Page 2 of Hello, Nurse! (Ghostlight Falls #10)

Chapter one

Guardin' the Garden

Angelina

G hostlight Falls is everything Encephalon said it would be. When he told us we’d be able to walk around this town freely, I honestly didn’t believe him, but it was part of Blabbo’s plan, and I trust him more than anyone.

True to his word, Encephalon has outfitted our hideout with a state-of-the-art security system. How he did it with only garbage he found around town, I don’t know, but the mouse is scary smart. He also helped us out with the next step in Blabbo’s plan: locating a human with demon blood.

Once we found her, I was assigned the job of following her, like some kind of stalker.

I guess it’s slightly less creepy for me to do it, given I’m female, but I don’t think it’s going to matter much when she suspects a monster is following her home.

No matter how cute my skirt is. I know what I am. What they made me.

The final bell rings at the elementary school.

The children all leave with their parents, and she walks out about thirty minutes later.

She smiles and waves at one of the teachers—Shirley, I think—as she walks to her car.

As if she senses me watching, her gaze travels to where I crouch hidden in the shadows.

I don’t think there’s any way she could see me here, and there’s no way she could hear my movements over the damn frogs, but I freeze anyway.

She squints, but quickly moves on, getting in her car and driving away.

There is after-school traffic, so I’m able to keep up with her on foot.

I’ve not clocked my top speed, but I’m certain it’s nowhere near as fast as a car.

It also helps that I know where she’s going.

She always heads straight home after work.

I hide in the branches of the same tree I always do, watching her walk up her front steps.

She looks over her shoulder before unlocking her door.

Can she sense me? I’ll have to tell Blabbo we need to move up the timeline if she’s getting suspicious.

I know he wants everything perfect, but if she panics before we make our move, we’re screwed.

I get comfortable. She doesn’t usually do a whole lot on weeknights, so I’m surprised when she heads back out an hour later, climbing into her car with a fresh change of clothes.

I message the boys on the communication device Encephalon set up for us.

I know they can track her car somehow. She drives away, heading toward the center of town.

I follow for as long as I can, but inevitably lose her.

They’ll tell me where she ends up. I think we’ve done enough surveillance, anyway.

We’ve confirmed she’s what we need for the ceremony.

Now it's time to move on to the next phase.