This Side of the Grave (#5 Night Huntress)

And being so close, they could hear everything I said. No point in having Fabian relay a message for me.
“Alrighty, then . . .” I sighed, leaving the room to look for the front door. After living with Fabian for almost a year, I knew that showing ghosts the
same respect I’d show a living—or undead—person went a long way toward winning brownie points with a species that was routinely ignored.
Bones followed me, pointing to the left with a resigned look on his face. At least he didn’t argue about what he’d obviously guessed I was about
to do. I went out the front door and saw the many diaphanous forms twirling around the trees at the end of the driveway. I couldn’t see any other
houses nearby, but having been in several of Mencheres’s homes, I recognized this as one of his typical, large, off-the-beaten-path locations. In
fact, with the steep hills, occasional rocks jutting through the landscape, and woods nearby, it reminded me of my home in the Blue Ridge. Like
Bones and I, Mencheres didn’t want to increase his chances of having nosy neighbors get in on his business.
“Hi,” I said to the group. A flurry of activity commenced as at least two dozen hazy apparitions stopped what they were doing and zoomed over to
the front porch, hovering around it like the coolest Halloween decorations ever. I was amazed at the range of eras the ghosts represented, like a
snapshot of history in a glance. Out of outfits I could recognize, I saw one had on what looked like a Union army uniform while another wore
Confederate gray and saffron. One was shirtless with buckskin leggings, another was a woman in full Victorian gear, two wore sailors’ gear,
another was in a twenties flapper dress, a few looked straight out of a fifties movie, and a few more might have been cowboys. Only two looked like
they were from my time, judging from the cut and style of their clothes.
All we need is some spooky music, a full moon, and a few bats for this to be perfect, I thought irreverently.
“Hi,” I repeated, trying to meet each ghostly gaze at least once so they’d all feel included in my speech. “My friend Fabian tells me that some of
you might have just . . . ended up here even though you’re not sure why or how,” I went on. “Normally I’d say that’s fine. The more the merrier, but
I’ve got some stuff going on that makes you guys hanging out, um, potentially problematic for me.”
I was starting to doubt the wisdom behind this idea, seeing some of the ghosts exchange confused glances with each other. Fabian rested his
hand over mine, the outline of his nonexistent flesh merging with my skin in the closest he could come to an encouraging pat. I squared my
shoulders. I’d come this far, might as well plunge ahead and see if the power I hadn’t wanted to absorb from Marie could be used to help me now.
“So while I’d love to see you all again in the future, right now, I need you guys to go,” I said, putting force into the words to make them more than a
request. “Please don’t follow me, even if you feel like you should. I also need you not to repeat anything I just said, or anything that you might have
overheard before. I know you’ll do this for me, because ghosts are an honorable species, and—” Oh crap, I was just babbling now, and this wasn’t
working. None of them even moved. “—and it would really help me out,” I finished lamely.
Ghost Whisperer, my ass, an inner voice seemed to mock me.
Nothing but silence from the spectres. Silence, and complete immobility. My hopes sank. Whatever I’d absorbed from Marie’s power over the
dead, it didn’t appear to be the ability to make ghosts leave if they didn’t want to. Either I didn’t know how to channel her powers properly when it
came to regular spooks versus Remnants, or maybe there was a special code word she knew that I didn’t—
All at once, the ghosts simply vanished into thin air. I’d seen Fabian do the same several times, but it looked a lot more eerie when it was dozens
of them dematerializing simultaneously. Even their energy faded from the air, leaving behind only the soft caress of the evening breeze to waft along
my skin.
Chapter Nineteen
Quite impressive,” Bones said from behind me.
I turned around to smile at him, relieved that it worked, only to notice that Fabian, too, was now gone.
“Fabian!” I exclaimed.
He materialized in front of me moments later, an expectant look on his face.
“What can I do for you?”
Guilt stabbed through me. If he was making that offer of his own free will, it would be fine, but Marie’s blood changed the balance between us.
Friends shouldn’t be able to compel their friends into doing things whether they wanted to or not.
“Fabian, you don’t have to do anything for me,” I told him. “You can make up your own mind about what you want to do or not do.”
“Whatever you say,” he replied, still looking at me expectantly.
A stifled snort came from Bones. Okay, so this wasn’t as easy as it looked. Damn Marie for making me drink her voodoo juju blood.
“I order you to do only what you want to do,” I tried again, more strongly this time.
Now a slight frown stitched between his brows. “I’ve made you angry. Tell me what to do to make you happy again.”
I threw up my hands even as Bones’s snort became a full-blown laugh. “Kitten, I’m sure there’s a way to fix this in the future, but right now, we’ve