“No, sir,” Dhaval said. “My dad believes in gardeners to take care of ax-related events.”
Franklin all but ignored Dhaval. “Not sure I want you taking an ax out of the house, Delilah. Seems like a lot of trouble to be had.”
If he only knew.
“You can drive it over there for us,” she said, holding her breath. It was a gamble, but the odds were in her favor. Her father’s physical laziness was nearly as limitless as his antisocial tendencies.
Delilah watched as her dad grumbled something and headed back toward the house. They had everything they needed and were about to leave when something on the workbench caught her eye. The shed was the part of the Blue family home that Delilah’s mother didn’t scour and disinfect within an inch of its life. And there, in the layer of dust covering the neglected workbench was a heart and the words “Gavin loves Delilah” written in Gavin’s handwriting.
? ? ?
In the backseat, Dhaval sat beside her and reached over to take her hand. “You okay?” he asked.
She wasn’t.
Vani started the car, taking a deep breath. “We’re leaving if anyone gets hurt.”
“Okay,” lied Delilah. She wouldn’t leave until Gavin was with her.
This is all happening too fast. But. . . why didn’t we do this sooner? This is crazy.
“I know you think the house won’t hurt Gavin,” Vani continued, “but we’re calling the police as soon as anything seems off.”
“If the police come, the house will crumble.” Delilah closed her eyes and took as much air into her lungs as she could manage.
“I’m assuming the spirits are more concerned with Gavin and won’t care where we are,” Dhaval said quietly. “I think the first thing we need to do is find him.”
“I’ll find him,” Delilah said. “You two stay just outside the gate until I bring him out.”
Nodding, Vani glanced at them in the rearview mirror, making a left on Sycamore. “Once you bring him out, we’ll need to pull all of the spirits to where he is and then. . .” She shook her head, and for the first time Delilah could see that Vani was trying to seem far braver than she felt. “Maybe then I can banish them? I don’t know! I’ve never done this before! God, if only my mother were here.”
“You can do it,” Delilah said. “We all can. So first we need to gather them all around us, too?”
“Yes, jaanu.”
With a little, terrified laugh, Delilah whispered, “They hate me.” She closed her eyes after she said it and could barely imagine what she would find when she got back to the house.
It would be like trying to cross the gates of hell.
It would be like walking into the ticking heart of a bomb.
When she looked up again, Delilah caught Vani glancing at her in the rearview mirror. “We don’t have any choice, do we?” Vani said.
Delilah sat up straighter and took a moment to check in on Dhaval. Throughout all of this, he was so quiet, so uncharacteristically thoughtful, just taking it all in. But when he met her eyes, he looked determined. . . and fearless. When her eyes caught his, she felt it like a physical shove, like he’d grabbed Delilah’s heart and reminded it how to keep beating.
“Gavin’s in there,” he whispered. “In that crazy-ass house, Dee. It’ll hurt anyone who gets in its way. Nobody’s safe while it stands. We have to do this. I can do this.”
“I’ll get inside and find him,” Delilah said. “It can change things around and confuse us, but at least I’ve been there before. You two stay on the sidewalk out front until you hear me call for you. No matter what, stay outside. There’s a shed in the back. That’s where I’ll take him. It’s small, but it’s probably the safest place for all of us. As soon as we get there, you’ll need to be ready.”
Vani met her eyes once more. “We’ll be ready.”
“And then, Dhaval?” she said, looking at her best friend.
He looked up, dark eyes luminous in the waning sun. “Yeah?”