This time, Iris was not concerned about having Noah in her shop. Andrew was here, the ritual to connect Noah with Billy McBride had seemingly worked perfectly (though deep down she was still salty they hadn’t trusted her to do it), and everyone was on the same page about where they stood and where they were going next.

“We can try to get in touch with Samuel one more time,” Iris said to Noah. “If you think it’ll be alright with Billy.”

“It will,” Noah said. “He’s been hanging around me since yesterday, I don’t think he’s got any other plans beyond getting home.”

“Anna’s looking through their archives at the Countess for something of his,” Iris said. “Once we have it, then we should be able to get him settled.”

Noah glanced into the corner of the store. Iris couldn’t see Billy McBride, but that wasn’t unusual. She could sense him, his presence was as strong as either Noah’s or Andrew’s were to her as they sat here. Andrew seemed more comfortable this time, since Noah hadn’t been hurt by what Celine had done or by hosting Billy’s spirit. Billy’s energy could escape safely without causing Noah pain now. This wouldn’t last, Celine had said the cut – or door, or whatever they wanted to call it – would almost definitely heal quickly. But hopefully they’d be finished with this plan before then.

Billy to Samuel, then Samuel to Rosalind. Then the curse broken and everyone could move on. Once they’d figured out how to make Baxter pay for his actions, of course. But they could do that once the town council didn’t have the advantage anymore.

“Do you think Samuel will work with you?” Andrew asked. “I mean, he seemed awfully angry with you last time. And we don’t want you getting hurt either.”

She was about to dismiss his concerns, but after everything with Noah, Andrew might be the one to kill her if she did that. “I don’t know?” she admitted. “But I think we should try. I’ve got the same safety precautions in place today, it should be alright.”

“Tell me when,” Noah said, before Andrew could object.

She was a little jealous that she was going to have to struggle to get Samuel Alderidge to work with her while Billy was apparently champing at the bit to get to work with Noah. But Noah wasn’t the professional here, she was. So she had to act like it.

She could hear the two of them talking quietly as she got her space set up. The circle was wide enough for both her and Noah to be in and the candles she used were brand new, taken directly off the shelf and not imbued with energy from any other circumstances yet. When she was ready, she motioned for Noah to join her in the circle.

“I’m going to call Samuel,” Iris said. “Call Billy in when you’re ready.”

He nodded at her and she noticed he looked tired. But he always looked tired, didn’t he? And none of them were in the best shape of their lives right now. So she closed her eyes and threw out the invitation for Samuel to join them as Noah apparently did the same.

Again, there was nothing on her end, though she felt the shift in the air as Billy arrived. She knew that Andrew was right there, watching everything carefully just like he always did. And she could feel Samuel’s presence, faint, but there. Not blocked out by carefully placed wards this time. She’d been sure to give him the space to enter if he was ready to.

And she prayed that he was ready to.

“Samuel?” she called out loud. “Samuel Alderidge, are you here?”

He was angry again, she could feel that, a harsh buzz just on the edge of her perception. But it wasn’t like before, this felt far less focused as it spread throughout the room. And so did the fear and longing rolling off of Billy. She had to do this quickly so that these two unstable spirits were out of their bodies as fast as possible. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but it wasn’t going to be good for either her or Noah.

She opened her eyes and saw Noah watching her, but it wasn’t him looking out through his eyes this time. It had to be Billy, there was nobody else it could be. “Billy, can you talk to Samuel?” she asked.

“No,” he whispered hoarsely. “Samuel isn’t here.”

“He is, though, I can sense him.”

“I don’t know where he is. He’s lost.”

“I”m trying to find him. If you call him, maybe he’ll hear you.”

“Sammy?” Billy called softly, mournfully. “Sammy? Can we go home?”

She closed her eyes again, focusing on setting a beacon for him in her mind, guiding Samuel here to her. Billy’s here too, she thought deliberately. Your friend Billy, he’s right here again. You haven’t seen each other in a century, didn’t you miss him? Don’t you still? And what about your mother?

Something knocked her down and she went sprawling onto the floor of the circle. But it wasn’t an attack, not like it had been the other day. There was no blood, but he was making his message clear. She wasn’t going to be the one he went to. But Olivia had done her part, and also wasn’t here right now. So there was nothing to be done.

“Will you stay?” Iris asked Samuel, as she stood back up. “Stay long enough to get someone else?”

She straightened up, trying to see him through her closed eyes. But he pulled her hair and she let out a yelp. Then he was gone. She couldn’t sense anything of him in the store anymore.

She looked over and saw Billy watching her still from Noah’s eyes. Tears were streaming down his face. “I want to go home,” he choked. “Why can’t I go home? You said I could.”

“We’re trying, I promise,” Iris said. “We’re looking for something to anchor you here in New Winslow, something you can hold onto and get to rest. I promise. We’re going to help.”

“Please, I want my mom.”

“Billy, I need to close the circle,” she said gently. “Can you please leave now?”

Noah closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was the one looking at her. He wiped a hand over his cheeks and then looked at it, like he was surprised to see it was damp. “Iris?”

Then he dropped. She caught him on the way down, gently laying him on the ground as Andrew moved closer, nearly knocking the salt circle out of place. 

“Hang on,” she said as she focused on closing the doors behind them. Then she blew out the candle. “Alright, let’s get him upstairs.”

Noah came around as they were pulling him to his feet. “What’s going on?” he groaned.

“Billy left,” Iris said. “We’re going upstairs for a little bit.”

“What?”

“Billy left.”

“I’m not… I wasn’t drinking.”

“I know,” Andrew said gently as they reached the stairwell toward her apartment. “We know, come on.”

He seemed to come to his senses more as they stepped up each wooden, uneven step on the stairwell. “Almost there,” Andrew said.

“Andrew, I promise I’m not drunk.”

“I know that,” Andrew said. “Come on, you did good.”

“Yeah?”

It took longer than she would have liked, but they made it up to her apartment, steering him into the living room. She obviously knew that Noah was tall, but helping him up the stairs made her realize exactly how large this man was. They sat him on the couch and he stayed upright, but tilted his head back against the cushions.

“Billy left,” he murmured.

“I know,” Iris said. “I told him to.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her. “Why?”

“Samuel wasn’t coming through and Billy was getting agitated.”

“We’ll try again later,” Noah said.

“I’m not sure Billy will be up for it.”

“He will. He felt Samuel there.”

“Did you feel him? When?”

“No, he did.”

Noah took a deep breath. “Billy could feel him in the shop. He was relieved to feel him.”

“That’s good, yeah?” Andrew said to both of them, looking from Noah to Iris. “They were able to connect? That’s possible?”

“Very very unlikely though,” Iris said, thinking back to her appointment with Evelyn Harbinger. “The probability of them being able to connect enough to communicate without assistance is pretty small.”

“Not that small,” Noah said. “He didn’t seem surprised. They didn’t talk, exactly, but maybe they were linked.”

That was the last thing she needed right now, another goddamn possibility on the ethereal plane. “Maybe,” she said doubtfully. “You should eat something. Want some bread?”

He nodded, closing his eyes again. “Billy was thinking of Samuel when he died,” he said. “Samuel and his parents.”

Iris had been halfway into the connected kitchen by now, but she paused. “He told you?” she asked.

“I saw it.”

“Did you see…” She trailed off, wondering how to say it tactfully. “Did you see his last minutes while he was with you this time?”

“Not really,” Noah said. “Not like before. When I, when I guess I relived it? I saw them for a moment yesterday too, when I tried at home before coming over. But he was thinking about it, as much as he was thinking anything clearly. It was when he was in the water and he just wanted to see Samuel again.”

“Maybe he should connect with me and I can connect him to Billy, like I told him I would,” Iris said, shaking her head. 

Really, was that going to be the solution? All these rules and complications about spirit interactions and it was going to be the power of love after all? Iris couldn’t be certain, but she might start smashing the windows herself if that was what it all ended up being in the end.

She went into the kitchen and sliced off a few pieces of the homemade loaf of bread she had sitting on her counter, then brought it back in with a small pot of strawberry jam. Noah still had his eyes closed, but he opened them and looked up at her as she came in. “Here,” she said.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Noah, eat the goddamn bread,” Andrew said, before Iris could try to start explaining energy again.

Noah glared at him and Andrew glared back, not breaking eye contact as he picked up a piece of bread, slathered jam on it, and held it out to Noah. Finally, Noah broke first and took it.

“Thanks,” he said to Iris.

He ate the bread silently, not taking another piece after. Andrew didn’t push him to do so, so she wasn’t going to either.

“Are you feeling alright?” she asked.

His mouth was a thin line, but he nodded. “Fine.”

She wasn’t going to take it personally, he wasn’t in the best shape and had just played host to a spirit when his body wasn’t naturally inclined to do so. “You can stay here for a little while, if you want,” she offered.

“I think I just want to go home,” Noah said. “Thanks though.”

He stood up, ignoring the rest of the bread. “So you think that Billy will work with us again?” he asked her as they made their way downstairs.

“Honestly, I think moving Billy along as soon as possible will be the safest option,” Iris said. “But if Anna doesn’t find anything just yet, then maybe we can coax Samuel into working with us and Billy can get through to him further. If we can keep Billy intact.”

“How do we do that?”

“We don’t,” she admitted. “We just have to hope he’ll be alright and give him the space and support we can.”

Noah grimaced at that, but she didn’t have any other answer for him. So she led him and Andrew to the front door. And then once they were out, she said fuck it and locked up.

“Hey, Billy?” she said to the silent shop. “Billy, if you can sense Samuel, is he alright? Are you alright?”

But of course, there was nothing but silence.

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CONTINUE TO EPISODE 35

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