The gold flowed off Jared, settled around Eliza like a glitter-filled fog, sparkling and warm. It disappeared into her skin, into her hair, into her face.
Jared collapsed on the floor, shielding her as he fell. Bob backed off as he heaved. Leaving Eliza, he crawled to the bathroom, feeling firm bits of himself blocking his airway as his organs struggled up into his mouth yet again. He wanted to close the door so Eliza wouldn’t witness him falling apart, but she wished not.
“Stop it!” she yelled. “Stop it now!”
He heard her in his head as loud as an air-raid siren. She wanted all his parts back in his body. Now.
Huey rolled into the bathroom. He touched his forehead to Jared’s, and Jared’s organs settled in place. He took a shaky breath. Another. Huey closed his eyes and then Jared closed his.
—
Wake up, Jared.
The tiles were warm from his body heat, but the bathroom floor was unforgiving and he ached everywhere. Dead Aiden glided back and forth outside the bathroom window.
“You keep your witch stuff off her,” Dead Aiden said.
“You should go,” Eliza told her father.
He blurred, vibrating furiously. “You want to deal with that thing all by your lonesome?”
Jared’s mom could disperse ghosts, but she had to put her hands on them and will it. But Eliza only thought Go and Aiden burst into dust like a movie vampire.
“He’s still a ghost,” Eliza said to Jared. “But he can’t throw things around when he’s like this. I know things now.”
“Yeah,” Jared said, as he struggled into an upright position. “I gave you everything Mom taught me, too. Hope it helps.”
The living room was still filled with Bob and his wriggling, wet coils of arms. Jared was going to suggest they go to Hank’s, but Eliza and the space around her sizzled. Out, Eliza demanded. Bob bungeed out of the room as if yanked by an invisible string.
Jared staggered out of the bathroom and eased himself down onto the couch. His organs were silent and non-sentient, as all good organs should be. Eliza curled up beside him. He heard her, in his head, very clearly. She wanted him to come to her birthday party. All her birthday parties. He was going to bring her good birthday presents—toys—not lame ones like socks. She wanted him to take her to the Pacific National Exhibition next year when she was tall enough to ride the wooden roller coaster. And buy her cotton candy, the one with blue and pink in pretty swirls. She wanted him to come to her graduation. She was going to have two babies, a boy and a girl. She didn’t want to get married. But she wanted babies and she wanted Jared to come to their birthday parties too. She wanted him to stay together and not fall apart because that was gross and scary. If he was going to give her all his magic, she wanted him to stay in this world. With her whole heart, she wanted Jared to be okay.
Jared said, “You’re gonna be okay, Eliza.”
Don’t die.
“I’m juss tired,” Jared said. “Need. Lil nap.”
—
“Jared! Wake up!” Eliza shouted. “Get off him!”
The thing that had lived in his bedroom wall, the skeletal creature with its pale, halibut-belly-yellow skin, was latched onto his toe, sucking, eyes closed in ecstasy. Jared kicked at its head and it rocked back, sullenly opening its mouth and its black, black eyes. It leapt onto the wall, crawling up it, zigzagging like a centipede.
You left me with the Lady, it thought at him, and Jared saw the airless world and the ogress. It made a dry, rasping hiccup that Jared realized was laughter.
“Bad thing,” Eliza said. She laid her hands on a fine thread, black and moist, that connected Jared to the thing. It broke, puffed like spores from a clump of dry mould. “Go away!”
After I helped you, you left me far away.
It sank into the wall, its eyes fixed on Jared.
Going to eat you and bring you back, eat you and bring you back, it thought. Our chew toy forever, the Lady says.
—
“It’s not gone,” Eliza said as they huddled together on the couch.
“Are you sure?” Jared said.
“Can’t you feel it?”
“No.” But he did feel watched again.
“It’s creeping around. Very still and then very fast, jumping from shadow to shadow.”
“Probably waiting for me to fall asleep,” Jared said.
“Gross.”
“Do you remember the painted heads on the wall? They used to warn me when it was coming.”
“Can you repaint them?”
“I have no clue how to do it.”
“Let’s go to Hank’s place.”
“I think it would just follow me.”
“Maybe we should smudge.”
Neither of them moved. Neither of them thought smudging would help when warding couldn’t keep it away.
“It would still be feeding on me if you hadn’t woken me up. Thank you, Eliza.”
“You should have kept some of your warding,” she said.
“I have Mom protecting me, but you didn’t have any protection at all. It must be hard with Shu gone.”
She buried her face in his armpit then and cried. He wanted to put his arms around her, but he slipped under, felt the drag of sleep, like being swamped by an unexpected wave.
—
He woke to his mom slapping his face. Richie and Sarah stood behind her. He was back in his bedroom, Huey asleep on top of his dresser. Jared sat up when he realized Eliza was gone.
“Eliza,” he said.
In the silence, Jared realized they were all staring at him. He looked down at himself to see if he had anything on him.
“He’s okay,” his mom said to Sarah. “If it meant to kill him, he’d be dead. Looks like it wants him weak and suggestible.”
Time stopped. Time sped up. Time did the hokey-pokey and he was staring at his mother, surprised she was with him.
His mom gave him a light slap. “What the hell were you thinking? You didn’t survive the coy wolves because of your charm or smarts, Jared.
