A Ghoul's Guide to Love and Murder by Victoria Laurie Page B

tight getting to the airport in time, but if I don’t make it onto that flight, there’s the first flight out at six that I’ll nab, and that’ll get into Logan at three p.m.”
    â€œWe’ll pick you up,” I said immediately, and pointed at Gilley. Let the fool who put the dagger on display get up early and pick up Ayden.
    Gilley scowled at me.
    â€œGreat,” Ayden said, and in the background I could hear what sounded like dresser drawers opening. “I pack light, so I won’t be checking a bag. Where am I staying?”
    Gilley shook his head furiously again and I waved my hand dismissively at him. “With us, of course.” I had a full-sized bed in the basement storage room for just such an occasion. We’d have to haul it up four flights of stairs, but I could have the spare bedroom ready by the time Ayden got here.
    â€œExcellent. Hopefully, I’ll see you at seven thirty a.m. Barring that, I’ll see you at three.” With that, he hung up and we all looked around at one another, a little stunned.
    â€œWhat the hell just happened?” Gil said.
    â€œWe got ourselves some true investigative help,” I told him. “And we’ll be thankful for it.”
    Gilley stood up and stretched. “Yeah, okay. So, I guess I’m gonna turn in since I have to be up at the butt crack of dawn. Good night, you—”
    â€œDon’t even think about it, mister,” I told him, stepping in front of him. “You’re going to help Heath bring up the spare bed from the basement.”
    Gilley groaned. “Ugh, but it’s so
heavy
, M.J.!”
    â€œGet over it,” I said. “If Ayden makes the flight out tonight, he’ll be exhausted by the time he gets here, and he’ll probably need a power nap before we head to the station. I’m not going to make him sleep on the couch, and no way are Heath and I getting up at six a.m. to haul that bed upstairs. So that leaves the two of you to do it tonight.”
    â€œBut, M.J.—!”
    â€œOh, shut it, Gil,” I snapped. “The sooner you guys head downstairs to the storage room, the sooner you can drop off the bed and go get some sleep. It’ll probably take you all of fifteen minutes, unless you continue to whine about it.”
    Gilley pouted his way over to the door, and Heath followed with a slight chuckle. In the meantime I headed to the linen closet to root around for clean sheets and pillows. Once I found them, I brought them to the spare bedroom. As I set them down on the side of my desk, however, I heard Doc in the other room let out a horrible screech that had me racing out of the study to the living room.
    Doc’s cage had been covered for the night when we got back from the precinct. I use a big green blanket to cover his cage. It’s there to prevent any drafts from chilling him during the night, and to make him feel safe.
    When I came around the corner into the living room I saw the blanket . . . bulging and moving as if an unseen force was beneath it. Doc continued to screech at the top of his lungs, and as I took in the scene I screamed in both terror and rage. Lunging for thecovering, I tore it off the birdcage and threw it aside. My beloved bird was clinging to the far corner of his cage, staring at the blanket behind me and panting in fear while continuing to scream in small frightened bursts.
    I turned and pressed my back to the cage, spreading my arms wide as I eyed the blanket. It continued to undulate and roil, moving this way and that as it swished across my bare wood floors, sometimes flattening out, sometimes bubbling; it never stopped moving, and it moved like a predator playing with a cornered prey. Here’s the part where I also admit that the scene was absolutely terrifying.
    As I tried to fight through my own fear, my right hand went instinctively to my waistline, but I wasn’t wearing my belt with the spikes. That belt