Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

MARNIE

C ackles echoed across the walls of the basement chamber, a cacophony of malice. Pitches varied, suggesting there wasn’t a single muckwart, but an army. No, that probably wasn’t right. There could be as few as three, an even match number-wise to my own group.

Wishful thinking? Definitely. But, if I didn’t lie to myself, I’d pee my pants.

I still didn’t know what exactly a muckwart was, but the grotesque giggles that bounced all around us had the hairs on my arms standing on end and my imagination running wild. Imogen had described them as swamp trolls who loved eating people as much as kids liked pizza, which hadn’t helped.

My confession paired with Levi’s reluctance to reciprocate had left me feeling off. But the good thing about my current situation was that whatever horror I was about to face, I wouldn’t have to face it alone.

With a groan and a grunt, the dead guy’s legs were dragged two feet away from where we were crouched.

This was it. We had only this one chance to follow them to their lair, and with any luck, also to Nie’s body.

Levi’s shamrock eyes glittered in the darkness, siphoning every ounce of evening light that poured in from the open door. His jaw was clenched, his fingers set on the ground in front of him in the pose of a sprinter poised to take off at the start of a race.

Imogen aimed her phone between the boxes and silently snapped photos of the muckwarts. I was grateful she’d turned off her flash.

All three of us were ready to move, just as soon as we could do so without being noticed.

In short but rapid bursts, the body scraped along the floor toward the door.

I held my breath until my ears were met with silence.

Levi wordlessly rose to his feet. He tapped both Imogen and me on the shoulder. We followed him to the doorway, then outside.

“Can I whisper?” Imogen mouthed.

Levi answered with a curt nod.

“How far ahead are they?” Imogen whispered.

“Not far,” Levi whispered back. Then he paused mid-step and raised his hand in a stop gesture.

Imogen and I stopped, too.

I took in the details of my surroundings, searching for any sign of what he might sense. The tangy aroma of decaying leaves filled the air, mixed with the musk of damp stone and the dry smoke of a wood stove.

I could no longer make out the scraping sound of the body dragging across the ground, instead there was only a rusty gate creaking as it swayed open and shut. It was Halloween evening, so why didn’t I hear children running around in the streets trick-or-treating?

Now that I was thinking about it, I hadn’t seen any children since I’d arrived in Nevermore. Perhaps children were like cars here, unnecessary and ill-fitting with the town’s culture. Perhaps anyone with any sense moved elsewhere rather than procreate in a place where monsters were welcome to eat people without consequence.

No matter the cause of the quiet, I had no idea what had made Levi pause.

He put his finger to his lips and took featherlight steps down the alleyway.

Imogen’s heels clacked against the stone. She cringed and stopped, then pulled off her shoes and tucked them under her arm.

The alleyway narrowed, leaving width for only one person at a time.

We followed Levi in silence, Imogen barefoot and snapping pictures along the way from the rear, though I couldn’t fathom what would be worth recording here.

I assumed we were following just close enough that Levi could see which way the muckwarts headed, but far enough that they didn’t notice us. I couldn’t tell anything from my position in line.

As we crept across town, the sky grew darker. Pockets of light and shadow moved in a hypnotic dance along the cobblestones.

Before long, night would be upon us, and it would only grow more difficult to keep track of the muckwarts’ trail.

Finally we reached the edge of town, and beyond that, a forest of towering pines. And I got a real look at the muckwarts we followed.

They were nothing like I expected.

There were three creatures dragging the body across the forest floor, each with green skin, pointed ears, and a height of about two and a half feet. They didn’t resemble what I’d envisioned a troll to be.

Muckwarts were goblins.

I pulled on Imogen’s sleeve.

She looked at me with her most enthusiastic, overly toothy grin. She’d clearly noticed the same thing I had, and she was thrilled about it.

“You knew about goblins,” I whispered, because she’d identified Snorfy as one in the hotel lobby earlier.

She nodded enthusiastically.

“And you knew about muckwarts,” I whispered.

She nodded again. “I read about them, but I hadn’t seen any pictures. I had no idea goblins and muckwarts were the same thing. Isn’t this exciting?”

Shocking? Sure. Exciting? That wasn’t a word I would use.

We hung back from a greater distance than we had before, catching glimpses of the goblins’ movements through the trees.

Imogen silently snapped more photos, though I was skeptical about the quality of images she could capture in the dim light without using the flash.

Levi didn’t comment on our conversation. He kept his full attention on our targets until the goblins stopped walking.

When they stopped, we stopped too.

They stood just beyond the treeline, making noises and gesticulating with their arms. It almost seemed like two of them were in an argument, while the other rolled the body across the ground like it was a log.

I couldn’t see anything beyond where they were standing. At first I assumed there was a hill, but then I heard the sound of crashing waves. I remembered the cliff we’d encountered when we’d chased the cloaked murderer from the hotel basement, and how the murderer had disappeared over the ledge.

The three goblins gathered with their backs turned to us, and kicked the body.

The dead guy rolled twice before disappearing, presumably over the edge of the cliff.

What awaited beneath? Was there another rocky surface? A steep sloped edge? Or had they dumped the deceased man straight into the water?

A moment later, the goblins walked straight ahead and out of sight.

“There has to be a slope,” I whispered.

Levi flinched as if he’d been flicked in the ear. His attention snapped to the right.

I followed his line of sight.

There, standing along the cliffside, thirty feet from where the goblins had been, stood a woman with blindingly white hair. I’d been so desperate to find the reaper before, and now she’d come right to us.

“What’s Birdie doing here?” Imogen whispered.

Great question.

“What do we do?” Imogen asked. “Do we split up?”

Levi looked at me.

Now that I knew Bernadette wasn’t the one who’d taken Nie’s head, my gut reaction wasn’t to pounce on her with a knife. At least not right away. But she still held a grudge against my coven. And at this point, given both the fact there might not be anything to find over the cliff, and that Bernadette was more slippery than a snake lathered in motor oil, I only had one choice.

“I have to follow Bernadette,” I said, even though that didn’t really answer Imogen’s question. Levi had no reason at this point to be interested in the reaper. “I’ll come back to the cliff after I figure out where she’s going.”

I hoped Levi would find nothing relevant to his search here at all. Better if there was no sign of Otis. Then we could keep holding onto hope that he was still alive.

“I’m with you,” Imogen said.

I nodded and looked at Levi.

Before he could answer, Bernadette walked to the same place the goblins had stood. A half-beat later, she disappeared over the ledge.

Imogen gasped. “There are dead people down there. It’s a perfectly reasonable place for a reaper to have business.”

She wasn’t wrong.

The three of us approached the ledge. Just as we’d expected, we found a cliff that led to the water. There was also a footpath that led down to what looked like a cave about ten feet above the crashing waves.

As we headed down the cliff, Levi said softly, “You’re on a first-name basis with the grim reaper.”

It wasn’t exactly a question.

I answered anyway, “Yes.”

“You’re full of surprises, Marshmallow,” he said.

“Marshmallow?” Imogen whispered.

I didn’t answer that one.

The mouth of the cave loomed like a black maw in the cliffside, swallowing the last glimmers of daylight. The already cool air grew frigid as we entered.

Cackling echoed in the darkness, just like it had in the hotel’s basement, only tenfold.

Goblins are only dangerous if you stumble into their lair.

Caspian’s warning came back to haunt me. What if I didn’t stumble in, but purposefully invaded, with the intent to poke around and steal the meaty treasure they coveted. That’d be safe, right?

A shiver raced down my spine.

I blinked in rapid succession to force my eyes to adjust.

A large pile of bones lay in the center of the floor. At the far side of the cave, goblins gathered around the body of their newest body.

Bernadette stood near them, facing the wall. The goblins ignored her completely.

Instead, their focus was divided between climbing all over their new find and glancing toward Levi, Imogen, and me.

A translucent figure materialized in front of Bernadette—a man, covered in swirling gorilla-like fur and wearing Otis’s shoes.

Bernadette spoke to him. I couldn’t make out what she was saying. But there was no question in my mind that he was the ghost of the dead guy we’d followed here, the one who’d kidnapped Nie’s head and cut it in two.

Bernadette took the gorilla’s hand. They took a step forward together.

And both disappeared.

A foot lay rocking on the floor where they’d been standing, back and forth, until it stopped on its side.

Had Bernadette dropped it or had it been there the whole time?

If she’d dropped it, I needed to know if it was mine. Even if she hadn’t dropped it, I had to check it out. Nie and Otis could be in this cave. We couldn’t come all this way and leave without learning anything.

I slowly unzipped the pocket in my bag that contained Rose’s potions. I reached in and took one gingerly into my palm.

What had she told me about using it? Don’t get in the smoke? I figured lobbing the thing as hard as possible was probably a good plan.

Then again, I only had three potions.

There were three goblins. What if I missed one?

I looked at Imogen and Levi. Both wore intense expressions. We were as ready for a fight as we’d ever be.

But…was there anything Imogen could actually do against goblins? She could only bodysnatch people. She could…throw her shoes?

And Levi?—

Levi darted into the cave toward the foot.

The goblins scattered like they were afraid of him, only to circle back around the body and bare their teeth.

“Sssmine,” one of them said.

“Sssmine,” the others echoed.

“We aren’t here for him,” Levi said. “Though I wouldn’t mind retrieving those shoes.”

I was conflicted on whether or not to follow him. My feet stayed rooted in place as he faded into the shadows.

Cackling started in the black depths of the cave, far beyond what we could see.

There were more goblins here, an army of them.

My heart hammered wildly against my ribs. Sweat beaded on my forehead. My mouth went dry.

Shapes materialized from the shadowy recesses, in handfuls, then in tens. Sets of beady eyes glimmered in the blackness beyond. There were countless goblins in here.

No matter how powerful, three potions would never be enough.

The three goblins we’d followed here worked as a team and dragged the body into the shadows.

“I hate to think about what they’re doing back there,” Imogen said. “Maybe they don’t want anything to do with the living. That could be true, right?”

I grabbed her hand and squeezed. We had to make a run for it. Now.

I scanned the cave for Levi, only for him to grab my wrist and pull me toward the exit.

All the air whooshed out of my lungs as we rushed back up.

Something sharp and heavy hit my calf. I hissed and turned back to see.

A rock tumbled off the narrow path, down into the depths of the water.

Goblins gathered at the mouth of the cave, rocks in hand.

We kept running, and we didn’t stop until we’d reached the forest.

I turned to Imogen when we got there, surprised she’d been able to keep up. It could have been the fact that I’d pretty much dragged her and didn’t give her an alternative.

Since she was in the back though, I worried.

I asked, “Did they hit you?”

“Yeah,” she said with a pained smile. She sat down on the ground and looked at the scratched soles of her bare feet. “But I’m not dead or eaten, so it’s a win!”

I patted her shoulder, then gave my exhausted legs a rest and sat down beside her.

“Are you okay?” I asked Levi.

“I’m fine. You?”

I nodded.

“No way we’re getting a better look in that place without Rose, or some sort of sleep bomb or something,” Imogen said.

“Rose?” Levi asked.

“She has the strength of a superhero,” Imogen said.

“That would help,” Levi said.

I tried to figure out what his expression indicated. Thoughtfulness, maybe. Disappointment was also a strong possibility.

I felt that last one. I’d really hoped we would find the rest of Nie.

“I grabbed this.” Levi held out his hand. In his palm…was the foot.

“Is that your friend’s foot?” Imogen asked Levi.

I stared at the tattoo on the ankle—a moon and stars and a raven.

I knew that tattoo. There was a matching one on my own ankle.

The foot in Levi’s hand belonged to Nie.

I looked up to his face, to the bright green eyes hiding behind rogue strands of golden hair. He cracked a small smile.

He knew.

When he’d run into the cave filled with people-eating monsters, he’d known exactly what he was doing. And he’d been doing it for me.

“It’s my foot,” I told Imogen.

“Oh wow,” she said. “So are you going to touch it? Do you think it’ll open up more of Nie’s memories for you?”

“I will.” I hoped it brought clarity. I desperately needed more information.

“When this is done, we should celebrate by going to that little general store I saw earlier and grabbing some candy corn. It’s Halloween after all, and this”—she gestured between us—“is a pretty sad party so far.”

“Made better with candy corn?” I shook my head before looking at Levi. “Candy corn is for perverts.”

“What? No way,” Imogen said.

“She’s thinking of butterscotch,” Levi told Imogen.

Imogen wrinkled her nose. “I like butterscotch, too.”

“Lollipop?” Levi held his free hand out to Imogen. A lollipop appeared from his sleeve.

“If any candy is preferred lure of the creepy pervert, it’s the lollipop,” Imogen said.

I chuckled.

Levi grinned and shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“I still want it.” Imogen snatched it out of his palm. “Call me a pervert. I don’t care. I need sugar after what I just went through.”

I took a breath. We all could use a break after this. I still had one major task to survive first.

Without another moment of hesitation, I reached down and grabbed Nie’s foot.

A flood of memories struck, hard and fast.

The gnarled stick, glowing at the tip like ET’s finger, waved in my face then stabbed into my neck. White hot pain.

Flashes of yellow.

Flashes of red.

The stick pressed to the neck of a gorilla man, crying on the ground in the fetal position. Thorny vines of blue light grew over his skin as the curse overtook his body.

A man with purple skin and tentacles wiggling beneath his mustache handed over a bag of french fries.

My eyes shot open and I gasped for breath.

I was on the ground, and whole, back to Halloween night, back to myself.

Huge branches flush with pine needles reached out across a starry sky. Warm, strong arms wrapped around me. Levi was holding me, looking down with concern wrinkling his face.

His eyes shone like bright green beacons of hope.

My heart somersaulted in my chest. Elation ballooned my lungs. I actually had new information to work with, all thanks to Levi.

Stuffed with cotton candy, my brain spun, dizzy and disoriented.

A bubble of laughter made my whole body lighter.

And without a thought, without control, I found myself grabbing Levi’s cheeks. I found myself kissing him.

His lips were firm and then plush. Sparks scattered throughout my body like tiny fireworks.

It was crazy and inappropriate and not at all like me. But I liked it. I liked what being around him did to me.

One chaste kiss and I felt like an entirely different person. I felt free.

“Frozen fudgy fiddlesticks,” Imogen said.

I nodded, because that was the only reasonable response to the lightness blooming through my muscles.

I stared up at Levi, afraid to blink and break this perfect moment.

But then he looked to the side.

I did, too.

And found another me lying on the ground beside me.

Her gaze skimmed over my hands as they cupped Levi’s cheeks, to everywhere he was touching me. And suddenly I was all too aware of what I had just done.

My every muscle tightened. That balloon-lightness popped, and I came crashing down.

I’d kissed Levi.

The other me frowned. “I guess that makes me the clone.”