Oh, sure, Bailey got called ‘Bailey’. All I got was ‘Miss Rowe’, which was only my name on paper. Wanda’s vampire sweety, Lorcan, had offered me his family name and claimed me as a cousin, since I needed a new identity once it became apparent I wasn’t going back to my old translucent life.

  I chewed my lip. Bailey, my friend and fellow medium, was good. Real good. But she’d also been going through some things lately. Plus, Mr. Howard already didn’t like me, and I needed to keep my job. Being alive was more expensive than it was when I last gave it a go around.

  Besides, I could tell from the tone of his voice that this wasn’t really a request.

  “I’ll be right in, Mr. Howard.” I opened my mouth to tell him I’d be just a few minutes, but he’d already hung up, so I didn’t bother.

  My shoes, blouse and skirt were nice enough for going into the office, so at least I wouldn’t have to stop at home to change.

  Once we’d stepped foot outside the hotel, Cain retreated to my body to save energy. So when he spoke, it was more like a whisper in the back of my head.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Come on, partner.” I unlocked my car and slipped behind the wheel. “We’ve got a case.”

  Cain grumbled, but I could still feel his little fission of interest like a prickle of electricity running over my skin.

  At least one of us was happy.

  ***

  I loved my office at Spook Society. I’d gotten to pick out all the furniture and the decorations. From my glossy black desk, to the comfortable client chairs done in a bold black and white chevron pattern. Everything was the art déco style that had been a big deal back when I was alive. The first time, I mean. The only shock of color in the whole room was a stylized painting of a young woman with a short black bob dancing the Charleston in a bright red flapper dress.

  And if the woman in the picture bore a slight resemblance to me, well, I wasn’t saying anything.

  I’d felt pretty spiffy when I’d set out that morning. I wasn’t a clothes horse, exactly, but spending a hundred years in the same drop-waisted silk dress meant that I enjoyed being able to put together different outfits, and the ivory silk camisole and shrug Wanda had picked out for me, paired with a sleek dark skirt and some bright red lipstick made me look like the office was made to showcase me. It also made the most of my figure. And on that subject, let’s just say there was a reason it was so easy for me to pull off the straight up and down style of my youth. Because Miss Darla hadn’t been designed with much in the top or bottom departments.

  Too bad for me, my client, Sophia Erepto, made me feel like the outfit I was wearing was something I’d fished out of the dump.

  In her gorgeous silk wrap dress in the darkest green I’d ever laid my peepers on, tasteful gold jewelry and her black hair pulled up into a beautifully wound updo, Ms. Erepto looked like a real Sheba. Just, a million bucks. I tried not to squirm in my chair. No way was I going to let myself be intimidated in my own office. I mean, in spite of the few wrinkles that dotted her eyes, I was actually older than she was, for Pete’s sake.

  Or, maybe it wasn’t about how she dressed or held herself, like a Queen holding court. Maybe it was about what she was.

  The only heads up for the meeting I’d gotten was a hastily scribbled post it note stuck to my desk in Mr. Howard’s angular handwriting. He’d told me to be on my best behavior, because my client was a Graeae.

  Now, I don’t know too much about the supernatural world, in spite of being part of it for a long, long time. I’d been kind of sheltered, all cooped up in the big house with Frank, after all. But I’d seen Clash of the Titans and a few other movies in my day, and I was pretty sure Graeae were loosely related to gorgons (think Medusa)—like second cousins removed and all that. While Graeae didn’t have snakes for hair, and they were more social than gorgons (who pretty much kept themselves isolated) Graeae could still do things like turn people to stone just by looking at ‘em. But unlike gorgons, they didn’t have to wear sunglasses all the time (in order to shield their eyes). I wasn’t exactly sure how a Graeae could turn someone to stone, but I also really didn’t want to find out.

  While Ms. Erepto’s pointed look was making me feel like I’d just tracked mud through on her carpet, I still seemed to be made of flesh and bone, so that was something. Here was hoping I could keep it that way for the rest of the appointment.

  I did my best to channel Wanda, folding my hands on my desk as I smiled. “What brings you in today, Ms. Erepto? What can Spook Society do for you?”

  She crossed her legs in a smooth motion, flashing the red sole of her shoe. “My grandmother, Magda Erepto, passed away the other day.” Her voice was lightly accented, a bit of richness hanging around the consonants.

  I blinked. That hadn’t been what I was expecting. It probably should have been, though. People didn’t come to Spook Society because they were throwing an engagement party.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  She waved away my condolences. A gold bracelet, shaped like a snake biting its own tail, glinted under the fluorescent lights. “She went peacefully. That is all any of us can hope for.”

  I had absolutely no idea what to say to that, so I kept my mouth shut. I mean, she wasn’t wrong, but it was her grandma we were talking about.

  Ms. Erepto gestured again with her hand. “The trouble is this; Magda was the head of the family. A new head for the clan must be appointed. However, the idol that has been in our family for countless generations, has gone missing. It is a mark of leadership among us. Without it, the new clan head would never fully have control, and could be challenged at any time.”

  She fixed me with an unblinking stare. Her eyes were as green as her dress. “Without it, no one can rule. And having a clan of uncontrolled Graeaes running around, would not be in Haven Hollow’s best interests,” she added silkily.

  I was pretty sure that was a threat, if ever I’d heard one. I swallowed hard, not liking where this conversation was going.

  “How can I help?” I asked with a gulp.

  “I wish for you to summon Magda’s spirit. Ask her where she has hidden the idol. Once I have retrieved it, I will be able to take control of the family once more. Order will prevail.” Ms. Erepto gave me a quick once over. “Your employer tells me this will not be a problem for you.”

  The last sentence really sounded like it should have had an ‘or else’ attached to it. I wasn’t going to let it get under my skin, though.

  Channel Wanda, I thought to myself, ‘cause that was the ticket. That witch could make someone cringe at forty paces with just one raised eyebrow. No one was going to make Darla feel like a dumb Dora in her own office.

  This is a bad idea, Cain muttered at the back of my head. I don’t trust her.

  Well, thanks for the update, mister.

  But it didn’t matter if we trusted her or not. What mattered was that this was my job and I was going to do it.

  And I was going to take the idea that Blaise Howard thought I could pull this off at face value, and not that he was setting me up to fail.

  “Of course, Ms. Erepto,” I said through a confident smile I may not have felt down to my toes. “No problem at all.”

  ***

  I set the thick white candle down on the ritual table and tried to shrug off the déjà vu. I’d done almost the exact same ritual back when Taliyah had asked me to bring Cain back from the beyond, though that had been a little different. I didn’t have any intentions of keeping Magda around for longer than it took to ask her about the idol. I just hoped she wasn’t too confused in the process. Some folks got a bit bamboozled after they died and it was even more confusing to be in dead-person land and then get suddenly yanked right back to the land of the living by some nosy medium. Some of them spooks could get downright irritated about it.

  The candles were set at the corners of the room, each of them carefully anointed with ‘Piercing the Veil’ oil that Poppy had whipped up special for me. I’d also taken the time to set some ‘Enchanted Spirit Oil’ around the windows and door frame, to make sure I got only the spirit I wanted to talk to. Ms. Erepto didn’t look like the kind of woman who’d take kindly to a bunch of ghostly gate-crashers showing up.

  With the table arranged, and the lights dimmed, everything was pretty Jake. All that we needed was to have a seat, so we could get this thing shaking.

  Cain was restless in the back of my head. I could feel his energy kind of churning, like he was pacing inside my body. I turned my back to fuss with something, so Ms. Erepto couldn’t see my expression. I might work for Spook Society, but I didn’t need her thinking I was cracking up.

  What’s wrong? I thought the words to him.

  Cain was quiet for a moment. I don’t know. It just… feels odd. I’ve never seen a summoning before. Not from this side, at least.

  I winced. Cain didn’t exactly have good memories from his own summoning. I didn’t know if it was because he was my first, or because of how he died and how bad it was, but it hadn’t exactly been berries for him.

  Are you going to be okay?

  All I got back was a gruff, I’m fine. And then he retreated to the edge of my awareness.

  Men.

  Well, nothing to do then but push through.

  “Ms. Erepto? If you could just take a seat at the table, we can get started.”

  She took her chair like a Queen sitting on a throne. I tried not to kick my own chair out from under me.

  As far as the setup for this summoning went, well, it was pretty much the same as Cain’s summoning. The white candle on the table was almost as thick as my wrist, and the ‘Piercing the Veil’ oil filled the room with its soft floral scent. It was way better than I’d feared the first time I’d used it. I’d thought it would be all petrichor and grave dirt, not faint lilies and jasmine.

  The anchor object was missing, but then, we weren’t expecting Magda to stick around long. So, there was no need for anything to keep her tied to it.

  I twisted Cain’s class ring around on my finger absently. The ring was the object he was actually bound to, so I could take it off whenever I wanted a little alone time. Dead or not, I wasn’t dragging a copper into the shower with me.

  When Ms. Erepto was settled, I reached out. “Please, take my hands.”

  After a brief hesitation, she did. Her hands were surprisingly strong, and a little on the cool side. Each nail had been buffed and shaped into a perfect oval and painted with a faint opalescence.

  I let my head fall back slightly, my finally growing out hair draping down over my shoulders.

  “Magda Erepto,” I breathed towards the ceiling. “We call you forth.”

  People talk about the veil between worlds, like it’s a sheet stretched out between us and the great beyond. For me, it’s not that rigid. Instead, it flows like water. Sometimes shallow and fast, sometimes drowning deep. I don’t know if everyone experiences it differently, or if it was just because I’d been a ghost myself, though I’d never crossed over to see what was on the other side of the vast, black ocean.

  Bailey had taught me the words to say, back when I’d done a summoning for the first time. I spoke the words then, casting them out to sea like a glittering silver fish hook, searching for one spirit among multitudes.

  I felt Cain paying attention, a feeling of almost horrified fascination bubbling up from somewhere deep inside. He was uneasy, but he was trying to hide it from me. In the future, I’d have to remember to take the ring off before I went knocking on the door of the great beyond, looking for ghosts. There was no reason for him to be here, other than I’d gotten used to having him with me.

  I could almost feel Ms. Erepto’s impatience through her grip on my hands. A drop of sweat beaded at my temple, threatening to roll down the side of my face. I did not want to think about how she, and Mr. Howard, would react if I couldn’t get a grab on Magda’s spirit.

  Just as my voice was starting to get hoarse, when the candles had burned down a good inch, I felt a little shiver through the veil, like something had taken the bait on the end of my hook.

  Acting fast, I grabbed hold with my power and my will, and slowly but surely, I started drawing the spirit forth.

  I buckled myself in for a real scrap. Cain had been a confused mess, and he’d fought me every inch of the way. I’d almost lost him a couple times, and I’d been terrified I wouldn’t be able to find him again.

  Reeling Magda in was almost suspiciously easy, though. Once I had a hold of her, she slid through the veil cleanly and quietly, her presence flooding the room.

  The candles blazed up, the only source of light in the room. There, hovering close to the ceiling, a misty figure was taking shape. She was obviously an older woman, her white hair done up in a style similar to her granddaughter’s. She wore a sensible dress, the collar way up to her chin. Magda looked serious, the lines at the corners of her eyes and around her mouth carved into a severe expression.

  I heard Sophia inhale sharply.

  I gave her hands what I hoped was a reassuring squeeze. “Magda Erepto, will you speak with us?”

  The apparition’s eyes opened, and she took a good look around the room.

  It was odd. I didn’t know spirits could change. Maybe cause I’d only seen ghosts who got stuck, like me, and were trapped however they’d looked at the moment they’d plowed up the daisies.

  But as she hovered there, Magda Erepto’s appearance began to shift.

  Her face smoothed out, her hair darkened. A lively look crept over her face as her dress faded from steel gray to something lighter, almost pastel, though I couldn’t tell what color it was in the dim light. She did a little spin then, hems flaring, suddenly looking like a teenager instead of an aged matriarch. And that’s exactly what had happened—she’d reverted to the way she’d looked and felt when she was much, much younger.

  And then, with a saucy wink that had my mouth dropping open, she dove through the wall and was gone.

  Chapter Three

  Sophia and I both sat there for a long moment, staring like mugs, like we were waiting for the spirit to come back.

  But that spirit? Well, she’d well and truly flown the coop. I couldn’t feel her presence anywhere in the building anymore. Eventually, the candles flickered out and plunged the room into true dark, broken only by the faint sunlight managing to peek in through the drapes.

  Sophia turned to me, her eyes a little too bright in the dark room. “Where is she?”

  I stared at the wall, like that could make Magda reappear. “Uh…” Hmm, how to put this... “Well, I think she might have... left.”

  The chair scraped against the floor as Sophia stood up. “You lost my grandmother?”

  “Now, hold on a second, here.”

  “I cannot believe this!” Sophia snatched up her purse, staring down at the table like it was a maggot she’d spotted on the ground.

  I scrambled up to hit the lights and blinked back tears at the sudden brightness. “Ms. Erepto, please just wait a second. I’m sure there’s something I can do to get her back again.”

  I just was a bit bamboozled about what that something might be. I’d been a ghost for a century, and had a pretty good handle on what being a ghost meant. Being a medium was still pretty new to me, though. I wondered if Sophia would let me step out of the room to call Bailey and ask her for advice.

  I mean, I didn’t know that a spirit could blow you off like that. She hadn’t even struggled, just simply scooted out of the room like it was nothing. The ‘Enchanted Spirit Oil’ was meant to keep random ghosts from showing up at the summoning like gate crashers at a party. But I’d never heard of anything used to keep spirits trapped in a place with you. I had no idea how Magda had just shrugged off my summons like she had.

  And I hadn’t even gotten a chance to ask her about the idol.

  Well, darn it.

  Sophia Erepto pulled herself up to her full height and stared down her nose at me. I felt frozen on the spot, and I started to worry about that whole ‘turning people to stone’ thing again real quick.

  “I was led to believe that Spook Society was a reputable business,” she said with icy fury. “And instead, I get inept fumbling. Now, not only do I not know where my family’s idol is, but you just lost the one person who could have told me!”

  I shut down the summoning in a hurry, pinching out the candle. That wasn’t a door I wanted to leave open. “Ma’am, please wait. Just a second.”

  But she didn’t listen and started for the door, as I did possibly the dumbest thing in my second life, and darted in front of her.

  “Ms. Erepto, if you could just—”

  “Move.” She hissed the word at me, her voice taking on a chilling tone. “I am going to give Blaise Howard a piece of my mind about the shamble of a business he’s running.”

  “Oh, geez, please don’t do that.” Mr. Howard already didn’t like me. If he found out I was upsetting clients and losing ghosts, unofficial parole or not, he was going to toss me out on my rear end. “I will get your grandmother back, I promise. I’ll find your idol, too, just give me a little more time.”

  “What does that mean—a little more time?”

  I shrugged. “Just a couple days. You’ll see.”

  She stared at me for a long minute. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of my neck, and oh geez, just when I was mentally packing my bag, saying good bye to my gorgeous office, and wondering what other job an ex-ghost gal could even do, Sophia gave a little sniff.

  “Fine.” Her tone was clipped. “You have three days, Miss Rowe. I want my family’s idol by then and my grandmother’s ghost. Or there will be consequences.”

  I shuffled out of her way, and stood there, shaken, while the angry clack of her heels on the wooden floors faded away. And then I put my face in my hands and resisted the urge to shriek.

  What had I just gotten myself into? How was I going to track down an item when I didn’t even know what it looked like? I should have asked for a picture or something, but oh no, I’d been too jittered about her talking to my boss to think straight. And who knew whether I’d be able to find Magda?