’s a big risk.”

“I can go during the day,” Samantha suggested. “I thought Benchley and Alexia could take me.”

“You need another supernatural with you.” Jeff looked toward Baptiste. “Are you game?”

“I’ll go where needed.” Baptiste sat back in his chair, his usually placid face slightly tense. “This is the graveyard where Prosper died, isn’t it?” His long fingers played with the edge of a napkin.

“Yeah.” Samantha squirmed in her seat. She often thought of the graveyard as the place where Innocente had died, but Rachon had lost Prosper and Amaliya had lost her childhood friend, Pete, that very same night.

“I’ll go,” Baptiste said. “I want to pay my respects.” The solemn pain dwelling in his eyes spoke of how much he had loved his fallen father-figure.

“Oh...kay.” Jeff tapped his fingers on the table. “Aimee, could you-”

“I can get them set up.” Aimee gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry.”

Samantha met the concerned gazed of her boyfriend with a wide grin. “It’s okay. Really.”

“Uh huh,” Jeff said, not sounding confident. “When should we do this?”

“Tomorrow. I need time to prep.” Aimee grabbed her empty bowl and spoon.

“And we need to talk to Cian,” Baptiste added. “Our fearless leader.”