Cooper rolled his eyes. “We know the other two furies were in town. It’s hardly a surprise that you’re one of them.”
“Then why were you going to come looking for me?”
“Because we’re stand-up people.” Something occurred to Cooper, and on a whim, he shifted his gaze to the other door. There were two furies still standing. That meant they were likely to attack at the same time to up the odds they could win. To his utter surprise, the figure he found standing in the door was the last one he expected. “Becky?” He was dumbfounded. “Get out of here. It’s not safe. Run.”
Rather than listen to the man who was technically her boss, Becky made a tsking sound and shook her head. “Why would I do that?” She almost looked amused in the face of Cooper’s confusion. “I’m supposed to be here.”
That’s when the final piece of the puzzle finally slipped into place for Hannah. “You’re envy.”
“I’ve never been a fan of that word,” Becky replied, trailing her fingers over one of the bridles that hung from a tack on the wall. “I happen to think I’m so much more.”
“Oh, my ... .” Tyler’s mouth dropped open.
“One of those things is inside of her,” Boone noted, as if the others hadn’t yet figured it out. “We have to get it out.”
Hannah thought she was going to be sick. “We can’t. The host makes a deal with the fury to give up his or her soul in exchange for vengeance of some sort.”
“I see my compatriots have been talking out of turn,” Becky said, shaking her head. “They never did know when to keep their mouths shut. I guess that means I can’t make a deal to turn this body over to you in exchange for the property, huh?”
“No,” Hannah replied, determination taking over. She’d never been fond of Becky. The woman had gone out of her way to make Hannah’s life miserable from the second she’d set foot in Casper Creek. That didn’t mean she wanted her to die, though, especially after everything she’d gone through. “When did you take Becky over?”
“About two and a half weeks ago. She was a lost little girl and I could hear her calling across the planes. She was haunted ... and unhappy ... and she really wanted you to pay. It was the best fit.”
“What about the woman in the alley?” Cooper challenged. “Did you have something to do with that?”
“She was hiding in the town, trying to catch people on camera talking about things ... or owning up to the murder of that man Frank took out the other day. We didn’t see her right away, but she saw several of us having a conversation. We couldn’t allow her to leave, even if nobody would’ve believed her story. She had us on video ... so she had to go.”
“And she’s been out here the entire time,” Hannah muttered, pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead. “I don’t understand how we didn’t notice.”
“I’ll tell you how you didn’t notice,” Becky volunteered, her smile tight. “You are the most self-involved person I’ve ever met. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. You didn’t care to notice, so you didn’t bother looking.”
“That’s Becky talking,” Cooper snapped. “She’s the one who thought those ugly things about Hannah. None of them are true.”
“Becky believed they were true.”
“Becky believed a lot of things,” Cooper argued. “That doesn’t mean she was right.”
“Yes, well, it doesn’t matter now. I promised Becky vengeance. The problem is, I can’t get it without a little help from your friend Hannah.” Her smile reminded Hannah of the villain in a horror movie. “She needs to give us this property. Even then I’m not sure we’re going to have enough power to go home. It’s our only shot, though.”
“I won’t give you the property.” Hannah hoped she sounded strong rather than weak. “It’s not going to happen.”
“Do you want your friends to die?” Jacob queried. “They will if you don’t cooperate.”
“They’re going to die if I do cooperate,” Hannah argued. “Nikki and Ray told me the whole plan.”
“Of course they did.” Becky wrinkled her nose. “That stinking pride gets us every single time. I can’t even believe she opened her big, stupid mouth.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Jacob took a menacing step in their direction. “We need this property. That means you’re going to give it to us. I will not stay here a second longer. In fact, I’m never coming back. Give us the property and we’ll zap the magic and you’ll never have to hear a peep from us again. You have my word.”
“No.” Hannah moved to the spot in the middle of the barn, making sure she had a clear view of Becky and Jacob. She knew what she needed to do. That didn’t mean the decision was easy. “We’re ending this here and I’m not giving you the property. You’re going to have to kill me, and then you won’t be able to tap into the magic and you’ll be trapped here forever.”
“Ugh. Those idiots really were chatty.” Becky gritted her teeth together. “Listen, we don’t have any choice in the matter. You are going to give us what we need whether you like it or not.”
“No.” Hannah’s voice was soft. “I don’t know if you’re in there, Becky. I don’t know if you can hear me. It was mentioned that your soul was already gone, but that your memories remained. I hope that means there’s an echo or something.”
“What are you doing?” Becky asked, confused.
Hannah ignored her. “I never wanted to hurt you. When I came here, I didn’t realize I was going to fall for Cooper. I didn’t know things would work out the way they did. I especially didn’t want you to feel as if giving up your soul
