Page 21

L uke pulls in front of The Road Inn, the kind of motel with the cars are parked directly in front of the rooms .

“I thought you said you were staying in a hotel,” I say as I swivel my legs out of the car .

When I close the door, Luke gazes at me curiously across the roof. “This is a hotel .”

“This is a motel. Two different things. The word motel comes from the phrase motor hotel, which is the kind of place where you can park your car right in front of your room. If it has enclosed hallways to reach your room,” I mime fingers walking, “it’s a hotel .”

“Sorry, college girl,” he says. “I’m just not smart enough to know the difference between h’s and m’s, I guess. But I do know how to save your life from an angry poltergeist, so hopefully that counts for something .”

Jax slams the car door. I jump, but when I look at him, he looks back innocently. “What?” Jax asks .

Then, as we cross the uneven sidewalk to the door, and Luke pulls out an old-school key to open the room, Jax tells me, “I can’t believe you remember useless stuff like that, but you can’t remember prokaryotic versus eukaryotic cells .”

“Oh my god,” Luke says, opening the door. “I might have to ask you guys to stop talking .”

Luke leads the way into a small room, with two old oak beds, blue bedspreads, and run-down forest green carpet. Another boy, who must be Maverick, sits at a table in the corner, working busily on a laptop .

Maverick stands from the table, the movement quick and fluid. He’s even taller than Luke, his frame lean but muscular. His eyes are still fixed on the table—on nothing —as he nods hello to us. With his face averted, in the shadows, I can’t quite get a good look at him, but I have a general impression of good-looking : sharp cheekbones, a chiseled jaw, a hard, narrow mouth. He has dark blond hair in a boy band cut, which isn’t really what I’d expect for someone who chases down ghosts for a living .

“Hi,” he says, his gaze still averted. His voice is low and masculine and at the same time, honeyed. Even from across the room, his voice sounds as intimate as if he just murmured into my ear .

Luke leans on my shoulder, his muscular forearm propped up next to my ear. Sparks fly for me when he touches me so casually, but I still glance up at him, perplexed. Why are you touching me , Luke ?

Luke’s lips part in surprise. Maybe he thought I’d be grateful to have the pretty boy’s flirtatious touch. I thought he knew me better than that .

“I guess we’re friends now, huh?” I quip, patting his forearm. I’m trying to make a point, but the hard warmth of his muscular forearm is… distracting .

Maverick’s head snaps up. The movement draws my gaze, and our eyes meet. His eyes are eerily light, although I can’t quite see the color from here. He glances away from me as soon as our eyes have met, as if he’s tearing his vision away from me, and closes his eyes. Dark lashes rest above his chiseled cheekbones .

“Not to be rude,” I say, “but I had assumed Luke was the weird one and now that’s really being thrown into doubt .”

“There’s a reason I didn’t bring Maverick to meet you,” Luke says .

“And here I just thought you wanted me all to yourself,” I deadpan .

Luke straightens, his elbow sliding away from me .

“Why don’t you just tell me what’s up?” I ask. “I’ve got enough secrets and mysteries with the dead ghost thing. I don’t need one more Scooby Doo subplot .”

Maverick looks back at me, and when I stare back at him, raising my eyebrows, he crosses the room to me. His brows draw together over silver-flecked deep gray eyes. They’re unusual eyes, quite pretty .

“Hi,” I say, as he stares into my face .

“You don’t feel anything?” His brows knit together even more .

“Oh, I feel lots of things,” I tell him. “Confused. Annoyed. In need of personal space.” I put my palm on his chest, taking a step back. Next to me, Luke inhales. Silence hangs in the air .

I cross my arms over my chest as Maverick glances from his chest to my hand, and then finally to my face. He stares at me in wonder .

“What?” I ask flatly .

“I’m Fae,” he says. As if that means something to me. With those words, I hear an accent. Irish maybe or—Scottish. I think it’s Scottish .

“The Fae are…intoxicating… to humans as a general rule. I wasn’t going to bring him onto a college campus full of innocent coeds.” Luke catches Jax’s shoulder with his hand, pulling him back. Jax’s eyes are wide and focused on Maverick. “And it’s time to throw a ward on this one. Hey, friend. Come over here .”

Luke steers Jax into the corner, blocking his view of Maverick, and Jax makes a small sound of protest. Luke starts to mutter in Latin .

Maverick stares at me, cocking his head to one side now. “ Fascinating .”

“You’re a pretty man and all, don’t get me wrong,” I tell him, patting his shoulder. Once again, his eyes follow my hand and widen, and then his gaze sweeps to my face, as if he expects me to overcome by lust and adoration .

I smile at him tightly. “But I’m pretty hard to impress .”

Jax lets out a strangled scream, and I push Maverick out of my way to get to his side. As Luke takes a step back, Jax bends over, his hands on his knees, breathing hard as if he’s just been kicked in the balls .

“What did you do to him?” I demand, shoving Luke out of my way. I rest my hand on Jax’s shoulder. “Are you okay ?”

“He’s fine,” Luke says impatiently. “Had to ward him so he wouldn’t pine away for Mav .”

“What exactly does that mean?” I demand. “ Ward him ?”

But Jax is already tearing away his shirt, revealing his flat abs and a round tattoo above his heart. It looks fresh, the black ink wet and shiny, the skin red. Wisps of smoke seem to curl from the edges of the design. He stares at the mark, his face stricken .

“It’s magic,” Luke shakes his hand out, as if it hurts, and wisps of smoke escape between his fingers. “You’re welcome .”

“Oh no.” I point my finger into Luke’s face. “You don’t get to put magic on my best friend like it’s no big deal. You didn’t even ask him !”

“If I had asked him,” Luke says, his voice full of exaggerated patience, “he might have said no .”

“That’s the whole point , Luke .”

He catches my finger in his hand. “Stop pointing your finger in my face, sweetheart. You’re not my mom .”

“Yeah, obviously. I don’t plan to raise a little dickhead someday .”

Luke pulls a face. “I don’t want to imagine you raising kids. But I don’t mind imagining the process before that .”

I wrench my finger out of his grip. “You better watch yourself .”

“Hm,” Mave murmurs. “I thought you were going to fall in love with me, and instead it just seems like you hate him .”

“It’s all the sexual tension between us,” Luke explains to Mave .

“I don’t think so.” Mave crosses his arms over his chest and gives me a once-over, but there’s a glint of approval in his eyes. “I think she hates you .”

“I think the Fae is right,” I say .

Jax straightens up. I pat his shoulder, and he nods at me, still catching his breath but clearly doing his best to be all right with our weird world .

I round on Mave. “Speaking of. What the hell are the Fae ?”

“I assume you’ve read a fairy tale or two in your lifetime. Surely you’ve run across stories about…fairies.” Mave says fairies as if it’s a dirty word .

“Sure, but fairies aren’t real …”

“Neither are people like you.” Mave reaches out and touches my cheek, caressing my cheekbone with the back of his knuckles. It’s a practiced gesture, one that—judging from the confident look on his face—must make women swoon .

I quirk my eyebrows at him .

“Remarkable,” he says .

“This is almost as much of a waste of time as I expected from Ashley throwing herself at Mave.” Luke glances between the two of us. “Although I have to say, it is fun .”

“Right, let’s get to work.” Maverick says .

“I still have questions,” I protest .

“The Fae are beautiful people who live in an alternative version split off from Earth, accessible by portals if you know where to look, but it’s best not to look,” Luke says. “If you think I’m an asshole, the Fae make me look like a kitten .”

Mave’s lips part, and Luke claps him on the shoulder. “Except for my friend here. All the glamour, none of the casual cruelty. The fairy prince is a bargain at any price .”

“Don’t call me that,” Mave says, his voice warning. He claps Luke’s shoulder back, but harder, and it looks less affectionate at the moment .

“How’d you end up a Hunter?” I ask .

“Let’s focus on the dead, lass,” Mave says .

“And how’d you end up with a name like Maverick? That doesn’t sound very fairy .”

“It’s the closest Luke can come to my true name.” Mave’s Scottish accent is definitely sexy, but not supernaturally so .

“ Which is ?”

“None of your business,” Mave says, but the broad smile he sends my way takes the sting out of his words. He heads for the desk in the corner .

“So,” Jax says casually, leaning his elbow on my shoulder the same way Luke did a few minutes earlier. Since it’s Jax, I tolerate it. “I’m your best friend ?”

“You’re my only friend, Jaxon. Don’t get wild about it.” It’s a lie, of course, but the easy, light-hearted lie that denies my feelings comes easier than the truth. Especially with an audience. Jax should know that .

“She’s cold,” Luke narrates to Maverick, leaning over his shoulder at the desk .

“No wonder you like her,” Mave says, and Luke socks his shoulder, just before he glances at me, as if he hopes I didn’t hear that .

Well. Men really are a mystery to me .

“First, let me tell you what we’ve already tried,” Maverick says. “We’ve searched for dead serial killers who might have a connection to campus. Of course, not everything makes it into the annals of history, so we can’t rule out a serial-killer-poltergeist haunting the campus. But we’ve got no leads in that direction .”

“There aren’t any serial killers? Anyone who might have made a home for themselves here ?”

Luke shakes his head. “If there was, trust me, I’d dig up their graves and dispatch them just in case. Never hurts to make sure every Nasty has made their way to the other side .”

“What were the letters the poltergeist spelled out?” Mave asks. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, maybe it was the poltergeist telling us its name .”

“Because luck is so often in our favor.” Luke throws himself into the seat across from Mave. Apparently he isn’t feeling chivalrous today. He tosses the banana and the granola bar on the tabletop. “Here, I brought you breakfast .”

“How nice,” Mave says .

“Maybe you can come next time,” Luke says. “We’ll see if your magic’s just worn off .”

“I think your Ashley is special,” Mave says .

“I’m not anyone’s,” I say. “And you can call me Ash .”

Mave cocks his handsome face to one side. “I assumed you’d throw yourself at me, but I guess I’ll accept the intimacy of a nickname .”

“Okay, Mave.” Good lord, I am surrounded by beautiful weirdos. Maybe as well as being their psychic, I can teach them how to act normal .

I sit on the edge of the bed, tugging Jax along with me. “This is what I’ve got: o, l, l, y, s , l .”

“Well, that’s not a name,” Luke says. “Unless this is a mad libs or something. I fucking hate poltergeists .”

“There are a lot of things it could be.” Mave pulls a notebook out and writes the letters down in sharpie, in thick bold lines. “You were transcribing these from the motions of the doll, right ?”

“Yeah,” I say .

“So we have to consider the possibility of user error.” Under each letter, Mave draws others :

O L L Y S L

a/c i i c/j/g j/ g i

“Great, you bought some vowels,” Luke says. But for all his quips, he leans forward, resting his muscular arms on his knees, his face intent .

I understand why he thinks our poltergeist is fucking with us. But figuring out how he’s fucking with us might still be a step in the right direction. Maybe it’s not random .

Anyway, it’s all we’ve got so far .

“We can try different combinations that might make up a name,” Mave suggests. “What else besides a name, though, might he have wanted to give us? A location? A motive ?”

“A favorite movie quote?” Luke asks .

“Your negativity is, as usual, not helpful,” Mave chides him. “Let’s try this for now. There’s plenty of time for doom and gloom later .”

Luke shakes his head, his jaw set. “We have two weeks to the winter formal .”

Mave doesn’t answer. Clearly, two weeks to him is enough time to remain rational and positive; two weeks to Luke means something else altogether. I wonder how the two of them ended up together. I have so many questions about this side of the world .

“Maybe it’s a Polish name,” Jax says. “Or Russian? All those I’s ? W’s ?”

“I’ll check the phone book for Serialkilleriski, ” Luke says .

“Don’t mind him,” Mave says, making a note on the paper. “He doesn’t understand the concept of brainstorming .”

“Molly?” I ask “Molly Sl? Molly si ?”

“Molly sleds, Molly sings, Molly sighs,” Luke says. I glance over at him; his deadpan expression doesn’t give me any indication of if he’s being serious or continuing to be an asshole .

“That makes sense,” Mave says. “What was Molly’s last name ?”

“Koonz,” Luke says. “I’ll look up her middle name. You should have brought your fancy laptops, college kids .”

“Maybe you could have mentioned it,” I say .

“It wouldn’t do you any good. No wi-fi here.” Luke gets up and retrieved a laptop from the side of the bed, plugging his cell phone into a cord hanging from the side. He sets the laptop down and opens it up, rapidly clicking browser windows shut .

“What’s that?” I ask, reaching out to tap the cord .

“Porn.” He finally glances away from the screen, says, “Oh. I tether my cell phone for data.” A few minutes and several clicks later, he says, “Molly, middle name Anita .”

“That must get expensive,” Jax says .

“Nah, just the free stuff.” Luke glances at me, gauging my reaction. He’s successfully grossing me out, but I look back at him blankly. I hope .

“I meant tethering. Tethering must be expensive.” Leave it to Jax to be fascinated by the geekiest part of this day .

“Can we maybe focus on the dead girls,” Mave says, “And not on Luke’s inappropriate sexual openness, our criminal internet activity, or the way you all love to think yourselves clever with your banter ?”

“Sorry,” Luke says, surprising me. “You’re right.” As he turns the laptop around, I’m not sure I want to look at the screen. Bright-smiling Molly beams out at me again .

Feeling chastened too, I say, “What if I just missed an apostrophe. Holly’s… inside? It could have been the start of a location. Or Holly’s… something .”

“Maybe he was trying to send us to an object of Holly’s,” Luke says. “Maybe we have two poltergeists, one haunting the other, and the killing poltergeist wants us to get rid of Holly’s ghost for him .”

The thought makes my skin tingle. “ That’s dark .”

“You spend enough time in this part of the world…” Luke says .

“What if it’s a street name? Hollyside?” Jax volunteers .

“Or a town?” I suggest .

And so it goes, until we’ve run out of ideas and need to switch to research. Mave opens the flimsy folding doors to the small closet and drags out an old suitcase; in it are a stack of old books .

“We need to join the digital age,” he grumbles. “Maybe get some Hunter interns to scan this all in.” He hands me a thick tome, and my hands close around it automatically; the brown leather cover is worn and stained, with two jagged rips at the top as if a wild animal had clawed it. “Do you know how to use an index ?”

“Yeah, I do .”

“Luke and I will look up the different permutations for any leads,” Mave says. “In the meantime, would the two of you mind looking through these books for relevant spells ?”

“You mean you two don’t know everything ?”

Mave shakes his head. “No. And if you want to be a Hunter, well, you must stay humble to stay alive .”

“She doesn’t want to be a hunter,” Luke says .

Mave glances over at me, his gray eyes widening, but all he says is, “Good for you .”