Ghost Light (Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective)

by E.J. Stevens

  The faeries lifted a banner above their heads to flap in the breeze. I examined the banner through joyful tears. Someone had painted “thank you” in the center of the banner in big, red letters. Around the words were numerous drawings and paintings of happy families. The families were all different, some had wings or horns or fur, but they were all drawn with smiling faces.

  The children from the cemetery had each drawn a picture of themselves at home with their family, safe and happy. The children’s artwork was one of the nicest gifts I’d ever received. Tears filled my eyes and I bit my lip as it began to tremble.

  Most days, being a hero meant blood, sweat, and potential insanity, but then there were days like today. Days like this? They make it all worthwhile.

  Chapter 26

  I leaned back in my office chair, boots resting on my desk. I closed my eyes and sighed. I could stay here for a week.

  It was getting late and Jinx and I were the only ones left in the office. The place was finally quiet. The parents of the fae children were gone, but I wasn’t ready to climb the stairs to our loft apartment.

  I was tired and sore, but happy. Each parent had taken the time to sit with me and tell me about the moment they heard the phone ring, knock at the door, or splash in their fountain heralding the good news that their child was alive and safe. I’d laughed, drank copious amounts of coffee, and cried as these clients shared their stories.

  I usually met face to face with a client at the end of case. I had found that it helped clients to understand my findings if I explained the details of the case in person. It also gave us closure. But I’d never had a case as satisfying to bring to an end as the case of the thirty-three missing fae children. Every child had been saved, every family reunited, and I had sat with each parent to bring the case to a close.

  I hadn’t realized until today just how terrified I’d been with the lives of so many children hanging in the balance. I’d tamped down my own emotions and did what had to be done. With the case solved there was no need to keep that fear and self-doubt locked inside.

  The worry I hadn’t allowed myself to feel while searching for the children came crashing back with the meeting of every parent. I’d spent the day with clenched fists and tight shoulders as I retold the most important events of the case, but now that it was over I felt completely relaxed.

  Jinx clapped her hands together and I opened my eyes.

  “Case closed,” Jinx said. “I just finished logging the payments from our clients. Time to get you home and in bed.”

  I yawned. I had no intention of getting out of my comfy chair.

  “Go on up,” I said. “I’m staying here tonight.”

  “You can’t be serious,” she said. “If you sleep there, you’ll get a stiff neck.”

  Before I could answer, someone tapped on our office door.

  “If that’s a client, I’m not here,” I said.

  “Right, and that’s so convincing with you sitting there in plain sight,” she muttered.

  Jinx sauntered over to the door and peeked out the window. She smiled and opened the door for Ceff who stood illuminated by lamplight.

  Ceff was in human form, though the large, not-so-human, dark green irises that encompassed his eyes were evident in my second sight. Except for the eyes, Ceff looked like a human male in his early thirties, one who just walked off the cover of GQ magazine. He stood in the doorway wearing an unbuttoned dress shirt and low-slung jeans. Lamplight played across a strong jaw pebbled with a five o’clock shadow. My eyes flicked down to where he stood on the brick sidewalk and I smiled. As usual, Ceff was barefoot.

  “Is Ivy here?” Ceff asked.

  “She’s inside,” Jinx said. She stepped aside and pointed to where I reclined behind my desk. “I haven’t been able to get her butt out of that chair. Maybe you can talk some sense into her.”

  Ceff quirked an eyebrow at me and a grin touched his lips. Crap. I’d been caught enjoying the view.

  I fumbled with my chair, trying to push myself to my feet. I got as far as planting my boots on the floor before a head-rush made me stop. I tried to blink away the wave of dizziness, but the entire room tilted and spun. I swallowed hard as bile rose in my throat.

  Standing had been a mistake.

  I rested my elbows on the arms of the chair and let my head drop into my hands. I’d have stuck my head between my legs to keep the room from spinning, but bending any farther forward wasn’t an option. The wound in my side was already screaming in protest.

  Ceff rushed over to where I sat slumped in my chair. I sucked air through clenched teeth and tried to ignore the coffee churning in my stomach. I may not be able to stand, but I’d sure as hell try not to throw up.

  “Here,” Ceff said.

  His voice was rough like he’d been crying recently, but when I lifted my head his eyes were full of concern not grief. He’d pulled the sleeve of his shirt over his hand and lifted a glass from my desk. I watched the glass fill with water and the water cooler burped air from across the room, making Jinx jump. Ceff was using his kelpie magic to draw the water to him. Jinx shook her head and went back to straightening papers on her desk.

  I smiled and accepted the glass of water.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  I sipped the water, hiding behind the glass. What do you say to the man you care about, when you’ve just killed his ex-wife?

  “Looks like I missed the party,” he said. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “Your loss,” I said flashing Ceff a wry smile. “There was music and dancing on tables.”

  I waggled my eyebrows and Ceff barked a laugh not unlike a seal. I’d managed to bring a smile to his face. I smiled in return, wondering what to say next. I shifted in my seat, trying to find a comfortable position.

  “Don’t let her fool you,” Jinx said from across the room. She paused in tidying up her desk long enough to point a fountain pen my way. Pesky eavesdropper. “She hasn’t moved since she fell into that chair this morning.”

  “We shall have to remedy that situation,” Ceff said.

  He leaned in close, eyes flashing green. My heart raced and Ceff quirked his lips.

  “T-t-there’s no way I’m making it up those stairs,” I said, breathless. “I can barely walk.”

  “No need,” he said.

  Ceff scooped me into his arms so fast I didn’t have time to draw a weapon. It was funny that stabbing him was my first reaction to being carried. I froze, holding my breath, every muscle locked in place.

  “Hey, you two, get a room,” Jinx said.

  “That is precisely my plan,” Ceff said. He leaned his lips close to my ear and whispered. “Don’t worry, I won’t touch your skin and risk a vision.”

  His breath grazed my ear and warmth spread through my body. At a loss for words, I blinked in reply. Ceff chuckled and carried me across the room.

  The last thing I saw as we left the office was Jinx flashing me two thumbs up.

  Chapter 27

  Ceff helped me get settled onto my bed. It took nearly every pillow and cushion in the apartment to prop me up into a comfortable position, but I had to admit it was better than my office chair. I pushed myself up a bit further onto the pillows with my one good hand and winced. My head pounded with the effort and I sucked air through my teeth as gauze, now stiff with dried blood, peeled away from the wound at my side.

  I’d need to change the bandage soon, but first I had to tackle the sensitive topic of killing my boyfriend’s ex. I fidgeted with the blankets and sighed. My life was seriously messed up.

  Ceff’s eyes took in my beat-up jeans, thin tank top, and the bump of gauze at my side. I’d stripped off my leather jacket, boots, and knives at the bedroom door. Without a word, Ceff turned and left the room. I could hear him rummaging in the kitchen and opening and closing cabinets. He returned a few minutes later with a shot of whiskey.

  “Here, drink this,” he said.

  I don’t usually drink hard liquor, but I made an exce
ption. I knocked back the shot glass and set it on the bureau. The whiskey burned all the way down, but I suddenly wished he’d brought in the entire bottle. I needed the liquid courage.

  “I’m so sorry about Melusine,” I said.

  I stared at my gloved hands in my lap, unable to meet Ceff’s eyes. He froze on his way to perch on the bed beside me. He changed direction and sat on the floor, resting his head against the wall. Way to kill the mood, Ivy.

  “It was not your fault,” he said.

  Dark circles ringed his eyes and I noticed for the first time that Ceff’s normally impeccable clothes were rumpled. My boyfriend had spent the day mourning the death of his ex-wife. No matter what he said, I felt guilty.

  “I killed her in cold blood,” I said. “Her death was definitely my fault.”

  “She left you no choice,” he said, shaking his head. “If our roles had been reversed, I would have done the same.”

  I thought about that. If Melusine had been inches away from killing me, Ceff would have fought to protect me. He wouldn’t have held back. I nodded, accepting his words for truth.

  “So we’re okay?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Are you…okay?” I asked.

  “I will be,” he said. “The hardest thing to live with is the guilt. I was angry with Mel for so long, for what she did to our sons. When I woke up and Jinx told me that Melusine was dead, I was…relieved. A part of me is happy that she’s dead, and I feel guilty for that.”

  Ceff pulled himself up off the floor and rolled onto one knee beside the bed.

  “Promise me one thing,” he said.

  I swallowed hard.

  “Anything,” I said, nodding once.

  “Do not ever keep your feelings hidden from me,” he said. “If you tire of my attentions, send me away. Do not hold your emotions inside where they can fester. That is what Melusine did, for hundreds of years.”

  Yeah, and we all know how that ended. Melusine’s jealousy had driven her mad. She’d manipulated Ceff into executing their oldest son for treason and she murdered their youngest son, throwing the tiny infant into a raging fire. When she discovered Ceff had a new girlfriend, Melusine had gone off the deep end again. With the help of my wisp brethren and The Piper, she’d arranged to kidnap and murder over thirty fae children and planned to kill me as well. And if ridding Ceff of his “half-breed distraction” didn’t work to win him back, she intended to kill him too.

  I reached down and clasped his hand in my gloved one. I may not have a lot of dating experience, make that none, but I did know that I didn’t want to build a relationship on secrets and deceit. Ceff was asking for honesty, and giving me a way out if the time came that I no longer wanted him.

  “I promise,” I said. I raised an eyebrow and smiled. “But I don’t plan on getting sick of you any time soon.”

  With Ceff being water fae and me being land fae, we barely saw each other. Ceff had an ocean kingdom to run and I had cases to solve and a proclivity for trouble. We both had busy lives independent from one another. The suggestion that I’d become sick of him seemed almost comical.

  “Immortality is a long time,” he said.

  I nodded. I knew what I needed to do, what I should have done months ago. I just hoped that my body could take the strain.

  I pulled my hand away from Ceff’s and peeled off the leather glove. I took a deep breath and lifted my chin to meet his curious gaze. His eyes were a green so dark they were nearly black and without his glamour the green covered his entire eye, obliterating the human white. I could lose myself in those eyes.

  “No secrets,” I said.

  I reached out with my bare hand and brushed my fingers along Ceff’s face to cup his cheek. He pulled back, wrinkling his brow.

  “Are you certain?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  Ceff pressed his face into my palm and I gasped. I saw the execution of his heir, the murder of his infant son, and his torture at the hands of the each uisge. His pain was palpable, bringing tears to sting my eyes and roll down my cheeks, but the visions lacked the hold they once had on my mind. I was no stranger to Ceff’s memories; they were the same terrifying visions I’d received from handling Ceff’s bridle. I had experienced these memories before and lived.

  I would survive again.

  I rode the visions, each coming faster as my mind recognized the memories and pushed the events away. But the last two visions were new. It takes strong emotion to create a vision and these had both been formed in my presence.

  Something fluttered in my chest, but I held on. I wasn’t sure if I’d like seeing myself through Ceff’s eyes, but we had agreed—no secrets.

  The first vision was from the night of the winter solstice. It was the first and last time we’d touched. The simple act of holding each other on my lumpy couch had filled Ceff’s immortal heart with a love greater than anything he’d ever felt before. That scared me, just a bit. It also made me smile. The fact that that night had made such an impression told me that what I was doing now was right. I owed it to Ceff and myself.

  I’d lived too long behind the walls I’d built to protect my heart. Hiding behind those walls had served me well, but I’d learned a lot about my life recently—my childhood, my parents, my abilities—and I was no longer satisfied to play it safe. Letting Ceff in was one step toward becoming the person I wanted to be.

  To hell with the risk.

  The final vision followed on the heels of our night of romance. Pain and fear slammed into me and I gasped for air. My mind recoiled from the assault, but I held on tight.

  Through Ceff’s eyes, I saw Melusine threatening the children…and me. Melusine’s presence brought the painful memories of his sons’ deaths to the surface, but Ceff gripped his trident and sprung forward. He wouldn’t remain chained by the past. If Melusine could not be stopped peaceably, he’d do what needed to be done.

  Ceff drew Melusine away from me and the circle of children, but as he tired their fight returned to where I fought The Piper. Ceff looked at me and his heart filled with love and a fierce protective devotion. He gripped his trident and lunged for a killing blow.

  Melusine danced away and swung her tail at his feet. Our fight became a blur of blood and weapons, but I’d learned an important truth. Ceff had been ready and willing to kill Melusine to protect me—just as I had been forced to kill the lamia to save him.

  A weight lifted from my shoulders and I blinked rapidly as my vision cleared. I was back in my bed and Ceff’s arms were around me. My hand still rested on his face as he stretched out along my side, body pressed against me. Ceff watched my face intently and I blushed.

  “You’re back,” he said. I nodded. “And we are still touching.”

  Blood rushed to my face, cheeks burning. If I blushed any harder, I’d probably pass out. Ceff rubbed a finger in circles just below my ear and I forgot all about embarrassment. The heat from my face had shifted lower, much lower.

  Though I was still at risk of passing out.

  Ceff smiled and I bit my lip. His face was mere inches away and I had no idea what to do. Being inexperienced sucked.

  His fingers trailed down my neck to a bruise at my collarbone. I gasped as Ceff leaned in and pressed his lips against the purple skin.

  “Does this hurt?” he asked, lifting his eyes to my own.

  Ceff stared at me through tousled hair and I struggled to catch my breath. I shook my head and Ceff returned his lips to my collarbone. His kisses were cool and soothing against my heated skin.

  Ceff moved lower, leaving my skin tingling as he followed a trail of cuts and bruises along one shoulder and down my arm. When he reached my injured wrist, he blew a kiss along the bandage and lifted my arm. Ceff’s body slid alongside my own moving upward as he raised my arm above my head. He set my wrist gently on a pile of pillows and held it there, fingers gliding down my arm to wrap around my uninjured bicep.

  He leaned in and brushed his lips al
ong my jaw. I turned my face toward his, but he grazed my lips with the barest hint of a kiss and smiled.

  “Patience,” he said.

  It was easy for the sexy immortal in my bed to suggest patience—not so easy for me. I pressed my chest against Ceff and gripped his neck with my free hand, pulling him closer. I felt like I would go supernova. My lips parted and I panted as Ceff pulled away. I stared at his swollen lips, so near but unreachable, and my skin began to glow.

  Ceff kissed my chin and slid down my chest, leaving a trail of kisses to my waistline. I was surprised the thin tank top between us didn’t burst into flame. Ceff slid a finger under the thin cotton, teasing my skin with his touch. He smiled up at me and quirked an eyebrow in question while holding the edge of my shirt in his hand.

  I’d promised to be honest with Ceff and tell him what I was feeling, but at the moment I was at a loss for words. I nodded and slid my fingers through his hair to once again grip the back of his neck. I tried to pull him to me, wanting to feel skin on skin.

  No more gloves. No more weapons. No more walls—just me and Ceff.

  Ceff moved his face to my stomach and I gasped. His lips caressed my skin in widening circles. He was careful not to press against the wound at my side, though right this minute I didn’t care about the pain.

  I’d waited so long for this moment. Feared it like a bogeyman stalking the shadows. But the fear was gone and all I wanted was to be closer to Ceff. I lifted my hips and moaned.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  Ceff’s voice was husky and his eyes were glowing bright green as he studied my face. We’d agreed to be honest about our feelings and right now, I was an open book.

  “Yes, I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life,” I said.

  I reached for Ceff with glowing fingers, drawing his body to my own. This time he didn’t pull away.

  *****