He held up a shiny piece of ceramic as he took his return trip through the living room.“Got it.”
Virginia shrieked and threw herself at him.
I tried to push her away with my broom, but she and Drake were both beyond my reach.“Look out!” I cried helplessly.
Drake glanced up just as Virginia crashed into him… Or rather, through him.
“What are you?” she cried in a quavering voice.
“What are you?” he shot back, then seeing that he was unaffected by her advance, carried on toward the door.
He disappeared outside and returned a couple moments later carrying the pitcher now filled with murky green potion.“The cat lady said to give this to you,” he said, placing the vessel in my hands.
“But what do I do with it?” I offered Drake my broom in exchange.
He didn’t have time to answer before Virginia came flying at us.
He tried to bat her away, but the broom in his hands passed straight through her.
The angry spirit tackled me, and I would have fallen flat on my butt if not for the fact she’d frozen me in place earlier during this encounter.
I remained standing tall, the pitcher clutched firmly within my hands.
Virginia, on the other hand…
“What is happening?” she cried as all the color drained from her form and swirled into the pitcher.
I watched in awe as my vessel filled with pure light, magic.
When I looked back up at Virginia, she was drab and gray. She’d also regained her full body all the way to the tips of her ghostly toes.
“You stole my magic. Give it back!” she hissed and grabbed for the pitcher, but her hand passed straight through. She tried again, only to receive the same result.
“Where’d she go?” Drake asked, still holding the useless broom like a baseball bat.
I pointed straight ahead.“She’s right here. Can’t you see her?”
“No, Gracie. She’s definitely gone.” He let out a dry laugh as if he thought I was trying to trick him.
Merlin’s voice floated to me through the open window. “We couldn’t dispatch her fully because her unfinished business is killing you, Gracie. Until that’s fulfilled, she will be trapped in our realm.”
“Then how do we get rid of her?” I asked, craning my neck to search for him, but he was gone from the window.
“I will kill you!” Virginia growled and dove at me, but remained invisible to the others.
“The potion we brewed relieved her of her magic and bound her to this house,” Luna announced after she and Merlin ran inside through the cat flap. It seemed that Virginia’s barrier spell had fallen when she lost her magic.
“So she’s stuck here? With us?” I screeched. Our house was full enough as it was, especially with kittens on the way. The last thing we needed was another roommate, especially one whose greatest desire was to kill us all.
“Yes, but she can’t harm us. Or anyone else.” Luna nodded slowly. I guessed she didn’t like this arrangement any better than I did.
“Die, brat, die!” Virginia swooped at me once more, but the harder she worked to get my attention, the more her voice and image faded.
“Also you’re not stuck. You can move again,” Merlin informed me, nudging my foot with his paw. “So stop standing there, and move.”
I jerked my foot upward, expecting the simple movement to be extraordinarily difficult. But this only resulted in my losing my balance and stumbling into Drake.
He caught me and helped me stand up tall.“Careful there, compadre.”
“That’s the second time you’ve called me that,” I told him with a curious glance. “Why?”
“It’s just a colorful way of reminding myself I live in the friend zone,” he said with a wink. “And it’s especially important now that I know you’re this awesome witch who fights evil spirits on the regular.”
Ugh.That was right. Drake pretty much knew all my secrets now. Sure, he didn’t know about my Arthurian ancestry or the fact I was a familiar rather than a witch, but he still knew way too much.
I hoped the cats had a plan for dealing with that, and also that I wouldn’t be heading to a wretched magical prison for sharing too much with a mortal.
I may have had a hard time with the ghost, but I’d still beaten her. I doubted I would have such an easy experience with hardened magical criminals while trapped inside an inescapable box.
27
“Hello? Is it safe to come out now?” a haunting voice echoed through the walls.
“Let me go!” Virginia cried, but her words were hardly more than a whisper now. At least that would make it easier to ignore her, if we would truly be living together for—what?—the rest of my life now, I guessed. Besides, Drake and Kelley clearly couldn’t see or hear her anymore. Not evena little bit. That, at least, was a relief.
“Is that you, Harold?” I called out.
A blue hand reached through the living room wall and offered me a thumbs up. Nice to see he was coming into his full form now.
Kelley glanced toward me with glistening eyes.“M-my d-dad?” she sputtered. “Is he really here?”
“C’mon out, Harold!” I called with a smile. And it felt so good to feel my cheeks rise in happiness that I actually laughed aloud.
Harold phased into the living room. He was still mostly a blob, but he did have hands and a face, which was something.
Kelley slowly pushed herself to her feet but hung back from our new arrival.
“It’s okay,” I assured her with another smile. “He’s not like the other one. C’mon.”
When I motioned to her, she came over to stand beside me.“Dad?” she asked, unsure that a ghost could be trusted, even if it was one she’d known in life.
“Kelley,” Harold responded in that melodic echo of his.
She kept her wide eyes directed at Harold, but spoke to me.“What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s still a new ghost, so he hasn’t formed all the way yet. Go ahead and talk to him. He won’t hurt you.”
Harold’s chubby cheeks bounced as he hovered in the air before us. “All I wanted was to see you one last time,” he confessed. “To tell you I love you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t around.”
Kelley let out a little laugh and swiped at her freely flowing tears.“You didn’t know about me. Not until the end.”
I turned and saw Drake watching the scene unfold in awe. He and Kelley could both clearly see Harold, but no longer could they see Virginia. All this ghost business was terribly confusing. I doubted if I’d ever learn the exact rules that governed how they interacted with the world of the living.
“I should have spent more time with you once I did know, but I was scared I’d disappoint you. I thought we’d have more time.”
Kelley choked on another sob but was all smiles now.“Me, too. But maybe now that you’re back, we can—?”
Harold’s light dimmed, and she stopped short. “No. I can’t stay. I will watch out for you, but it will be from the other side.”
“Why won’t you stay here with me?” If Kelley had possessed a ghostly light, I expect it would have faded then, too.
“Because my business is completed.” Harold spoke matter-of-factly, but I could see how much it pained him to deny his daughter’s wishes. He had changed so much since just last night. Not only was he speaking full sentences, but he was remembering. Emoting. “You now know how much I love you and wish things could have been different. I’ve seen you again, and I’ve given Gracie my warning.”
“Um, speaking of that,” I interjected, raising one index finger to draw everyone’s attention. “Virginia’s bound now. She can’t hurt us. Thank you for the warning. It helped, I think.”
Harold raised his disconnected hands and steepled them in front of his face. His brow furrowed as he drifted toward the ceiling and looked down on both Kelley and me.“No, my message was not about her, but another. One who still lives,” he said at last, using the same strange voice as he had when first delivering this warning. “The seeds that were sown will soon bear dangerous fruits.”