The Voodoo Killings by Kristi Charish Read Free Book Online

they’ve had more time for their issues to fester. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on your perspective—poltergeists are the only ghosts that can exert any real will this side of the barrier, including causing actual physical damage. Hence, Des’s sentry duty.
    “Come on, Cameron,” I said, crawling through the opening. When he hesitated, I added, “Don’t worry, it’s safe.” Well, that was mostly true.
    Cameron was partway through the crawl space when Des reappeared. “Who the hell is this?” he said, diving in to get a better look.
    Shit. “It’s a zombie, you idiot.”
    Cameron scrambled back and raised his arm to cover his face.
    “Des, stop it, you’re scaring him.”
    Des turned on me, eyes blaring poltergeist red. “That, Ms. Strange, is my job.”
    “I’m taking him to see Lee.”
    The poltergeist wavered in front of me before turning to stare down my terrified zombie. If ghosts look bad to the undead, poltergeists have to look worse. I felt sorry for Cameron: barely dead, no memory, and he’d already had to deal with two ghosts in one night.
    Des hovered for a long moment, snarling at Cameron.
    “Des,” I said, warning in my voice.
    Finally, he tore his eyes off Cameron. “Fine, Kincaid. Take him to see Lee. But next time, tell me you got company.” He dissolved into a grey cloud and flew at Cameron, who backpedalled faster than I thought a zombie could move.
    “Asshole,” I said under my breath.
    “I heard that,” Des said, but his voice was faint and he didn’t reappear.
    Cameron stared at the spot where Des had been a moment ago.
    I sighed. “Not fun, but the worst of it is over. Come on.”
    He didn’t move.
    I tried again. “If you stay here, Des will come back. He’s a bit of an asshole that way. All poltergeists are.”
    That did the trick. Fear, the almighty motivator.
    I stuck the flashlight in my mouth, and we crawled through the collapsed sawmill until we reached the log chute. “Through here,” I said.
    Cameron took one look over my shoulder. Even without shining the flashlight in his face, I could tell he was glaring.
    “I’m dead. That doesn’t mean I have a death wish,” he said.
    I rolled my eyes. “Look, I’m going first. Just follow me. The city is on the other side. Promise.”
    Cameron swore but crawled after me.
    When I said it was just on the other side, I meant it. The chute was only a few yards long. Halfway along, I started picking up the thrum of the city, amplified by the tunnels ahead. At the end, I lowered myself down the four-foot drop into another brick-lined tunnel. The difference between this tunnel and the previous ones was that it was lit by a trail of yellow paper lanterns. I figured it was Lee’s way of saying, “If you’ve made it this far, chances are good youbelong. If not, we’ll probably kill you, so no point making your last few moments miserable tripping through the darkness.” Lee was nothing if not polite.
    Once I helped Cameron down, we followed the trail of paper lanterns. The noise of the city became louder with each step, and soon the lanterns gave way to lampposts. The tunnel started to widen and the dusty brown bricks turned bright red, as if someone here bothered to take care of them. Then the tunnel stopped, the red bricks turning into a spiral stairwell.
    At the bottom was the start of a floodlit boardwalk with storefronts on one side and a market on the other. The underground city. No one was passed out on the steps yet, which meant I didn’t have to worry about Cameron stepping on one of them and scaring himself as he descended.
    I motioned for Cameron to carry on. He gripped the railing beside me and stared down, speechless. I gave him a second to catch his breath. Memory or not, it’s not every day you stumble onto an entire city hidden underground.
    Finally, he said, “It’s beautiful.”
    Not the exact descriptor I’d use, but I’m not a zombie. “Keep hold of the railing and try not to trip,”