The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (best ereader for comics .txt) 📗

the elevator doors opened, and Cheryl came out, supporting a sagging Timothy.

“Mom! We haven’t found Lee yet. I think he’s after April—at the pool.”

“April!” Timothy was pale, and he cradled his injured arm with the other one. “No! We have to stop him.” He started in the direction of the courtyard pool but stumbled over his own feet.

Cheryl caught him. “You’re not stopping anyone. I’m taking you to the hospital.” She pulled him gently toward the door. Over her shoulder, she said, “Lee is probably a pretty powerful spirit. He had a lot of reaper secrets when he was alive. Don’t underestimate him.”

Her mother’s words sent a chill through Tessa, and she ran faster, losing Bubba while Gloria struggled to keep up in her heels.

“Remember the tether I taught you?” Gloria asked.

“I do.”

“You got this.”

Gloria stopped abruptly and slipped off her shoes while Tessa kept on. She erupted onto the pool deck and then slid to a stop, trying to make sense of what she saw.

No one was there except April, who was in the pool, lazily doing a slow backstroke, eyes fixed above her as she tracked her way across the pool.

There was no Lee, and Tessa felt a flash of relief. They’d been wrong. He wasn’t after April.

She heard someone else arrive and glanced over her shoulder to see that Gloria had made it. She panted, eyes on April before moving to Tessa. “She’s okay,” she said.

“Yeah.”

A splash drew Tessa’s attention back to the pool. April was no longer on the surface. She had dived down.

That was strange. It had really looked like she was doing backstroke laps. And there was an awful lot of water churning for a peaceful underwater swim.

Tessa moved to the edge of pool so she could see April better. The supervisor was twisting in the water, not simply swimming. Her hands and feet flapped wildly as she strained to get back to the surface. But something seemed to be preventing it.

Then Tessa saw it—there were extra hands down there. Ghostly ones that were hard to see in the splashing water. But once she spotted them, the rest of Lee’s spirit-body quickly came into focus. Somehow, he was holding onto April. Keeping her from going up for air.

How was he doing that?

But it didn’t matter how. He was doing it—Lee was powerful in death as he had been in life, just like Cheryl warned. And April probably only had a few moments more to live.

She didn’t have time to say anything to Gloria or Bubba, who had finally arrived too. She just kicked off her shoes and jumped into the pool without thinking.

Tessa silently thanked her parents for their dogged belief that, when you lived in Michigan, water proficiency was a must. They’d put her through years of swimming lessons, and she was pretty good at it.

She swam as fast as possible to the spot where Lee and April fought, having no idea what the plan was once she arrived. The secret of the scythe wouldn’t help her against someone who was already dead.

Lee’s spirit turned its head and spotted her. His face twisted into unmitigated rage, and he roared in anger. The sound came through the water and seemed to have the physical oomph to push Tessa away.

She fought the water pressure to continue forward, straining to reach April. The water churned and rolled, both from the frantic movements of April’s body and from whatever Lee was doing to make it worse.

Tessa couldn’t see much. Without goggles or a face mask, the chlorine made her eyes burn. She shut them tight and surged forward, throwing caution to the wind because April had very little time left.

Her fingertips brushed skin, and Tessa clamped down on April’s arm. She used the other hand and both feet to propel herself upward. Lee’s inhuman roar pounded in her ears along with the water.

It felt like April was made of rocks. Lee was somehow applying more pressure downward than she could apply upward. There was no way Tessa would be able to pull her to the surface. She knew there would come a moment when she’d have to decide between letting the other woman go or taking in water herself. She firmly clamped down on the thought and kicked madly.

Suddenly, April began moving upward. Her body was still extra heavy, but it was a little better. Tessa snuck a look through squinting eyes and saw Gloria on April’s other side. She was helping. Then Bubba appeared in front of them. He grabbed April under the arms and all four of them surged for the surface.

As soon as her face broke through the water, Tessa dragged in air. Beside her, April did too, but then she immediately began coughing. “Take her! Get her out!” Tessa gasped, pushing April toward the other two reapers. She spun in a circle, looking for Lee.

It didn’t take long to find him. Apparently, he wasn’t interested in fleeing. He was right next to her, his snarling spirit face just inches in front of hers.

“It’s over, Lee. Time to go.” She treaded water with one hand while opening a portal with the other.

“I’ll take you with me. I’ll take you all with me.” His ghostly face was so twisted with rage that he looked like a caricature of a devil from some old Renaissance painting.

“Wow. You’re a really unpleasant dude, you know that? But I’m not going to let that happen.” She glanced up at the bright light from the portal above them. Only it didn’t look the way it usually did. Instead of the standard tunnel, with warm yellow lighting, it was darker. Creepier. “Looks like you’re heading to a special spot across the veil, though. I’m sure you’ll have just as much fun there as you tried to have here.”

Lee glanced up, and his expression morphed from furious to fearful.

Tessa took the moment of inattention to pull on her reaper powers and produce a tether. She caught Lee in it easily. Shocked, he