Starlight Web (Moonshadow Bay #1) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,34

Winter Carnival, but his reaction made me wonder if age was a sore subject with him. I shrugged, deciding not to push it.

“No reason,” I said, turning back to the building. “I guess I’d better get in there and look around.”

“Wait, you’re actually going inside?” He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides ghosts, there could be derelicts in there, or vagrants.”

“Most of the homeless aren’t going to hurt you,” I said. “And I can’t very well investigate this case if I don’t even set foot inside. If there are ghosts attached, if Psy Schooner is still hanging around on the astral plane, I need to find out everything I can.”

“You are not going in there without protection,” Killian said. “Wait here.” He crossed back to his SUV and reached in the back seat, coming out with a sturdy-looking baseball bat.

I frowned. “You carry a bat in your car?”

“For protection. I don’t like guns. I do own a shotgun, just in case I ever have the need to put some poor creature down when I’m checking out horses or livestock. But I don’t like handguns.” He paused at my look of confusion. “What?”

“I thought you were a vet, as in cats and dogs?”

“I am, but I also treat large animals, if need be. I worked on a farm a long time ago, taking care of the livestock.” He smiled, gripping the bat. “Come on, then, let’s get moving.”

I steeled my courage and led the way toward the asylum. It occurred to me that I should probably start carrying something in my car, as well. I had been through a couple of self-defense courses, and I wasn’t exactly a couch potato, but it might not hurt to join the local gym. If I was going to be out investigating, I should keep up with my weights and yoga.

We reached the entrance to the building. The broken remains of a padlock and chain were evidence that it had once been locked shut, but now the door was ajar. The cops had probably gone through the building when they found Arabella and the homeless man. Or maybe not. They were found in the woods, and from what I could tell by the police report, they had both been found in back of the asylum, about a hundred feet into the forest.

Whatever the case, I reached out and—with a gloved hand—opened the door.

It swung wide with a creak. The hinges were rusted, but still working. I fished in my purse. Tad had given me a clip-on headlamp to use and I slid it over my head, positioning it so that the light shone directly in front of me. I felt a little silly, but it was better than walking into a dark building, and I doubted that the electricity would be working. Since the windows that weren’t broken were grimy with age, not a lot of light could come through.

“I’m glad you have light,” Killian said from behind me.

“I wasn’t about to go in without it.” I shivered when I saw the cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. Spider webs—or rather the remains of them, given it was December—stretched everywhere. As I looked around, it occurred to me that the room we had entered had been the reception area. Several doors led off from behind the counter, as well as a door leading to a hall to the right, and one that mirrored it to the left.

Killian examined the door leading to the left hallway. “I believe these were electronically locked, but without electricity, I imagine…” He paused, turning the handle. Sure enough, there was a clicking sound and the door opened. “And we’re in. Which way do you want to go first?”

I glanced at my phone. The reception wasn’t the best, but the clock still worked. It was 12:45. I had to leave by 2:30 to make my appointment with Charles Crichton.

“Well, let’s just head this way. I don’t really know what I’m looking for, but I guess I’ll know when I see it.” I motioned to the hall that stretched in front of us and he set off, with me following. I grimaced as we came to a large web that had spread across the entire hallway.

Killian reached out with his baseball bat and swept it through the web, bringing it down. “There must be some pretty ambitious spiders around here,” he said with a laugh.

“Yeah, I guess.” I shivered. Spiders scared me, even though I knew they were