“Business, as always. It’s me, Lee Amaranth. How have you been?”
Syrus pushed through the beads, tapping his cane unnecessarily across the floor. He wasn’t blind, though most people who knew him never figured that out. He was old, bald, and rather frail-looking, shriveled by age, with shoulder-length white hair that made him look like the crypt keeper.
The dark sunglasses he wore were also just for show. He could see just fine, but he was crafty like that, molded by decades of dipping his toes into dangerous supernatural waters. It was a ruse to make him seem harmless and defenseless, to draw attention away from the slight bulge under his coat where his pistol hung in its holster.
“Lee Amaranth…” muttered Syrus. “No, I don’t think so. Lee Amaranth would know to open a conversation with the correct pass phrase instead of wasting my time.”
“Not this again,” said Lee. “Come on. You know my voice. You know my face, and I know you can see me. Let’s just get straight to it.”
“I won’t talk business without the pass phrase. No exceptions.”
Lee sighed. “I’m fully aware that I’ve told you this before, but your ‘pass phrase’ is just a lyric from a Seal song. Will you at least acknowledge that much?”
Syrus rested his hands on the handle of his cane and waited expectantly. Lee rolled his eyes.
“There… used to be a greying tower… alone on the sea,” he said with some reluctance.
“YOU BECAME THE LIGHT ON THE DARK SIDE OF ME!” boomed Syrus. The tenor of his voice would have put Alex and Laura and all Lee’s other theater friends to shame. “Very well. I accept that you are who you claim to be, Lee Amaranth. Now, why are you here?”
“I need information.” He leaned forward against the counter. “I’m trying to find the House of Shadows.”
For all his eccentricity and baubles, Syrus was generally well-informed about the activities of the supernatural world. He’d never opened up to Lee about where he got his information, never even hinted at his sources, but he’d always been the man with the answers. Syrus stared straight ahead, his face pensive, his eyes pretending not to see Lee from behind the sunglasses.
“I can help you with that,” said Syrus. “Depending on what your purpose with them is.”
“Just to talk. Nothing else.”
More silence. Syrus nodded slowly.
“Yes,” he said. “I will tell you where you can find them… after you do me a small favor.”
Lee tapped his fingers on the counter. “I can’t agree without hearing what it is, first. I’m kind of in a rush.”
“It won’t take long,” said Syrus. “Not for you. What I need is simple, Lee Amaranth. For you to do your job.”
CHAPTER 12
“You realize I’m basically retired as a freelancer, right?” asked Lee.
Syrus narrowed his eyes. “What? No, that’s stupid! You’re young. You can be helpful. If you want my help, you certainly will need to be, goddammit.”
“He isn’t going to budge,” whispered Tess.
Lee had reached the same conclusion, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept. There was a reason why he’d rarely indulged in fond recollections of his time as a freelance mystic, and it wasn’t just because of the recent amnesia.
Dealing with ghosts rarely went as smoothly as Lee’s encounter with, say, Tess. Oftentimes, he’d only gotten called in after someone had gotten hurt or possessed. The fact that the specter or entity he had usually dealt with during domestic calls was the wife, or son, or grandfather of an emotionally vulnerable client had only created further complications.
But Syrus was old, stubborn, and crotchety, and Tess was right.
“Fine,” said Lee. “What do you need?”
The shopkeeper didn’t smile at his acquiescence, but he gave a small nod. “I sold an anti-spirit charm to the owner of the local bowling alley, but the damned fool didn’t prime it correctly. So it didn’t work.”
“Of course it didn’t, those charms have always been bunk. So, what? You want me to go check the situation out?”
“Yes, exactly. The owner won’t be there. He’s closed the lanes down and left the state for the time being. If you see the charm, bring it back here! I have no intention of letting him keep it if he isn’t going to use it properly.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” said Lee dryly.
He accepted the key from Syrus and left the building with Tess following in his wake. The bowling alley was nearby and easy to spot, given that the massive sign out front was in the shape of a group of pins being scattered to the ground.
He headed inside and tried the lights. They didn’t turn on, though there could be a dozen different explanations for that. Lee kept Tess close as he made his way past the main counter. The interior smelled of floor wax and old shoes, and every sound was dampened by the acoustics of the space.
“Who goes there?” boomed a deep, sinister voice.
Lee’s hand went for his kris dagger and found one of Bryan’s stainless-steel kitchen knives, instead. Useless against a ghost. He could still fight a specter bare-handed, but it was like fighting anything bare-handed, scrappy and volatile.
“I heard about a ghost here that’s been giving people trouble,” called Lee. “Was that you?”
He scanned over the dozen or so bowling lanes, searching for the source of the disembodied voice. A deep, cackling laugh came from one in the middle, back in the shadowed area behind where the balls would normally drop down into.
“Fear me, mortal!” boomed the ghost. “Tremble as you enter my sanctum of power! Fall to your knees and beg for mercy!”
Recognition dawned on Lee as he noticed a few things about the ghost’s voice and pronunciation.
“Ricardo?” he called. “Is that you?”
Lee had dealt with ghosts in Billings before, and Ricardo in particular had been more of a re-occurring pest to the populace rather than a real threat. He’d even been helpful a few times, which was why Lee had never seen the point in taking the irreversible step of banishing him.
“Lee Amaranth?” called Ricardo. “Ah. I should have guessed.”
He came forward, walking down the central bowling lane with slow steps. Ricardo had been dead for a fair while, but he still appeared fairly pompous in his top hat, tailcoat, and pinstripe slacks. His jacket had a flower through one of the buttonholes, and he occasionally wore a monocle, though not today.
Like all ghosts, his body was wispy and insubstantial, pale blue under the bowling alley’s dim emergency lights. He nodded to Lee as he approached and reached forward. Lee sighed, but he pulled him into his mystic stream and shook his hand as a show of good faith.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I thought you were haunting that abandoned campsite? The one up the cliff that nobody went to, anyway?”
“It’s as you say,” said Ricardo. “Nobody ever went there. Oh? Who is this delectable flower accompanying you?”
He stepped past Lee and fell to one knee. Tess furrowed her brow in surprise as Ricardo took her hand and gently kissed the back of it.
“Ricardo Gonzales Romero Moreno, at your service, madam,” he said.
“Theresa Holloway,” said Tess. “Charmed.”
“It shocks me to find you in the company of a ghost hunter,” said Ricardo. “He’s not forcing you to come with him under duress, is he?”
“Quite the opposite,” said Tess.
“Well, he wouldn’t begrudge you a quick stroll around town, would he?” asked Ricardo. “I can show you everything this tiny backwater has to offer.”
Lee cleared his throat. “Cool your jets, Ricardo. She’s with me.”
“Is that true?” asked Ricardo.
“Very much so,” said Tess. “Though you are quite the gentleman! I don’t think Lee has ever kissed the back of my hand.”
“I’ve also never committed a murder-suicide in a jealous rage,” said Lee.
Tess stared at him blankly for a few seconds befor
e letting out a tiny gasp and hopping a step back from the handsome ghost.
“We had a pact of love…” said Ricardo. “I admit, I was hot-headed at the time, but she was seeing my brother, of all people!”
“Listen, Rickie, we’re not here just to chat,” said Lee. “From what I hear, you’ve been being a bit of a pest. I’m going to have to ask you to take your games elsewhere.”
“Hmmm…” said Ricardo. “I suppose I could do that… in exchange for a kiss.”
“I don’t swing that way, and obviously you were not just referring to Tess. How about this: you leave and go back to the campsite, and I don’t do what mystics do best.”
Ricardo looked crestfallen, but he sighed and gave Lee a nod. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to let me use your strange ability to have a meal first?”
They went to McDonald’s, as Lee was still full from brunch and not interested in spending a lot of money. Ricardo, with Lee’s help, ordered a chicken sandwich and french fries and ate quickly, trying to talk even as he crammed the food into his mouth, much to Tess’s amusement.
“Sated and satisfied,” sighed the ghost, afterward. “I thank you, Lee.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. “Now get out of here.”
He made a swatting motion with his hand. Ricardo took off his top hat to bow to both him and Tess and then started walking out of town.
“You didn’t banish him,” said Tess. “You didn’t even fight him. Is this what your job is usually like?”
“About half the time, yeah,” said Lee. “Ghosts are a lot like people. Some of them are violent. Others are just weird.”
“He was a gentleman, though,” said Tess. “You really should start kissing my hand. It’s quite the flattering gesture.”
“Not really my style. Come on. Let’s go see what Syrus has to tell us.”
CHAPTER 13
Another visitor had arrived at Syrus’s Supernatural Emporium while Lee and Tess had been out tending to Ricardo. Lee swore under his breath as he recognized the color and model of the car parked in the lot outside.
“That’s Bryan’s car,” he said.
“That’s bad,” said Tess.
“Yeah. Dammit, couldn’t he have at least broken his leg, or gotten a concussion from the fall?”
“Lee, that’s a terrible thing to say!”
“Not really,” he said. “He’s not actually my brother, and he did try to kill me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I can’t just leave Syrus in there with him,” said Lee. “He’s a good guy, and we still need the information that he has.”
“Can you just wait this out?” asked Tess. “Bryan will have to leave eventually, right?”
“Every second we wait is time during which Bryan can force Syrus to talk. If he tells Bryan about the House of Shadows, they’ll know where we’re heading next and be that much more capable of getting ahead of us.”
“I don’t have much essence left after the last fight,” said Tess. “You’ll only have a single spell, at most.”
“I know.”
“Do you have a plan, at least?” asked Tess.
“Sort of. Remember those fireworks I mentioned?”
***
Lee opted against making a dramatic entrance, instead just pushing his way through the front door. Bryan and another man with a pistol stood in front of Syrus’s counter, looking intimidating. From the resolved scowl on Syrus’s face, the show of force hadn’t been working.
“Oh, hi Bryan,” said Lee. “What brings you out to Montana?”
The second man instantly brought his gun to bear on Lee. Bryan put his arm out, forcing his companion’s arm down.
“Eldon,” he said. “Nice of you to show up in such a timely manner. Your friend here said you’d be back, but he wasn’t sure whether it would be in minutes or hours.”
“Of course. Just out getting some food. Have you tried the new southern fried chicken burger from McDonald’s yet? It’s pretty damn good.”
He watched Tess as she hurried into the back of the building. He needed more time, at least a minute or two.
“We’re here to help you,” said Bryan.
“That’s what the gun is for, right?”
“After the shit you pulled back at my apartment, I felt the need to take certain precautions.”
“You turned into a fucking werewolf,” said Lee. “What did you expect me to do?”
Bryan glanced at his friend and then back at Lee, frowning. “Look. You’re still in the early stages of your recovery. You aren’t yourself. It’s going to take some time for you to get back to—”
“Save it,” said Lee. “I know the truth. I’m not interested in playing make-believe anymore.”
“The truth?” Bryan scoffed. “You want to know what the truth is? If you don’t come along quietly, I’m going to vent my frustration on your theater friends when we get back to Seattle. Nobody is going to give a shit if, say, your friend in the wheelchair goes missing. Or what was the name of the one who had a crush on you? Lana?”
“Laura,” said Lee. “There’s just one issue with that threat.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“You’d have to make it back to Seattle to carry it out.”
Lee let a slow smile creep onto his face. He flexed his fingers, lifting his arm slowly. The gunman didn’t raise his pistol, which was ideal. From the door leading into the storage in back, Lee saw Tess’s ethereal hand poke out and give a thumbs up.
He dove toward the counter and cast his spell in the same fluid movement. Hands extended outward, elbows bent, Lee used elemental magic, shaping his will into a modest fireball. The blazing projectile hissed as it sped through the air, missing Bryan and his companion, though both still sought cover as it went by.
“You missed,” said Bryan, with a laugh. “At this range, too. You need practice, Eldon, though I guess that’s to be expected coming from a Primhaven dropout.”
“I wasn’t aiming for you.”
Tess had played her part perfectly. She pulled the door to the backroom open just as Lee had cast his spell, revealing a pile of assembled fireworks. His fireball had lit enough of them to start a chain reaction. Tess was already tossing a few of the more explosive and volatile items at Bryan and the gunman, who reacted slowly to the unexpected threat.
A bang as loud as any rifle-shot tore through the store as a firework exploded next to Bryan’s pant leg. He let out a shout and jumped to the side, bumping into his companion, who tripped as he tried to get out of the way of another firework Tess had lobbed toward him. Syrus picked that moment to reach under the counter and pull out a shotgun, which he fired once into the air before leveling it at the intruders.
Lee stayed low as he moved, opting to risk the fireworks strewn across the ground rather than the gunshots soon to be tearing through the air. He made it to the door back where Tess was and blinked in surprise as he glimpsed the storage room behind her.
The fireworks took up a good half of the storage space, and nearly a third of them were on fire or about to be. Lee grabbed a roman candle with a sparking wick and pointed it toward Bryan and his companion just as the first brightly colored projectile globe burst from its tip. The two men had taken cover from Syrus behind a magazine stand, which left them exposed to whatever Lee sent their way.
“Get the fuck out of my store!” shouted Syrus. He blasted another shotgun slug at the intruders. The bullet left a gaping hole in the shelf they were hiding behind, but Syrus was stuck reloading after firing it.
“Now!” shouted Bryan. His companion stood, covering him, as he rushed toward Lee.
Lee flung a handful of fireworks toward him at random. Bryan fell into the elemental casting stance and neatly doused them with a quick water spell that also soaked one of Lee’s pant legs. He kept his momentum as he closed on Lee, throwing a punch that glanced off his forehead.
Lee grunted and hurried to his feet, putting his guard up. He threw a pu
nch and missed and then proceeded to endure several strikes in return. Bryan was fast and powerful, and even the hits Lee blocked were painful, reverberating through his forearms and bruising the parts of his body they connected with.
He tried to step in close and slam his knee into Bryan’s stomach. Bryan dodged, stepping to the side and retaliating with a similar punch to Lee’s gut. Pain erupted through his abdomen, and he coughed as he tried to suck in his next breath.
Bryan seized him by the shoulders and slammed him into the counter. Another gunshot tore through the store, causing both of them to flinch downward.
“Lee!” Tess shouted as she tossed something toward him. He caught it on reflex, swearing as the lit wick of a particularly large firework singed the inside of his palm. It was a jumbo-sized cherry bomb, a grenade-sized cardboard cannister of gunpowder and mystery explosives. And it was very close to going off.
“Here,” said Lee. He tossed it to Bryan, who also caught it on reflex.
“What the—”
The last word was probably meant to be a curse, but the cherry bomb went off before Bryan could get it out. It exploded in his hand, and from the way he screamed and doubled over, Lee wasn’t sure that there was still an appendage attached afterward. Tess was also yelling something. He looked over his shoulder at her in time to see the chaos unfold.
Hundreds of fireworks began to go off at once, and flames instigated by the situation were already creeping out of the storage room and spreading through the store. The smoke thickened over the course of a few seconds until Lee could barely see a few feet in front of him.
Syrus had stepped out from behind the counter and was doubled over, coughing his lungs out. Lee put an arm under his shoulder and began helping him toward the door. They made it outside, sucking in breaths of clean air in unison. Lee started to pull Syrus toward the street, where hopefully the surrounding public area would give them some measure of safety.
They made it around the corner before the sound of breaking glass alerted Lee to the exit of Bryan and his companion. Bryan was still clutching at his hand, or possibly where his hand had previously been. His friend alternated between coughing and trying to help.
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