Ghoul Interrupted (11 page)

 

The next morning I fought to stay asleep for as long as I could, but eventually the rich smell of waffles pulled me out of my slumber. With a tired sigh I opened one eye and gave in to the urge to inhale deeply.

“That smells like heaven,” I mumbled.

Heath rolled over and wound his arms around me. “Ma’s cooking breakfast,” he said. “And I can tell you from experience, she cooks a mean breakfast.”

I yawned. “Did you get any sleep after we came back here?”

“A little.”

I felt something nudge my backside. “Well, good morning!” I said with a smile.

Heath chuckled. “Care to work up an appetite?”

I rolled my eyes. “With your mother here? Oh, I think not, honey.”

“I can be quiet,” he said, nibbling on my neck and nudging me again.

“No,” I told him firmly, and got out of bed. There was no way I was risking her hearing
that
.

We made it out to the kitchen to find Mrs. Lujan busy cooking up a storm. We also found Teeko standing with a mug of steaming coffee, staring blankly at what was left of the patio furniture. I moved over to her and in the daylight could hardly believe the sight.

The patio furniture was hardly recognizable as anything but kindling. “It’s pretty bad, isn’t it?” I said when I sidled up next to her. She offered me her mug and I took a sip, relishing the delicious taste.

“I’m heading back to Boston this morning,” Teeks said softly, never taking her eyes off the furniture.

“Okay,” I said, my heart heavy because I missed her so much and had thought we might get a chance to hang out together like the old days.

Turning to me, she suddenly said, “Come back with me, M. J.!”

That surprised me. “Teeks,” I said, “I can’t leave Heath right now. Both his aunt and uncle have died.” I didn’t say what else I was thinking, that whatever demon had visited us last night—and I was now convinced it was a demon—would also need to be dealt with. But Teeks didn’t need to know that, because all she’d do was worry. It was best to keep her in the dark.

She eyed me soberly and glanced quickly at the kitchen to make sure that Heath and his mother were out of earshot. “According to Gilley,” she said very quietly, “Heath’s uncle died under very mysterious circumstances. He said that Mr. Whitefeather was attacked by something that ripped him to pieces.” Teeks then turned her head and looked pointedly back outside at the ruins of the patio furniture. So much for keeping her in the dark.

“Listen,” I said gently, handing her back her mug of coffee. “Under normal circumstances I’d head back with you in a heartbeat. But Heath needs me and, in particular, my ghostbusting talents. I’m not going to leave him to deal with this alone.”

“But I thought you two just started dating?” she said, her voice rising like a question.

“Yeah,” I told her, “we haven’t been together that long. But if the tables were turned, I know he wouldn’t run off and leave me at the first sign of trouble.”

“You really like this guy?” she asked.

I didn’t answer her right away. Instead I took some time to think of Heath and all he was beginning to mean to me. “Yeah, Teeks. I
really
like this guy.”

My friend bit her lip, and I could tell she was thinking about saying something else to me, but was hesitant.

“What?” I asked her.

“If I knew something about Steven, would you want to hear it?”

My brow rose.
That
wasn’t what I thought she was going to say. Steven was my ex-boyfriend. We’d split about a month ago, after several weeks of being separated and finding that distance did not make our hearts grow fonder. “If you knew something about Steven, like what?”

“Something that might or might not upset you?”

I knew right away what she must be talking about. “Is he seeing someone?”

Teeks nodded. “I bumped into him,” she said. “He was in Cambridge at this restaurant that John likes and he had a girl with him. She wasn’t nearly as pretty as you.”

I gave her a sly smile. Good girlfriends were supposed to say stuff like that.

“Ah,” I said, trying to get a handle on how I felt about the news that Steven had moved on. “Well . . . he’s free to go out with whomever he likes. We’re not seeing each other anymore.” And then, I realized that I really meant what I’d just said. I still thought fondly of Steven—I always would—but Heath understood me in ways that Steven never could. Heath and I got along really well together, both on-screen and off, and above all, I trusted him. Trust is hard for me, and I wasn’t sure that I’d ever really trusted Steven. Maybe it was the fact that he was a doctor and women were constantly throwing themselves at him. Maybe it was the differences in our cultures—he was from Argentina. Maybe it was just that we wanted different things in life. Deep down I knew Steven wanted a stay-at-home wife and tons of kids, and that was something that was never going to be a part of my future.

So after a minute I focused again on Teeks, only to find her staring at me with a knowing grin. “You really are over him, aren’t you?”

“I really am.”

“Waffles are ready!” Mrs. Lujan called, and we both jumped; then we both laughed and headed over to the table.

From the hallway Gilley came rushing in, still clutching a pillow. “Did someone say waffles?”

“On the table,” Mrs. Lujan told him.

Gil set his pillow on the couch, which was when he caught sight of what was left of the patio furniture. He made a small squeaking sound and I hurried over to him. “Don’t look,” I told him. “It’s better if you don’t stare at it.”

Gil made another squeaking noise and moved with me to the table. When everyone was seated, Mrs. Lujan doled out the fresh waffles and said, “Did you manage to get back to sleep?”

I nodded along with Gil, but Teeks shook her head. “I couldn’t,” she said with a shudder, hugging her coffee mug.

“You’re going back to Boston, then?” Mrs. Lujan asked, and I wondered if Teeks had already told her.

One look at Karen’s surprised face told me different. “Yes,” she said. “I was going to stay a few days, but whatever that thing was last night really freaked me out. I don’t even know how to explain it to John.”

“So we’ll pack after breakfast and get out of your hair,” I said.

Teeks was quick to hold up her hand. “Oh, no, M. J.! I didn’t mean for you guys to leave too. You stay here as long as you like. Really. It’s fine.”

Next to me Heath shifted uncomfortably and Gilley’s big eyes flew to the windows. “I liked our hotel,” he whispered, and when Karen’s expression turned to hurt, he was quick to explain. “No offense, Teeks, but if that thing did
that
to your patio furniture, I don’t think those windows are gonna stop it.”

She nodded like she understood fully. “Exactly what I was thinking, Gil.”

Gilley then turned to me and said, “Maybe I should go back to Boston with Teeko?”

I nearly choked on my waffle. “You won’t stay?”

Heath looked down at his plate, clearly disappointed and maybe also a little hurt.

“Do you two really need me?” Gilley asked. “I mean, I’ll stay if you really want me to, but I might just be in the way here.”

I swallowed hard. Dammit. Why did Gilley have to leave the decision up to me? “If you want to go, go,” Heath said softly. Then he added, “Seriously, dude. This is my problem, right? It’s my aunt and uncle who died. I should be the one to handle it.”

I moved my hand to rub his shoulder, then glared hard at Gil. He scowled at me and shoved a piece of his waffle around his plate, but finally he sighed dramatically and said, “I’ll stay.”

Heath picked his chin up. “It’s really okay, Gilley. If you’re too freaked-out, then go back to Boston. I won’t hold it against you. Hell, I can’t even say I’d stay if I were in your shoes.”

I leaned back in my chair so Heath couldn’t see the look I was giving Gilley, which basically said, “Don’t. You. Dare. Leave.”

Gil’s scowl deepened. “I’ll stay,” he muttered. “Really, I want to.”

For the record, no one believed that last part, but I had to give Gil credit for saying it.

“Can we talk about the elephant in the room at least?” I said.

“Which one?” Gil muttered.

I ignored him and said, “Mrs. Lujan, you seemed to recognize our description of whatever that thing was last night. Can you tell us why it rang a bell for you?”

Heath’s mother took a sip of her orange juice before answering me. “It was something my father said,” she explained. “He came to me in my dream last night.”

I blinked. I didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Really?”

“Yes,” she said, her eyes glistening with the memory. “He hasn’t come to see me in a very long time. But I understand he visits with you quite a lot,” she added, looking pointedly at me.

I smiled. “I think it’s because he believes I need looking after,” I told her.

She laughed. “Oh, I think it’s because he genuinely adores you.” I blushed but she continued. “Anyway, it was such a powerful encounter with him last night that I believe it’s the reason I didn’t hear you all knocking on my door. I remember being so excited to see him after all these years and wanting to take in every word he said to me when
bam
! The door crashed open and I woke up.”

Heath grimaced. “Sorry, again, Ma. I was worried about you.”

Mrs. Lujan smiled and gave a pat to his arm. “It’s not me you need to apologize to,” she said. “Poor Karen here has to explain the damage to her fiancé. Am I right?”

Teeks waved her hand like it was nothing. “I’ll have a handyman come by this afternoon. He can haul away the patio furniture and repair the door in no time. John never has to know.”

I wanted to ask Mrs. Lujan what Sam had said, but I didn’t want to be rude.

“What’d Sam say?” Gilley asked.

“You know my father too?” Mrs. Lujan asked him, her own face now surprised.

Gil glanced quickly at me. “Uh, no,” he said. “But M. J. talks about him all the time. He’s helped us a lot on our ghostbusts.”

Mrs. Lujan beamed. “That’s Sam Whitefeather for you,” she said proudly. “He told me that he’s made M. J. an honorary member of the tribe and he’s now watching over her as her spirit guide.”

“I’m very grateful to have Sam’s spiritual assistance,” I told her, and that was the truth.

“What else did he say, Mom?” Heath asked.

“He said that he’s very concerned about this demon that’s come for the Whitefeathers,” she told him. “He didn’t want me to come back for the funerals, you know. I think that’s why I got so worked up about flying here. I think Dad was trying to make me feel like it was a bad idea, but when you said you were coming to get me on a private plane, I couldn’t say no.”

Karen looked downright guilty. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I had no idea you weren’t supposed to be here.”

Mrs. Lujan shook her head vigorously. “Oh, stop,” she said, attempting a smile. “It’s not your fault, dear. You were so kind to offer! And how was I to know that a demon would come here last night?”

“Maybe you should go back to Phoenix?” Heath said, worry lining his forehead.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she told him. “Now that I’m here, I’m going to help you three figure out why a demon is targeting our family.”

“Did Sam tell you anything about its history or who might have summoned it?” I asked, determined to get to the bottom of things as soon as possible. In order to deal with this thing, we had to know its origins.

Mrs. Lujan nodded. “He said that it was very old, dating back to before the first of our ancestors, which makes it very dangerous and very powerful. He said that I held the key to what it was, but just as he was getting ready to tell me more, you all came into my room. After the police left, I tried getting back to sleep, hoping Dad would come to me again, but I tossed and turned the whole rest of the night, and never really managed it.”

“Did Sam mention anything else about the demon before we woke you?” I pressed, thinking any detail left out might be the one clue we needed to figure this out.

Mrs. Lujan rubbed her arm absently. “I think he mentioned something about the histories,” she said. “But I can’t be sure.”

“The histories?” I repeated. “What’re the histories?”

Heath answered. “About fifty years ago when younger members of our tribe began to leave the Pueblos in earnest, each tribal council began to take the oral histories of each Pueblo and write them down in both English and Zuni so that, should those tribal members return, they’d always have a reference of their heritage. Each history is housed in a private library on each Pueblo.”

“What’s Zuni?” Teeks asked.

“It’s the language of our particular tribe.”

“Do you speak it?” I asked him.

Heath said something in reply that sounded almost like a mixture of Arabic and Spanish. It was beautiful and melodic. “What’d you say?” Gilley wanted to know.

Heath smiled. “I said, ‘Yes, I speak the language of my people, the great tribe of the Zanto.’ ”

“Who’s Zanto?” Gil pressed.

“We are Zanto,” Mrs. Lujan said, pointing to herself and Heath.

Gil pointed to himself and me. “We are Valdosta.” I slapped him on the arm. “Ow!”

“Behave,” I scolded.

He scowled at me and looked at Teeko. “Is there still room on that plane, Teeks?”

She laughed. “Oh, no, buddy. If I take you back, M. J.’ll kill me. You’re stuck here.”

Gilley frowned and excused himself to go sulk somewhere. Meanwhile I asked Mrs. Lujan some more about the Zanto Pueblo histories. “Can we get a look at these histories and see if there’s something about this demon in them?”

Heath and his mother traded an uncomfortable look. “I’ll ask my brothers,” she said after a bit of a pause.

“You have to ask permission to read the history of your own people?” I asked. I didn’t get the sudden shift in energy at the table.