Callan’s hand hit the door so hard and so fast that I swear even the ghost jumped. Flat of the hand on hard wood, making windows rattle.
Molly had gravitated closer to me, back to the wall, eyes downcast. Rose a few feet to her left, me a few feet to her right. “They won’t stop making noise. I haven’t been able to sleep right for days.”
“Stressful, huh?” I murmured.
“Try that again?” Callan asked, speaking low and slow, with menace in every syllable. “You’re a chronic liar, Rose. That’s as good as fact. You won’t convince us of anything, got it? Don’t ever try using my sister’s name again, because I’m going to hear it as a lie and I won’t be able to hold back.”
“You’re going to hit me?” Rose asked. “Do it. I’d be worth it, just to have you out of my hair.”
“We’ve got the backing of the local police,” Irene said. “We, not you. Callan would get away with it.”
“Well then,” Rose said, without hesitation in her voice, “Hit me just to vindicate my very, very low opinion of you, please.”
Callan didn’t move.
“The police are on our side, the local bigwigs are putting their weight behind us-”
“If by weight, you mean some old-school cannon with the barrel planted between your shoulderblades, the metaphor works.”
“-and most of the family is in town. You’re alone in this.”
“Alone,” Molly’s ghost echoed her mother.
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m here.”
The ghost raised her head, looking straight through me.
“Yeah,” I said.
“…an idea that is?” Rose was asking. “There’s a reason they brought the family here, and it’s not to help you or hurt me. It’s to ruin all of us. How can you even live in this city this long without picking up on how much they detest the Thorburns?”
They’ve set it up so they can take us all out in one go.
These were the plays the other sides were making. Irene being here, bringing the family in. Optimal ways to root Rose out.
“They might dislike us but they hate you,” Aunt Irene said. “The enemy of my enemy-”
“Is still a damned enemy!” Rose said. “The sooner you realize there is no such thing as a true ally, the better off we’ll be.”
“I suppose we’ll have to prove you wrong by working together. We’ve got Molly’s version of the contract, and we’ve got multiple eyes going over it.”
“I’m stuck,” Molly’s ghost murmured, not moving her lips.
“You won’t find a thing,” Rose said, just a little smug. “Believe me, Grandmother’s lawyers are very capable.”
“I advise you call them.”
“They’re the sort of capable that makes them a little too costly to call on a whim,” Rose said, her voice level. “I’m tempted, though, and not because I’m worried about what you’re trying to pull. I just want to see the looks on your faces when you see just how badly you’ve been misunderstanding this whole situation.”
“There’s a monster in the attic,” Molly thought aloud.
“Well put,” I said.
“…Advising you call them,” Aunt Irene was saying, “Because we’re making our first argument. The contract stipulates you’re supposed to maintain the property, but for the last two weeks of December and the first week of January, the driveway wasn’t plowed.”
“Oh my god,” Rose said. “They really know how to fuck with me. They gave you an excuse to be pedantic.”
“We’re challenging you for custodianship,” Aunt Irene said. “You’ll be hearing from us shortly.”
“Fine,” Rose replied. “Please go fuck yourselves on the way out.”
Aunt Irene turned to leave, Callan following.
I could see Mags glance down at the ground. She muttered something at Aunt Irene as the woman passed. From Aunt Irene’s body language, I didn’t think she’d responded or even acted like she’d heard.
Molly’s ghost started, as if to follow, then stopped. She looked at Rose, then at me, then her mother. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Just relax,” I said.
Rose stepped out onto the porch, arms folded. Her face was a little flushed, short hair damp. “What are you doing here?”
“Keeping the ghost calm,” I said.
“Trying to stay calm,” Molly said, echoing me.
Mags came up the steps. She didn’t approach, but leaned against the railing of the porch instead.
“Ambassador,” Rose said.
“Hey Mags,” I said.
“Hey,” Mags said, a little glum. “You work things out with Johannes’ familiar?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Man, he makes tempting offers.”
Rose shot me a look.
“Why do people ever deal with demons when they could deal with angels?” I asked.
“I’d think there’s probably a very good answer to that question,” Rose said.
“Don’t worry,” I said, “I didn’t join Johannes.”
“I’m not worried,” she said. “I’m just saying.”
“Well so am I,” I said, a little testily. “I’m backing you up here, seriously. Stop fighting me and let me, and we could actually make it through.”
“Ahem,” Mags cut in. When I looked at her, she gestured a little at the ghost.
Molly’s ghost was twitching, flickering a little more.
“Right,” I said, sighing. “This enigma. Our runaway ghost. We can hardly bind her here.”
“No,” Mags said. “You look worse.”
I looked down, touching my side where I’d careened into the ground.
What I felt alarmed me.
I unzipped my sweatshirt.
My lowest right ribs were exposed, and they were a little more narrow and crooked than ribs should be. Branches climbed out from the skin to entwine them. Feathers stuck out here and there, half tattoo and half feather.
“Bleh,” I said. “I don’t suppose you could look up Iaiah, Rose?”
“I’ve got enough to do,” she said. “What Auntie was talking about? She could probably pull it off… it’s almost precisely what I’d try to do if the tables were turned. I could deal with it, but I can’t deal with it and this war at the same time. Things are going to explode any day now.”
“Let me try, then,” I said. “I’ll see what I can do about those guys, and Molly here.”
“You’re implying I trust you.”
“I’m implying you have no other choice,” I told her.
“Fine,” Rose said. “You’re probably right. Go to town. Just don’t expect it to change anything if you succeed, and you will lose what little tolerance you’re getting from me if you screw this up.”
That said, she returned to the house. The door wasn’t slammed, but it shut with enough force to make the window shudder.
I frowned. “I’m annoyed with myself for ever entertaining the idea that she could be a female version of me.”
“We should go,” Mags said.
“Right,” I said. “Let’s get this situation under control. No blood, fire and darkness for us.”