The old ghost shrugged and Rose discovered that she wasn’t really surprised to see him here. That was his job. In life, he hadn’t been able to prevent tragedy so now he was spending his afterlife righting the wrongs.
“Just a few things. Things I didn’t know before, but that make sense now.” He looked at Rose with tied, yet happy eyes. “She wasn’t real, you know. Sophia Hamlin was a Golem, just a creature created to carry the dark half of your soul.”
Rose shook her head. “I don’t understand. There were two pieces of me. I felt them come back together.”
Reaching out to stroke her cheek, Rose was aware of a light brush of fingertips, so unlike the hugs she’d become used to over the years. No longer a ghost, her grandfather couldn’t touch her the way he once had.
“You’re a unique being, Rosie, and magic is binding you to that new body you’ve got, make no mistake. Only you could take over the body of a Golem and make it human.” Ben gave her a warm smile, but she could see his heart was breaking. This was the end of their relationship as she’d always known it.
“But she is human, right?” Justin asked with a frown.
Ben nodded. “She is. You are. She became human when she entered Sophia’s body, changing its nature.”
“I don’t understand,” Rose shook her head. “I saw this body connected to the celestial Threads, just like any other person’s. I saw a living, breathing body, not a hollow shell.”
“You saw what it would become once you entered it,” Ben corrected. When Rose went to protest, he held up his hand. “I don’t know how it works and don’t claim to. I just know that it does.”
“Like your friends,” he gestured toward the door where the rest of the Ghosts, Inc. team had departed, “you have untapped powers that connect you to the paranormal world. In your case, you’re mostly light, very little darkness. When Margaret split your soul, there wasn’t enough of it left to either bind it to another location or make another person.”
“So someone created a Golem.” That came from Justin whose arm was still protectively around her shoulder. “Someone from your side, I take it?”
Ben nodded. “I don’t know who. Probably someone who has long since retired. We do retire in this line of work, too, you know.”
Justin let the comment pass and merely raised an eyebrow so Ben continued. “Over time, The Council in charge of the Other Side took over the care of the Golem, refreshing its youth, checking to make sure the part of Rose’s spirit was still inside. We also gave her a back story and a life, in case anyone asked, but she was never really alive.”
“And how, exactly, did Sophia get to Rosewood House that night?” Justin was asking the questions Rose couldn’t and she was grateful for that.
“I don’t know,” Ben confessed. “None of us do. We had hoped you could figure it out for us. That’s why we, The Council, hired Ghosts, Inc. We wanted you to sort out this mess. Instead, people got hurt.”
He gestured to the doorway. “They’ll all be fine, though. Sore and in need of some recovery time, but they’ll live.”
“What about Callie and Reed? He took off her bracelet so she could use her powers. I know there’s a punishment for that.” Rose bit her lip, a gesture she’d done a hundred times in life but now felt somewhat strange. “You might not like them, Grandpa, but they’re my friends.” Or at least Rose hoped they would be, once things settled down.
Ben tilted his head. “She’s not so bad, really. Never met a Mimic with as strong an ethical code, actually.” When Rose gave him a look, he got back on topic. “They’ll be fine. The International Paranormal Committee knows what went on here. I made sure someone from the Other Side filled them in.”
He pushed his hat back with one finger. “There are gonna be some upset folks, you can be sure. Most of ‘em don’t like the idea of Mimics, period. But Callie nearly died to help you. That went a long way to help her case. The Imperitas removal will be forgiven.”
Her grandfather spoke with such certainty that Rose had no reason to doubt him. Quickly, he glanced back at the door. “Not sure how long before Hammond’s spell completely wears off, maybe a few more minutes at most, and this room will be reconnected to the rest of the hospital again. Expect a rush of people when it is. Not every day a person wakes from a coma.”
“Anything else?” That came from Justin who was clearly eager to begin his reunion with Rose.
“Just this – be careful. Hammond was right about one thing. He was just a ghost. An angry one, but a ghost nonetheless. No special powers in that one. He had help from a person who wants something from someone on the Ghosts, Inc. staff. We have no idea who or what. No one does.”
Rose frowned. “Not even that committee that assigns you jobs?”
Ben shook his head. “Whoever is doing this is working in secret, casting spells behind mystical curtains no one can see through. They’re dangerous and they won’t stop until they get what they want.”
“Noted,” Justin said with a nod, wanting Ben to be gone. “I’ll be sure to tell Mia and the rest of the team later.”
At the mention of Mia’s name, Ben got a peculiar look in his eye. “Be kind to her, Justin,” he said, using the other man’s name for the first time, “and not just because of what she did for Rosie. There’s more to her than any of you know.”
Rose thought Justin was going to argue with her grandfather, but he surprised her when he nodded in understanding. “I get the feeling that there’s a lot I don’t know. But I’ll learn. I want to be the man Rose believed James to be. I don’t want to let her down again.”
“That’s all I ask.” Ben looked at them and nodded. “It’s time for me to go for now.” When Rose looked as if she might cry, he shook a finger at her. “I’ll always be around, Rosie. You’ll see me again. But this is your time now. You need to learn how to be human again.”
“I’ll help her.” Justin’s arms tightened around her and Rose was glad for his strength. “I’ll be with her every step of the way.”
Ben smiled. “I know you will, son. I know you will.”
Then, Ben slowly faded away leaving Justin and Rose alone for the first time since she’d reclaimed her body. Once they were sure the ghost had departed, Justin turned Rose to face him and pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss.
As her lips met his, sensations exploded like fireworks across Rose’s nerve endings. She didn’t remember kisses being this exquisite before. In fact, she didn’t remember feeling anything like this before.
When they broke apart, she touched a tentative finger to her lips. “Justin, I never…” She stopped and tried again. “It’s like nothing…” She shook her head, unable to find the right words.
“Shhh.” He put a finger to her lips and pulled her into his embrace, his fingers stroking up and down her back, sending delicious shivers of feeling racing up and down her spine. “You don’t need to say anything.”
Though she didn’t want to give up the wonderful feel of his body against hers, Rose forced herself to pull away slightly. “In a few minutes, that door is going to open and a horde of doctors and nurses will be in here, checking everything from my temperature to my reflexes. They’ll take me away from you, at least for a while. So I need to say this while I can.”
Justin nodded, seeming to understand her desire, just as he always had.
“For the first time in a very long time, I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring. I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life. It’s still overwhelming that I even have a life again.”
“Whatever happens, Rose, I’ll be right there beside you. I’ll never…”
She cut Justin off with a finger to his lips. “I know and I’ll treasure every day we have together. But before that, I need you to know that I love you. That I have always loved you, even when you weren’t beside me. I will never stop, and I’ll never again let myself be taken away from you.”
Justin gave her a lopsided grin. “You had to be the first to say it, didn’t you?”
“Say what?” Rose feigned innocence, a talent she apparently hadn’t lost over time.
Justin gave her a look. “To say ‘I love you’ now that you’re back in your own body. Because even though I said it before, ever since I saw your eyes open when you were lying in that bed, I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I love you, Rose, more than my own life. I will love you forever.”
Leaning in, Rose traced Justin’s lips with her fingertips. “Kiss me,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be apart anymore.”
Sparks exploded behind Rose’s eyes as Justin brought his lips to hers again and she reveled in the feeling of soft yet firm lips fitting perfectly over hers. She sighed in delight at the delicious feeling of his hands exploring her body. As she leaned in closer, practically begging for more, she knew that no matter how many times Justin touched her, she would remember this moment forever.
This was heaven in her lover’s arms. This was what eternity was meant to feel like and finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of loneliness, she knew she was home. With Justin by her side, she would never be alone again.
Epilogue
Three months later
Rose hummed to herself while she watched Justin hang a glittery purple bat from a ceiling hook in the living room in all his naked glory, the flex and pull of his muscles getting her all worked up again. She’d been delighted when Justin had suggested that they decorate Rosewood House for Halloween and had even taken the morning off from work so they could do it together. She’d been even more delighted when, after she’d placed a pumpkin on a side table, she’d felt him slide up behind her so that she could feel his erection pressing hard against his jeans.
Realistically, she knew life wouldn’t be like this every day, but technically they were still on their honeymoon, having been married before a small gathering of their family and friends only a few weeks before in Rosewood House’s lush fall gardens. She was going to enjoy each and every moment with her husband because if recent events had taught her nothing else, it was that life was too precious to waste.
She had been granted something few people ever were – a second chance. She wasn’t about to waste it second guessing herself. She was going to do what she wanted, when she wanted.
Like moving into Rosewood House again. When she’d first been released from the hospital, Rose had considered moving into Justin’s apartment with him and had even stayed with him for a few days. However, it was small and cramped, too much like the attic room she’d lived in for years. It was also not what either of them wanted. Justin had admitted that, for him, Rosewood was home and she, for one, was very happy about that.
Rose also wanted her life back, the one she’d been ripped away from all those years ago. She wanted to live in her ancestral home with Justin as her husband, to someday have children with him when she was ready. Not to replace the baby they had lost, but to start a new life, here in this time and place. She wanted to work with Justin at Ghosts, Inc., doing what she could to help ghosts that had been like her, lost and bound to this world, unable to move on.
So she did what any modern woman and former ghost would do. She simply informed Justin of her plan and told him they were getting married. Though stunned at first, Justin had quickly agreed. After that, Rose hadn’t wasted any time and now, only two months after she’d regained human form she had the life she’d always dreamed of while she’d been trapped in the attic.
She’d even filed the proper paperwork and legally changed her name. Sophia Renee Hamlin was no more and now, she was known by the name she’d been given so long ago – Rose Alice. She’d just traded the last name of Morgan for Grant this time around.
In short, her life was just about perfect.
Her humming had obviously caught Justin’s attention because he turned around to where she lay naked on the couch, having been unwilling to move after they’d made love earlier.
“See something you like?” he teased, another bat, this one a shimmery green, hanging from his other finger.
Rose gave him a wicked smile. “Oh, I see something I like very, very much. I can’t believe you’re ready to go again so soon. I thought you needed more recovery time.”
“Sweetheart, when I’m around you, I’m always ready to go.” He winked at her and sauntered toward her, his arousal evident. “But we really should get this place ready if we’re going to have that Halloween party next week.”
The Halloween party. She’d almost forgotten that was why they were decorating in the first place.
Rose had wanted to celebrate her new life and her new circle of friends. She’d also wanted to use it as a way of saying thank you to those same friends for helping her reclaim her life. That thought brought a momentary frown to her face. Reclaiming her life had almost cost someone else theirs.
Though bruised and battered, Mia had recovered fairly quickly from the injuries Hammond had inflicted on her. Tim, Josh and Elliott had only been held in place by the spell, not hurt by it, so their injuries were minimal. Even Reed, who had drained his body’s energy considerably when he helped push Rose into her new body, had recovered within two weeks.
Callie, however, had only recently gotten out of the hospital. Wearing the Imperitas while trying to help Rose had nearly killed the other woman, draining the energy from her already weakened body to nearly lethal levels, something that Rose wasn’t totally sure Reed had forgiven her for.
“Hey, no frowning,” Justin told her. “I know you’re thinking about Callie. I told you. Both she and Reed are okay with it. They understand.”
“I know but…” Rose found herself unable to complete the sentence.
Justin dropped down on the couch beside Rose and pulled him to her. “No buts. Callie is alive and best of all, she doesn’t have to wear that stupid bracelet anymore.”
“She doesn’t, does she?” Rose agreed as Justin started to nibble on her neck and caress her bare shoulder.
“Nope,” Justin said agreeably. “We’re all fine.” And he meant it. True, they didn’t know who was after one of their members or why, but then again, they were paranormal investigators. Most of them were wanted by someone, somewhere anyway.
He bit down lightly on her shoulder and she shivered. “And this party is going to be a smashing success,” he told her as he positioned himself over her body. “This is the rest of our lives, Rose. The one we thought we would never get.”
“I know,” she told him, locking her eyes with his as a wash of sensations cascaded over her. She wasn’t sure she would ever get used to the tingling crash she experienced whenever her skin met Justin’s and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
Without warning, Justin thrust into her and Rose cried out in pleasure. Unlike when James had touched her, there was no anger in Justin’s caress, only love and desire. This was where she wanted to be, where she belonged – making love with her husband.
“I love you,” Justin whispered into her ear as he continued to move within her, the decorations forgotten.
“And I love you, Justin, more than I ever thought possible,” she whispered back at him, reveling in the sensations that washed over her. This was life now. This was love now. Her past, including James, was just that, the past.
Rose felt Justin’s body tense as he came inside her, banishing her own personal ghosts forever.
Dear Readers…
Why Altoona, Pennsylvania? Well, why not?
When I mentioned that I was writing a romance novel with ghosts, one of the first things people wanted to know was the setting. Most assumed that it would be set some place trendy like San Francisco or Seattle, or perhaps somewhere sophisticated like New York or Philadelphia. Many even assumed I’d go a more traditional route and make them cowboys or at the very least, place them in Texas.
Not my paranormal group.
No offense to those wonderful places, but I felt the need for something different, for a place full of secret valleys and hidden locations, a place close to my heart, one th
at’s rich in history and that has seen the good along with the bad. Instead I looked to my own life, about the places that inspired me as child to make up little stories in my head as we drove along, shopping for shoes or Christmas trees or what not.
I found my setting in the city of Altoona. I’ve always had a fascination with the city and the concept that a business like the Pennsylvania Railroad was so powerful that they were able to found their own city in the middle of the Pennsylvania mountains.
Once I started to write Justin and Rose’s story, other characters emerged, each with their own stories and I realized I wanted to write those too. Characters like Reed and Chessie, who are children of Altoona, or Mia and Tim who have adopted the city as their own. In time, I hope you’ll enjoy their stories as I continue the Ghosts, Inc. series. Each one is a tale of love, loss, and redemption, which, after all, is why we read these books in the first place, isn’t it?
-Bethany
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The world of Ghosts, Inc. continues with the next book in the series, “Heart of Shadows,” coming soon. In the meantime, continue on to enjoy a preview as Tim and Mia’s story unfolds…
Heart of Shadows
(A Ghosts, Inc. Novel)
Chapter One
Mia Thorpe stared out her office window to the street below. From the fifth floor of the old Pennsylvania Canal Building that housed the offices of Ghosts, Inc., the paranormal investigation company she owned, she had a nearly perfect view of downtown Altoona and the railroad yard beyond. Normally, she found the view extremely peaceful and calming. Not today however.
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