“But why would you bother?” He was hiding something. I could tell there was more to this story.
His eyes hardened when they met mine. “I didn’t agree to her request to humor an old woman on her deathbed. She was very important to me. I promised her something and simply followed it through.”
“How noble of you,” I said with a snort.
“You wanted to know.”
“Yes, I did.” I tilted my face to the sky. The sun was much lower now. Red lines along the horizon rimmed the scattered clouds gray. I didn’t know how long we’d been in this silent cemetery together, but it would probably be close to shutting time now. I was feeling a little angry at the moment. Angry someone could’ve gotten away with watching me for so long without my knowledge. Was I really that aloof, so self-involved and careless I allowed someone to watch my progress during the years without a single clue? Who else could be watching me? Was someone watching me from a distance right now?
I looked around, uncomfortably, arms crossed to keep from shivering on this muggy evening. The cool breeze of ghostly activity hit me from several directions.
Something else bothered me, the thought of another man in Grandma’s life. I loved my grandfather so much I couldn’t help but wonder how much of this he actually knew.
“You also wanted to know what I did to you before.”
My head shot back down, forgetting about the sky and the sudden bout of paranoia. “I thought you said you didn’t do anything.”
“What I didn’t do is hurt you, I didn’t lie about that. But I did absorb some of the power you have flowing through you.” He said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if everyone went around sipping each other’s essence on a regular basis. Who did this man think he was anyway?
“Absorbed? You actually took some from me?” I wondered how that was possible. “How can you do such a thing?”
“I didn’t take any of it, just merely tasted it.”
“But how can you possibly do something like that?”
Oren lowered his eyes. “The best way to hunt a witch is to be one.”
After that bombshell, I turned on my heel and ran the other way. There was nothing this man could say to me now that would keep me anywhere near him.
My curiosity had once again led me astray, but I didn’t have to stay on this path. Not if it meant having to deal with the creepy Oren McKee.
The office was somewhere I could go to seek refuge from everything else. Where I could take the time to think or forget about the constant strains and troubles in my life. This time it was a little of both.
Of course, I was also doing the best I could to forget what had happened the last time I’d attempted to hide out inside my office. If it hadn’t been for that darn address, I never would’ve stumbled on any of this.
Oren’s revelation had been too much.
I find ghosts, but I’m not one of them, and I was damn sure those other hunters weren’t demons, vampires or werewolves. So why was he a witch? More importantly, why was Oren McKee allowed to walk among us with witchcraft at his disposal? I suppose I could’ve—no, should’ve—asked him, but after the revelation, I had to walk away.
The memory of his pink eyes was branded inside my brain. He actually had the nerve to take power from me. He might have called it a “taste”, but I called it stealing.
Things were going to be a little uncomfortable the next time we met with Burr. At least in the meantime I could ignore Oren’s phone calls.
It took me longer than I expected to find my way out of the cemetery. I got lost, thanks to several stranded spirits who hounded me even when I pretended I couldn’t see them. Every step managed to get me deeper and deeper into the concrete jumble of the buried dead. With my head filled with a thousand thoughts, I just couldn’t see straight.
In the end, I had to jump the fence because the gates were locked and night had fallen. The 4WD parked in front of my car had left, so it probably did belong to Oren.
I didn’t bother scouting the area to check if someone was following me or not. I was so mentally exhausted that I drove around without any sense of direction for an hour, eventually ending up at the office on pure instinct.
Personal revelations are never a good thing, especially when they come from complete strangers who claim to know you and can successfully hide their true nature.
What the hell was going on with my life?
I’d ruined a potentially wonderful night with my boyfriend so I could meet an old guy with declarations that sounded more like riddles. And I’d almost managed to forget the real reason Oren called me there in the first place. The physical leak in the fibers was puzzling. At least I’d gotten that much from the incident.
As for the statements regarding my power and Grandma, I’d think about them another time. At the moment, I was happy to sit in the dark alone, like a mushroom.
“Are you in here, Fox?”
I switched on the desk lamp when I recognized the voice calling out from behind the office door. “Yeah, come on in, Papan.”
He pushed the door and entered with a smile on his handsome face. “Are you working late again, or were you secretly waiting for me to pop in?” The wink made my stomach flutter, forcing erotic images from the dream I’d had about him to the surface with a rush of heat.
I sucked in a breath. “I wasn’t exactly working.”
“Yeah, right, the workaholic tries to cover her tracks.” Papan laughed and I felt the sound more than heard it. Jason Papan is tall, in his early thirties, with dark blond hair and eyes the strangest shade of green I’ve ever seen. Sometimes they look a mossy green, others hazel, and even a little on the amber side. The shade changes depending on the light, just like Ebony’s choice of nail polish.
“I could say the same about you.”
“Of course you could. But unlike you, I actually have to work extra hours if I want to make ends meet.” He stopped near Ebony’s desk, and I couldn’t look away from the dimple on his left cheek. “And I’m always hoping that you decide to pay me a midnight visit, Foxy Lady.”
I gulped. He likes to call me Fox, or Foxy Lady when he’s feeling flirtatious. I call him Papan, no matter how I’m feeling. Right now, I was feeling a little excited, still recalling bits and pieces of the naughty dream I’d had. I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked with a smirk.
Papan fell into the chair usually occupied by Ebony and it squeaked beneath his weight. He stared at me from across the desks with an amused expression. That’s how he always looked at me. “It means that I wouldn’t mind if you paid me a visit wearing nothing but a trench coat and a nice pair of red heels.”
“I don’t wear heels.”
He closed his eyes and sat back. “In my fantasies, you wear heels quite often.”
Heat warmed my face and I was glad we were almost in the dark. What the hell were we doing? As usual, he was teasing me. Though, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was any truth to his so-called fantasy.
I cleared my throat. “So, Papan, what are you doing in the office tonight?”
Papan opened his eyes and shrugged. That cheeky grin didn’t leave his lips and cute matching dimples now appeared on each cheek. Did he always have to look so sexy? “Oh, I don’t know, putting in some overtime…and still getting nowhere near as much as you spook catchers get paid. What I earn is peanuts compared to what you guys make per visit.”
“Stop bitching, I know you’ve got clientele.” My insides were quivering. Why was he having this effect on me? Oh, who was I kidding? Papan always made my insides turn to jelly.
“Which reminds me”—Papan took a deep breath, his face hidden by the shadows reflecting in from the windows behind me—“did that lady eventually come to you, a Mrs. Hocking?”
“Yes, thanks for referring her. She’s got some freaky problems. Listen, did you ever uncover anything about this so-called cult she mentioned?” I need
ed any lead I could get at the moment. I was actually glad Papan had dropped in. At least he’d turned my focus back to something I could deal with—work. He might’ve started with cheekiness, but it looked like we were back on track.
“Ah, I was wondering if she would mention it to you.” He pressed back against the chair, eyes still on mine. “When she approached me, it seemed to be her focal point. She raved on about how these mysterious people brainwashed her husband, stole his identity and eventually his life, but I think the person she should’ve suspected the most was him. He was into some heavy witchcraft. Honestly, you have to get out there, Sierra. All those books and apparatus, I didn’t know what the hell I was looking at. But I was able to find out that these people she called a cult are actually something very different.”
“What do you mean?”
Papan leaned forward, elbows on the desk, without breaking eye contact. “Tell me, did your little assistant appear uncomfortable while the Hocking woman was here?”
I shook my head. “Ebony? Nah, why? I mean, she was freaked out by the whole thing, but other than that, no more outrageous than usual.”
“Ah, well. She’s good, I’ll give her that.”
“Papan, spill the beans, you’ve lost me.”
“Look, all I’m trying to say is that maybe you should talk to her about the group that meets in the abandoned church on the corner of Wallace and Trent. I found your assistant there while I was scouting the area.” His eyes were shiny in the dark. They looked a little freaky, almost glowing.
“Are you sure?” It didn’t make sense. What would Ebony be doing down there? And why wouldn’t she tell me about it? She’d had plenty of opportunity after Carleen Hocking left. We’d been alone for several hours. “Did you approach her?”
He shook his head and a blond strand of hair fell over his face. “Nah, I was undercover, but I’m positive it was her.”
“That’s odd.”
“Yes, odd. Just be careful with who you trust, okay, Fox?”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean? Just spell it out for me, okay? Pretend I’m some dumb idiot who finds it hard to grasp things and tell me slowly. I just spent a whole afternoon with someone full of riddles.” I pushed the chair back and stood. Then strolled over to Ebony’s desk, pressed my butt against it, and peered down at Papan.
He pushed his elbows off the desk, leaning back into the chair again. Papan looked good tonight, better than I’d ever seen him. Maybe he was finally taking care of himself. His wiry frame seemed a little heavier, which probably meant he was back to working out.
No, I didn’t want to think about Papan shirtless and sweating while he lifted weights.
A memory struck my mind. I tried to shove it away, didn’t need access to this particular flashback while we were this close, his pants touching my leg.
We were upstairs, in his office.
I’d dropped off some mail accidentally delivered to our office instead of his and he’d taken me by total surprise, pressing me up against the back of his door, holding my wrists above my head as his lips pressed down on mine, wrapping me up in a breathless kiss.
Only our lips touched, almost as if he’d gone out of his way to keep our bodies apart. Teasing and causing my body heat to rise, and my desire to peak…
A promise of so much more that never developed into anything. It happened shortly before meeting Jonathan.
I hadn’t thought of our kiss in a long while because Papan mostly kept his distance nowadays. Job referrals were how we got along. I was actually surprised he was here now, but was glad because I found comfort in being this close to Papan.
“Earth to Fox, is anybody home?” He was propped forward in the chair, one hand waving in front of my face while the other clung to the armrest.
“Ha, ha,” I said, getting my mind out of the gutter. I had to avoid his eyes, afraid he might see what I’d been thinking. Somehow, Papan always managed to distract me with his looks. There was something very alluring about him.
“Anyway, all I’m saying is that sometimes the people we think we can trust the most, can’t be trusted at all.” Papan paused long enough for me to digest his words. This was definitely a message. “And sometimes they pay good money to find out more about you.”
My eyes widened in shock. “Are you telling me someone hired you to spy on me? Is that the real reason why you’re here?”
He shook his head and stood. “No, I’m here because I happened to pass by on my way home, that’s all.” The twinkle in his eyes said otherwise.
“Who’s paying you for info about me?”
Papan was so close the heat of his body caressed mine. “You know I can’t tell you. I’ve signed a contract, which confidentially binds me to the client. But I can tell you they’re paying a hell of a lot of money to find out what type of cases you’re delving into. Maybe they’re hoping to beat you to them.”
The Spook Catcher Council! It had to be them. The way he emphasized they’re was too obvious. How desperate were they getting if they needed to hire someone working in the same building to keep tabs on me?
I couldn’t help but laugh. Papan. They expected insights about me from Papan? Obviously the Council had no idea about our dynamics.
He took a strand of my hair between his index finger and thumb. “Why does that boyfriend of yours let you out of his sight?” It was a whisper, but I heard it loud and clear.
I looked up to meet his eyes, inhaling the scent of his sweet yet masculine aftershave. “What’s it to you?”
“If you were mine, I’d be all over you all the time.” His fingers released my hair, only to run down my T-shirt sleeve until they were on my heated skin.
I was starting to feel dizzy at the touch of his coarse fingers. It wasn’t that I wanted Papan, because I was pretty sure my heart was full of desire for Jonathan, but being this close to someone I’d once been attracted to was a dangerous thing. Heck, was I still attracted to him, even now? I sighed. “Well, you let me slip away.” Why did I sound so husky?
His eyes were so close I couldn’t make out the color. My pulse raced when his hand moved back up my arm, sleeve and then caressed my cheek. “You didn’t even give me a chance to make a move before you found someone else. I like to take my time to woo a woman, Fox.”
My eyes closed involuntarily. “I didn’t know your intentions. One kiss doesn’t mean anything.”
“What about two?” Papan’s breath was on my face, warm and sweet. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know his lips were hovering dangerously close to mine.
“Papan, I’m with someone.”
“I don’t see him here. But I’m here, Foxy Lady.”
I opened my eyes then. Our lips inched closer as the argument I’d had with Jonathan spun around inside my head, followed by the bizarre conversation with Oren. The peppermint scent of Papan’s breath on my lips made everything else dim. This wasn’t supposed to feel right but it did. We were alone in my office, late at night, finally stepping over the line our flirting had led to.
No one else would know.
Besides, Jonathan didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. Wasn’t that what he’d meant when he told me to go? So was this really wrong? My body was reaching boiling point with the lid pushed down so tight it was ready to explode. Maybe Papan could be the one to relieve all of my pent-up tension.
I had no doubt he wouldn’t disappoint.
As I surrendered to the situation, his lips brushed mine and a voice interrupted the movement. “So, is this the urgent business you had to attend to tonight?”
I froze, my heart turning cold inside my chest at the sound of Jonathan’s voice.
Chapter Ten
“Jonathan?”
Papan broke the brief contact by taking a quick step back. The heat in his eyes diminished at the awkwardness of the situation. He straightened, holding both arms up in surrender as he continued to walk away as if I were contaminated. He refused to meet my gaze and instead headed for t
he door Jonathan was blocking. He was going for a quick getaway.
“Well? Is this why you cancelled tonight?”
“What’re you doing here?” I asked, not knowing what else to say.
“I thought I’d come by to see if you were here, just took a chance. I didn’t know I’d find you with another guy. You know if you wanted someone else, all you had to do was call it quits with me!” He sounded angry, and who could blame him?
Jonathan turned to Papan as the other man neared the door, rage burning in his eyes.
The two exchanged a hard look for several seconds before Jonathan stepped aside.
“We didn’t do anything, buddy,” Papan said, leaving in a flash. He didn’t even bother to look my way, just fled the scene as fast as he could.
Why the hell did I care anyway? Well, aside from feeling like a total idiot.
I shook my head, trying to push away the temporary insanity. What the hell had almost happened with Papan? Sure I liked him, he’s a good guy, but aside from that one kiss in his office I hadn’t given us much thought. Just assumed it was something he’d wanted to get out of his system. Maybe I used to have a crush on him at one time, but right now we were just friends—colleagues. We were good that way.
He kept his distance most of the time. So why had we almost made a mistake I would surely regret? Why hadn’t I been able to control myself? And why was I having dirty dreams about Papan and not Jonathan?
If you tell yourself that all you and Papan have is a business arrangement enough times, you might eventually believe it.
I took a deep breath and released it.
Maybe I still had a soft spot for Papan. After all, he was good looking, nice, kind and he’d come along to find me in a strange emotional place. I was still human.
It was time to end this game of itching desire with Jonathan.
Jonathan stood by the open door, looking at me, fists at his sides. “Tell me the truth, Sierra. No more games. Are you cheating on me with that guy?”
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