“Maybe I won’t be aiming for the ghosts,” Cooper said, a grin cracking his hard features when I flipped him off.
Cornelius yawned, leaning his head back against the couch. He’d taken off his coat, but left his furry hat in place. “She’s listening to our thoughts.”
Harvey settled into the couch. “You mean Zelda?”
“No, the other one.” Cornelius indicated toward the empty chair. “She’s sitting here with us right now.”
We all stared at the chair, except for Cornelius, who laced his fingers, looking like he was just waiting around for his name to be called at the dentist’s office.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Doc turn his back to the fire. When I looked his way, he sniffed and then shook his head.
So the bloodhound couldn’t pick her up. Was Prudence somehow blocking him?
“Cooper?” I looked at him, noticing his stiff stance. “Do you see her?”
“No. Curion, are you fucking with us?”
“Not at all. As I said last night, some entities can choose whether or not they are noticed.”
“If she’s resisting being seen, then how do you know she’s sitting there listening to our thoughts?” I asked him.
He shifted, resting his ankle on his knee. “Because I can hear her whispering.”
Chills peppered my arms. “What is she saying?”
He lifted one side of his hat, turning his ear in her direction. After one long tension-filled moment, he said, “Something about being glad Nat isn’t here.”
Nat? As in Natalie, my best friend?
Harvey looked from me to Cooper and back again. “Which one of you two is thinkin’ about Natalie?”
Oh, of course. “Not me.” I turned to Cooper.
Cooper’s cheeks darkened.
“Now she’s talking about my clairaudience ability,” Cornelius continued. “And she’s asking if all Executioners have extensive physical medium abilities like Violet.”
I looked at Doc. “That’s you, isn’t it?”
He nodded slowly, frowning at the empty chair.
“What else?” I asked Cornelius. “What other stuff is she whispering?”
I tried to think about something mundane, but the only thing I could focus on was how much this parlor game of Prudence’s reminded me of that moment in the movie Ghostbusters when one of the guys thought about the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Cornelius held up his finger, leaning forward. “She is talking about sugar honeybuns now.”
Doc and I exchanged frowns.
“You think those are Zelda’s thoughts?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” Cornelius said. “Apparently, Sugar Honeybuns was a stripper from a club in Reno who was known for using honey as lubrication during se—”
“Harvey!” I gaped at the dirty bird.
“What?” He grinned wide. “I can’t help it. I’m hungry and honeybuns always remind me of Sugar. That girl was sweet enough to rot your teeth, I’m tellin’ you. But that honey she used made my giblets sticky, getting in all of the creases and—”
“Cooper, make him stop.” I cringed back into the curtains.
“You’re the one who brought him along,” Cooper said, his expression probably mirroring mine.
“Now she’s saying something about my grandma’s famous honeybun cake drizzled with … Oh, wait. Those are my thoughts.” He shook his head, smiling absently. “My grandmother would use homemade sour cream and whip the batter by hand. The sweet, honey smell would fill—”
“Here we are,” Zelda returned, interrupting Cornelius’s trip down memory lane.
She set down a big serving dish with honeybuns in the center of it, offering the sweet buns to us. Cooper waved her off, same as he had in the past when it came to Zelda sharing treats. He must not be into sugary foods, at least not in the morning, which was unfortunate since of all of us, he could use the most sweetening up.
“Now,” she said, sitting in the chair where Cornelius claimed Prudence had been holding court. “Who’s going to start?”
Harvey slurped his warm milk in between taking large bites from his honeybun. Apparently, he wasn’t going to lead the way.
“I will,” I said, unwrapping the mirror. “I brought something for Prudence to see.” I stripped away the newspaper and let it drift to the carpet. “I need to know if she thinks this mirror will help me catch the lidérc.”
“Oh, my,” Zelda said, fanning herself. “Is anyone else feeling hot?”
I shook my head, glancing at Doc. He was watching Zelda with a deep frown.
She pushed up out of the chair, taking a step toward Cooper. “Maybe I need to get a glass of …” She swayed.
Cooper reached out and caught her as she started to tip sideways, holding her up by the shoulders.
“What the hell?” I said, my heart pounding.
Zelda slumped in Cooper’s arms, her body shuddering for several seconds before going still. Then her head drooped forward, her auburn hair shielding her face.
“Zelda!” I rushed to her side. I looked up at Cooper’s rigid face. “Is she okay?”
“She feels cold,” he said, turning her while shifting his grip to keep her from dropping to the floor. “Like she just stepped out of the body cooler over at Mudder Brothers.”
“That’s not Zelda,” Cornelius said, sounding a little too much like Vincent Price.
I frowned over at him, watching as he licked some icing off his fingers. “What are you talking about?”
“Astral projection.” He lifted the glass of milk Zelda had brought for him, aiming it toward Zelda’s limp form. “Look closer.”
What did he mean, Look closer? I pushed Zelda’s hair out of the way, lifting her chin.
The sight of Prudence’s porcelain-skinned face instead of Zelda’s made me gasp. Her skin shimmered. I leaned in closer, reaching out to touch her face. “How can this …”
Prudence’s white eyes flashed open. “Stay back!”
I screamed.
Chapter Nineteen
“Ahhh!” I stumbled backward, taking Prudence’s words to heart.
Cooper shifted Prudence’s limp form and reached for me, but I was too far away for him to grab.
Doc rushed to help me as the back of my knees collided with the coffee table.
My arms windmilled, the mirror slipping from my grip. “No!” I yelled as the mirror fell toward the corner of the coffee table.
Doc caught the mirror
