A Ghoul's Guide to Love and Murder by Victoria Laurie Read Free Book Online

emotion, but it came out in small sobs anyway. And then I heard Gilley begin to cry in earnest and a moment later both Heath and Gilley were hugging me.
    After a little while, Gil and I settled down and he squished into the chair with me and wrapped his armsaround my shoulders. “I don’t know how I’m going do it, sugar,” he said. “How do I leave my best friend?”
    I caught Heath’s eye and he smiled sadly. “We love our husbands,” I said, laying my head on Gil’s shoulder. “And to have the best life with them that we can, we need to let go of each other a little.”
    He nodded and made a little squeaking noise like he was trying not to cry again. “I’ll always love you, M.J.”
    â€œI know,” I told him. “Me too.”
    For a while no one spoke. Heath got up after a bit and moved to the kitchen, and Gilley and I just sat cuddled together. I heard the sounds of a meal being prepared, and still Gilley and I sat together. I was still furious with him over the dagger, but there wasn’t much I could do about it at the moment.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Gil said at last.
    â€œFor . . . ?”
    â€œFor the dagger. For wanting to move to New York. For leaving you here in Boston to fend for yourself when Heath hogs the remote on Sundays to watch football.”
    I smiled. Little did Gilley know that I wouldn’t be staying in Boston. “It’s okay,” I said. “Well, it’s okay about everything except the dagger.”
    Gil pulled back from me a little. “I have a call in to Gopher,” he said. “I think he’ll support us if we tell him we need to get the dagger back.”
    â€œCan you reach him?” I asked. “I mean, he’s still in Nepal, right?”
    â€œHe is, but I put a call in to his assistant. She saysthat he might call in from there in the next couple of days.”
    â€œThe next couple of days?! Gilley, we can’t wait that long! We’ve got to get that dagger back immediately.”
    Gil winced, likely because my voice had risen. “I’m trying,” he said.
    â€œCall that producer who talked you into giving up the dagger,” I said. Gilley winced again. “What?” I asked.
    â€œI haven’t gotten the check yet,” he muttered.
    â€œWhy does
that
matter?”
    â€œBecause I was hoping to keep at least some of the money,” he admitted. “I mean, I did loan out the dagger for the exhibit and it was there on the day the
Ghoul Getters
exhibit opened to the public.”
    â€œGil,” I said sternly. “Call him and have him talk to the museum. That dagger comes out of there tomorrow morning. First thing.”
    â€œOkay, okay,” Gil said. “I’ll call him.”
    â€œGood.” And then I had a moment to reflect on what’d happened at the exhibit, and I said, “You know, I saw all the precautions you took to keep the dagger neutralized. What I can’t figure out is how that damned spook, or his demon, or both of them, managed to douse the lights and drain every cell phone in that room. I mean, how was that even possible?”
    Gilley scratched his chin. “I don’t know, M.J. It shouldn’t have been. The only thing I can think of is that there were so many people there tonight who were nervous and afraid—especially around thedagger—that maybe they supplied a little fuel for Oruç or his demon to zap the lights and drain all the batteries.”
    I had to concede that Gil had a point. Spooks
love
inciting fear. For the meaner ones, there’s the added bonus that all that outpouring of terror can actually fuel them; like a vampire sucking blood, it can make them incredibly strong and powerful, able to do things like appear fully formed, or move stuff, or throw things, or launch a vicious attack.
    The more fear emitted by unwitting innocents, the more powerful a spook or a