to her thighs, and gulped air, body shaking. After a moment, she convulsed in one final shudder, then lifted her head and brushed her hair from her eyes. She lookedaround, a slow, cautious gaze, shoulders tensed, as if expecting something to leap out at her.
“I’ll call the medic,” Benicio said, rising slowly.
“No!” she snapped. Then she saw who she was snapping at. Her eyes went wide and she dropped her face into her hands with a hiccupping laugh. “Oh, yeah, a fucking breakdown in front of Benicio Cortez. My day is now complete.” She tilted her head to the ceiling. “Thank you very much!”
I dropped into the seat beside Jaime and took her hands. She squeezed mine so hard her nails drew blood. I murmured a calming spell. Jaime inhaled a long, shuddering breath, exhaled and relaxed her grip. After one last cautious look around, she sank back into the seat with a relieved sigh.
“Gone,” she said. “I thought that might be the problem. Must have thought you two had abandoned us for good.”
Lucas explained to Benicio what was going on.
“A ghost who can displace objects but can’t contact a necromancer?” Benicio said, frowning. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Join the club,” Jaime muttered. “The poltergeisting was bad enough, but now this—” She pointed at her cheek. “Last time I had a spook reach out and touch me was twenty years ago, when I accidentally disturbed something very old, and very powerful. And, believe me, that one could talk back—in several languages. This one—” She shook her head. “Well, I don’t know what this one’s problem is, but it’s not acting like any spook I’ve ever met.”
“We think it might not be a ghost at all,” I said to Benicio. Then I looked at Lucas. “I think it’s time to consider exorcism.”
He nodded. “Past time, by the look of things. We should—”
“No exorcism,” Jaime said.
“Yes, I realize they’re unpleasant,” Lucas said. “Yet it can’t be any worse than what you’re enduring now. This has gone far enough—”
“No, it hasn’t,” she said firmly. “It hasn’t gone far enough. Not yet. Whatever this thing is, it has a message it’s eager—painfully eager—to deliver to you guys. It’s a rough ride, but I’m prepared to tough it out if it’ll help solve this case.”
“What if it’s not trying to help us?” I said. “Look at the way it’s acting. That’s not normal behavior for a helpful spirit.”
“But it has helped, right? It gave us the vampire clue and led us to Cass—” She stopped, eyes going wide. “Oh, my god. Paige is right. It is evil.”
“I heard that.”
I twisted to see Cassandra in the open doorway between the cabins. She stifled a yawn.
I smiled. “Got some sleep?”
“A nap.”
“Good.”
She started forward, then blinked, seeing Benicio. She slanted a look my way, and I knew she wanted a proper introduction this time.
I gestured toward Cassandra. “Benicio, this is—”
“Cassandra DuCharme,” Benicio said, standing and extending a hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
Cassandra’s brows arched.
Benicio smiled as he released her hand. “When Lucas first raised the possibility that we were dealing with a vampire, I suspected it might have been you I met at Tyler Boyd’s apartment. The Cabal keeps very good records on all supernaturals of influence, so I only needed to check our dossiers for your photograph to be sure.”
“One advantage to vampire mug shots,” I said. “They’re never out-of-date.”
“I assume you’re here to represent the vampires’ interests in this matter?” Benicio said.
“Yes,” Cassandra said. “Something which, I fear—” She stopped and her gaze swept across the other side of the cabin, her frown growing as she saw no one there. She gave her head a sharp shake. “Which I fear may become—”
She wheeled, one hand shooting up, palm out, as if to ward something off. She scowled at the empty space behind her.
“Huh,” Jaime said. “Good to see I’m not the only skittish one this morning.”
Cassandra’s gaze shot to Jaime, getting a look at her for the first time. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Same thing I think is happening to you,” Jaime said. “Without the clawing, bitch-slapping, hair-pulling, and all that fun psychic wounding stuff.”
“Jaime’s spirit is back,” I explained. “It’s probably here now. Is that what you’re sensing?”
Cassandra cast another look around. “I’m not sure. What—”
Jaime flew forward, nearly onto Lucas’s lap. He lunged to grab her, but before he could, she jerked back into her seat so hard she ricocheted off it and would have toppled to the floor if both