She lights the two candles, then angles in her seat to face me. Anna hangs over the seat from the back, scratching Max’s ears where he lies across my shoulders. His fur is warm and soft against the back of my neck, and I try to focus on that.

“Are you sure about this?” Anna asks. “You don’t have to.”

“I know,” I say quietly. “But I need to.”

Elaine places her hand over mine and closes her eyes. She mutters under her breath in Irish. The candle flames dance in an invisible wind, and the trees rustle. Max watches apprehensively, and I know he’s ready to transform. I’ve learned enough by now to know that if Liam is dead, we won’t know how he died or how angry a spirit he’ll be, and with any séance, there’s always the risk that more spirits will come through, especially on Samhain.

Elaine’s voice rises. “Reveal yourself!” she commands.

The air in the car thickens. A tree outside groans. Max crouches down against my neck.

“Reveal yourself!” she says again. Then a third time, “Reveal yourself!”

The air between us splits like a lightning strike. There’s a flicker of a pale hand, then one bright gray eye. The air grows hazy, spinning and rippling, revealing another piece of the spirit each way it turns: a bloodied shoulder. Torn clothes. A gash above his brow.

Then Liam’s face appears, his eyes wild. His mouth is open in a silent scream. I reach for him, shouting his name, but my hands go straight through the misty substance.

It swirls away, re-forming outside the car. Liam blinks into existence, then out again like a faulty light. He’s one step away from the car, then ten, then three, then right up against the metal, reaching for me.

I reach back, desperate to grab his hand, but Max lets out a loud hiss and Elaine pulls me away.

Liam’s hand stays outstretched, his mouth open, and only a single word comes out: “Run.”

Then he’s gone.

“No!” I yell.

The candles burn out. The wind goes quiet.

We sit in silence in the car. My breathing won’t slow, my heart hammering in time with my racing thoughts.

He’d been a spirit. A spirit.

My voice breaks when I say, “That’s it then. He’s…he’s gone.”

“Not necessarily,” Elaine says, and my eyes snap to her. “I’ve never experienced a séance like that before. As much as I was pulling Liam’s spirit here, it was as if he were pulling me back to wherever he is. There was so much force to him, far more than a spirit.”

“What are you saying?” Anna asks as hope rises in my chest.

Her brow furrows with confusion. “I’m honestly not sure.”

Chapter 23: Anna