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satisfied. Occasionally someone tried to cheat us, but not often. They usually paid up in the end.” Skag smiled again. The wreath of smoke around his face made him look faintly demonic.
    Rose licked her lips. “Did you have anything to do with that?”
    “More frequently, the persuasion came from the other spirits. Some of the dead become quite angry at the idea their descendants don’t honor their memory sufficiently.”
    She sat very still, as a thousand questions careened through her mind. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do about all this.”
    “You’re supposed to agree to carry on where Caroline left off.” He ground out another cigarette. “This is a quite expensive area in which to live. Your salary as a librarian will hardly be enough to compensate. Once you attain Caroline’s level of business, you should be able to clear enough money to take care of everything nicely.”
    “And what was Caroline’s level of business?”
    Skag raised an eyebrow and named a figure that made Rose’s own eyebrows elevate almost to her hairline. “You’re kidding.”
    “I’m not. It won’t be that much at first, but it will grow as you work. Ultimately, you’ll find the business is quite lucrative.”
    “And what do you get out of this?”
    He frowned. “Me?”
    “Well, I mean, I assume you don’t need the money . . .”
    Skag’s expression darkened. “I repeat, this is my job. My vocation, if you will. I have served the family’s interests for generations. I hope to serve them for generations to come. My reward, to put it crassly, is in performing my duties successfully. And making sure that the Riordan family continues to fulfill its own destiny.”
    Rose’s eyes widened. “Destiny?”
    Skag stared at the ceiling. “An old-fashioned word, perhaps, but one I’ve always preferred.”
    “I don’t know what that means.”
    “I’m aware of that.” He sighed. “For now, it’s enough to know that Riordans have special talents. Things they can do that other mediums can’t, or can’t do as well.”
    “And you expect me to exercise these ‘talents’?”
    He shook his head, the corners of his mouth turning up in a faint smile. “On the contrary. I rather hope you don’t have to exercise them.”
    Rose frowned. “I need to think about this.”
    “Yes, I agree that you do. Shall I return tomorrow evening to discuss it further?”
    She nodded, then held up her hand. “One other thing.”
    “Yes?”
    “If I agree to do this, there will be some ground rules. Number one on the list will be that you confine yourself to the ground floor exclusively. No more coming into this room. Understand?”
    Skag rolled his eyes. “The younger generation. So prudish.”
    “Do you understand, Skag? No more bedroom visits.”
    “Oh, very well.” He stood, brushing cigarette ash from his sleeves. “Until tomorrow, then.” His body began to fade, Cheshire cat–style, leaving his face until last.
    “And no smoking in the house,” Rose called.
    Skag shook his head, rolling his eyes again. And then he was gone.
    Rose sat perfectly still for a very long time, thinking. About her mother. About her house. About all the things nobody had ever told her that she definitely needed to know. For a few moments she actually thought about calling home, even if it was after midnight. This was definitely worth a little inconvenience on Ma’s part.
    And then she decided against it. Her mother had chosen not to fill in the gaps, and Rose had a feeling that was because she didn’t want to acknowledge those gaps existed. That situation wasn’t going to improve.
    Especially since it appeared Rose was going into the medium business.

Chapter 2
    Present day
    Evan Delwin shifted in his seat, trying to find a comfortable spot on the smooth wooden surface. It seemed to have been designed for pygmies
—
at any rate it wasn’t designed for somebody his size. The faint creaking of seats around him told him that other members of