Styx & Stoned (The Grim Reality Series Book 2) (16 page)

I hadn’t given him time to reply,
or maybe I’d knocked the wind out of his sails, but at this point I didn’t
care. I could only deal with so much victimized attitude and Charon had reached
his limit. He’d officially climbed to the number one spot on my shit list and
would stay there until this situation was solved.

Most of my time as a mother was
spent cleaning up other people’s messes—laundry, dishes, school shenanigans—but
those were my kids. Being responsible for the ethereal world was really
twerking my gourd, and I couldn’t be held responsible for my actions if one
more afterlife asshat dumped another job on me.

Halfway down the hallway a scream
wrenched the air. In an ectoplasmic burst, Tandy exploded out of our room. When
she saw me, she pointed at the door, her hand wavering. “In there.” A sob broke
from her. “It’s horrible.”

My stomach twisted. “Please tell me
it’s not another demon.”

“Demon?” She stiffened and
scrunched up her face. “Where did you see a demon?”

“Long story.” I stopped next to
her. “So what’s inside?”

She crumbled again with a dramatic
wail. “A poltergeist.”

My shoulders slumped with relief, a
testament of how bad things were getting. “Is that all?”

“He called me a fat cow.” Her lip
quivered. “And said I couldn’t dance.”

“Tandy, it’s a poltergeist. They
love to insult people, especially when it’s not true.” Okay, I’d never
encountered a poltergeist in my life, and besides what Nate had told me, almost
all my information came from the
Ghostbuster
movies and Peeves from
Harry
Potter
, but she didn’t need to know that.

She nodded but her pout remained. I
blew out a long, soul-weary breath, and opened the door. Unlike regular
spirits, poltergeists were a conglomeration of energy caused by events and
people’s states of being. Teenagers most commonly attracted them, but with the
chaotic state of the hotel, it was no wonder poltergeists were now showing up.
I just wondered why it was in my room.

My eyes tracked the energy as it
shot along the ceiling and then back to the other side, as if swimming
underwater laps. White sparks snapped, winking among the swirling pink, purple,
and gray energy that made up its body. It was about the size of a sled, its
head was round and blunt with no definable arms or legs.

After watching it for several
seconds, I yelled, “Hey!”

The poltergeist stopped midway
across the room and floated into what I’d describe as a vertical position. It
hovered there, I assume watching me, though I didn’t see any eyes. Tandy had
said it called her names, but it seemed to be all talked out.

“You need to leave.” I pointed
toward the door even though I knew poltergeist could traverse through solid
objects.

It didn’t move.

“Now. This is my room and I’m
already sharing it with one too many people.”

“I thought you like being my
roommate,” Tandy said from behind me.

I shushed her with a wave of my
hand. Still, the energy didn’t move. Time to pull out the big guns. Mara would
be here in a little while and we had important ferrying to do. “Either leave or
I’ll reap you.”

Chatter that sounded vaguely like
laughing echoed around the room. The poltergeist started flying in circles. The
lamp on my bedside table flashed and the clock’s alarm erupted with loud
beeping.

“I don’t think it’s leaving,” Tandy
shouted.

“Me, either.” If I could get a hold
of it, maybe Hal could dispose of the thing. Though I’d never reaped a
poltergeist, I did know it wasn’t easy, and usually they came back unless the
situation where they were haunting changed. Since ectoplasmic energy was off
the charts with all the lingering spirits, I suspected my attempt to expel the
poltergeist was futile, but Tandy’s wide-eyed fear propelled me forward on my
fool’s mission.  “All right, then.” I climbed on the bed. “Don’t say I didn’t
warn you.”

The circles it was flying got
wider, which in turn brought it within reach. On its first pass over my head I
jumped but missed. More of that creepy laughing filled the room. I began
jumping, trying to sync my bounce with the poltergeist passing above me. I
leapt and missed again. The thing was teasing me, which only made me more
determined. Again I bounced, and again I missed.

On its fourth pass, I anticipated
where the thing would be and launched off the bed, latching on to the blob’s
widest part. I assumed we’d fall to the floor, my weight enough to drag us
down, but that’s not what happened. My toes scraped along the comforter and a
second later I was hanging in the air.

“Lisa, what are you doing?” Tandy
stood near the door, ringing her hands.

“Well, I’m not actually sure,
Tandy.” We made a wide circle around the room. My arms strained from holding
on, but I didn’t want to let go. My ankle beat against the desk when we turned.
“Ouch.”

When we were over the bed, I tried
to hook my foot on the headboard but missed. I also attempted the move on the
chair, and again as we passed the entertainment center. At one point, I
considered having Tandy grab me, but since she was weightless, I figured that
wouldn’t do anything but made this situation more ridiculous.

As we rounded the corner again, I
hooked my foot under the desk. If I could just get a little leverage, I could
probably pull the poltergeist down enough to lie over the top of it and force
it to the ground. No way would it be able to get out once all my lusciousness
pinned it to the floor.

It yanked to a stop. My ankle
burned from where the edge of the desk scraped against my skin, but I held on.
What sounded like a high-pitched growl vibrated from the blob of energy. It
jerked against my hold again. When we rebounded, I shoved my other foot under
the desk, locking it in place. With all my effort, I dragged the poltergeist
toward me, eliciting an especially unlady-like grunt in the process. The
muscles under my armpits screamed against the movement.

For a second I contemplated how
badly I wanted to get rid of this thing. Would it really matter? How much
damage could it do anyway? Suddenly, the blob dove toward the floor. I dropped,
my feet hitting the ground, and releasing their grip from under the desk. My
knees shoved into the joints, adding more pain to my already aching body.
Before I could recover, the poltergeist shot to the ceiling again, and dragged
me in a big circle.

I considered letting go and having
Mara help when she got there, but the blob spun and shot toward the wall-wide
expanse of window. I shrieked and released my grip, hitting the floor in a
crouch. I stumbled, trying to catch myself, but the momentum carried me forward
and I smashed into the glass. My hands barely stopped my face from colliding
with the window, but my hips rammed the ledge, no doubt giving me bruises on top
of my bruises.

The poltergeist hovered on the
other side of the window. The top part of its body morphed into a vague
semblance of a head and mouth, and effectively blew a raspberry at me. What I
assumed was its tongue flapped exaggeratedly, cartoon style. I slowly stood,
glaring at it, and then stuck my tongue out. A muffled laugh penetrated the
window. Then the blob made several loop-de-loops and sped away.

“Son-of-a…” I grabbed the curtain
rod and yanked the heavy drapes across the window. Not that it would keep the
poltergeist out, but no peeping toms allowed. “Bastard.”

I turned and blew out a breath.
First spirits, then demons, and now poltergeists, I didn’t even want to think
what other paranormal surprises were getting ready to pop into our world.

When I yanked the door open, Mara
immediately took in Tandy cowering against the wall and my sour expression.
“What’s wrong?”

“Just an obnoxious poltergeist and
a few more bruises.” When she slanted a questioning look at me, I said, “More
supernatural chaos we can’t do anything about right now.” I shut the door and
followed her into the room. “What did Cam say?”

“Nothing much. Only that Tabris had
a fit about the demons. Said he needed to call an emergency meeting of the
board of directors.” In a rare show of exhaustion, Mara rubbed her hands over
her face and then lowered her arms. “I have no idea how they’re going to fix
this.”

“What’s going on?” Tandy crept into
the room. “What do you mean…?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Demon?”

“Demons, spawns from Hell, Satan’s
minions, however you want to spin it, they’re alive and well in Vegas.” Risking
the icy burn, I gently grabbed Tandy’s arms. “You need to stay here, Tandy.
It’s not safe running around the hotel.” Cold cut to the bones of my fingers
and a few seconds was all I could stand before I released her. “And stay away
from Charon.”

Her brow pinched together. “Who?”

“Big C.” I shook my head. “He’s bad
news and I don’t want you getting caught up in his mess.”

Tandy was a good spirit, but was a
bit too trusting and a little dingy. I didn’t want to see anything bad happen
to her—something we couldn’t fix.

“I’ll just stay with you then.” Her
head bobbed and she gave us a bright, clueless smile. “You can protect me.”

“When I’m here that’s fine.” I
pointed to Mara. “But we’re leaving for a while.”

“Then I’ll go with you,” Tandy
said.

“You can’t.”

Her smiled turned to a hurt frown.
“Why not?”

“Because—” At this point not
telling her what was going on could cause more trouble than telling her would.
I didn’t know if taking her to Styx meant she was officially reaped, which
would put her in danger from the demons. I also didn’t want her telling Charon
I was the one who’d usurped his job. “Where we’re going is really dangerous and
I won’t be able to protect you and still do what I have to do.” I patted her
shoulder. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, Tandy, so please, stay here
until I get back. You’ll be safe, I promise.”

She chewed on her lip again but
nodded.

Good, that was one less thing I had
to worry about. Before calling Hal, I grabbed my carry-on from the closet and
dumped my dirty clothes and bundle of plastic quarts-size bags onto the bed.
Normally, I used the Ziplocs for wet swimsuits or leaky shampoo, things like
that. Their job today would be as moneybags. I tossed the bundle back into the
suitcase, zipped it up, and looked at Mara. “Ready?”

“Let’s do this.”

We moved to one end of the room
before I said, “Hal.”

The thin pink light instantly
appeared. Tandy’s jaw went slack and when the elevator door slid open to reveal
Hal in all his purple satin wonder, her eyes rounded and her mouth dropped
open. “Whoa.” The word hissed from her. “Who is that?”

“Tandy, this is Hal Lee Lewya, my
porter. Hal, Tandy.”

He bent at the waist and touched
his fingers to his chest. “A pleasure.”

“No, the pleasure is mine,” she
replied. A girlish giggle escaped her. “You’re very handsome.”

Mara and I did a double take at her
words. From Tandy’s breathy sigh I wondered if we were looking at the same Hal.
Sure, he wasn’t hideous, but handsome—not so much.

“Thank you.” He straightened.
“That’s quite a compliment coming from such a beautiful woman.”

Tandy giggled again and I made a
gagging noise reminiscent of my daughter. “Okay, Romeo.” I marched into the elevator.
“Can we please go?”

Mara followed me in, smirking.
Tandy wiggled her fingers, waving good-bye to Hal, and he smiled back as the
door closed. Music, the kind my mom listened to, piped in from the speakers.
Nobody spoke. I stared at the ceiling and after a few seconds, Mara started
whistling. The seconds ticked by, all of us refusing to acknowledge the sparks
that had flashed between Hal and Tandy.

“So,” I said, gripping the handle
of the bag a little tighter. “I ran into your brother today.”

“How unfortunate for you.” Hal
rested his hands on the bar running along the wall.

“Yeah, and he knows somebody is
running the ferry.” I tipped my head toward him. “And he was rather miffed.”

“He’s always—” Hal puckered his
lips for a second and then dragged out the word, “Miffed.”

“Yeah, well, I suggest you stay on
your toes.” I straightened. “He’s probably coming after you.”

His mouth tightened. “I’ve been
warned.”

When the elevator slowed to a stop,
I moved to the front of the car. The door glided open and I looked at my
porter. “See you later, Hal.”

He gave a single nod but didn’t
reply.

Mara followed me out, giving him a
quick glance, tipping her head. “Stay on your toes.”

“You, too.”

Behind us the elevator compressed
and disappeared. I didn’t look back or comment. Hal could take care of himself,
both from Charon and Tandy. Right now I couldn’t think about either situation.

Determination pounded through me
and I stomped down the steps. With Mara by my side, we loaded up the carry-on
with gold and barreled our way through the massive crowd of spirits, dragging
the bag behind us. I just hoped the seams held until we made it onto the ferry.
It took the two of us to lift it, but once on the smooth deck, I rolled it to
the steps of the bridge, leaving it there. No way was I going to exhaust myself
manhandling it up the stairs. I was reserving my energy for the numerous trips
that lay ahead.

When I rejoined Mara, I said,
“Ready?”

“Let’s do it.”

“Can I have your attention?” I held
out my arms, shushing the crowd. “We will be doing a number of runs today, so
if you don’t get on the first time, there will be more chances.” I lowered my
hands. “What I ask of you is to file quickly into the ferry. As soon as the
border closes, we’ll launch. All right.” I pointed toward the spirits. “Let’s
get this party started.”

The shield keeping the spirits at
bay opened and the souls flooded in. Mara and I walked to the front of the
ferry.

“We’ve got a few minutes before the
boat is full,” Mara said. “I think we should do a quick search and see if we
can find anything that might help us have a smooth trip.”

“Good idea. Unless Charon has super
powers, he must do something to keep the lost souls off the ferry.” At least I
hoped so. “I’ll take the right side.”

We separated. Starting at the front,
I walked out on the pontoon, examining it. When nothing caught my attention, I
made my way along the carved float and onto the deck. Another spear stood
against a pole at the front corner, and when I got to the mast, I noticed a
spotlight imbedded at the side near the bottom sail. I circled the mast. Four
more lights were fixed at different heights, all angled toward the water. Now I
had to find the switch.

I jogged up the steps to the
bridge. At first, no switches were apparent, but then remembered the intercom
secreted behind the small door. Running my hands along the paneling, I searched
for another door and found it to the right of the wheel. I pulled it open.
Inside reminded me of my fuse box at home. I knelt and tried to read the labels
beside each switch, but time had nearly worn the words off. I was able to make
out the right and left spotlight tabs, one for music, and another for
lifeboats, which was very off-putting considering these people were already
dead. At the bottom was a red switch with no label.

I flipped the right spotlight
lever. I’d never experienced lights that bright. They made my eyes ache. I
shielded them with my hands and leaned over the side. Mara had her arm across
her forehead, but was also looking at the water. Even though the spotlights
were crazy bright, it only penetrated a couple feet down. Then the river faded
to inky blackness again. I flipped the switch off. The spotlights darkened,
still glowing slightly for a minute. Without the lights, the day seemed
excessively gray.

“That should help with the lost
souls,” Mara turned toward the bridge. “I bet that’s how Charon does it.”

“I hope so.” The thought of
battling those creatures again made my stomach tighten. “Did you find
anything?”

“No. A couple of spears, but that’s
about it.”

Behind me, a groan hummed through
the crowd. I pivoted to see the shield appear, blocking the souls from
boarding. I sighed and tried not to dwell on the fact that all those souls
waiting to be transported were sitting ducks for demons. Hopefully, we’d be
able to make a dent in the crowd.

As the cabin door squeezed shut,
the sails began their slow, creaking rise. Focusing on the river, I willed the
ferry out. Rocks tumbled beneath the pontoons and fell away when we moved into
deeper water. A minute later Mara joined me on the bridge. We both leaned our
arms on the wall and stared out at the river.

“Is it my imagination or do things
look different?” I scanned the shore. “Those hills weren’t there last time,
were they?”

“Things definitely changed. Since
there’s no time here, this dimension can sift through time periods that have
passed in the physical plains.” She pointed to the horizon. “I wouldn’t be
surprised to see pyramids out there on our way back.”

“I guess that’s cool, but I don’t
like the uncertainty of things.” I sighed. “Maybe I’m a stick in the mud.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” She
drummed her fingers on the wood. “There’s a lot to be said for no surprises and
routine.”

“So true. I can’t believe I’d much
rather be doing laundry than ferrying souls. This whole saving-the-world thing
is not for me.”

“Me, either. Too much
responsibility,” Mara said.

No truer words were ever spoken. If
I had it to do all over again, I probably would have never stepped foot in the
Holiday convenience store on the fated day I became a reaper. Instead of
ferrying souls to their final destination, I probably would be getting
groceries or contemplating a new diet. Or, maybe I’d still be in a slump, just
getting through each day. No doubt I would have had to get a job by now. My
husband’s life insurance policy sure didn’t hold us over very long. Strictly
speaking, working for GRS wasn’t the worst job in the world. Yes, there were
long hours and currently, dangerous work conditions, but normally it was all
right and paid the bills.

The straight stretch of river
hadn’t changed much, only the landscape beyond, so it was easy to maneuver. I’d
gotten the hang of mentally guiding the ship and was getting pretty good at it,
I might add. During the first part of the trip, we bagged up gold and chatted.
Our conversation steered clear of anything too heavy, mainly touching on things
we had in common. I was surprised that Mara was a huge do-it-yourselfer, too.
For some reason I’d never connected minion from Hell and DIY. Go figure.

“The bend.” I flicked my head
toward the telltale landmark and stood. Just beyond was the Abyss of Lost
Souls. Though we hadn’t had much trouble after the first ruckus the last time
we ferried, I was betting those watery bastards weren’t going to let us pass so
easily. “There are two spears. What do you think about patrolling along the
sides?”

She shuddered. “I think I hate the
idea, but it’s probably for the best.”

“And this time we have a little
help.” I jogged up the steps and,opened the panel, and flipped the spotlight
switches for both sides. Styx lit up. As an afterthought, I snapped on the
music tab and Hispanic party music filled the air. Bobbing my head, I descended
the steps and smiled at Mara. “It’s party time.”

I performed one of my lame conga line
moves, making Mara laugh, which probably meant it was even lamer than I’d
originally thought. She shimmied her shoulders and grooved across the deck,
plucking the spear from the pole. With a coordinated spin, she tossed the pole
to me, and then retrieved the other one for herself. We were a couple of
badass—salsa dancing—transportation specialists. I only wish we’d had a bright
orange safety vests to wear.
That’s right, minion, don’t mess with the
reaper in the reflector vest.

Taking up our posts at the sides of
the ferry near the middle, we scanned the water for any sign of white limbs. I
mentally pushed for more speed and felt a slight increase. As I stared at the
water, I could have sworn I caught sight of a very large fin. My heart jumped
to my throat.

Please stay in the river. Please
stay in the river.

Though the spotlights gave us much
better visuals, I’m not certain that was one hundred percent good. The first
bump hit the pontoon about a quarter of the way across the abyss. Mara and I
glanced at each other, confirming that we’d both heard it. I leveled my gaze on
the water. A flash of white dipped below the ship. There was no need to tell
Mara. From the way she leaned out, trying to get a better glimpse, and then
stepped back, I was sure she saw them too.