Haunted
Page 7
“Some.”
“How’s the neighborhood.”
“Well”—Adam leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees—“funny you should ask. Remember the story about my ex and the ghost at Cothron House? I might have missed something there.”
For the first time all morning, Noel blinked, the conversational right turn shocking him out of his mental foreplay. “And…?”
“I know we’ve only tried this once, and the results weren’t completely pleasant, but I’m wondering if you’d be up for a road trip.”
“A road trip?” Noel started to get pissed, the heat in his belly turning to annoyance. Adam had seriously just come to fuck with him.
“Yeah. I figure what happened to you was real, so maybe I did Annemarie a disservice by blowing off her experience.” Adam spoke quickly, as if he knew he was losing his audience. “And…here”—he passed the Big Five bag to Noel—“I got this for you.”
The bag held a football helmet, black and gold with a fleur de lis on the side. I figured what happened to you was real… Noel’s annoyance morphed into something more satisfying.
“I went with the Saints, because your hometown teams suck.”
Noel shook his head, scowling hard to stifle a smile. “If you’d found a Raiders helmet, you could have had me.”
Adam gave a frustrated laugh, head dropping into his hands. “Obviously.”
Nudging him with a knee, Noel gave up fighting the urge to grin. “I’m driving.”
“You’re kind of an asshole.”
Noel bumped him again. “Wait’ll you see me behind the wheel.”
Adam laughed, and Noel gave him his best psycho-queen smirk. It wasn’t a plane ticket home—hell, who knew if he’d ever work as a cop again—but for the first time in months, he had something to look forward to.
The End
Curious about Adam’s neighbors?
Dear readers,
We originally conceived Haunted while wondering what Thad and Sara’s neighbors might think of all the goings on at the house in the Garden District. For those of you who have read Vespers and Nocturne, you might recognize some of the events that intrigue Noel and Adam.
If you are a new reader and want to find out more about the fire and the mysterious episode in Lafayette Cemetery No.1, we invite you to check out Vespers and Nocturne.
If you want to see more of Noel and Adam, please let us know. This story was originally intended to be a little lagniappe to the Hours of the Night series, but we can’t deny we’re curious about what our reluctant spiritualists might get up to next.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Liv & Irene
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The Hours of the Night
Vespers (Hours of the Night Book 1)
115-year-old Catholic vampire. 22-year-old agnostic college student. A small error in hiring protocol.
Bonfire (Hours of the Night Book 1.5)
Thaddeus and Sarasija spend their first Christmas together in the bayou, but mysterious lights in the swamp may overshadow the holiday festivities.
Nocturne (Hours of the Night Book 2)
It’s Mardi Gras, cher, but this year le bon temps kick off with murder…
Benedictus (Hours of the Night Book 3)
Coming in 2018
Change of Heart by Liv Rancourt
Preacher always said New Orleans was a den of sin, so of course Clarabelle had to see for herself. Thaddeus Dupont makes a cameo appearance in this 1930s love story set in historic New Orleans.
PrescourtBooks.com