Roy had once told me that normally I looked much like any other living mortal to ghosts, until I straddled the chasm between the living and the dead. Then I lit up like a beacon. I only hoped he was paying attention.
I’d almost given up on him responding when I saw a pale shadow begin to materialize beside me. I’d never been straddling the chasm when a ghost appeared before—usually they either suddenly appeared or they walked into the area where I was. I knew there were multiple layers to the land of the dead. On one notable, and nearly deadly, occasion, I’d traveled down to the place where the living world was nothing but gray ash. But usually my psyche only brushed the uppermost layer where the living world was reflected as a slightly decaying version of mortal reality. Now I saw Roy push up from the deeper layers, becoming more solid and real as he emerged. Icelynne followed close behind.
“Heya, Al. What’s happen—?” He cut off abruptly as he caught sight of the scene around me.
I wasn’t sure if he could see the fire or not, but as it didn’t exist in the land of the dead, I knew it couldn’t hurt him. I pointed toward the house. “There are two kids in there. Can you go check on their condition, and as you go, see if you can find the safest route I could travel?”
Roy glanced from me to the house, and then shrugged. “Sure thing, boss,” he said, and then trudged toward the rubble.
Falin grunted behind me, and I turned to find him giving me a dubious look. “Did you just send your ghost to check the integrity of the structure?”
“Maybe.” I knew Falin couldn’t see Roy—I hadn’t expended the energy to manifest him—but he knew about the ghost. And it seemed like a good idea to me. If I couldn’t enter the house, why not send someone who couldn’t be hurt by the house falling down on him to check on the kids?
“How can someone who can walk through walls tell if the house is safe?” Falin asked, and I sighed.
“Ghosts don’t actually walk through solid objects. They just look like they do. In reality, if they pass through what we see as a closed door or wall on our plane of existence, that object doesn’t exist on their plane,” I said, turning back to the house. Then I frowned as Roy sprinted across the yard toward me. “That was fast.” Which was either good news, or very, very bad news.
“You failed to mention the reaper in there,” Roy sputtered as soon as he was in yelling range. “I’m not going to go advertise I exist and get sent on to the hereafter.”
Crap. Roy called all soul collectors reapers, as in Grim Reaper. And if a collector was there, the kids were about to die.
I took off at a run. As Falin couldn’t hear Roy, he hadn’t been anticipating my sudden dash and his surprise bought me a several-yard head start. Add in the fact he had to contend with the heat from the glamoured fire, and he didn’t have a chance of stopping me. Nor did the firemen and cops yelling behind me.
I passed the charred wound that had once been the front door and then slowed. Ahead I could see hints of yellow glinting through chinks in the wall, but I couldn’t see the collector—the wall was still too intact. Let it be Death. If the collector was Death, he would listen to me. Let me try to save the kids. One of the other collectors? I was far less confident.
I needed to hurry. That said, I really didn’t want to get buried alive if the house collapsed. After all, the fire was still raging, even if I couldn’t see it.
Maybe if I could get the collector’s attention? I opened my mouth to call out, but then stopped. I didn’t have a single name to call out with—not even for Death. And the collectors were unlikely to respond to the monikers I’d given them. No, I’d have to make it to that room.
I glanced around. Sooty ash drifted from the ceiling above me and crumbled down the walls. The question was, how much of what I could see reflected mortal reality. Walking into a wall that was decayed in the land of the dead but still solid in reality would not only hurt, it could cause a deadly collapse. But if I sealed my shields so I saw only the mortal plane, I’d also see—and more important, feel—the fire. And that was assuming I’d be able to see anything at all with my shields closed.
I chewed at my bottom lip. I had an extra shield I’d spent the last few months erecting. In my mind’s eye, I saw it as a bubble around my psyche, as clear as glass but nearly impenetrable. It helped me gaze across planes without touching and merging them. But if I dropped that shield . . . I might cut a swath across reality, leaving a trail of other planes in my wake, but I’d be able to move through the house trusting my eyes—if I stumbled into something that reality disagreed with, my power would weave the planes so what I saw existed.
Probably.
I’d never actually tested that theory. Usually if I merged planes, I did it accidentally.
“I hope this works,” I muttered, popping the dome shield.