“She has to, or she won’t get her diploma,” Layla explained. “And I told her she could just get her GED, but she doesn’t want to do that. She’s in class right now. Did Sam say if Stacey was in direct danger? That the ghosts were targeting her or anything like that?”

I shook my head. “No. Just that they pushed a kid down the stairs and that they’re getting more angry. The longer they’re trapped, the worse they’ll become.”

“There are spells that can get them out of the school.” Layla looked at Zayne. “We’ve done them before with wraiths. Basically an exorcism.”

He nodded. “There are. When we go in the school Saturday night, we can force them out.”

I raised a hand. “I have a slight problem with that. Do you know what happens when you exorcise a spirit? You don’t just force them out of a residence or building. You send them into oblivion. They don’t get to move on. With a wraith, that’s understandable. They’re a lost cause. But there might be spirits and ghosts in there that are good, and they don’t deserve that.”

“Do we take that risk? Aren’t there also Shadow People in there?” Layla argued.

“Yeah, and exorcism would send them back to Hell, but you can’t just pick and choose who gets exorcised. It will catch every spirit or ghost in there.” I twisted toward Zayne. “We can’t just do an exorcism. We have to come up with a different plan.”

Zayne was quiet for a moment. “You’re both right. It wouldn’t be fair to those trapped, but it’s also a risk.”

I glared at him. “That statement didn’t help.”

“I didn’t think that it would, but I’m not sure what you want me to say. We might not have a choice.”

Anger flashed through me as I looked away from Zayne. I refused to believe that was our only choice. It was wrong.

“While I would love to stand here and listen to you all argue, I think all three of you are forgetting a very important piece,” Roth said. “These tunnels are warded, and I’m betting the entire school is also warded. Exorcism won’t work.”

He was right.

Layla swore under her breath, turning away. “Then what do we do? Because I’m guessing that also means Trinity can’t go in there and move them on.”

“That leaves us with only one option,” Zayne said. “We have to take down the wards.”

At that point, we collectively decided we’d seen enough. I hitched a ride with Zayne to get out, welcoming the open air, even if it smelled faintly of exhaust.

Walking across the lawn toward the sidewalk, I was grateful to be in the bright, warm sunlight. My skin and bones were chilled like I’d spent hours in a meat locker.