by Deanna Chase
Cal’s mouth was frozen into an O, his lips unmoving, thank goodness. The last thing I needed was for him to get the wrong idea and start kissing me.
Ice-cold air filled my mouth and lungs as I forcefully removed the ghost from Cal. My head swam as I swayed on my feet. I couldn’t see. A pale grayness clouded my vision. There was nothing but cold.
Let him go, the faint sound of Lily’s voice echoed deep in my mind.
Disoriented, I stilled and blinked, trying to peer through the fog.
Release him! Lily’s voice was stronger now, demanding.
I dropped my hands and stepped back. My vision cleared, but I was still frozen to the bone and shivering. Anger and hatred coursed through my veins, and a low growl rumbled from deep in my throat.
Cal stood in front of me, his eyes wide and skin pale. “What did you do?” he asked, his tone shaky.
Unable to speak, I shook my head, clutching at my arms. My fingernails dug into my skin, biting so hard I wondered if I’d draw blood.
Pyper! Lily’s unusually angry voice rang in my head. What are you doing?
I had no idea how to answer her. The rage storming inside me made me want to crawl right out of my skin. Nothing else mattered. I opened my mouth and screamed.
10
An inhuman sound came from me, ringing in my ears. It was so loud it drowned out all the voices and music from the after-hours chocolate party that was still in full swing. But I didn’t care. The ice freezing my lungs started to melt, and my blood heated my skin as I fell to my knees, expelling everything I had, forcing the ghost from my lips.
Gray smoke swirled in front of me, rolling and turning, forming incoherent shapes until finally I was spent, silent, all the rage and frustration cast out, right along with Bootlegger.
The ghost solidified and stood right in front of me, his green eyes blazing with hatred. “You’ll pay for this, medium.”
Then with a loud pop, he vanished.
I slumped to the side, gasping in air, too weak to stand on my own. Holy cowbells. Is that what it was like for Jade and Julius when they were wielding spells? I shook my head. I hadn’t used magic, just sheer will. But it cost me. My eyelids were heavy, and moving my limbs felt like wading through quicksand.
“Oh, honey.” Boho Lady knelt down and offered me a hand. “It was only a silly competition. So you came in fourth. At least you beat Penis Pop Guy.”
I stared up at her, my brows pinched. Was she serious? For the love of… I just nodded. Was it better for her to think I’d lost my mind over a competition? Probably. Explaining to a stranger that I’d just exorcised a ghost from Cal probably wouldn’t go over too well.
“I… uh, just tripped. Can you help me up?” I lifted my heavy arm out to her.
She raised one skeptical eyebrow. “Tripped? With a scream like that, you’d think someone had ripped your heart out.”
Glancing around at the unconcerned crowd, I wondered exactly how loud I’d actually been.
“Here, let’s get you up.” Boho Lady finally took my hand and hauled me to my feet with surprising strength.
“Did I make a fool of myself?” I asked, clutching the nearest table.
She shook her head. “No, you were mostly blocked by Penis Pop Guy. And the crowd was too busy cheering for the winner to notice you.” She waved an impatient hand at Scarlett, who was obnoxiously posing for pictures and waving at the group of guys Cal had come in with.
Cal was standing off to the side of her, shifting from foot to foot as he stared at me, no doubt wondering if I’d lost my freakin’ mind.
I must’ve started screaming right after the announcement was made, otherwise there was no way I’d have gone unnoticed. That was something at least. “I need to get out of here.”
“This way.” Boho Lady pointed me toward a side exit. “That leads out to the pool area. If you hurry, you can get out of here before the reporter is done with Scarlett. They usually interview all the contestants for their shipboard newsletter. Judging by your pale face and shaking limbs, I’m guessing that’s out of the question.”
I held one hand out, noting the small tremors still shooting through me. Yikes. Yeah, time to go. I nodded. “Thanks.”
She helped me to the exit, held the door open, and then waved. “Get some sugar in your system. It’ll help.”
I choked out a huff of laughter as the door closed softly behind me. All that time in the chocolate bar, and I hadn’t tasted one darn thing. Didn’t that just suck donkey butt.
I stared across the deck at the pool, the same one Jade and I had been swimming in earlier. The one we’d been in when I’d witnessed the murder of Vienna Vox. Damn, that had seemed like ages ago. Days even. Had it really only been five hours?
The wind of the Gulf picked up, chilling me. I wrapped my arms around myself and moved toward the entrance that led back to our stateroom. Would Julius be waiting for me? Or was he still in the ballroom? The thought of going back inside to face the party made bile rise in the back of my throat. I was done. Completely done with people—and ghosts for that matter. If I didn’t get some rest, I was going to collapse.
I slipped through the heavy door back into the ship’s interior. When I was halfway down the hallway, I stopped dead in my tracks and let out a small, startled gasp. Cal had appeared from an adjoining hallway right in front of me.
“Whoa,” he said softly, grasping my upper arms lightly to keep me steady on my feet.
I glanced down at his hands and then back at him, raising both eyebrows.
“Sorry.” He let go instantly. “You just looked a little unsteady there for a minute. I didn’t want you to fall. Helping was the least I could do after what you did for me back there.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I mumbled, wondering what exactly it was he thought I did.
He let out a snort. “No? Because it seems to me that something happened. And whatever you did fixed it.”
“I…” I let out a sigh. He deserved to know he’d been possessed, didn’t he? What if Bootlegger came back? What if he tried it again? “You’re right. Something did happen.”
He leaned a shoulder against the wall, waiting.
“I don’t know where to start.” I bit my bottom lip, hating that I sounded so unsure of myself. That wasn’t me. I was a straight shooter. Always telling it like it was. But when it came to ghosts and the supernatural, one never knew how people were going to take things.
“How about you explain to me why I didn’t have control over my actions.” His face was troubled. “One minute I was having fun with my buddies, drinking a little rum, and the next…” He scrubbed his hand down his face. “The next I had my tongue down that woman’s throat, but I swear on my mother it felt as if I was possessed or something. Jeesum. I have a girlfriend. A fiancée actually, just as soon as I get around to asking her. I was waiting until we got to Jamaica. Sunset proposal. The works. But now…”
Oh goodness. My heart sank. “Your girlfriend… was she in the audience?”
He nodded and averted his eyes.
“Cal?” I placed a light hand on his arm.
He all but flinched as he took a step back, putting distance between us.
I grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m not Scarlett. I’m spoken for too.”
“It’s not that. Well, maybe it is. I just would hate for her to come find me talking to you and get the wrong idea. I mean, I know we weren’t kissing, but I can’t be sure what it would look like to her. And even if she did believe me about you, I sure as hell was kissing that other woman. But…” He paused, staring over my shoulder.
I glanced back. The hallway was empty. Thank goodness. “You weren’t kissing her at all,” I supplied, deciding he should know the truth no matter how fantastic it might seem to him. If his girl was going to dump his butt, he at least deserved to not have to carry the guilt that was so clearly swimming in his blue gaze.
“No?” He let out choked laughter. “I don’t know who you were looking at
, but it couldn’t have been me. I can still taste the chocolate from her lips.”
I shook my head. “No. What I mean to say is that you were kissing her against your will. Or at least you didn’t have the control to say yes or no.”
“I don’t—”
“Hold on.” I stared into his eyes, holding his gaze. “Right after you downed the rum, did you have the feeling that you were present but that your brain wasn’t communicating with the rest of your body? Like you were just a visitor, forced to watch from the sidelines while someone else called the shots?”
He sucked in a breath. “Sort of.”
I nodded. “That’s because someone else had possession of your body.”
“Possession?” His face crumpled with confusion, then almost instantly morphed into skepticism. “Is this some sort of joke? Are you seriously standing here, telling me I was possessed?”
Crap. He was a nonbeliever. Well, it hardly mattered now. He was going to get the truth whether he liked it or not. What he did with it was his business. No one was likely to lock me up for making up ghost stories, were they? Not anyone on this ship, not after Julius had been called in to take care of paranormal activity in one of the staterooms.
“Listen. I’m a medium. Do you know what that means?”
His eyebrows rose in surprise, then the corner of his mouth twitched into a tiny smile. “You pretend to hear people’s dead relatives and give them false hope?”
“Cute.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “No, I don’t pretend to see anyone or give anyone false hope. But I do see and hear ghosts every once in a while.”
“You’re saying there was a ghost here tonight? And that ghost possessed me?” The mocking was gone now, replaced by a hint of curiosity. Maybe there was hope for him.
“Yes. Actually there were two ghosts in there. Ida May, the one who thinks we’re BFFs. She followed me on the cruise and is mostly harmless. The other one though, Bootlegger. I believe he’s tied to the ship.”
“Bootlegger.” Cal said the word as if he was talking to himself and frowned in concentration.
“Yeah. He was swimming in the rum when you drank it and decided to take your body for a spin. He kissed Scarlett… uh, the brunette in the red dress. Not you.”
He crossed his hands over his chest and stared down at me. “And where do you come in? What was that when you… you know, sort of kissed me.”
My head was starting to pulse, and I rubbed my temple above my left eye. “I didn’t kiss you. I sucked Bootlegger out of your body.”
His eyes widened. “Into yours? That sounds disturbing.”
“No. I mean, he was there momentarily, and that’s why I ended up screaming. That dispelled him.”
“That’s good. Except where is this ghost now?” He glanced over his shoulder as if searching for the body invader.
I shrugged. “No idea. He used too much energy. Depending on how strong he is, he’ll be back sooner or later.”
“And can he do that again? Should I be wary of drinking or eating anything else? Should I tell my friends?”
All good questions. And I didn’t have an answer to any of them. “Honestly, I don’t know. If I were you, I’d stick to unopened bottled beverages for now. At least until I can see about making sure he can’t possess anyone else.”
Cal crossed his arms over his chest. “Can you really do that?”
“I hope so.” Then I gestured down the hallway at a tall, slim blonde who was headed right for him, her fists clenched and her jaw out. “I think you have company.”
He spun. “Beth! There you are.”
Beth shifted her gaze to me and scowled.
“Sorry,” I whispered to him as I moved past him. When I got to Beth, I added, “Go easy on him. He’s had a rough night.”
She stopped dead in her tracks and gaped at me.
“I’m in room 1008. Come find me if you have questions.” I didn’t know why I added that last bit. Maybe because I was sure she was going to think he was lying his ass off. And the thought of him losing the woman he wanted to marry because some ghost decided to use Cal’s body as his personal playground was too revolting. Bootlegger had already violated Cal’s body. I wasn’t going to stand by and let the ghost shatter his heart too.
Beth just stared at me with her mouth open as I passed her. I couldn’t blame her. After the night she’d had, I’d probably gape at a crazy person too.
Some of my strength had returned to my limbs, but not much. Fatigue weighed me down, and instead of heading back into the ballroom to look for Julius, I sent him a quick text and pointed myself toward our room.
But just as I rounded the corner of the corridor leading to the staterooms, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Vienna Vox stood just inside an open elevator, longing and pain mixing in her dark, haunted eyes as she reached out to the man in front of her.
The man who happened to be my Julius.
11
“Julius?” I whispered, not wanting to disturb any connection he might have with the ghost.
But he didn’t hear me. Or if he did, he didn’t acknowledge me.
Tears streamed down Vienna’s sweet face as her lips curled into a sad, almost wistful smile. Who did she think he was? Had they known each other?
I pressed a hand to my stomach, trying to dispel the sinking feeling in my gut. Julius hadn’t lived during her time, but they could’ve met as ghosts. At least I assumed they could have.
“Vivi,” Julius said, his voice choked as his fingers reached hers. The pair clasped hands, their knuckles going white as they held on tight, both staring at the connection.
Magic crackled around them, and a burst of light nearly blinded me. I squinted, unsure of what I was seeing.
Then I let out an audible gasp and ran forward, reaching for Julius. He was pouring power into Vienna, both hands outstretched, magic crackling from his fingertips and straight into her chest. She had her head thrown back, her arms spread wide as she welcomed the magic. Magic that was filling her, turning her more solid.
“Julius!” I cried. “Stop!”
What was he doing? Trying to bring her back from the dead?
But he didn’t falter. His focus was one hundred percent on the rock star ghost. Her head tilted up at the sound of my voice. Our eyes met and something stirred there. Recognition?
“Vienna?” I asked.
Her gaze tracked me as I moved forward.
“Do you know who killed you? Who threw you over the railing of the ship?”
She nodded once, her gaze shifting back to Julius.
This was good. His magic was fortifying her, helping her to stay coherent. Was he strong enough to bring her back to our world? Free her from her limbo? I prayed that was the case. “Who was it?”
Her eyes narrowed, then widened as she pointed in Julius’s direction.
“What?” That couldn’t be true. Julius had been a ghost when she’d been killed. And he’d been trapped in a hotel on Bourbon Street. “Are you sure?”
Her lips turned down into a nasty snarl as her dark eyes turned almost feral. She nodded once, and before I could ask her anything else, the elevator dinged and the doors started to close.
“Vienna!” Julius and I cried at the same time. But it was too late. The door cut off Julius’s magic, and once again Vienna was gone.
Julius dropped to the floor as the brilliant light of his magic vanished. Behind us, the click of the door opening caught my attention. I spun, spotting a man in a maintenance uniform disappearing into the other room, the door slamming closed behind him. The sound echoed in the otherwise silent corridor.
Holy balls. How long had he been there? I had a moment of wondering what management would say if he brought his story to them. Or if he didn’t, who was he and why was he ambivalent about massive amounts of magic flying around the interior of the ship?
I shook my head, putting the distraction out of my mind. None of that was my concern. “Julius?” I asked, giving him my fu
ll attention.
He turned to me, recognition dawning in his eyes as his gaze landed on me. “Pyper.”
Pale and slightly out of breath, he held his arm out to me and I gladly went to him, wrapping both arms around his waist as he tucked me against his side. “What happened?” I asked him. “Where did Vienna come from?”
He shook his head. “Vienna?”
“Yeah. The ghost that was just here.”
He frowned at me. “Ghost? I thought you were trying to keep Bootlegger from possessing anyone.”
“I did. But you’d already left.” Warning bells went off in my head. Something was way off. He’d left the ballroom early and now he seemed to have no memory of what just happened with Vienna. Maybe the magic had zapped his brain. “Are you all right?”
His arm tightened around me as he shook his head again. “Can we just go back to the room?”
“Sure.” Exhaustion was taking over, and my eyes started to water. It had to be well past one in the morning, and I’d been up since before five. Not to mention, booting Bootlegger had drained me.
We kept ahold of each other as we walked in silence back to the room. And when I saw the number 1008 come into view, I nearly cried with relief. The day had started with such promise. We’d finally had our first date, or at least tried before we ended up on the House of Horrors cruise.
Julius opened the door for me, and the moment I slipped in, I headed for the bathroom, wasting no time getting ready for bed. But instead of choosing my black lace nightie, I pulled on pajama pants and a T-shirt. Our first time was not going to be right after I’d had to sort of kiss a college kid and then suck out Bootlegger’s essence. Just no.
All I wanted to do was climb into bed and rest my head on Julius’s chest.
When I exited the bathroom, my face scrubbed and my hair tied back, Julius’s face broke out into a slow smile. “So, this is how you seduce your man?”
I laughed. “Yes. Soap in place of perfume and cotton jammies. Every man’s dream. Don’t you read Cosmo?”
Chuckling, he disappeared into the bathroom. By the time he reemerged, shirtless and in sleep shorts, I was already snuggled up in bed, facing the sliding glass door. The moon shone down, bouncing off the dark water, and all I could think about was Vienna and her scream as she plunged to her death.