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The sage stick that had been dropped when Thad grabbed Zed still smoked gently. The smell no longer singed his nostrils and made his eyes water. Why hadn't Alex appeared with Rhys? "Rhys?" he shouted.

  Thad's eyes opened and focused on Zed. Thad shook his head before closing them again.

  Rhys appeared. "What?"

  "You wouldn't lie to me? Alex is okay, right?"

  "I'm fine, not dying," Alex's voice came from behind the wall still standing. "Zed, I love you."

  "Love you, too." Zed settled, but was loath to close his eyes.

  It was too peaceful, too quiet. Thad was right. Opal was still around, and whatever she was doing, she was making them wait. She could wait 'til they were so exhausted they were in no state to fight her. Then what? Zed just hoped that Rhys and Alex had salt, and enough of it, to protect them.

  "Why aren't they out here with us?"

  Zed didn't realize he'd asked out loud until Thad answered.

  "An error on my part. I didn't think she'd use Alex the way she is. I thought she'd forget he was here since she couldn't see him. A lot of spirits only use what they can see." Thad sighed. "I want to protect them, too."

  Zed nodded and silence settled over them again. Occasionally Rhys and Alex's voices reached them. That reassured Zed, relaxing him. He had no idea what they were talking about, but Alex's voice had an almost somnolent quality. Calming, sedating. He'd always hated when Alex had to give a presentation in class. He'd either fall asleep or get so horny he'd have to find his current fuck for a quickie between classes.

  "You think you can vanquish me," Opal's voice thundered in the silence. The wind whipped around the circle once more. Opal spread her hands and fallen bricks rocketed into the house. "Before I vanquish him?" The picnic table flew off the ground and into the kitchen.

  Zed jumped and wondered if he'd fallen asleep. There was a lot of noise. Crashes, splintering wood, shattering glass and yelling. Tania's picnic table lay broken right where Rhys had been standing moments -- maybe half an hour -- before. Time almost seemed irrelevant.

  Thad thrust the sage sticks at Zed. They'd been left unattended too long and were no longer even smoldering. "Relight them. Let the flame burn for a minute, and then blow it out. Let the smoke cleanse you." Thad nodded. "Just know that you can do this." He turned to face the house. "Rhys? Alex?"

  "We're okay." Rhys shouted. "Just hurry it up."

  "You can't hurry something like this," Thad muttered, more to himself than Rhys.

  "You better hurry." Opal whipped her head around toward the barn. The pile of junk rose off the ground. Tools, tractor parts and planks hovered menacingly with their jagged edges and rusty nails.

  A concrete bird bath, chairs, an artificial Christmas tree, a massive lump of string lights, an outdoor penguin ornament, and hay from inside the barn zoomed to join with the other more deadly objects. Items were drawn like a horrific magnet in an equally horrific B movie. Zed guessed where it was headed and didn't think a salt circle would protect anyone from that landing on them.

  "Fuck!" Zed's instinct was to run and haul Alex and Rhys out of the partially dilapidated kitchen. An instinct he immediately quelled. It was exactly what Opal would want him to do. He knew damn well she was using his love for Alex to try to lure him out. He had to have faith. Looking down at the sage stick and bag of herbs, Zed wished he had something more substantial to throw at her -- like an M16.

  "Focus." Thad held the bag between them. "Throw the herbs at her. Keep doing it, and clear your mind. Don't think of anything but getting rid of Opal." Thad took a decent handful, and started to chant.

  Don't think of anything but getting rid of Opal. Now, that Zed could do.

  The monolithic mass hovered -- just as it shouldn't, which made Zed all the more worried about where it wasn't going to hover anymore -- and lumbered toward the house. Zed grabbed some herbs -- it was his turn to save Alex -- and hurled them at Opal at the same time Thad, chanting fluid words under his breath, threw his. A double whammy. The fury in Opal's eyes deepened as she flickered.

  "It's working."

  Thad nodded, never faltering in his chanting. Feeling empowered, Zed threw a healthy dose of herbs. Thad followed suit. Opal dimmed but didn't break her stride either, the murderous mass getting closer to its target.

  "I'll win. You could make this easier on everyone and just come to me."

  "Fuck you." Time was of the essence. Zed dropped the sage and reached into the bag with both hands. He threw the herbs as if he was pitching at the World Series, feeling more than justified in sending this bitch straight to Hell. Hopefully, they had enough to outlast Opal.

  With each throw Opal dimmed more and the mass stuttered in its path. The herbs were working, slowly but effectively. Zed grabbed another handful, and managed to step on the burning sage sticks.

  "Ow! Fuck." But an idea dawned on him. The herbs were good, but if he threw the smoking sage at Opal, would it work better?

  "Can I throw this?"

  Thad broke his concentration for just a second and nodded. "We're so close."

  This time, Zed took careful aim. This was the only sage they had and he wanted it to do as much harm as possible. He aimed the smoking herb bundle and threw it, straight through where Opal's heart would have been, if she'd ever had one.

  Opal screamed like a banshee, or what Zed thought one would sound like. So shrill, Zed covered his ears to protect his ear drums from imploding. Thad, seemingly unshaken by the noise, flung the rest of the bag's contents.

  Opal gave one last fading scream and vanished into spectacular nothingness. The silence still rang with her shrieks; they resonated from the trees and buildings. The gathering mass just dropped, littering the lawn with junk.

  "Fuck, I've already picked most of that up once already," Zed grumped. He looked at Thad, hopefully. "Is she gone?"

  He was afraid the answer wasn't going to be the one he wanted to hear. They were out of herbs and sage sticks after all. It wouldn't be good if Opal came back for an encore.

  Thad closed his eyes and sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity to Zed. "Yes, she's gone. Rhys, Alex, you can come out now."

  So, Opal was finally gone. There weren't any tell-tale signs rejoicing that the coast was clear, but there was a definite change in the atmosphere. Subtle, but Zed felt it. The birds sang and a gentle warm breeze caressed instead of destroyed. This nightmare was finally over.

  Thad blew out the candles and gathered his supplies. "I'll give the area a once over to make sure nothing else is lurking."

  "Cell phones are working," Rhys said as jogged over. "Fuck, Zed, when you piss someone off, you don't do it by halves."

  Zed gave a small laugh. "I believe in being thorough." He looked back at the house. "Where's Alex?"

  "He's fine..."

  "But?"

  "We need to call an ambulance--"

  "Call one then." Zed didn't wait to hear more. He took off for the house, his blood racing and his heart thumping in his ears. The wall and door of the kitchen looked as if a bomb had hit. Could Phil and Tania claim ghost attack on their home owner's policy?

  Opal was lucky she was vanquished already. When Tania saw the state of her kitchen, she'd be out for blood. All the hard work that went into renovating had been ruined in one afternoon. A tree limb in the middle of the floor and bricks and broken wood and glass decorated the kitchen now.

  "Alex," Zed called out as he picked his way through rubble, bracing for the worst.

  "I'm under the table," Alex replied. "I'm okay."

  "Bullshit." Alex would have walked outside with Rhys if that were the case.

  Zed kicked an empty salt box out of the way and peered under the table realizing, almost as an afterthought, that he was kneeling on salt. That was a smart move by Rhys and Alex. Making their salt circle under the table and as far away from the destroyed kitchen wall as possible.

  Alex was slumped against the wall, his face so pale his skin was almost translucent. Zed's stoma
ch churned and he changed the angle he was kneeling at to get a better view of Alex's shoulder... and the jagged piece of wood sticking out of it. The wood looked to be a slice of the door, about twelve inches long and two wide... and painted a cheerful bright yellow.

  "Alex..." Zed felt the blood drain from his face and was sure his color now matched Alex's. He didn't touch anything but Alex's hand, which was ice cold.

  "It's fine if I don't breathe," Alex said, and smiled weakly. "Hurts like a bitch."

  "Zed!" Rhys ran into the room, shaking the floorboards. "Don't touch it!"

  "Not about to, but -- I dunno... Do something."

  Rhys shook his head. "You can't take it out here. Puncture wounds like that are best treated in a hospital." Rhys squatted next to Alex and took his pulse. "If it nicked an artery and you remove it, he'll bleed out. Best to leave it like that. The ambulance'll be here soon."

  Rhys' bedside manner was excellent. What he said made sense and Zed was calmed enough to be of help instead of a panicking mess. Not that Alex seemed to be panicking at all.

  "Zed, I'm fine." Alex smiled. "We'll go to the ER and they'll take it out and we'll be home safe and sound before you know it."

  Zed didn't believe that for an instant.

  "We're lucky Tania stockpiled salt." Rhys pointed to the empty salt boxes scattered around their circle. "Though I don't know whether it actually did anything."

  "Even though it was for a good cause, I think we need to replace the Pink Himalayan." Alex turned to face Zed. "Are you okay? Thad?"

  "Yeah. Our salt circle worked brilliantly. It was awesome, Alex. She was so angry, and she couldn't get me. She was going to ki-- never mind."

  "Well, she missed." Alex took Zed's hand and threaded their fingers, squeezing gently. "She's really gone? For good?"

  Zed nodded. "Thad's doing a quick check for any other activity."

  "Good. Phil and Tania won't want anything like this happening again." A lone siren wailed in the distance, growing closer by the second. "Definitely not how I pictured spending my twenty third birthday."

  "No? How did you picture it? Did I promise you anything outrageous?"

  "Probably, but I think I deserve some TLC--"

  "Nah, I hate that band. I'll give you all the My Chemical Romance you can handle, though." Zed kissed Alex softly.

  "I'll probably be okay for some Nine Inch Nails before the week is out."

  Zed raised an eyebrow. "Nine inches? That's optimistic, but I'll do my best."

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.

  Just Lucky that Way

  BIRTHSTONES

  An imprint of Torquere Press Publishers

  PO Box 2545

  Round Rock, TX 78680

  Copyright ? 2011 by Andy Slayde and Ali Wilde

  Cover illustration by Alessia Brio

  Published with permission

  Camp Hell is copyright 2009 by Jordan Castillo Price and published by JCP Books LLC. Used with permission.

  ISBN: 978-1-61040-588-4

  www.torquerepress.com

  All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U.S. Copyright Law. For information address Torquere Press. Inc., PO Box 2545, Round Rock, TX 78680.

  First Torquere Press Printing: October 2011

  Printed in the USA