Page 88 of How to Stake a Vampire

He dropped the keys in his panic and squealed.

Samuel picked them up. “Thank you. Your cooperation is much appreciated.”

“You were like a superhero,” Bo told Nigel in an awed voice as we filed past the pale, sweating, and now hyperventilating guard.

“It’s nothing special,” Nigel said shyly.

“How about you lose the tentacles and extra eyes before I lose my breakfast?” Detective Johnson said weakly.

“Oh. Right. Sorry.”

Mindy materialized beside us when we were halfway across the foyer, her translucent form flickering with excitement.

“Great, you’re here. I’ve been analyzing the residual ectoplasmic frequencies in the building and cross-referencing them with the ambient supernatural energy readings from around Amberford. If I factor in the temporal decay rates of wraith essence?—”

Didi grimaced and put a hand up. “English, please.”

Mindy sagged a little.

“I tracked the wraith,” she admitted semi-sullenly.

“You could have led with that,” Detective Johnson said skeptically.

“It’s more complicated than normal tracking,” Mindy protested. “The wraith’s energy signature was creating a hybrid resonance pattern that?—”

“How about we save the science lesson for another day?” Samuel interrupted with a heavy sigh.

Mindy’s eyes flashed brightly, a sure-fire sign she was getting irritated.

“She’s not going to start doing spooky stuff, is she?” Detective Johnson whispered to Didi. “Poltergeist activity freaks me out.”

“Not if she knows what’s good for her,” Didi muttered, eyeing Barney’s darkening expression. She squinted at the detective. “And how come a werewolf is afraid of ghosts?”

“Childhood trauma. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Barney looked like he was considering exorcising people.

“Where to?” I asked Mindy hastily.

“One of the subbasements. You guys need to take the elevator.”

The service corridors Mindy led us down were dimly lit and smelled like industrial cleaning supplies and old coffee. The building was eerily quiet. Our footsteps echoed as we navigated the passageways, the sound bouncing off the concrete walls.

“It’s a good thing we’re not aiming for the element of surprise,” Didi murmured.

“When do you think they were last here?” Samuel asked Mindy as the elevator came into view.

“My best guess? Six to eight hours ago. I tried to follow the wraith’s trail from here but it goes cold outside the building.” The ghost hesitated and shot an uneasy look at us over her shoulder where she floated ahead. “It looks like they left in a hurry.”

The elevator ride to the subbasement was tense and silent. The doors finally opened with a grating squeak.

We were hit with a wave of stale air that made my nose wrinkle. Underneath it was something else. Something that made my wolf’s hackles rise.

“You smell that?” I asked Samuel cautiously.

He frowned. “Yes. But I can’t quite place it.”

Didi narrowed her eyes. “That’s magic.Oldmagic.”