Ghouls Gone Wild (15 page)

Sabina did nothing more than hug her sister when the mob reached her, and they quickly surrounded her, blocking our view. What happened in the next instant was hard to see, but I could hear angry words and then a bloodcurdling scream. The mob backed away quickly, and to my horror I could see as they stepped aside that they’d set Sabina on fire!

I turned away, sickened by the scene, and shouted, “Stop!” to the cold stony face of Rigella in front of me. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Rigella, but please don’t make me see any more of this!”

Her lip curled up distastefully and I knew I hadn’t endeared myself one iota to her. “Gillespie was the man who set the torch to my sister,” she said as the images behind her faded back to black. “And he and all his descendants will pay!”

“No!” I told her firmly. “You leave Gilley alone! I mean it, witch, because if you dare to hurt one hair on his head, know that I will stop at nothing to hunt you down and destroy you!”

Rigella smiled wickedly at me. “Oh, you may try,” she said derisively. “But while you labor to find out where I am, I can accomplish my task by doing this.” Rigella calmly held up her right hand and snapped her fingers.

It was odd, because the sound her fingers made wasn’t the small snap I expected. Instead I heard a noise like an electric current being sparked—and it was loud. Loud enough to wake me.

I sat bolt upright in bed, my pajamas soaked with sweat, and shouted, “Gilley!”

He came instantly awake. “What?!”

My heart was pounding and I threw off the comforter, fumbling in the dark for my slippers. “Whatever you do, don’t turn on the li—” and that was as far as I got before Gil snapped on the bedside lamp.

There was a loud
ZZZZZT!
and a blue flame surged from the cord connected to the light all the way down to the outlet. Immediately after that, a small explosion of electric current, sparks, smoke, and heat shot out of the wall.

Gilley screamed and flew out of bed as the area behind his headboard erupted in flame.
“Fire!”
he screeched, and I reached for his hand and pulled him toward the door.

“Get out of here!” I shouted, opening the door and throwing him out into the hallway. “Warn the others!” I commanded, then ran back inside, picked up my pillow, and began smacking it against the flames.

I pounded in earnest against the wall, but my pillow quickly caught fire and the smoke became intense. Out in the hallway an alarm sounded that was high-pitched and painful to the ears. I ducked low and coughed some more, thinking now was a really good time to leave. I put my shirt up to my mouth, closed my eyes, stuck my hand out, and felt for the door.

But I couldn’t find it. I was completely blinded by the smoke stinging my eyes. I kept hitting hangers, and luggage. I knew that the exit was close by, but the more I turned this way or that, the more disoriented I became.

I tried not to panic, but the heat was growing intense. Where was the door? Was it to my right or behind me? I coughed again, and again, as the fumes filled my lungs and my eyes were stinging so much that I could no longer keep them open even a slit. I wanted to scream for help, but I could only cough, and I sank to my knees thinking that maybe I could crawl out of the room. I made it about three feet before the intensity of the smoke and heat wouldn’t allow me to move another inch.
Ohmigod!
I thought.
I’m going to die here!

No, you’re not,
a voice inside my mind said, and I immediately thought of Samuel Whitefeather.
I’ve brought you some help.

That’s when I felt a strong arm snake around my middle and lift me off the ground. I was barely aware that I was moving, and it wasn’t long before the thick black smoke seemed to wane down to a gray misty haze and as I fought for breath, it became just a bit easier.

There were other people brushing against me and my rescuer, everyone moving urgently in the same direction, while the sound of the alarm continued to drown out all other noise. And then the warmth of our surroundings vanished and I was hit hard by a cold breeze.

“Bring her over here!” someone shouted above the noise of people and sirens and alarms. “Heath! Over here!”

In the back of my mind I now knew that it was Heath who had rescued me, and that made sense in a way, but I was really too busy trying to suck in air without coughing it back out again to focus.

Before long I realized I was on the ground and someone was throwing a blanket over my shoulders while I shivered. I wiped my eyes and was able to open them a crack, but they still leaked tears and stung fiercely. “How are you?” Heath’s gentle voice asked.

I coughed twice more before answering, “I think I’m okay,” I told him. “How are you?”

Through my watery eyes I could see Heath smile. “I’m fine,” he said. “I always could hold my breath longer than any of my friends.”

“Jesus, M. J.!” Gilley squealed. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“Is everyone all right?” I heard Gopher ask. I didn’t even try to open my eyes again. I just let the tears do their work and wash out all the soot.

“I’m fine,” I said, my voice a little ragged.

“Our lamp exploded!” Gilley exclaimed. “And M. J. shoved me out of the room first, and I ran down the hallway to the alarm thinking that she’s right behind me but she’s not! She stayed in there to fight the stupid fire!”

“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” I said, trying to make light of it.

“This is not funny!” he yelled at me. “You could have died in there and then where would I be?” His voice cracked as he said that last bit and he started to cry.

That tugged at my heart a little. I’d known Gilley so long that I could barely remember a time when he hadn’t been my best friend. I knew from a few nights ago what it felt like to fear for the life of the other. “Aw, Gil,” I said, wiping my eyes and trying to peer out at him. “Don’t be like that.”

Firefighters and rescue workers appeared on scene and we were told we had to move farther away from the building. I realized why when I caught a glimpse of the inn. The entire second story was now completely engulfed in flames. I got to my feet and my knees buckled. Heath caught me again and pulled me close to him for support. Even though most of my senses were fuzzy, I was aware that he was quite warm and it felt good to have him next to me. “Did everyone make it out okay?” I asked, suddenly feeling hot and a little bothered.

Gopher answered. “All our crew made it,” he said. “But I’m not sure about the other guests. They’ll do a head count here in a little while, I think.”

I nodded, then gasped. “Wendell?”

“He’s here,” Meg said, and she placed the puppy in my arms. “We heard the alarm and got out right away.”

I hugged the little guy and smiled when he licked my face, which had to be covered in ash. “She all right?” someone with a brogue asked our group. Belatedly I realized he was talking about me.

“Fine,” I said, but at that moment I had another coughing fit.

“Why don’t you come with me,” the paramedic said gently. “I’ve got some oxygen to help you breathe right over here.” I tried to refuse, but Heath was still holding me by the waist, and he rather unceremoniously picked me up again and trailed behind the paramedic to a white ambulance, where I was covered in yet more blankets before my vitals were taken and an oxygen mask was secured to my face.

I tried to take deep calming breaths, but my lungs burned and my head started to ache. I closed my eyes and leaned against the side of the cab, barely aware of the conversations around me.

Still, I managed to catch the gist of what was being said. “The lamp just exploded!” Gilley repeated. “If M. J. hadn’t shoved me out of the room, I’d have been toast!”

“It’s an old inn,” Gopher was saying. “They’re bound to have electrical issues now and again. Still, I’m surprised that turning on a light caused
that
!”

At this point I pulled down the mask and said, “It was Rigella.”

Heath laid a hand on my knee. “The witch?” he asked.

I felt a little tickle in my lower plexus and squinted down at his strong hand resting right on my kneecap.
Uh-oh,
I thought. “Yes,” I said after taking a few more deep pulls from the oxygen mask. “While I was sleeping, she showed up in my dream and pulled me into another OBE. One of her sisters was literally torched by one of Gilley’s ancestors. Which is why she’s targeting him specifically.”

There was a squeaking sound that I recognized came from Gil. “She tried to set me on fire?!” he shouted. “Ohmigod!”

“Yes, but she didn’t succeed,” I reminded him. “And she won’t.”

“How do you know that?” he demanded, his eyes close to panic.

I took another deep inhalation before answering. “Because she’ll have to come through me.”

“And me,” said Heath.

“Yep, me too,” Gopher added.

“All of us,” said Kim, and I could see she was also speaking for John and Meg, who were both nodding.

“We’ll keep you safe,” I tried to reassure him while keeping the thought
Or die trying
to myself.

 

 

 

I spent much of that early morning hooked up to an oxygen tank and refusing to go to the hospital. I really wasn’t being stubborn as much as I knew intuitively that I’d be okay, but I also knew that I had to take it easy until my lungs had a little time to rest and recover.

Gopher quickly found us another place to stay—choosing a much less quaint but far more fireproof chain hotel in town, and Meg got right on the job of getting all of us some new warm clothes, as most of our stuff had been either scorched or waterlogged in the fire.

John had been quick-thinking enough to save all the camera equipment at the inn, while Gilley’s laptop and monitors and all our ghostbusting gadgetry that had survived the van crash had been confiscated by the police as evidence—so that at least was safe, but inaccessible.

While everyone else was tending to the supplies and equipment, I had a chance to get some sleep, but I agreed to that only after Heath promised to keep a close eye on Gilley.

Around one o’clock in the afternoon I woke up from my nap and took a long, luxurious shower. While I was drying my hair, a knock sounded on the door and I opened it to find Meg and Wendell. “We were worried,” she said when I invited her in and helped her with the several additional bags of clothing and toiletries she’d brought me.

“I’m fine,” I assured her with a smile before bending down to pick up my wriggling puppy. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s great. We were on the first floor right next to the exit when the fire alarm sounded. I think we were the first two out of the building, in fact.”

I nuzzled Wendell’s soft fur and sighed contentedly. It had been a last-minute decision to have Meg puppysit Wendell the previous night, and now I knew that was a good decision.

“What’s everyone up to?” I asked, handing Wendell back over to her while I carried on with drying my hair.

Meg raised her voice to answer me over the sound of the dryer. “Gilley and Heath headed into Edinburgh to work on getting us resupplied with monitors, two new laptops, and night-vision cameras, while Gopher’s been working the phone to get us more money.”

I clicked off the dryer. “More money?”

Meg nodded. “We’ve already blown through our budget on this shoot, so Gopher has to convince the network that we’re worth a little more investment.”

“Do you think he can get it?”

Meg smiled. “I do,” she said. “I heard him on the phone with one of the executive producers, and it really sounded like he was having some success. Especially when Gopher brought him up to speed on the fire.”

“You’d think that those guys would consider this whole thing a little too dangerous and pull the plug.”

Meg laughed like I’d made a joke. “Are you kidding?” she asked. “With all this built-in drama, M. J., we’re ratings gold!”

I clicked off the dryer and shook my head ruefully. I’d never understand the Hollywood mind-set.

Once I’d finished putting myself together, Meg, Wendell, and I headed to the elevators in search of the rest of our team. On the way down, Meg reached into her pocket and pulled out a brand-new iPhone for me. “It’s already programmed with everyone else’s number,” she assured me. “I didn’t have a list of your other contacts, but at least you can reach any one of us.”

As she said that, I felt a small jolt of alarm. My cell phone had burned up in the fire, and it had all my contact names and addresses—including Steven’s. I realized suddenly that I had no idea what my boyfriend’s number was. I’d plugged it into my old phone months ago, and I’d never had to look at it again. “Oh, crap,” I said.

“What?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly, not wanting her to think I didn’t appreciate all the new stuff. “I just realized that I don’t know any of my contacts’ information.”

“Do you have a backup on a computer somewhere?”

I brightened. “Yes!” I said. “Back at my office in Boston . . .” and then my shoulders slumped again. It would be weeks before I could get back home to reinstall the names and addresses.

The doors opened then and we stepped out into the lobby. “Gopher said that he was going to have a meeting with everyone at three thirty,” she said.

“Where?”

Meg pointed to the hotel pub next to the front desk. “There.”

We were a few minutes early but found Gilley and Heath already seated at the bar.

When I sat down next to Gil, my foot hit something that made a hollow sound. “What
is
that?” I asked, looking down.

“Fire extinguisher,” Heath said, and I could tell that he was working hard to hide a smile, while Gil was looking at me as if he double-dog-dared me to say something snarky.

I knew he’d been through an awful lot in the past couple of days, so I went easy on him. “I think it’s a great idea.”