Free Night Fever (A Rue Darrow Novel Book 3) by Audrey Claire

at his sister. He seemed antsy, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.
    “Rue,” he whispered for no reason. Who could hear him? “You’re a vampire. That’s why you wouldn’t work during the day. Cool.”
    I frowned at him. Here again was a ghost who seemed to know things he shouldn’t just because he was out of his physical body. When I first met Lily, I had been impressed with her knowledge. Later, of course, I learned she wasn’t all-knowing, thank goodness .
    Carl confirmed he wasn’t either when he said. “I think you’re dangerous to me now, but I don’t know why.”
    “Dangerous?” I said. “You mean I can banish you.”
    His eyes widened. I expected fear, but what I got was eagerness. “Yes! Rue, banish me. Send me away, please .”
    “Why?”
    “My sister. I don’t want to hurt her.” He moved to his sister, who now stood near the door, hands clutched together in front of her, tears streaming down her face. Doctors worked to revive Carl, but I knew already it was hopeless.
    “Carl, you’re a spirit. You can’t hurt your sister, and I’m sure you don’t want to. It’s a choice.”
    He shook his head and inched forward, heading in the direction of the bed. The way he leaned away from it, one would almost think he was being pulled and resisted. “I can,” he sobbed. “I will. Please, banish me, Rue, before it’s too late.”
    I figured it out. No member of the Death squad would arrive to pick up Carl’s spirit because Carl’s soul wasn’t abandoning his body. I gaped as he fought tooth and nail as if an invisible chain around his neck dragged him back to his body. Whatever held the other end took up the slack until he attempted to hold himself back with a foot to the side of the bed. That didn’t work because he had no physical form.
    Moments later, Carl opened his eyes inside his body and glanced around at the hospital staff. “I don’t understand,” one of the doctors murmured. “Check that machine.”
    The nurse he spoke to nodded and fiddled with the monitor. I ignored them and moved around the staff to get a better look at Carl. His sister elbowed her way between them to grab for her brother’s hand. “You’re okay!”
    He said nothing, but his gaze continued to search the room. Spotting me, he stared. “You didn’t do it.”
    I had uncloaked myself. No one moved. No one spoke. I knew in an instant the person speaking to me had left his humanity behind in the moments between his last heartbeat and when he opened his eyes. The staff was befuddled because they couldn’t believe the equipment wasn’t working. Yet, they had the evidence right in front of them, Carl speaking and trying to rise.
    “You must rest,” the nurse said as she tried to convince him to lie down. “You’ve been through a lot, and we need to run a few tests.”
    The doctor commanded other equipment to be brought in. He had somehow mislaid his stethoscope, so he couldn’t manually check for a heartbeat. Several people flew from the room to take care of the orders given to them. I remained as well as a nurse and Carl’s sister. The grunts started up, and I recognized them right away.
    “Carl,” his sister said. “Why are you making that noise? Does it hurt? Why aren’t you looking at me? Carl!”
    “Take her out,” he gritted between clenched teeth.
    I was fascinated that he could speak and think. So this was a new ghoul. Would he become more mindless the greater his hunger grew? I had the feeling he would. Well, time to put an end to it.
    “Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but your brother didn’t survive,” I said as I approached the bed.
    Confusion settled on her face, and the nurse looked at me as if she was two seconds to tossing me out. She and the others must have assumed I was a friend who came with the sister.
    “What are you talking about? Look at him. He’s fine.” She pointed at her brother, and he snapped at her finger. I pulled her hand back in time. She gaped at him. “Carl,