Lightbringer

was too close for comfort; a horrid odor of moss and rot permeated the air around her. “Let me guess. I should’ve made the grandma tell me how she was pushing the little girl?” She sneered. “Right.”

“It would have been a good start.” The White Lady caught the swing in one mottled hand. Her nails were long and yellow and curling, Wendy noted. Her bones peeped through the flesh as she slid into the seat of the swing and gently pushed off, letting the swing creak and groan as it carried her higher and higher. The edges of her hood fluttered in the breeze but didn’t push back as she pumped her rotting legs harder, gaining momentum and height.

“Look, did this conversation have a point or something? Because if the only reason we’re having this little chat is over something I didn’t ask four years ago, well, that ship has sailed. It’s not like I can go stomping into the Light, find Grandma, and ask her how she did her fancy magic trick.” Wendy crossed her arms over her chest and waited patiently as the White Lady, at swing’s apex, pushed off the seat and floated to the ground. Gravity was on break in this dream; the White Lady hung in the air for a moment too long and reached the high grass several seconds too late.

Despite herself, Wendy smiled. “Nice jump.”

“Thank you.” The White Lady wiped one hand across the hip of her pristine cloak as she passed a rotting barbeque grill. “So messy! Honestly, some people just can’t have nice things.”

The White Lady dusted her hands and crossed her arms over her chest. “The point of all this is that I thought that perhaps, after sharing my wisdom with you, you might actually be able to look past the terrible rumors that’ve been circulating about me and think for yourself for once. Make up your own mind.”

“I’m listening.”

“I thought that, perhaps, we trade instead of fight. A deal.”

“And now I’m leaving.” Wendy turned and began to head back toward the woods.

“Hear me out!”

“Go to hell, lady. I don’t deal with the likes of you. We covered this already, remember?”

“Listen to me!” The White Lady darted in between her and the woods. “You’re making more of a nuisance of yourself than usual. And I know for a fact that you haven’t found your mother yet.”

“You haven’t either. If you had, you’d have let me know by now. Rub it in my face, demand something impossible.” Wendy smirked. “Not really trying, are we?”

“Oh, believe me, I’m keeping my eyes peeled. All of them.” The White Lady laughed darkly. “I saw her once or twice. She moves quickly. And she knows the city well.”

“Oh yeah? Where?”

“That is for me to know, my dear, and you to find out. I may not have her in my hardworking but oh-so- delicate hands just yet, but I will. Mark my words, I’m closing in, and when I do you will beg me—beg me!—to have your mother’s soul back.”

“Getting bored.” Wendy stepped around the White Lady and headed for the woods. “Good luck with all that. You just let me know if you can catch her, hmm? Until then, where was I? Oh yeah. Go to hell.”

“I may not have your mother’s soul,” the White Lady called behind her, “but I sure as hell have Dunn’s.”

Wendy froze. Sweat broke out all over her body as she struggled with the urge to turn and dive at the White Lady. Knowing her, she’d vanish and Wendy would end up with a face full of dirt for her troubles.

“You. Bitch. I will end you.”

“No, dear, you just wish you could end me.” The White Lady chuckled. “Here’s the deal. You walk away from my Walkers and I won’t rip the boy to shreds and send those shreds to the Riders in a pretty paper package. How does that sound, hmm?”

“What are you keeping him for anyway, you horrible cow?” Wendy turned around to find the White Lady less than a foot away. The smell of rot was blinding this close up; Wendy’s eyes immediately watered. “You aren’t feeding the Lost to the Walkers or you would’ve done it by now. You’re keeping him for some reason. Why?”

“That, my dear, is for me to know and you to fret yourself over. Do we have a deal?”

Wendy stiffened. “I can’t do that. I can’t.” Her fists tightened. “But you better pray to whatever god you believe in that I don’t spot your pasty ass on my rounds, lady. You’ve officially stepped all over my last nerve.”

“Ah, yes, I think I understand now. You’re trying to protect the rest of them.” The White Lady chuckled. “I understand. It’s a complicated choice. If you give in to me, then you’ve saved one soul but damned the rest. But if Dunn is sacrificed then you can still run free and attempt to stem the tide, maybe even keep my Walkers away from the other Lost. But it’s already too late. My Walkers are numerous and growing by the day. I’ve already won, you and those pathetic Riders just don’t know it yet.”

“I swear—”

“You swear nothing. You understand nothing.” The White Lady waved a hand. “I’m bored of this. This will take time for you to decide. I’m feeling particularly reasonable tonight. You have two weeks. Fourteen whole days, that’s how generous I am. Sort out which is more important to you. The boy or,” she laughed, “the Rider.”

“I wish I could kill you twice,” Wendy said through gritted teeth. “And if I ever get to really lay hands on you, you’ll regret it. I promise you that. You’ll regret it.”

“Hmm. We’ll see. I’ll see myself out.”

Wendy woke moments later, drenched in sweat and crying angry tears. She didn’t know what to do. Should she tell Piotr or should she handle the White Lady alone? And, more importantly, should she sacrifice Dunn?

Wendy flopped back on her pillow, wiping her tears away. She wished her mother were there. Mom would know what to do.

“Mom,” she whispered to the ceiling. “Where are you?”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Knee-deep in Walker ashes, Wendy pulled in the Light and wrestled down the heat, flickering into view. Lately she’d spent so much time as the Lightbringer that shifting back to her physical form seemed like it was beginning to grow more difficult for her as the nights wore on, not easier. Though Eddie couldn’t see the monsters his best friend had battled, he could tell that this fight had been a tough one by the way Wendy trudged back to the car.

“Rough night?” Eddie held out a cup of hot chocolate laced with amaretto, just the way she liked it, and sympathized as she sank into the passenger seat in a heap. Surreptitiously he glanced at the dashboard clock. Fifteen minutes to ten. Her reaping had run over.

“A whole cadre of Walkers was waiting for me. Near a bunch of people, too, and not a one of the Walkers burned! I swear they’re totally multiplying,” she complained, taking the first sip and squinching up her nose. “Ugh, cold.”

“Yeah, well your ‘only ten minutes, I promise’ reap took forty,” Eddie chastised, finishing the last of his own coffee. He grimaced at the bitter dregs but swallowed them down. Someone around here had to show a good example. “I finished my coffee cold, so quit bitching and drink your cocoa already.”

“Mm, thank you,” she said. “Today sucked.”

“Looks like it.”

“I’m in English class, right? And a ghost walks through the wall and right up to me. How he knew I was there is beyond me but he followed me around all day, begging me to help him get into the Light. But I couldn’t, right? Because, hello, I’m at school.”

“Ouch. So what’d you do?” Eddie reclined his seat and tilted his head back, enjoying the feeling of the cool evening breeze on his warm cheeks.

“I had to lead him into the girl’s bathroom,” Wendy grumbled. “But it was so weird. I sent him into the Light, and right before he went he was crying. Crying and thanking me. Afterward I felt so much better, Eds. The Walkers are monsters, it’s important to put them down, but actually helping regular ghosts out again…it’s nice. I feel like an ass for quitting in the first place. This was what I’m made to do, right?”

Eddie hesitated. “Yeah. Right.”

“I am so-so-so very tired,” Wendy said, yawing. “On top of everything else, I’ve had nightmares every night this week. Mom, calling to me, trying to get me to find her, saying that she’s trapped, that she’s lost.” She rubbed her eyes. “I just want them to stop already.”