Page 119 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

She released a lengthy sigh that proved teens shared similartraits, no matter what plane they grew up on. “I don’t know whatshe is, but I do know she’s not... entirely human.”

“What?” Swopes said, almost as shocked as Donovan. “What doyou mean?”

“It’s hard to explain.”

“I’ve sensed it, too,” Marika said.

“And you’re just now telling me this?”

“It never came up before. She’s definitelydifferent, but I don’t get demon vibes from her.”

Elwyn agreed. “Me, neither. She’s something else.Something... ethereal. Something beautiful.”

Donovan couldn’t agree more. “What’s after her?”

“Something’s after her?” Elwyn asked in alarm. “What kind ofsomething?”

“I don’t know, but it inhabited the body of a dead woman andtried to kill us with rock salt.”

“That’s a weird weapon of choice. So, not a demon, then. Therumors are true. They really do hate salt. I’m sorry, Donovan.”

He instantly regretted the subtle sharpness of his tone.“Don’t be. If you hadn’t sent me to watch her, she could be dead right now.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“No,” he said, struggling to adjust the pillow at his back.

Marika reached over to help, but Swopes cut in and did itfor her.

He fought a grin. “I know how to find her, though. First, Ineed one of you to do some digging for me.”

“Oh! Me!” Elwyn said. “I can do it! Pick me!”

He pictured her waving an arm in the air as though trying toget her teacher’s attention and laughed again. Oddly enough, it hurt just as bad as the first time.

“You have school,” Swopes said. “And your grandmother isalready mad at me for losing you for three days.”

“She’s not mad. She’s just upset that she didn’t get to seeme grow up.”

“I can’t blame her.” Swopes had been more disappointed inhimself than anyone. Donovan had felt his remorse. But it wasn’t like hecould’ve done anything to prevent it. Elwyn had suddenly developed the niftyskill of jumping from plane to plane, using the souls of the departed asportals. Who knew a five-year-old would figure out how to do something somindboggling?

“I can do research during study hour.”

“Isn’t study hour reserved for studying?” Swopes asked her.

Elwyn laughed. “Right. Anywho,what do you need, Donovan?”

“I need to know more about a kid named Benji Henderson fromRuidoso. The doc seems very close to him.”

“Oh, okay. Beeeenjiiii Hennnnderrrrson,” she said as she wrote the name down.“What else?”

“Find out about his family, too. If they went on vacation orsomething. The doc kept talking about the cabin and how it looked abandoned,but it looked fine to me.”

“Cabin. Got it.”

“Oh, yeah, and there’s a dead body on the front porch.” Whenhis uninvited guests openly gaped at him, he felt the need to defend himself.“What? I told you, the woman was already dead. ThoughI may have broken her neck postmortem. Still, there’s a funeral home out theresomewhere with a missing elderly woman wearing overalls.”

Marika frowned at him. “Who buries someone in overalls?”