Page 46 of Medium

Improved reflexes, speed, and strength

Night vision

CHAPTER 12

ELLIS

Rory heldup his hands and took a step back. “It’s not something I know how to do or want to know how to do. You’re safe from me.” What the hell were the ghosts saying to him? I looked around again, wishing I could see them too. I wanted to intervene and tell them Rory was a good person.

Once it had been obvious the ghosts were telling Rory about Thomas Baird’s death—or rather his capture—the rest of us had gathered around to wait for him to finish. I was leery about Pia hearing what had happened, particularly now since it seemed to involve kidnapping, but Ms. Jackson would alert us if she got too upset.

“I promise I’m just here to ask some questions, but you don’t have to answer.” After a few seconds Rory said, “Right. I swear. You can ask these ghosts here.” Finally he relaxed and let his hands drop. “Can you think of anything else you noticed about the vampires or what they did to the imp?”

Apparently the answer wasno.

“Got it. Thank you very much. My name is Rory Blackbourne. If you think of anything else we might need to know, or ifsomeone gives you trouble like this gentleman said—” He gestured off to his left. “—come find me.”

Then he cocked his head like he was listening again. He turned. “Ms. Jackson, the ghosts here want to know what you are. Do you mind if I tell them what Shane told us?”

Ms. Jackson made a shrugging movement and trotted over to stand next to Rory, who turned back to face in exactly the same direction Ms. Jackson was looking. Could they see ghosts?

Rory patted Ms. Jackson’s back. “They were originally an artifact from the Elven dimension, but they were given some extra magic, and now they can change their shape.”

Probably as good a summary as any.

Rory nodded some more, then thanked the ghosts before joining those of us who were still alive. “It sounds like the vampires didn’t kill the imp.” He relayed what the ghosts had told him about Thomas Baird’s magic getting “cut off”.

We all looked at each other uneasily. Pia piped up, “So the guy might still be alive?”

Greg ran his hand through his luxurious hair. “Good question.” He turned to Rory. “If Thomas died later, would his ghost return to his house, do you think? Or would it stay where he was killed or buried?”

Rory spread out his hands. “There’s no way to know. It varies by the individual. He might also have crossed over, in which case we’ll never be able to talk to him.”

I asked, “How far away did he live?”

“Only a couple of miles from here.” Greg appeared to be hesitating to ask, but I could tell he wanted to.

I raised my eyebrows at the rest of the crew who’d driven from Houston. “Want to go check it out just to make sure he’s not there? We have time. We don’t have to meet the dryads until later.”

Pia scowled, but everyone else nodded.

After checking with Rory to make sure nothing else could be learned here, we all headed back to the cars. Greg and Cal would lead us to Thomas Baird’s house.

After a short drive we pulled up in front of a small bungalow in an older subdivision. The house was neatly kept except the grass was overgrown. When we got out, Greg muttered something about a lawn service and made a note in his phone. Was he managing the missing guy’s estate?

Rory stood next to the car staring at the house. He said, “Thanks,” and turned to Greg and Cal. “No ghosts here.”

They both looked startled. Greg asked, “You can tell so quickly?”

Rory chuckled. “Me? No. My grandfather did a pass through the house looking for ghosts, and he says there aren’t any. But the house next door has one, and that ghost hasn’t seen Thomas Baird’s ghost.”