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Backwoods Banshee

Page 21

by David R. Slayton

“Nothing to sell today,” Adam said. “But if you let me know what you need I can bring it next week.”

“Camping stuff,” Joey said. “And we can always use more protein bars. The Lost can’t get enough of the chocolate mint ones.”

He wore a pair of worn denim overalls and a blue button-up that had seen better decades.

“What can we do for you?” Wendy asked, leaning over the stall’s counter. “What are you shopping for anyway? A new face?”

“What’s wrong with his face?” Joey asked.

“Nothing, nothing at all, but maybe he wants to test drive a new one.”

Wendy hovered toward Adam and cupped his chin in her palm. Despite her height, her fingers were as wide as his thumbs. Unlike Joey, her nails were well kept, neatly trimmed and polished in bright pink. Her plastic shoes were very sparkly and had sunflowers on them. He suspected that these, too, had come from a doll. Maybe she’d raided a children’s beauty pageant.

“I’m looking for something a bit more exotic.” Adam struggled to get the words out through her grip. Her palm wasn’t as rough as he expected, though it was kind of damp.

She let him go with a wary cock of her head.

“And what would that be, exactly?”

“Souls. Six humans are lying in the hospital, unconscious. I want to know if anyone’s selling.”

Wendy tapped a nail against an incisor.

“Not much market for those.”

“Why not?”

“They’re mostly useless.” Joey shrugged. “There might be some collectors out there who want to bottle them or something, but they’re not worth the cost of the bindings. You can’t do anything with them.”

That confirmed what Adam had always heard. Death had a use for human spirits, but not as a power source. Argent had even teased him about wanting his soul once, and when pressed had said they were useless.

Wendy drifted back behind the counter.

“Six humans, but not Lost Ones,” she considered.

“Exactly. Their bodies are back there.” Adam jerked his thumb in the direction he’d come. “I’m looking to help them, or at least stop the thing that did this to them.”

It was a bit of a test. He didn’t know how far the news of the concert had traveled.

“This is related to the music, isn’t it?” Joey asked quietly.

“You know about it?”

“We’ve heard the song.” A shudder passed through Wendy’s wings, causing a momentary dip toward the ground. “Everyone has.”

“But do you know what’s making it?”

“No,” they said in unison.

“No one does,” Joey added.

“Or no one’s saying,” Wendy said. “Isn’t that strange?”

“Yeah,” Adam agreed.

“But you know something. Don’t ya?” Wendy jabbed a finger at him. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“You can tell us,” Joey stage-whispered, far too loud for actual discretion.