Spirits, Rock Stars, and a Midnight Chocolate Bar (Pyper Rayne Book 2)

by Deanna Chase

  “Taking a last-minute cruise with my wonderful husband.” She gestured behind her at Kane, my best friend, who stood talking to one of the ship stewards.

  “I thought you were going to oversee the café?” I asked, already reaching for my phone, praying for a signal.

  “Relax.” She covered my hand with hers. “Charlie’s got it covered. I know you’re nervous about both of us being out of pocket for an entire week, but she knows what to do.”

  I tightened my hold around my phone, still tense, but let out a long, slow breath. The café was my baby. The thing I’d built that was all mine. It was hard to not worry, even though I knew it was in good hands. “You’re right. I’m sure everything will be fine.” Narrowing my eyes at her, I cocked my head to the side. “How did you two get last-minute tickets? Marc?”

  Marc, her stepfather, was a council witch, but he was living in Idaho with her mother. If he was assigned to this case, things were way worse than we’d been led to believe.

  “Oh, no. Kane called Maximus, who pulled some strings just in case there’s any demon activity.” She smiled as if her statement was totally normal. But then, in our world it was normal.

  “Alrighty then.” I waved the bartender down. “This lady needs a large drink. Bring her a margarita.”

  “Make it an iced tea for now,” Jade said.

  He nodded and got to work.

  “Seriously?” I said. “You’re gonna be sorry when I pass tipsy and head straight to foolville without you.”

  She laughed and hopped up on the stool. “Maybe. But I’m just happy to be here… Let vacation begin!”

  “You? Vacation when magical forces are at play?” I laughed. “Right.”

  She pushed her hair back and shook her head. “Nope. This one’s in Kane’s and Julius’s hands. I’m only here for the sunshine and beaches. And maybe a cheesy nightclub show or two.”

  “Did someone over here order an iced tea?” the bartender asked, holding a glass garnished with about a pound of tropical fruit.

  “Right here.” Jade grinned and slipped him a tip. “Thanks. This looks amazing.”

  “You let me know when you need a spiked version, all right?” he said with a wink.

  Jade moaned her pleasure as she bit into a piece of mango.

  I shook my head, focusing on the cutie behind the bar. “Maybe it’s better if we just let her enjoy the moment.”

  “Gotcha.” He winked at me and pocketed the bill. “I’ll be here when you need me.”

  I need him right now, Ida May said with a fake growl. Good gracious. So many hot men all in one place. I think I’m about to combust. Just five minutes, that’s all I need. Five minutes until—

  “Time to go.” I jumped up, ignoring her. When you’re the only person in the room who can hear the ghost, it’s best not speak lest you sound like a complete loon. “Jade, grab your drink. We’re going on a midnight stroll.”

  It’s not even eight o’clock yet! Ida May called as we walked out.

  I glanced back just in time to see her grope the nearest man. He let out a startled yelp and hurried away, spilling his beer as he went.

  “For the love of… Can’t take that ghost anywhere,” I said.

  Jade snickered. “Ida May is here?”

  Even though Jade was a witch, she couldn’t see ghosts… usually. That was my special gift. And Julius’s. Because he’d been one, he could usually see them when they were around.

  “Yes. She tagged along, and short of exorcising her, there’s nothing I can do about it. But Lord help me, if she interrupts my private time with Julius, she’s on the first ghost train out of my life.”

  “Looks like she has plenty to keep her occupied.” Jade led the way to the elevator. “I hear there’s an adult-only pool and it’s heated. Let’s get our suits and have some fun.”

  “It’s colder than an ice queen’s ass out here,” I said, shivering at the side of the pool.

  Jade gave me an impatient look as she treaded water. “Stop whining and get in. It’s heated.”

  I glanced around, noting no one else was as crazy as we were. It was February, and we were headed into the Gulf of Mexico. While it wasn’t exactly Alaska weather, there was still quite the windchill coming off the water. Reluctantly, I chucked my robe and hurried into the pool.

  “Oh, gods,” I said, sighing in pleasure as the warm water chased away the cold. “It’s like a hot tub.”

  “Told you.” She swam over to the edge of the pool where we’d left our drinks. “I know it’s not the night either of us were exactly hoping for, but I think we recovered admirably.”

  “And what did you have on your agenda?” I asked as she handed me my beer.

  She gave me a shy grin. “Baby-making. We’ve been actively trying since Chessandra was dethroned from the high-angel position and that nasty curse she put on me was broken. Now that our contract with her is void, we’re concentrating on making a family.”

  I’d known they were thinking about trying to get pregnant, but things had been put on hold when Chessandra, the ruler of the angel realm had made the mistake of cursing Jade and Kane’s future child. But once she was caught and the spell broken, she’d been fired and incarcerated. My eyes stung with happy tears as I gazed at my friend, my heart already swelling at the thought. “Seriously? You’ve finally decided to go for it? We’re going to have a little witch or incubus running around soon?”

  A quiet smile blossomed on her lips and her eyes shone with hope. “If we’re lucky.”

  I put my beer down and wrapped my arms around her just as a soft melody from an acoustic guitar filled the air. The sound was moving, almost haunting in the darkness. And utterly gorgeous.

  It seemed fitting she’d get serenaded after an announcement like that. Jade’s family life hadn’t been tragic by any means, but it hadn’t been all chocolates and roses either. Hell, whose had? But both she and Kane had been abandoned one way or another while growing up, so starting a family was huge for them.

  “A toast.” I held my beer up and clinked it against her margarita glass. “To a little Rouquette baby and his or her most inappropriate aunt. I can’t wait to corrupt the little bundle of joy.”

  Jade laughed. “Don’t get too carried away. We need to make one first.”

  “Oh, geez.” I made a face and put my beer down. “Let me dislodge that disturbing image. The last thing I want to think about is you and Kane bumping uglies.” I stuck my tongue out at her and swam across the pool.

  Kane was gorgeous, there was no denying that, but he was like a brother to me. Thinking about him and Jade… Ugh. No. Never. I’d rather endure Ida May’s incessant sex talk than think about that.

  Jade let out a soft giggle and floated on her back, staring up at the brilliant stars.

  I hovered near the edge of the pool and watched the singer strum her guitar as she finished out her song. She was dressed in ripped jeans and a tight camisole tank top. But she didn’t seem the least bit cold. She stood tall, her eyes closed as she focused completely on her song.

  She was mesmerizing, with her long blond hair streaming out behind her and a rasp in her voice. Her pitch and tone were dead-on, so good she should’ve been a world-wide sensation.

  I’d just turned and focused once again on the stars when I heard the high-pitched scream. Whirling, I caught sight of a person dressed in all black forcing the singer back toward the ship’s railing. He had his hands around her neck, silencing her as he dragged her.

  “Hey!” I cried, frantically swimming toward the ladder. “Stop. You’re going to kill her!”

  The attacker either didn’t hear me or didn’t care because he didn’t even so much as flinch at my outburst. Using just one hand, he yanked her off her feet, squeezed her neck until her eyes were bulging, and then grabbed both her shoulders.

  I was almost out of the pool when our eyes met. Her frantic ones pleaded into mine, and then without a word or even a struggle, the man in black threw her over the side.<
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  “No!” I cried, sprinting toward the back of the ship, dodging deck chairs and umbrellas as I went. A sharp pain stabbed at my foot, but I ignored it, my heart racing and panic flooding my body.

  There had to be an alarm, someone to tell. They had to stop the ship. “Woman overboard!” I called belatedly and rammed into the railing. The man had disappeared and I was all alone, staring into the churning water below.

  “Oh my god,” I whispered into my hand. She was nowhere to be seen. “Help!” I screamed over and over again until I felt Jade’s familiar arms circle me.

  “Pyper, what’s wrong. What happened?”

  I focused on her, my mouth working as I struggled to form words.

  “Deep breath now. What did you see?” She wrapped my robe around my shoulders and rubbed her hands up and down my arms.

  “The singer. He… the man.” My voice trembled through my chattering teeth. “He choked her and then threw her overboard.”

  Her brows drew together in confusion. “What singer?”

  “The one who was playing the guitar.” I frantically scanned the dark waters below. “We have to tell someone. They have to search for her.”

  “I didn’t hear a singer,” Jade said almost to herself.

  “Does it matter? I saw it happen. Jade, we have to get help.” I gripped the rail of the ship until my hands ached. “That man is dangerous.”

  She stepped back and frowned. “Are you sure that’s what you saw?”

  “Jade!”

  She held her hands up. “I’m not trying to be difficult. We can get someone, but I think it’s better if we go find Julius and Kane first.”

  I shook my head, an ache forming over my left eye as I pointed toward the water. “She’s out there, and every second is critical.” I took off running toward the doors that led to the bar we’d been in earlier, but before I could grab the door handle, Jade stopped me.

  “Listen. I didn’t see anything. I think what you saw wasn’t real.”

  “Of course it was real.” I shook her off. “I heard her singing and then she screamed when he attacked her.”

  She nodded. “I’m sure you did. But I didn’t. I heard you scream and watched you scramble out of the pool. But I didn’t hear or see anything else. And what’s more, I didn’t feel anyone but you.”

  Jade was an empath. Sensing other people’s emotions was an everyday thing for her. She could block them out if she wanted to, but it took effort. If she hadn’t been trying and she hadn’t felt anyone but me, that could only mean one thing.

  “No one was there.”

  “No one alive anyway,” she added gently.

  All the tension drained from my shoulders as realization hit. “They were ghosts.”

  She nodded slowly, her lips set in a frown. “I think you just witnessed an unsolved mystery.”

  “Huh?”

  “Come with me.” She grabbed my wrist and pulled me in a new direction, toward the doors that led to our staterooms. “I have something to show you.”

  3

  Jade crossed her stateroom—the one right next to the room Julius and I shared—with a thick, spiral-bound binder. She’d changed into jeans and a fitted T-shirt, and with her freshly washed face, she looked like she’d just stepped out of a cosmetics commercial.

  I, on the other hand, had my hair tied up in a haphazard bun and was wearing yoga pants and an old, faded Prince T-shirt I’d gotten back in high school.

  Sitting next to me on the couch, Jade flipped to the glossary in the back and then to the page she was looking for. “Maximus managed to obtain a dossier from the cruise line on all the unusual activity that’s ever happened aboard this ship. Kane already took a copy to Julius.”

  “And you read this entire thing before you met me at the bar?” I asked, my tone incredulous as I peered at the page.

  She let out a small chuckle. “No, but I did flip through it. A mysterious disappearance is kind of hard to miss.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Right there at the top of the page was a picture of the woman I’d seen singing near the pool. Her hair was different, not long and flowing but short and shaved on one side of her head. Even so, there was no doubt it was her. I sucked in a tiny breath, both relieved I hadn’t witnessed a live murder, and disturbed I hadn’t realized I’d been watching an apparition. I’d had no idea.

  “It says here her name’s Vienna Vox. She was the lead singer of the Black Magic Witches, a band that was on the rise ten years ago before she mysteriously vanished.” Jade grimaced and pointed to a passage below the woman’s picture.

  I read out loud. “Vox came from a long line of witches located on the Eastern Seaboard. She showed moderate ability with the craft.”

  “Of course she did,” Jade said, irritation coloring her words as she got up to pace.

  “So? Most everyone you know is a witch.”

  Jade was the leader of the New Orleans coven. Witches were her thing. Ghosts were mine. Seemed we were the perfect team for investigating whatever I’d witnessed.

  “It’s the black-magic part. She named her band Black Magic Witches. If she was dabbling in dark spells, we could be opening Pandora’s box by poking into this.”

  “True, but if she was, I find it hard to believe she’d be so bold to advertise that fact in her band name.” No one was that stupid, were they?

  “One would hope.” She reached into a plain paper bag sitting on the dresser, pulled out two fancy chocolate cupcakes, and offered me one. “How about a little pick-me-up before we go inform the men about our newest discovery?”

  The corner of my mouth twitched into a smile. “Jade, my friend, I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

  “It’s at the end of the hall,” Jade said.

  We were on the main deck, heading toward the suite Julius and Kane were investigating, when a tall dark-haired girl stumbled out of her room with a bottle of Jack in her hand. She wore skintight leather pants, an illusion top with sparkling silver crystals, and matching silver boots. Black mascara ran down her makeup-coated face as she tried and failed to stay upright on her five-inch heels.

  “Whoa,” she cried out and grabbed for the door handle but went down in a heap anyway, the whiskey drenching the royal-blue carpet.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, giving her a hand.

  “Am I okay?” she asked in a smoky voice. Shaking her head, she stared up at me with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. “No one’s okay. Not anymore.”

  “I’m sure it isn’t that bad,” Jade said unconvincingly as she took a step back, carefully putting distance between them. No doubt the woman’s volatile emotions were slamming into her. With booze-impaired inhibitions, the woman would be an open book and Jade would find it harder to block her out.

  “Here.” I clasped the woman’s hand and pulled, tugging her up onto her feet. Her fingers gripped mine so tight I bit back a wince. Holy crow, she was strong. “Where are you headed?”

  “Sound check.” She slurred her words and swayed slightly when she pulled her hand from mine.

  “You’re putting on a show tonight?” I asked, giving Jade a look of alarm. This woman needed to sleep it off, not get on stage.

  “Every night. I’m Muse, the lead singer for Unleashed.”

  “Right. Of course.” Unleashed was headlining the ship’s entertainment for the week. They’d had a hit six or seven years ago but hadn’t been heard from much since. No wonder they were playing cruise ships. “I’m Pyper, and this is my friend Jade.”

  Muse gave us a halfhearted nod and took a step back, leaning against the wall. The sound of a phone buzzing came from her back pocket. When she finally retrieved it, she let out a groan. “I’m late. And Jake’s pissed.”

  She held the phone out. There was a text in all caps:

  GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE. NOW! OR WE’RE GIVING THE VOCALS TO TRIST.

  “Trist’s a hack singer. Can’t do anything without Auto-Tune. But this time I think Jake might mean it.” She turned her
soulful eyes on me. “I can’t even blame him. I’ve completely effed up.”

  Oh, get over yourself, Ida May’s voice came from behind me. At least your date didn’t run off with another woman after you fondled his family jewels.

  I refrained from turning my head to acknowledge her arrival. It would only encourage her.

  “Who are you?” Muse asked, staring over my shoulder.

  I spun, seeing no one but Ida May.

  You can see me? Ida May’s dark eyes were huge with wonder.

  Muse nodded. “Why wouldn’t I?” She cast Ida May an appreciative glance, scanning her body from head to toe. “Damn, girl. Look at you. Sexy.”

  Ida May blushed and then preened as she floated past me and slipped her arm through Muse’s. So are you. Love the hair. But you’re going to need to do something about that makeup. Raccoon eyes are never a good look.

  Muse stumbled down the hall with Ida May beside her.

  Jade gave me a questioning look.

  “Ida May. Muse can see her. They have a mutual-admiration thing going on.” I jerked my head toward them. “Come on. Let’s make sure Muse makes it to the theater in one piece.” Without going over the railing of the deck, I added silently, unwilling to let the drunk singer out of my sight.

  After witnessing a girl—even if she had been a ghost—go overboard, I couldn’t in good conscience let this one wander around unattended in her inebriated state. And Ida May as an escort did not count.

  Jade nodded at me, indicating her agreement, but we stayed a few paces back.

  “Muse is a mess of guilt,” Jade whispered to me. “And fear.”

  I frowned. “I wonder what that’s about.”

  Jade shrugged. “Could be anything.”

  We were silent as we followed the weaving Muse through the ship to the theater. Ida May kept up a running chatter about someone named Elias from the Green Parrot she’d been frequenting earlier, but I tuned her out, watching the woman. She was tall and lanky, with long, wavy, honey-blond hair, and even in her altered state, she had a kind of swagger only a rock star could pull off. Impressive.