His arms were wrapped around me underneath Lily's…
“Fine. Just… I'm fine. Let go already.” But he didn't, probably because that would have involved dropping me. My face burned, as I imagined what I must have looked like, flailing and falling like a total klutz.
Once I got my feet back under me properly, he let go. I straightened my shirt — a hideous yellow baby-doll number — and raked a hand through Lily's blah-brown hair before turning to face him. “Thanks,” I said grudgingly.
“Welcome.” He towered over me now. His skin was still far too pale, and he still dressed like the angel of death in a black T-shirt and dark jeans. Three small silver hoops in his left ear caught the light and glittered beneath his black hair, adding to his whole nothing-but-trouble image. But his eyes, an icy blue I'd once thought creepy and cold, now did funny things to my insides when he looked at me intensely like this, his brow furrowed.
It made me want to tackle him, and not in the football way. Well, I mean, I guess the method was the same, but not the purpose.
A smile flickered at the corners of his mouth. “You're staring,” he said.
“So, what's the plan?” I asked over my shoulder, doing my best to pretend the last three minutes hadn't happened. “Same as last time?”
With the other faux ghost-talkers, Will had gone in asking to communicate with his recently deceased cousin, Maria… who, of course, didn't actually exist and never had. Yet they'd never failed to come up with detailed descriptions of her, obviously based on Will's appearance, and always told him how happy she was now. Not a single one of them had ever bothered to explain that some spirits — most, actually — are unreachable. Only the ones who have unresolved issues and tend to stick around after death — in Middleground, as Will called it — could communicate.
And the money they charged for all this nonsense? Ridiculous. We'd already spent almost everything Will had earned in his brief career as a busboy. There were serious dollars to be made in this area, especially as the real deal. Not that Will would ever even consider that.
Will easily caught up to me on the sidewalk leading to Malachi's storefront, and stepped ahead to grab the door. “Yeah, I think the Maria story works—”
He stopped suddenly enough that I smacked into his back, my nose colliding sharply with his shoulder blade. Short! I was short now, damn it!
Eyes watering, I stumbled back. “Walk much?” I demanded, rubbing my stinging nose.
He didn't respond, just stood there, head cocked to one side, staring into Malachi the Magnificent's windows.
A chill skittered over my skin. “What is it? What's wrong?”
“There are ghosts here,” he said quietly over his shoulder. “More than usual.”
Ghosts are everywhere, as I'd learned after my own death and return as a spirit. Even at the other fake ghost-talkers' locations, there'd sometimes been a few tagging along after the other clients, people they were attached to, or one or two who'd read the “psychic” sign out front and hoped it was for real.
“Really?” Holding on to Will's arm for balance, I leaned around him for a look. Not that I'd be able to
I squinted and all I saw were a few blurry, smudgy spots that had no discernible source. My ghost vision coming in? Or poor window cleaning on Malachi's part?
“Are you sure?” I asked Will.
“A guy in a Lincoln-type top hat is talking to a woman in a nightgown and…” He leaned closer to get a better look in the window. “There's some girl dressed for spring break at the beach, and a dude in the far corner is holding what appears to be a severed arm. His own.”
I jerked back. “Ew. So Malachi is actually legit?” You'd think he'd have moved on up to the less skanky side of town, if so.
“Unless this is a costume party gone horribly wrong… maybe.” Will turned to face me, tension now visibly thrumming through him. “Subtle has to be the key word here. We can't go in there and let on that we can see them.”
I shrugged. No problem for me.
“Or hear them,” he added.
I made an exasperated noise. “Fine, okay, whatever.”
“Hey, I'm serious.” He reached down and tipped my chin up with his fingertip until I was forced to meet his gaze. “You aren't my spirit guide anymore. We have no protection, no way to make them back off.”
