A ghost drifted past me and into the hall, coming into unfortunate detail. She was young—had been no older than me when she died. Her throat and chest were torn open, revealing thick, jellylike tissue. She looked like a Raver had gotten ahold of her, but blackened veins covered her shoulders and upper arms. Maybe a Nightcrawler? Their claws and teeth were poisonous, and there was definitely something very wrong inside of her.

Her feet didn’t touch the ground as she stopped in front of Dez. “Did you come to collect your dead?” she asked in a wispy, singsong voice. “Or did you come to die?”

“He can’t see or hear you,” I told her. “I can, so leave them alone.”

Dez looked at me as the ghost’s head swung jerkily in my direction. I waved at her. “Yeah. Hi. Where are the people?”

Teller and Jordan exchanged looks while another ghost shuffled out from the thickest crowd, dragging a mangled leg that was hanging on by a few stringy tendons. He was older, his plain shirt spotted with blood. “We’re here,” he whispered. “Right in front of you.”

“Not you. The people who worked here. The cops?” I clarified. “The ones who are hopefully still alive and breathing?”

“This is really freaky,” Teller murmured.

“There’s no one alive here,” the man growled. “Not even you. You’re already dead and you—”

“Blabbity-blah-blah. Whatever, man. You weren’t supposed to be here. You were probably a good person who should’ve moved on, but here we are. I’m not going to hold it against you unless you give me a reason to.” The dead girl reached for my braid. I shot her a look of warning. “Don’t even think about touching me,” I warned, summoning my grace until the corners of my eyes turned white. “I won’t just exorcise your ass from here, I will end you. Like permanently. So, back the Hell up.”

Her lips peeled back as she gave a low whine the Wardens seemed to hear. They stopped, turning to us.

My brows lifted. “Oh, you’re an old one, aren’t you? Been dead awhile. Cool. I’m superimpressed. Why don’t you tell me where the people are?”

She slunk back, her head hanging from an unnatural angle. “They’re right behind you.”

“I’m not talking about the people I’m with.” My patience was wearing thin. “Obviously.”

“I’m not, either,” she sang.

The back of my neck tickled. I turned around, first seeing Dez and the others waiting in the hall. Teller wiped at his face like he was trying to get rid of a stray hair. There was no hair. One of the ghosts was trailing his fingers across his cheek.

Ghosts could be creepy like that.

Slowly, I lifted my gaze above the doors, to the large scoreboard—

Oh God.