Chapter 24

24

“No!”Harlow cried and lunged toward her sister.

A lamp flew across the room, barely missing Harlow’s head by mere inches. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Harlow registered that there was no way they were leaving the house the way they’d found it. The moment Imogen doubled over as if she’d been punched in the gut, all thoughts of the house vanished from her mind.

“Leave her alone!” Harlow cried, wishing she’d thought to bring any of her ghost-hunting supplies. She didn’t even have a bag of salt to try to trap the spirit. Her only hope was her iron spike and her magic, and neither of those had worked against Cora before.

With her spike in one hand and magic sparking at the tips of her fingers on the other, Harlow slashed the air around her, hoping she’d somehow wound the ghost she couldn’t see. She reached Imogen’s side and leaned down to stare her in the eyes. “Are you okay?”

Imogen shook her head, tears standing in her eyes as she held her abdomen. “I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“But you’re still you, right? What was the name of your first Barbie?” Harlow doubted the spirit could access Imogen’s memories from that long ago and was banking on the idea that this would tell her if her sister was already possessed.

“Baldy,” Imogen gasped.

“Good job.” Harlow gave her a grim smile and then stood, shielding her sister. “If you want a fight, Crazy Cora, you’ve got one.”

The lights flickered on and off and Harlow took that as challenge accepted. The air turned thick as magic coated Harlow’s skin and she just knew that the spirit was near. She might not be able to see her, but she sure as hell could feel her. “Imogen, get back!” Harlow ordered as she slashed the air with her spike and sent a bolt of magic out toward the disturbing energy.

All it did was hit a framed picture on the wall and shatter it.

“Dammit!” Harlow cried.

That awful wind intensified and was swirling with such pressure that Harlow could barely move. It was as if the spirit was using the elements to bind her in place. That was something she could combat at least. Instead of focusing on the spirit, she changed her focus to the wind and sent a stream of magic straight into the vortex swirling around her.

There was an instant tug on her power and Harlow felt her control slipping. Sweat popped out on her forehead as she battled it, but just when she thought she might not win this war, finally her magic broke through and the wind came to a sudden stop.

“Harlow?” Imogen said, her voice sounding very small and very scared.

And that’s when she finally saw an outline of the ghost she’d been battling in one way or another for over a year. She was standing over Imogen’s prone form, one hand already fused with Imogen’s. She was trying to possess Harlow’s sister again, and Harlow knew if that happened it was likely Imogen would be lost to her forever.

“Not today, Satan!” Harlow cried and ran toward the spirit, diving right into her. The transformation was instantaneous. A sadistic joy ran through her as the spirit made her home in Harlow’s body. She stood tall and looked at the world through her new eyes and gave Imogen a sickly-sweet smile.

“Hey, sis,” the spirit said, keeping Harlow locked away in a corner of her mind. “Crazy Cora is gone. How about you give Cash a call so he can pick us up?”

Imogen stared at her with suspicious eyes. “Harlow?”

“Yeah?”

“What happened to Cora?”

“She’s gone,” Cora said. “She’s no match for my magic. Are you ready to get out of here or not?”

She’ll see right through you, Harlow told the spirit. My sister isn’t an idiot.

True, Cora said. She’s actually much quicker than you are. She tsked. It took you forever to realize your sister wasn’t herself. But I’ve learned from that experience. If I act like you, I can just take over your life. Plus, you’re the one with all the money. I don’t know why I didn’t pick you as a host in the first place.

Imogen stared at Cora, her brows pinched. “She’s really gone? How did you get rid of her?”

Cora made a confused face. “You know, I’m not really sure. Maybe it was my magic and my spike combined.” She reached down to pick up the iron spike, but as soon as she did, she pulled her hand back and dropped it as she hissed, “Holy mother of slug slime.”

“Slug slime?” Imogen narrowed her eyes. “Since when did you pick up that saying?”

“Since now. Make the call so we can get out of here,” Cora snapped.

Harlow knew that her sister would see right through Cora. Or at least she hoped she would.

But when Imogen nodded and moved to pick up the phone, Harlow’s heart sank. Maybe she hadn’t realized that she was talking to Cora and now Harlow was going to be trapped in her own mind forever. Cash will notice. You know that, right? He’ll find a way to destroy you.

Now there’s a sexy piece of manmeat. I’m going to enjoy him thoroughly before I end him.

End him? Harlow shot back, panicked. What the hell do you mean by that?

I can’t have him trying to rescue you, now can I? I’m sure he’s fun in the sack and all, but there are other useful idiots for that particular activity. Like Shaun. He’s just as pretty as his brother, and he’s got that dominance thing about him in the bedroom. Hot.

Harlow mentally shuddered at the thought of what Crazy Cora had in store for the Moses boys. I won’t let anything happen to Cash, Harlow warned the spirit.

It’s not really up to you, now is it, Harlow?

It is if I say it is, Harlow said defiantly.

So much spunk. So entertaining. That’s why I chose you as my next host instead of your sister.

You didn’t choose me. I saved my sister from you, and you decided to take me instead, Harlow spat back.

That’s what you think happened, anyway. Cora’s smugness made Harlow want to throttle her. If only that didn’t mean ringing her own neck.

“Shaun, Harlow and I need your help,” Imogen said into the phone as she stared at Cora. She explained how the Mustang broke down and that they were stranded. And then she said something odd. Something that gave Harlow hope. “Remember that time we were talking about the chaos of my grandmother’s banana pudding recipe contest?”

Their grandmother had hated banana pudding and certainly would never organize a contest around it. She hadn’t been a joiner anyway, but doing anything revolving around banana pudding would have made her gag.

There was a pause as Imogen listened to Shaun.

“No. It was Harlow’s favorite, not mine,” Imogen said. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Get on with it!” Cora warned. “You can small-talk your boy toy after they pick us up.”

“Harlow’s in a hurry,” Imogen said into the phone. “Yes. Okay. I’ll meet you down at the road.” She hung up the phone and said, “They’re on their way. Since I don’t know the address, I’m going to meet them down there so they can find us.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Cora admonished her. “You could have just dropped them a pin to show where we are.”

“How was I going to do that with no signal, Harlow?” Imogen stressed Harlow’s name, confirming to her sister that she knew exactly what was going on. Harlow just didn’t know what crazy plan she’d cooked up. She just prayed that Imogen wouldn’t try to take on Cora without help.

Cora scowled at her and said, “Fine. I’ll wait with you.”

But Imogen shook her head. “You said you wanted to leave this place exactly as we found it. Don’t you think it should at least be cleaned up? You start sweeping up the broken debris, and after the boys get here, we’ll help with whatever is left.”

“You want me to clean?” the spirit shot back, sounding incredulous.

“Why not? You told me the other day it was cathartic. Don’t be so precious, Harlow. It’s just a bit of sweeping.” Imogen tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked out the front door.

Harlow wanted to stand up and applaud. She didn’t know exactly what Imogen was up to, but she recognized that it was something. And that was just the piece of hope that kept her holding on even as Cora started in on how she was going to destroy everything Harlow loved. Starting with Cash.

Bite me, Harlow said. You can try, but in the end, you’ll go back to hell where you belong.

The spirit let out a divisive, humorless laugh. “That’s what they all say.”