Eek. That sounded hellish. “That Prudence,” I tried to make light of the moment. “She is such a kidder.”
Zelda’s face paled. “And if you do not slay it by the next blood moon, all hell will be unleashed.”
Crikey! Wasn’t it enough that I had a lidérc to catch?
I forced a laugh. It came out with a cackling ring at the end of it. “Dang, Prudence can sure tell a tall tale.” I waved for Cornelius to follow me and headed for the foyer. “Don’t bother getting up, Zelda. We can let ourselves out easy enough.”
“But she’s not done telling you how to catch this Duzarx.”
“I’ll come back soon to learn all about it.”
“Thank you for coming to help, Violet,” she called after me.
“No problem. Tell Prudence I’ll be in touch.” Whether I liked it or not, I was going to have to find out how to kill a damned Duzarx.
Cornelius followed me out onto the porch. I tried not to think about all of the ghosts Prudence had said were loitering there.
I closed the door behind us and blew out a breath.
“That was certainly an energizing experience.” Cornelius took a flying leap down the steps, landing and twirling around twice before stopping to aim a crooked smile up at me. “How about we go ice skating next?”
I scowled. “Fucking Mercury in retrograde bullshit.”
Taking the steps one at a time, I headed for my SUV.
“I’ll race you,” Cornelius called and streaked past me.
I shook my head. Dang, that was some potent shit he’d sapped from Prudence and Zelda.
My phone buzzed. I glanced down. Natalie had texted again: Hurry up!
“Hold your flippin’ horses,” I muttered and typed: On my way.
“Maybe I should jog home,” Cornelius said, doing jumping jacks outside the passenger door.
“Get in the car, Speedy Gonzales.”
I climbed behind the steering wheel and started the engine. My headlights lit up Prudence’s house. A shadow moved behind the curtains in the sitting room. The porch light went out.
How in Hades was I going to find a lidérc and a freaking Duzarx?
I cursed and shifted into reverse.
Chapter Five
“I’m sorry I’m late for our spying date,” I told Natalie a short time later.
Her pickup had been parked next to my usual spot behind Calamity Jane Realty when Cornelius and I returned from the Prudence fiasco. After rejecting Cornelius’s request to run laps with him at the Rec Center, claiming my body was allergic to bouncing, I’d settled into the passenger seat of Natalie’s pickup.
“It’s not a ‘date,’ Vi, it’s a stakeout.” Natalie waited for me to click my seatbelt before shifting into reverse. “The word ‘date’ implies that some kissing might be on the table before the night is through, and frankly, I’ve seen you kiss enough boys to know those lips of yours are crawling with cooties. Besides, you’re not my type.”
I sniffed, my nose cold and a little runny. Natalie smelled sweet and citrusy this evening, like she’d taken a bath in raspberry lemonade before meeting up with me, whereas I probably smelled like last week’s meatloaf after sweating through Prudence’s freak show. “I am too your type.”
“If you mean sassy and brined in tequila, then I guess you’re right.”
“I mean blond and alpha. All I’m missing is a pocket rocket.”
She giggled, easing through the parking lot. “I’m not that into blonds. Sorry, babe.”
“Right. Next you’re going to try to sell me oceanfront property in Wyoming. Listen, just because I’m not tall, lean, and bristly with a shiny law-dog badge pinned on my shirt doesn’t mean I’m not lovable, too.”
“You are mostly lovable, but I’m not into law dogs.”
I faked a sneeze while saying, “Bullshit.”
She waited next to the Rec Center for a pair of city work trucks to pass before taking a right onto Sherman Street.
“Whatever you’re implying, I’m pleading the Fifth.” Natalie shot me a sideways glare, and then did a double take. She hit the dome light. “What the hell happened to your eye?”
I touched my cheek. It was still throbbing. “I caught an elbow in the face, and you can’t plead the Fifth. I haven’t even asked you any questions yet about what happened between Cooper and you down in Arizona.” I reached up and shut off the interior lights.
“That elbow must have knocked some marbles loose, because you’ve done nothing but pester me with questions since I got home.” She stopped at the light and then made a left onto Pine Street. “You’re supposed to dodge elbows, not catch them. Who was doing the throwing?”
“Prudence.”
“You got hit by a ghost?”
“She used Zelda’s elbow.” I pointed at her. “You have managed to avoid answering every single sex-related question I’ve asked since you returned from the Sunshine State.”
“Arizona is not the Sunshine State.”
“Shut up and drive.”
She took another left onto Water Street after the VFW, which led into the parking garage next door. Deadwood police, Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, and other county vehicles filled many of the spots at the far end of the lot. A few random trucks and cars were parked in the VFW-designated spots closer to Pine Street.
“That Prudence,” Natalie said as she slowed to a stop in front of a couple of empty VFW spots. “She’s got a wicked temper for someone who’s been dead for well over a century. You’d think that would’ve been plenty of time to mellow her out a little. One of these days, I’ll have to meet her.”
“My throbbing cheek and I advise against that.”
She shifted into reverse. “What did you do to piss her off this time? Make fun of her old-fashioned clothes?”
“I tried to save Cornelius from her mind melding trick.”
“Did it work?”
While Natalie backed into a VFW spot and then killed the engine, I told her the quick and dirty version of what happened up at Zelda’s place—well, it wasn’t really dirty, except for all of the curse words I used when complaining about trying to get along with Prudence.
She leaned back in her seat, staring out the windshield. “Wow,
