by Deanna Chase
He glanced past me into the apartment and nodded. “Right. Just thought I’d ask.”
I waited until he’d disappeared down the stairs then slammed the door. Son of a bitch. The closest thing to a date invitation I’d had in months had been to a strip club. What was wrong with me?
I flopped on my new mattress because I didn’t have any other furniture yet and plucked the envelope off the present. I let it slide through my fingers for a few moments before turning it over. It read: Jade, Welcome home. My foul mood vanished. A smiled tugged at my lips. I didn’t have many friends. Okay, I had one friend and right then, things were…awkward. It happens when your best friend starts dating your ex.
Being an empath has made it difficult to maintain personal relationships. When I’d been younger and hadn’t understood I was different, I’d alienated a lot of people with my ability. Let’s just say my perceptions weren’t appreciated. So Pyper’s attempt to reach out to me meant more than she could possibly know. Especially since I’d learned to keep my gift to myself. In the last ten years I’d only told one other person—my ex—about my ability.
Giddy with anticipation, I grabbed the box and carefully peeled away the tape, preserving the paper. For what, I didn’t know. I never save wrapping paper. In fact, people who did usually annoyed me. Not that I don’t want to save trees, I’m just usually too impatient to see what’s inside. Red tissue paper lined the inside of the white gift box. I fished through, finding a personal coffee maker, a mug with The Grind scrawled across it and a round jar of something called Honey Dust.
I read the label: An edible body powder.
Laughing, I put the jar down and ripped the card open. Heat radiated through my body as I read the words. Welcome to the building. Sincerely, Pyper and Kane.
Had the Honey Dust been Pyper’s idea or Kane’s? If it was Kane’s, somehow I thought I should be offended, but the image of him running his lips over my dusted skin sent ripples of anticipation through my body. I waved a hand in front of my face, fanning myself. Calm down, girl. Kane is Pyper’s man. Surely she had included it as a joke.
I set the mug and the coffee maker on the counter and carried the Honey Dust to the bathroom. The lure of my claw-foot tub was too much. As I waited for it to fill, I ran back to the kitchen to grab a bottle of merlot. My bags sat opened with stuff bulging out of them. Without any furniture, I had nowhere to store any of it, but I couldn’t have cared less. I had my own place, all to myself, and nothing else mattered. Except the bath waiting for me.
Content after slipping into the tub, I lifted the wine bottle to my lips. So what if I didn’t have any glasses yet? I wasn’t above drinking straight from the bottle.
An ominous rumble boomed outside, indicating an afternoon storm. Sighing, I set the wine on the floor, leaned back and closed my eyes, reveling in the rhythmic rain as it drummed on the roof.
When my toes started to prune I reluctantly pulled the plug and ran the shower to soap up and wash my hair. While drying off, I saw the round jar sitting on a shelf just to the left of the tub. The Honey Dust. My lips quirked into a small smile.
Feeling a little naughty, I opened the container. A sweet honeysuckle fragrance filled the bathroom. Before I could do anything else, the dust rose from the jar all on its own and swirled in a circle around me, caressing me with tiny invisible kisses.
I froze and then called out, “Hey, stop it right now!”
The whirlwind stopped at my command, and I almost choked on the thick dust of powder lingering in the air. Feeling utterly violated, I catapulted out of the tub, crying out when my ankle smashed against the side of the tub. With limbs flailing, I somehow managed to grasp the edge of the sink and save myself from cracking my skull on the toilet. How embarrassing would that be to be found dead, naked in your bathroom, in a pile of Honey Dust?
Breathing hard, I ran to the other room and pulled on the first clothes I found, grabbed my purse and slammed the door behind me. My bare feet moved faster than I thought possible down the stairs. As I jumped the last three steps into the hallway I angled right toward the exit, colliding with something—or someone—solid enough to knock me on my ass.
“Holy shit, Jade. Where’s the fire?” Pyper grunted, trying to get her feet back under her.
“Oh God! I’m so sorry.” I covered my face in horror.
“It’s all right. I’ll live.” Her voice floated down from above me. “Here, let me help you up.” When I didn’t respond, her tone went soft. “Are you okay?”
I peeked out from behind my fingers and squeaked, “I have a ghost.”
Her posture relaxed as she leaned against the wall. “Oh, okay,” she said, dismissing me.
“No really, I think the apartment has a ghost.”
“Why? ‘Cause Kane said so, and now every little thing is freaking you out?” She rolled her deep blue eyes.
“No. Because just now, as I was putting on a sampling of the Honey Dust you gave me, it kicked it up and made it whirl around me like a mini tornado. I didn’t even have the window open. You can’t tell me there isn’t something weird about that.” I pleaded into her widening eyes.
Great. I’d known her less than two weeks, and already I’d become the resident freak.
“Really? That’s interesting,” she said more to herself than to me. Standing up, she angled toward the stairwell. “Come on.” She put her foot on the first step.
“Where?” I didn’t move. She wasn’t seriously going up there, was she?
“Upstairs. I have to see this,” she said, her eyes now gleeful.
“No! I am not going back up there.”
“Come on, Jade, who will believe you if you don’t have a witness? Kane doesn’t count, since no one believes him either.”
“You go if you want. I’m going to stay right here.” I pressed against the wall.
“Oh no, you aren’t.” She grabbed my hands and tugged me up.
Planting my feet, I set my shoulders and didn’t budge as she tried to pull me along. “No.”
Looking me full in the face, she burst out laughing. The laughing continued until tears streamed down her face.
“What in the world makes you think this is so hilarious?” I demanded.
Gasping to catch her breath, she wheezed out, “The Honey Dust. You have a perv ghost.” Laughter overtook her again, causing her face to turn beet-red. It clashed with the blue highlights in her thick black hair.
I sighed, resigning myself. Her hysteria somehow calmed me enough to reconsider. “You are going to pee yourself laughing at my situation. Let’s go.” Moving past her, I headed back to my apartment.
My bravado quickly waned as we hit the second floor landing. Had it not been for Pyper’s firm hand on my wrist, I’m certain I would have turned and fled. When we reached my door I raised my eyebrow as Pyper took a key out and unlocked it. It was natural for her to have a key. I just wouldn’t have thought she kept one on her person. However, I said nothing and let her tug me into the room.
She walked to the bathroom and held the door wide open.
I crept up behind her and peeked over her shoulder. The harmless-looking Honey Dust jar sat capped in the middle of my bathroom.
I gasped.
“What?” Pyper turned to look at me.
“I, ah, well, I didn’t stop to put the cap on the jar. I just dropped it…” My voice trailed off as I backed away from the room. Legs turning to jelly, I sunk down onto my mattress. Pyper disappeared into the bathroom. Visions of me in a straitjacket, surrounded by white rubber walls, filled my mind.
A few minutes went by before she popped up beside the doorjamb. “Come in here,” she called as her head jerked back inside.
I sat motionless, my mind fixated on the rubber walls.
“Get in here,” she demanded.
My mind blank, I followed her voice and stopped in the door frame. Pyper was squatting, pressed up against the wall, studying the jar in the middle of the floor.
“What?
” I asked.
“This is so interesting,” she replied, not looking up.
I waited for her to continue.
“The jar is in the middle of a layer of the Honey Dust. Do you see it?” She used her finger to make a circle in the air above the jar.
I glanced down. “Yeah. So?”
“There’s something missing.” Her eyes twinkled.
Looking back at the jar and the floor caked in dust, I saw nothing else out of place—or missing, for that matter. Puzzled, I stared at her.
“Footprints!” she exclaimed. “Where are your footprints? It looks like the whole jar was dumped in here. No way could you have dumped the whole jar out, replaced the top, and set it here without leaving footprints.”
I inspected the scene. The jar sat in the middle of my bathroom with a thick layer of Honey Dust covering the floor from the tub to the door. She was right. I couldn’t have placed the jar where it was without disturbing the smooth layer.
Pyper turned and walked into the main room. “Whoever you are, reveal yourself!”
My eyes flew open in shock. “What the hell?” I hissed. “You’re not supposed to invite ghosts to reveal themselves.”
“How else do you think I’m going to see it?”
“Shhhh.” I was terrified of what her invitation might bring.
An unfamiliar energy, mixed with bitterness and satisfaction, invaded my senses. I turned to Pyper, my voice barely a whisper. “Someone is here.”
“Huh?” She took a step toward me and then jumped, wrapping her arms around her chest. “What the hell was that?” She twisted her head, searching the room.
Ice numbed my hands and moved up my arms, making me shiver. I pointed to a shadow, black as coal, moving across the far wall. We stood, paralyzed, while the image grew larger and moved toward us. Pyper’s sudden fear inched its way into my awareness. Instinct took over, and I forced as much calm as I could in her direction.
Her panic started to ease, but just barely. I renewed my efforts, forcing my will toward her. Pain pierced my heart and shot through my veins. Gasping, I clutched my chest, staring in horror at the black shadow as something grabbed my essence and yanked.
“No!” I shouted in defiance and snatched my energy back.
The shadow hovered for a moment unmoving in front of us then shattered into a million pieces like confetti. I stood staring, transfixed by the cascade as it faded into nothing until Pyper tugged on my hand. I glanced at her, and we both ran for the stairs.
Chapter 2
“What was that?” Pyper huffed as we burst through the back door of The Grind, the coffee shop where we both worked. Luckily it was next door to my apartment building, because I had forgotten shoes again.
“No idea.”
She motioned for me to follow, leading me to her office.
I collapsed in the closest chair, grateful to have my shaking legs out from underneath me. What the hell had just happened? I’d sent calming energy to Pyper and ended up feeling like my essence had been sucked out. Only, it hadn’t had Pyper’s emotional signature. Something much more powerful had taken it.
“One thing’s clear. Your ghost is definitely a pervert,” Pyper said.
“Huh?”
“He felt me up. Didn’t you see me jump? He grabbed my boob.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “We need to call Kane. He’s the only person I know who will believe us.”
“No!” Walking around barefoot on Bourbon Street through sticky, alcohol-soaked garbage and drunken-induced bodily fluids during Mardi Gras held more appeal than telling him about my Honey Dust experience.
“Why not?”
“I don’t—” My phone buzzed. My hands trembled as I fished it out of my pocket. This was bad. The trembling only started when my energy was compromised. The screen flashed Kat’s name. I took a deep breath and hoped I sounded normal. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I’m outside the café. I was going to get you a chai latte, but it’s closed. Come get me so I can see your new digs,” she said.
I grimaced. “My apartment isn’t really available right now.”
Pyper sent me a questioning glance. “Are you okay? You don’t look too hot.”
Covering the phone, I whispered, “I’m fine.”
Kat raised her voice. “Hello…who are you talking to, and if your apartment isn’t available, where are you and where’s all your stuff? I’ve been home. Your room is cleared out. What’s going on?”
“I’m all moved in, it’s just…let me come get you, and I’ll tell you about it.” After Kat’s affirming response, I snapped the phone closed. “I need to go,” I told Pyper.
“Go where?” She stood up. “You can’t leave now. You look like you’re going to pass out.” She gently pushed me back into the chair.
“My friend is here. I can’t just leave her standing outside.” The motion of standing and sitting back down turned my stomach. Please don’t let me ralph right here.
“I’ll go get her.” She left before I could protest. How would Pyper find her? They hadn’t met, and Pyper didn’t even know Kat’s name.
A familiar energy drew my attention to the door as Kane walked in. He rummaged through the desk and pulled out a bag of mint chocolate cookies. “Pyper said you needed sugar and to make sure you stay put.”
I took a cookie, bit into it and shrugged in agreement. Where else would I go? Surely not to my new apartment. Panic bubbled in my chest. I couldn’t stay there. I’d never get any rest. Would Kane let me out of my lease? The queasiness returned as I thought of staying in Kat’s spare room for another night. Maybe I’d get lucky, and Dan would be out with the guys.
Kane offered me a soda from a small refrigerator.
“Thanks.” Clutching the can with one hand, I tried to open it with the other. Unfortunately my fingers shook too badly. I couldn’t even grab the tab to pop it.
“I got it.” Kane took the can. When he set it back on the desk it had a straw poking out the top. “Drink.”
“Thanks.” I took a long sip.
Kane grabbed a chair and sat next to me. His gaze shifted to my still-trembling hand. Balling it up in defiance, I pressed it into my thigh. I wasn’t this weak, damn it.
He reached over and covered my hand with his, sending a thick layer of protection through my weakened defenses. At first it felt like a cloak, shrouding me, but then it turned into more of an energy meld.
Whoa. That never happens. I could consciously take in others’ emotions if I wanted to, but it takes effort. Was he aware of the effect he had? Could he control it, or was it just happening? Warmth spread from his touch through my limbs, steadying my twitching muscles.
Heat prickled my neck under his watchful gaze. I tried to pull from his grasp, but his fingers tightened on mine. “Thanks, but I’m okay now,” I murmured.
He raised one eyebrow. “You look like you’re going to fall over any minute. I’m hanging on just in case.”
“I’m not going to pass out,” I said in a steady voice, drawing my hand from his. As our hands parted, the shivers started. Wrapping my arms around my middle, I glided my hands up and down my bare arms trying to generate heat.
“Here.” Kane stood, grabbed a sweatshirt from behind the desk and handed it to me. “Use this.”
“Thanks.” I pulled it over my head and was rewarded with a trace of his fresh rain-scented cologne.
“We’re here,” Pyper called from the doorway.
“Jade!” Kat ran to my side. “Are you okay? Pyper told me what happened.” She took my hand in both of hers. “Use me,” she whispered.
“Only if you calm down.”
Her panic swirled around me like a windstorm before she managed to reign her emotions back in. I squeezed her hand to let her know I appreciated the offer, but didn’t tap her energy. Irrationally, I didn’t want to taint what I’d just experienced with Kane.
Kat had been around the last time I’d been stupid enough to compromise my energy. When we were r
oommates our neighbor had witnessed a shooting and had been so distraught she’d stopped talking. I’d thought if I could ease her burden by siphoning her distress, she might be able to help the police investigation. It had worked. Too well.
While she helped the police nail down a suspect I spent a week in bed, recovering. For the first few days the only way I could get up was if Kat was touching me, lending me her strength. It had been her idea for me to try and take it. She’d said, “If you can take the bad stuff, why can’t you take the good?” Since I didn’t think I could get worse, I’d tried it and used her emotional strength to heal. Still, I’d had to take it from her. It didn’t just happen like it did with Kane.
“You need to lie down,” Kat said.
“I’m all right.” I looked her in the eye. “Besides, I’m not too keen on going up to my apartment right now.”
“Then you’ll come home with me.” Kat stood, tugging on my arm.
I pulled back and shook my head. “No. Thank you, but in my condition I don’t think I can stomach Dan.” Her boyfriend—my ex—and the reason I’d found my own apartment.
It was quite the shock to move to New Orleans and find that not only had Dan moved here as well, but he was also dating my best friend. I’d been more hurt by the fact that Kat had been afraid to tell me than I was that the two were dating. Dan and I had made such a mess of our relationship; there really was no hope of reconciliation on either of our parts. As for the two of them dating? I understood. The three of us had been inseparable in high school. It wasn’t unreasonable to think they might make a connection. Of course, since Kat had left Boise right after our college graduation, I hadn’t expected it to happen from two thousand miles away.
Kat sighed. “Jade—”
I cut her off. “No, Kat. I told you before I get sick to my stomach when he’s around.”
She studied me for a long moment. I knew she was thinking it was all in my head. I’d thought so too at first, but lately it was getting worse. Either way, I didn’t want to be in the same room with him. She pulled out her phone. “Okay, let me see what I can do.” After walking to the far side of the office, she dialed.