I motioned with my free hand, indicating we’d wait a bit longer.
After taking several deep breaths, Dana nodded and was about to go forward when something small and black flew by at a high rate of speed. The tiny noises it made reminded me of Burgess, who was still tucked safely in my bag.
It moved past my face and I saw it was a bat. Oddly, it reminded me a lot of the one that my bubbles had formed weeks ago in New York.
Dana’s hand shot out fast, and instinct told me she’d kill whatever the black flying creature was.
“Dana, no,” I gasped, and she stopped in mid-motion, coming just shy of hitting the bat as it flapped its wings near us, hovering in the air before darting up and toward the soft glow of overhead lights that had bugs buzzing around it.
She shot me a hard look. “Don’t tell me that you’re friends with bats now too? Is it your backup familiar?”
Looking up at the bat as it caught bugs in midair, I smiled. “We’re not friends yet, but I think by the time the night is out, that will change. And no one can replace Burgess.”
“Speaking of the little furball, where is he?” she asked.
I stood perfectly still, hoping he’d remain hidden from view. “No clue.”
Suspicion showed on her face. “Is he at my house sleeping in my shoes—again? How does he get from the Proctor House to the cabin so fast all the time?”
“I can say with all certainty that he’s not at your house or in one of your shoes,” I stated, holding up a peace sign with my free hand.
“What is that for?” she asked, nodding to my hand.
“I can’t be sure but is that Marcy’s version of Scout’s Honor?” asked Austin, making me smile wide in the process.
“It is!” I exclaimed, louder than need be.
Dana rubbed her brow. “It’s worrisome how well you already seem to know her. How is that?”
“He stops by the Proctor House a lot,” I said. “In fact, he was over the last time Stratton came by.”
“And how did that go over?” asked Dana, her tone light.
“Great,” said Austin with a roll of his eyes. “Detective Dickhead has such a sunny disposition.”
“Oh, he does,” I said, pleased someone else noticed what a ray of light Stratton was.
Dana laughed partially under her breath. “Marcy, he was being facetious.”
My eyes widened. “Really? Austin, you don’t like Stratton?”
He was quiet a second before responding. “He’s swell.”
I faced Dana more. “See. He likes him just fine.”
“Never stop being you,” she said with a wink. She then centered her focus back on Austin. “Any reason why you’re at the Proctor House so much?”
Disliking seeing Austin be put under Dana’s prosecutor microscope, I intervened. “I think Brett has him check in on us during the day.”
Austin scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah. Totally has me check in for him.”
“Really? That seems like something Brett would ask Travis to do,” said Dana to Austin. “You know, since Travis is pack and all and you’re not. Is there another reason you like stopping by there?”
The bat did another flyby, saving Austin from the hotseat.
Dana made a move to swat at it once more.
I tugged hard on her arm. “You have got to stop trying to kill everything.”
“I don’t try to kill everything,” she protested.
“I think Eunice, Dragos, Marla, some thralled vampires, a lot of stinky ghouls, and Burgess would beg to differ,” I argued.
Opening her mouth as if to counter the charges, she tipped her head and then grunted. She snapped her mouth shut.
Austin chuckled.
Dana perked. “I’ll own up to most of those except for your tree-rat. I’ve never really tried to end him. I’ve only threatened to do it.”
Burgess wiggled slightly in the bag.
“And who in the hell is Eunice?” asked Dana.
“We already had this talk in your bathroom when I was in the tub, remember?” I gave her a pointed stare.
A Cheshire cat smile spread over Austin’s face. “Y’all bathe together?”
“No,” said Dana sternly.
I patted her arm. “I ask all the time, but she always turns me down. It would really help her loosen up. And Eunice was my spider friend who lived in her apartment. She tried to murder him with a shoe. Jack told me about it.”
“Who is Jack?” asked Austin.
Dana lifted a hand. “I’ve got this one. He’s a ghost.”
Pride welled in me at the fact she’d remembered that tidbit about him. Though the jovial feeling didn’t last long as sadness started to creep in. It was quickly replaced by guilt. If something had really happened to him, and I was spending time I should be helping him looking for my birth parents instead, I’d qualify as the world’s worst friend.
“You have a pet ghost named Jack?” asked Austin, sounding intrigued.
I sighed. “He’s not a pet and I’d rather you use the term spirit. Though I’m not entirely sure that’s what Jack is—or was.”
“Was?” asked Dana. “As in he’s not around anymore?”
“No. I’ve not seen or heard from him since we came to Grimm Cove.” I blinked back my emotions and waited for her to make a joke. It was what she did.
“Sorry. I know you liked talking to him. Can I do anything to help you find him? I know I don’t see and hear the dead, but I’m really loud. I could yell or something for him. That, or I could ask Nonna to help. She might have a solution,” she said, catching me by surprise with her concern and desire to lend a hand.
“Thank you.”
She began to dance in place a bit and I stared blankly at her. “You’re trying to be actively interested in my missing spirit friend when all you really want to do is go in and use the little girl’s room, aren’t you?”
Relief showed on her face. “Ohmygod, yes!”
Austin chuckled.
“I have got to pee. Think this palace has a bathroom I can use?” asked Dana. “One that flushes and isn’t an outhouse since everything about this place screams historically accurate.”
Austin’s smile widened. “I swear we’ve got all the modern amenities here. Well, unless you count the vaults. But as far as restrooms go, I think it has fourteen. They all flush. I can show you to one.”
“Fourteen?” I blinked. “No one needs that many.”
“Marcy,” said Dana. “Let’s be honest. That means there is a higher-than-average chance the joint has a lot of bathtubs, and you know how much you love taking baths.”
My eyes widened. “Do they have bubbles?”
“We do,” said Austin. “Not sure why. No one I know here takes bubble baths. Well, Elis probably does in secret or something. Seems like a very Elis thing to do.”
I eyed him. “If you’re saying that in some way makes him less manly, you’re wrong. I love bubble baths, and I love men who take them.”
His hand shot up. “Me! They’re mine! I take bubble baths all the damn time.”
“Yeah right.” Dana groaned. “Tell me where the bathroom is so I can pee and stop watching this really pathetic attempt at getting my friend to be into you.”
Austin lowered his arm. “Hey, it’s not that pathetic, is it?”
Dana chortled as she sauntered past him. “Bathroom.”
He pointed to a large hall off to the right. “There is one that way, just under the staircase.”
“Thanks,” she said, hurrying off and disappearing from my line of sight as I remained on the front stoop.
“Marcy, do you want to come—” Austin’s words were cut off as the bat zipped past again. He ducked. “Gah! Never have I noticed a bat here before and suddenly one is dive bombing us.”
“It’s just making its greetings,” I said, understanding the bat wanted me to pay attention to something important. I glanced in the direction it flew off in, only to find the woman from the
green room there, in the distance.
She was clutching her beaded necklace again, her gaze locked firmly on me. The edges of her lips curved up marginally, indicating she was pleased, and she nodded, a second before vanishing into thin air.
“Marcy?” asked Austin. “Are you coming in?”
“In a second,” I said, hurrying back to Dana’s car. I opened the passenger door, set my bag on the seat temporarily, and then pulled off Brett’s T-shirt. I set the shirt inside on the seat before grabbing the straps of my bag.
Burgess picked then to wiggle from his hiding spot.
“Not yet,” I said out of the corner of my mouth, hoping Austin wouldn’t overhear. Once I knew Burgess was staying put for now, I put the bag over my shoulder once again and walked briskly back in the direction of the door.
Austin stood there, his mouth agape, his gaze glued to my chest, with one hand clutching the door.
“Is Marcy out there?” asked a man whom I hadn’t officially been introduced to yet, but I knew his name—Elis Van Helsing.
There was no denying the fact Austin and Elis were related. They had the trademark dark Van Helsing hair along with a number of other similar features. Elis also had a dimple on the right side of his face. He was a couple of inches taller than Austin, putting him around six and a half feet.
Elis moved up alongside Austin. A sexy grin slid over his handsome face when he saw me, and a second later, his gaze went right to my chest too. He blinked several times then tugged at his T-shirt collar.
Austin leaned toward Elis but didn’t avert his gaze from me. “You see it, right?”
I moved closer to them, sensing how tender-hearted they both were. I strongly suspected it was something neither wanted me to announce.
“Yeah. I see them, erm, it. I see it,” said Elis, clearing his throat and extending his hand to me. “How do you do, Miss Marcy. I’m Elis. Nice to finally meet them, erm, you. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself to them, shit, erm, shoot…you…last time we were together. The whole master-vampire-and-his-ghoul thing got in the way.”
“They tend to do that,” I said with a smile. “Nice to meet you too.”
He continued staring at my chest. I waited, assuming he’d stop, but he didn’t. Nor did he seem to notice the long stretch of nothingness hanging in the air.
Giving in, I took his hand in mine and I allowed his energy to wash over me, giving me a good read of him. My smile widened as a barrage of information flooded me. Powerless to stop what happened next, I began to say what I was picking up from him. “You hide behind dark humor to guard your feelings.”
Elis watched me, his hand still in mine as I continued interpreting the psychic vibrations I was getting from him.
“You don’t like having to be the heavy in almost every situation when it comes to your job,” I said before realizing that didn’t quite feel right. “Not a job. A calling. You do it because it’s expected of you, but you don’t love it. The things you do love aren’t things people would expect from you. And they’re things that make you more like him—and you’re not sure how you feel about that. He’s always confused you. From an early age you were taught to watch him for signs of tipping to the other side, and that a great evil resides in him, but the more you’ve gotten to know him, the more you’re not sure it’s true.”
“Uh, what is she doing?” asked Austin apprehensively.
Elis continued to grin as if he experienced people like me all the time. He lived in Grimm Cove, maybe he did. “She’s tapping into my inner vibe and picking up certain things about me. She’s saying what she’s getting.”
“Just disclosing everything she gets for all to hear?” asked Austin.
Elis gave a slight nod. “Yes, but she’s not doing it to be malicious. In some circles it’s considered rude to get a reading off someone and not tell them what you picked up.”
I hadn’t known that tidbit and wondered where he’d learned it. If he knew others like me, I very much wanted to meet them.
Austin scratched his chin. “Mind readers have some Emily Post Guide for Freaky-Deaky Manners?”
“It’s not freaky,” supplied Elis. “And she’s not a mind reader. I’m not sure what she is, but it kind of reminds me of cunning folk. The ones with direct ties to the Fae.”
“Really?” asked Austin, echoing my exact thought.
“Can’t you sense the power on her? She has so much magik swimming through her that I can almost smell it. It’s making the hair on my arms stand on end.”
“I just smell flowers and something else. Don’t know what but I like it,” said Austin.
“Sage,” returned Elis, surprising me to the point I had to wonder if he, himself, had a bit of clear sight in him. He focused on me. “There is something else about you. More than just witch. What is that I’m picking up on?”
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Austin lifted a brow. “Did her freaky rub off on you? You’re starting to sound like your corn bread ain’t done in the middle. Break contact fast or you’ll be talking about auras and shit.”
At the mention of auras, I focused on Elis, taking in the sight of his. “You have a wonderful aura. It’s very passionate. You’re good in bed, aren’t you?”
He stared at me with wide eyes. While the rest of what I’d said and done hadn’t seemed to catch him off-guard, the good-in-bed comment did. “Uh, yes?”
Odd that he took me pointing out his vulnerabilities better than he did me pointing out his prowess. I’d have thought a demon slayer would be more secure in his sexuality, but maybe he was sleeping with the wrong women. Ones who didn’t let him know he was good in the sack.
Austin stiffened. “Hey, what about my aura? I’m awesome in bed.”
Elis swept an annoyed look at the younger man. “Weren’t you just complaining about auras and being read?”
“Yes, but that was before I knew my aura announces how I am in bed,” said Austin as he nodded to me. “Mine screams how good I am between the sheets, doesn’t it? More than his does, right?”
I studied his aura next, soaking in the sight. “You’re an interesting read.”
“But, like, it says I’m good in bed, right?” he asked, his voice rising a level.
Elis rolled his eyes, his hand still in mine. “It says he’s a moron, doesn’t it?”
I smiled and shook my head. “No. It doesn’t say that.”
Austin appeared worried. “I am good in bed, aren’t I? If it’s not telling you that, I need to know. How do I fix it? Should I wear cologne? Does smell impact how others read it?”
“Did you really just ask that?” questioned Elis.
Austin shushed him. “Trying to find out how to fix the issue here. Show some respect. This is my bedroom skills we’re talking about.”
“Don’t tell him,” said Elis. “The suspense will kill him and amuse me.”
I laughed.
Austin frowned. “Are you going to read Bram’s aura?”
“He’s a difficult read for me,” I admitted.
“You can’t pick up anything from him?” asked Elis, a note of surprise in his voice.
I shook my head. “It’s not that I don’t get anything. I get quite a bit actually. It’s just…it’s hard to explain.”
Austin stared at me. “I bet his aura is like a blinking sign going off all the time, letting everyone know how good he is in bed. I swear he’s walking wet-panty material.”
“Stop talking now,” warned Elis.
Austin did.
“I don’t suppose you’ll pretend he didn’t say that, will you?” asked Elis, pressing a tight smile to his handsome face.
“Already forgotten,” I said, still holding on to him.
Austin’s posture was now rigid.
Wanting to put him out of his misery, I touched him with my free hand. “Your aura says you’re the type of man who loves with both hands. That when you’re in, you’re all in.”
His ga
ze swept to Elis. “Does that mean I’m good in bed?”
“One-track mind much, dumbass?” asked Elis with a shake of his head.
“Serious concern,” Austin quipped.
“Austin,” I said, drawing his attention back to me. “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you.”
He exhaled slowly, relief showing on his face. “So about you going out on a date with me…”
I pressed a smile to my face. “You’re adorable. I want to squeeze you.”
“God yes,” he said, hope showing.
Elis cleared his throat. “I’d advise against making contact with her. Something tells me if you do, you’re going to be missing a hand later. I think the big guy might take exception to it all.”
I frowned, disliking anyone being encouraged to avoid making contact with me. The more I thought about it, the more worked up I got.
The next I knew, I was letting go of Elis’s hand and tossing my arms around Austin, hugging him tight.
He groaned against me. “Ohmygod, she’s going to get me killed.”
I made a move to release him.
He wrapped his steely arms around me tightly. “No. We don’t have to stop hugging. I’m cool with going out this way. I’d like my tombstone to read ‘hugged to death.’”
“Ohmygoddess, me too!” I shouted, hugging him tighter.
He moaned and rubbed against me.
Elis made a noise indicating his displeasure with what was happening. “I can’t look away from this obvious death wish.”
Austin squeezed me to him more.
I smiled. “I love to hug.”
He stiffened against me. “Uh, me too.”
“Austin, you’re lacking any shred of self-preservation,” added Elis.
“Sounds like someone else needs a hug too,” I said. I didn’t wait for a response. Instead, I put one arm out and hooked Elis, drawing him into the hug with us. He tripped and ended up doing something close to a face-plant into my cleavage. I hugged him all the same, unconcerned with the placement of his head. “You’re both so adorable.”
Burgess picked then to shoot up and out of the bag, darting over my shoulder. He fell into my cleavage and then popped up and out quickly.
The yelp that came from Elis was one not normally heard outside of anyone who had gone through puberty. “What the…?”
Spellcasting with a Chance of Spirits: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Romance Novel (Grimm Cove Book 3) Page 13