“Shit,” I said aloud, gulping down musty air. “I really need to get a job playing with puppies and kittens for a living.”
Why didn’t I think to grab the flashlight from Jerry’s … My cell phone! It had a flashlight.
I fumbled in the darkness, almost dropping my phone as I pulled it from my pocket before squeezing it in my fingers. I turned on the flashlight, shining the beam around the room.
The light glanced off someone standing over by the Hellhole.
I squeaked in surprise, and then moved the beam back to the figure. “Damn it, Jane. You just about scared the ovaries right out of me.”
Jane waved me over.
As I rushed toward her, I noticed that the iron grate was open again. I stood next to the hole and chewed on my lower lip, tasting the dust I was stirring up in the air. Hadn’t the whole freak show yesterday happened on a different plane due to the séance? If so, how did the grate get opened on this plane?
I pointed at it. “Did you do this?”
She nodded.
Okay, that made more sense—except that she was a ghost. Albeit a strong ghost, which was sort of like Prudence, but Jane was a lot nicer.
Easing closer to the edge of the Hellhole, I shined my light down into it. The musty, curdled milk smell was still there, and so was the carbide lamp.
Crap on a cracker. Here I was again, staring down into the mouth of Hell. Or maybe it was more of an ear hole than mouth. Remembering that red-armed creature reaching out through the wall last night, I changed my mind—it was more like Hell’s asshole.
I heard a dull thump behind me. I shined my light back at the steps leading up to the trapdoor. Dust swirled near the top stair.
Apparently the lidérc wasn’t fooled by my open-window smokescreen.
I turned back to Jane. “You keeping that bastard out?”
She nodded.
“How long can you hold it back?”
She held her index finger and thumb about an inch apart.
So, we didn’t have much time. “Okay. Now what?”
She pointed at me and then the Hellhole.
I hesitated. “That’s a bad idea. There’s something down there that’s big and red that would like to tear me into pieces—or maybe even eat me—and I’m not wearing the right underwear for that today.”
She grinned.
It was good to know some ghosts still had a sense of humor. Prudence was certainly lacking in that department.
“I sure wish I had my mace with me,” I muttered, peering back into the hole. Or at least the dang letter opener that I’d left back on Jerry’s desk.
Something bumped against my boot. I looked down and saw the steel bar that acted as the closer for the grate cover lying there. Jane must have nudged it my way.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” This was turning into a nightmare déjà vu. I scooped up the bar. “Okay, Jane, I’ll go down in the hole, but you’re coming with me.”
She pointed at me and then the hole and then herself.
“You want me to go first?”
She gave me a thumbs-up.
I shined my light down into the Hellhole. My legs had turned to stone. My feet were lead weights. Holy roly poly, I really didn’t want to run the gauntlet again.
Another thump came from the trapdoor, this time harder and louder. Was that Cornelius? Was he able to get free of the lidérc? Or was the Hungarian bastard using him like it had my ex? Or was Rex awake and the lidérc had hitched a ride with him again?
Not wanting to wait to find out the answer to those questions firsthand, I made my way down the iron rungs into the dark, shining my cell phone flashlight toward the tunnel entrance as I neared the bottom. No red monster waited for me there. By the time my feet touched bottom, my arm ached where I’d been cut by the knife. A quick check on it showed it was still oozing at the center of the wound.
When I looked up, Jane stood next to me. I jumped back in surprise. “For Pete’s sake, Jane, you need to warn a girl before you pull that magic act.”
I heard a screech overhead and then a clang. Ducking, I shielded my head and peeked up at the top of the hole. The iron grate was closed. Dirt and pieces of rust trickled down from overhead.
I coughed and held up the bar in front of Jane. “It’s not locked, though,” I whispered.
She shook her head and then touched the ward next to the tunnel, or at least tried to touch it. I focused my light on the carving. She turned to me and then touched it again.
“What about it?”
She pointed toward the dark tunnel and then back at the grate over head, shaking her head.
“You think this symbol is a ward to keep whatever is in there …” I shined my flashlight toward the tunnel—“from making it up to the surface?”
She nodded.
I took a closer look at the ward. It wasn’t as elaborate as the one in the Sugarloaf Building—the one I had a picture of on my phone. I pulled up the photo, comparing the two and then showing my phone to Jane. “This was used to keep the lidérc caged.” I touched the one carved into the wall next to the tunnel opening. “And this one keeps whatever is waiting in the dark from escaping.”
Another thump sounded from overhead, louder.
Jane waved her hand in front of my face, then she aimed her finger at the tunnel and then touched her watch.
Hey, wait! She had her favorite watch on again. How did she do that? I’d found it in her office after her memorial service. She’d been cremated without it, I thought.
She waved both of her hands frantically in front of me this time.
“I know, I know. I’m working up to it.”
Straightening my shoulders, I took a deep breath like I was about to dive off the deep end.
