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"How so?" I asked After waiting a lifetime, I had finally ic In spite of other concerns, I wanted to soak up as much information as I could, as quickly as I could
"Well, because the witching hour has never had anything to do with a certain tiht It isn’t three in theIt’s simply the ti Reality becomes a bit more pliant,It ic, iy Now folk are up at all hours The world is always awake--calculating, e, lavender, and cedar oils" She looked at s have absolutely no effect on spirits, leave alone de theeys," Oliver chimed in, "but they affect the people who enter the environment where the spirits have been"
"Okay," I said, shaking my head at the sae doesn’t chase away spirits," Iris continued, "but it does mask their scent Spirits carry an ozone scent, and deht not even consciously register the smell, but they’ll sense it on some level It’s that awareness that the spirit can use as a doorway to return to the environ me that what you don’t know really can’t hurt you"
"Only after the spirits have been removed, sweetie," Ellen said "The herbs and oils just make the place more pleasant The less creepy the vibes are in a place, the less likely a person is to go looking for shadows and inadvertently invite them back in"
"Now salt does affect deh her words had sue to materialize in our reality, it usually starts out quite small, with a body made up of a s," Oliver said, shaking the box of rock salt that Iris had placed on the counter
"Ugh," Ellen said "I always hated salting That sizzling and whining sound those thingsin disbelief at the three of therandfather used to take us out with hi, as he liked to call it," Iris explained
"Ellen was a bit too girly to enjoy the finer aspects of the catch," Oliver said She waved off thea shudder "Your mama, on the other hand, she hat the itty-bitty baby dehed at once, and then said, "The old saw mill," in unison I loved these three so much, and they see that she herself had implied that they’d kept her from me The affection they appeared to share for my mother didn’t at all h love there to right Ginny’s wrongs That was if I could ever ether But there would be ti a dehts of my mother to the side
"Honestly," Ellen said, "I e didn’t have to deal with this now We have enough on our hands"
"I feel the sa that place are the ones setting the schedule We need to dispatch Barron before Candler is turned over to its new purpose I wouldn’t want to risk what he ht do otherwise"
E a dusty box that looked like it had been ru you all to reconsider the wisdom of the jocular tone of these preparations You should not risk lulling Mercy into a false sense of security about dealing with Barron It’s true that he is not the greatest evil this world has ever known, but he is a parasite that preys on the weak and the young, those who cannot defend themselves Remember, Mercy, this deht," Iris said "It is certainly not our intention to ht of the evil this demon has done, but I have already erous it will be to deal with him"
"It’s only that we are so happy to have her with us," Ellen said, "as one of us" I knehat she meant I felt it too For the first time, they could include me, rather than mislead or misdirect ht, Sandames aside, this is serious business Are you sure you are up for it, Gingersnap?"
"She is ready," Emmet answered for me He raised his chin and looked down at me proudly My efforts with Ryder had impressed him much more than they had myself All the same, I’d asked hih Meall with the others We’d share our agreed-upon version of events ere through dealing with Barron "But she needs your sober example"
Oliver looked at ht," I said "I’erous, but ill do this together"
"All right then" Iris addressed Emmet, "Have you chosen a poppet for us?"