He held his hand up to stop me. I knew it hurt him that he couldn’t help me financially, but that was the reality and not talking about it didn’t make it go away. After a moment he spoke. “What bothers me most about pursuing the Zagars’ grimoire is the guardian’s warnings about ‘others.’ I fear we’re walking into a supernatural fuck-fest.”
I nodded, somewhat startled by his harsh language. “We’ll be careful.”
“I will never leave your side.”
“I wish I could hug you.”
“Hug?” His brow rose. “I want more than a hug.”
“You dirty old ghost.”
“Tomorrow night, my love, when the full moon rises we will be together.”
Butterflies swarmed my stomach. Our date was hard to imagine, but imagine I did, in 3D Technicolor detail. He would be alive. We would be in Sweden, and we would be together. As strange as it all sounded, I accepted it. There had to be a million things that could go wrong when we went back in time, but the thought of being in Eric’s arms held me together.
There was a knock on the door. Eric’s specter faded.
“Come in,” I said.
Charisma Dubois, holding her chin high and dressed in a white power suit that would have impressed heads of state, stepped in. “I got your text and didn’t want to wait until tomorrow.”
I ran a hand through my hair.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you.” Her voice was stronger than the day we first met, but it still sounded strained.
“Uh, no. It’s okay.”
She looked around. “I thought I heard voices.”
“I was talking with my associate on the phone.” My mobile lay where I left it, beside the kettle five feet away, so I closed the gap. “We’re making progress,” I said, motioning her to sit down in the client chair.
Ms. Dubois looked at the chair before she sat as if it might swallow her up, and lowered herself carefully. She crossed her ankles. For some culturally stupid reason that lady-like gesture with her joints made me feel even more disheveled than I had a moment before.
“You found my diamonds?” she said.
“Not yet. We’re mapping the manor and as we speak, my associate is examining each room. I am confident we will have good news soon.”
“Did you . . . Did you run into any ghosts?”
Now that was a rich question. “The place is scary, Ms. Dubois. I totally understand your reluctance to search it yourself. There are cobwebs.”
“But are there ghosts?”
“The first thing I ran into were hounds, who made enough noise to wake the dead.”
“Yes, I heard them too. But are there ghosts?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see one.”
“Tell me what happened. I intend to sell the place, so I need to know how bad it is.” She wrinkled her nose as if she were changing a dirty diaper.
“The manor is gorgeous. I can tell no expense was spared in its building.”
“But dirty?”
“Yes, there are a lot of cobwebs and dust, but a good cleaning service could take care of that for you in, say, a week. In fact, after we find your diamonds, you could hire me to clean it. I am familiar with janitorial work.”
“I need the diamonds first.”
“Yes, the diamonds.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Oh poop. “Which one?”
“Were there any ghosts?” She leaned forward.
To lie, or not to lie, that was the question. I couldn’t exactly tell her that there are always ghosts, and one particularly hot one stood beside her at this very moment. “I heard rattling chains,” I said.
Ms. Dubois’s hand rose to her mouth. “So, I’m not going crazy.”
“No, you most definitely are not.” Well, all righty then. I stood up, hoping to end the conversation before I said something she wouldn’t like. “I will report back to you tomorrow afternoon on our progress.”
A V-shaped crease formed between her eyes as she glared at me. “Did you see any ghosts?”
“I saw shadows, Ms. Dubois. Shadows. I cannot say whether they were more than that. The light inside the house is subdued. As I said in my text, I need the power turned on. I may see more then.”
“But you saw them, or you think you did?”
“I can’t say for sure that I saw ghosts. I wouldn’t go that far. Like I said, I saw shadows.” I hated to lie and really hoped she would accept my story. If I admitted to seeing ghosts and/or vampire-like creatures she would be opening a whole new world of crazy I wasn’t ready for. Sunset Cove considered me a stable member of their community who just happened to work in the so-called haunted teahouse. I had no desire to add to that reputation a layer of supernatural crazy. It was better that people wondered about my relationship with ghosts than that they knew.
She stared at me for a long moment and stood. “Tomorrow, then. You will tell me what you find tomorrow.”
As she turned towards the door, it opened. Her hand went to her mouth.
“Ms.Dubois.”
She turned and looked at me with a raised brow.
“Don’t worry. The teahouse is so old its foundation is giving way and, as a result, the overall structure has become, shall we say, whimsical. That is to say that sometimes doors open on their own. That’s one of the reasons people think it’s haunted.”
Her eyes took on a steely glare.
“You are safe here.” I needed to put her mind on something else. “I understand your great-grandmother was interested in spiritualism towards the end of her life.”
She nodded.
“And she had many visitors with the same beliefs.”
She grimaced. “Yes. She . . .” Charisma took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders “. . . was an eccentric old bat. She gave money to cults, indulged in séances and . . .” She stopped. “Ms. Jenkins, none of that matters now. All I want are her diamonds.”
“And witchcraft?” I said.
She closed her eyes for a moment. “Yes, I believe so. My mother claimed she took a warlock for a lover.”
Interesting. “And did he practice at the manor.”
Her mouth tightened. “If stories got out about her and her friends, I would never sell the damn place. It’s bad enough that it’s out of the way in a hick town, impossibly out of date and filthy.”
“I’m not a gossip, Ms. Dubois. You can trust me with your stories.”
“He practiced dark magic, according to our family stories. His name was Adam Zagar.”
“Zagar?” That explained a lot.
Her face had lost most of its color. “Yes. Does that help you?”
“I think so. Was he there when your grandmother died?”
“No. He predeceased her by two years. My mother believed she died of grief, but her grandmother was ninety-four.”
“I’m sorry for your family’s loss and for you having to share the details of your great-grandmother’s lifestyle, but it gives me a better idea of where to look.”
“I’m not a witch,” Charisma said.
I didn’t think she was. Where the heck did that come from? “Of course not. I didn’t think you were.”
She looked away. “After my great-grandmother’s death, rumors about her life threatened to destroy the family’s reputation. That’s why we moved away. We wanted to have nothing to do with her world.”
Until you heard there were diamonds. “I will keep your secrets, Ms. Dubois, and I will have a report ready for you tomorrow afternoon.”
She headed for the stairway.
“Eric?” I said after she left.
He shimmered into view, laughing. “Yes, my ӓskling.”
“You can’t be scaring clients.”
17
The next morning, Eric appeared in the passenger seat of my car as I drove to the manor. While I had washed all the mud off my body, dark circles remained under my eyes. There was no way I could eradicate the day before. I hadn’t slept much. Worr
ying about guardian ghosts, warlocks, spiders and my electric bill does that to me. And spiders. I couldn’t forget the spiders. At two in the morning, I decided the guardian was offering us a great opportunity, even if it did seem weird.
I was determined to be positive and upbeat as I sang along with the country music playing on my radio. I looked over at Eric, who was far too quiet. The air cooled between us.
Overnight the thunder and lightning had stopped, but the sky remained overcast. My windshield wipers squeaked as they cleared drizzle off the windshield. The weatherman promised a sunny break in the afternoon, but I had learned long ago to not wait for promised sunshine. The dampness chilled my bones, but Eric, of course, was oblivious. We never talked weather.
“Did you talk to your buddies about the guardian?” I asked.
“Ja.”
“And?”
Silence.
Sometimes it was cool hanging out with an alpha Viking, a warrior of few words, but other times it felt more like keeping company with a block of granite.
“Let’s talk about our date,” he said, giving me a warm smile that curled my toes. How easy it would be to think of just the good things in life: friendship, love and sex. Yes, sex. I would love to think about sex and, in particular, sex with Eric, but I needed to focus.
I gave him a side look. “Why won’t you tell me what they said?”
He shrugged. “Nothing new. Guardian ghosts don’t lie, blah, blah, blah. They have no desires of their own. Blah blah. They exist to protect all that is holy. Blah.”
The way he rambled off these points sounded wrong. There was a big “but” hidden in there somewhere. “So what’s your problem?”
“Like I said before, it doesn’t feel right.”
“Which part? The part where we lie to a draugr and claim we’re still working with her, or the part where we explore the smelly tunnel, or the part where we blindly follow mysterious tasks set by a dusty, old book?”
He raised a brow. “I’m serious. My gut says something’s wrong. My gut’s never wrong.”
Great. The invincible Viking had the queasies. “You have no idea?”
“What if the guardian ghost is an imposter?”
That idea had crossed my mind. “Is that likely?”
“Nej.”
“You just don’t like her.”
“Nej. She’s okay. I think there’s more to this situation that I am not seeing. And I know from battle that it’s the unseen, the unexpected, that is most dangerous.”
I nodded. No doubt about it. We were about to fly blind into a supernatural tunnel. I thought about that for a moment. “You sure it’s not just the draugr that’s bothering you? You haven’t been yourself since she entered our lives.”
“Is that what you think?” He flashed a sexy smile again. “The day you told me about Aslog is the day I came back from visiting the sorcerer. That is what altered me, my äkling. I haven’t been myself since I knew we would spend a night together.”
Ah, now that made sense. I had put our date out of my thoughts, on a shelf beyond reach, because it was too darned big a thing to think about. A night with Eric. Alone. Naked. Human. Two beating hearts. I shook my head and kept my eyes on the road. “I can’t think about that right now. It muddles my thoughts.”
“Trust me, I will make sure you are well-muddled.”
Butterflies, hordes of darned butterflies with fluttering wings zoomed in erratic circles in my stomach. My cheeks burned. “Can we stay on topic?”
“I plan to start by ripping your clothes off your luscious body.”
“Eric!”
“I will kiss every inch of you.” He leered at me in a rather endearing way. “And I’ll linger at your best parts.”
Linger. Perspiration beaded on my upper lip. “Eric.”
“I think you will taste like ripe peaches.”
“We need to talk business.”
“No.”
The car was getting far too hot for comfort. “I think your gut is reacting to Aslog. You hate draugrs. Let’s talk about that. Tell me your draugr stories.”
“I will take your ample breasts in my hands.”
“Eric.” I swept my hand across my forehead. “You said they were like vampires. How are they different?”
“I will pull your legs apart.”
“Eric. We need to think about what to say to Aslog. I don’t want to be part of her breakfast smoothie.”
“I’ll kiss your most private places.”
“Eric!” I swallowed.
“You will be mine, tonight. Mine forever.”
I said nothing. I had lost my words.
“Why did you stop the car?”
“I can’t drive when you talk dirty. I could run over a howling hound or something.”
His smile returned. “In just a few hours we will be together.”
Raw, unbridled lust coursed through my body. Never had love been more inconvenient. I put my forehead on the steering wheel. “Eric, can we stick to business, please?”
“Nej. I don’t care about the diamonds or the client. I hate draugrs and I don’t want to solve riddles with a guardian ghost. I just want to fuck you. Hard.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly.”
“No, I mean fudge. Our timing is as wrong as ever. First, you’re dead and I’m alive. Then, we may be both be alive, but in a different century. I’m terrified. I’m worried the time travel will change me, take me away from my children. Eric . . .” I needed certainty in my life.
“Do not worry, söt som en gris. I will be with you.” Sweet like a pig was one of his favorite terms of endearment, but it did nothing to cool the situation.
I clenched my fists and hit the steering wheel. “I love you, but you have to understand this isn’t easy for me. You risk nothing. I risk everything.” It’s not fair.
His eyes narrowed. “I will never let anything happen to you.”
“But what if it does?”
“It will not. Guiden has given his word on this, and that can be trusted.”
I swallowed. “Okay. I’ll be ready by dark.”
“Now do you want me to tell you more about what I will do to you?”
I laughed. He might be hundreds of years older than me, but his heart held the mischief of a young man. A young virile man. Hold that thought. I took a deep breath. “Not now.” I turned the key in the ignition and drove the car back onto the road.
“The art of making love is not a topic easily sidelined, my love. The details are so wonderful.”
I held up my hand to stop him from saying more.
“I want you to know that I will love you thoroughly. Jag ӓlskar dig. I have not watched modern porn, but I do know what to do.”
I love you, in Swedish. Sheesh. Thoroughly! Now there was a thought with a million images I didn’t need at the moment. We drove the rest of the way in silence.
I pulled up in front of the manor and parked. “Show time.”
A couple minutes later we stood at the base of the staircase facing Aslog.
“Well, tell me, what did the guardian-ghost bitch say? Did she talk about me?” asked the draugr.
“It’s not a matter for you.” Eric’s voice boomed so loud I looked around to see if someone else had spoken.
“What are you saying? You know I want the grimoire.”
I held up my hand. “Aslog, the guardian will not give it to you.”
The air in the room chilled. I swear it dropped a hundred-haunted-house-movies in temperature.
“But you came back to me,” she said.
Aslog was not dumb. “Yes, we returned. The guardian ghost will allow us to search the tunnel for the book. We hope to use it to help us find the diamonds.”
“And if you find the spell book, you’ll share it. Right? We had a deal.”
“We can’t use the spells until we complete a test.”
“What test?”
“We don’t know what it is yet. First we must find the
grimoire.”
“That sounds like a lousy deal, breather. You are naïve. She’s using you to find it. I say we find it together and use it the way we want to.”
“Aslog, I’m sorry, but it’s best for you to leave the manor immediately. The guardian ghost is more powerful than any of us. She doesn’t trust you and if she sees you hanging around, there’s no telling what she might do.” Eric spoke in a voice that did not suggest argument.
“But I need the spell.”
“You need to find another way to regain your former self,” I said. Or come to terms with your present one. But I didn’t say that. “We can’t go against the guardian ghost. She’s too powerful.”
Blood tears spilled from her black eye sockets. She rubbed at her cheeks as they slid down her face. “I beg you to help me. Once I was as beautiful as you are. Take pity on me. Let me use the book of magic when you get it. It will cost you nothing to have compassion.”
I looked at Eric.
“We don’t have the grimoire,” he said. “We don’t know how difficult it will be to use the spells within it, so we can’t make promises.”
“And I want to find the diamonds for our client,” I said.
“Who cares about her? She’s not here.” The draugr let out an ear-busting screech and flew between the walls with the quickness of a panicked bat.
“I care,” I said.
The draugr settled into a standing position, looming above me. Her stench saturated my senses and I fought not to gag. I waved my hand. “Please, Aslog, give me some room.”
“I have a solution,” she said.
I cut her off. “So do I. You find your peace elsewhere.”
Ignoring my words, she continued, “While you look for the grimoire, I’ll find your diamonds. How many did you say there were?”
I shrugged. “Our client doesn’t know.”
“Fine.” Aslog flew up the staircase to the second floor and disappeared into the first room.
Eric and I proceeded to the tunnel in the basement. The draugr was busy for now, but not gone. Not gone at all.
18
Midnight Magic (A Ghost & Abby Mystery Book 1) Page 9