by Deanna Chase
“That’s rude,” Ida May said, scowling at him. “Would you want someone telling you you’re creepy after your dead?”
“Umm… I’d be dead right?”
“Well, yes. That’s the idea,” she snapped.
“I guess if I’m dead and talking to someone, they have every right to think I’m creepy.”
“You didn’t think I was creepy when I was helping save your butt,” she countered. “You guys are all the same. As long as there are fleshy boobs in your face, you’re happy. The minute a girl morphs back into her true form, you run away like scared little toddlers. I don’t get it.”
“Come on, Ida May,” Miss Kitty said, laughing. “That’s not really fair. Pretty much anytime guys stop staring at the boobs, they start to run. It’s not unique to ghosts. Trust me on that one.”
Ida May flipped back around and crossed her arms over her chest. The movement made the rest of her flesh flake away, leaving her 100 percent in ghost form.
I guess Pyper’s the only one who can see me now? she asked.
When no one answered, she let out an exaggerated sigh. It was nice while it lasted.
“Is she gone?” Bo asked.
“Nope. Just silenced,” I said. “But don’t worry. She’s fine.”
That’s what you think, Ida May said and then disappeared from the car.
“I can’t believe you drove that far with no lights on,” I said to Miss Kitty as we exited the inn’s garage. We’d decided to hide her car in there for the time being. It was too easy to identify now with all the bullet holes in the back.
“It’s just one of my many talents.” Her words were flippant, but her body language was not. Dark circles lined her eyes and she wobbled slightly as she walked.
“Here, Miss Kitty.” Bo held his arm out to the older woman. “Let me walk you in.”
“I’m fine.” She brushed him aside and sped up, but the heel on her gold boot slipped off the paver and she started to crumple.
“Whoa, Miss Kitty!” Bo caught her just before she went down and propped her back up on her feet. “I gotcha.”
“Oh my,” she said, breathless. “I almost went ass over teakettle.”
Bo chuckled. “Almost.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her through the back door.
“He’s a sweet kid,” Jade said to me.
I nodded.
“Are you going to tell him?”
“Tell him what? That his guardian is a piece of crap? I think he already knows that.”
She tilted her head to the side and gave me an impatient look. “No. That you two are related.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” I said, hedging.
“We know. The blood wouldn’t have worked if you weren’t. It’s the same spell I used when I summoned my father… my real father… last year.” She placed her hand on my arm. “I know you don’t have any family except for Kane—”
“And you,” I said, trying to ignore the sharp stab of pain in my heart. I’d thought I’d made peace with the fact I was on my own. But learning Bo might be my relative… It was too much. Fear warred with my deep-seated desire for that thing everyone else had but I didn’t—family.
“And me.” Jade smiled. “There’s never any changing that now. But Pyper, you have to know. If you let this go, you’ll always regret it.”
I knew she was right. I just wasn’t ready. “We need to find Mia first. Then we can figure out the rest.”
“Whatever you say.” She tied her thick strawberry-blond hair up into a bun, a sign she was ready to get down to business. “Let’s get to work. We still have a girl to rescue.”
We found Miss Kitty and Bo sitting at the small breakfast table in the kitchen. I headed straight for the coffeemaker and started brewing a large pot. It was well past midnight, but I wasn’t going to make it without several shots of caffeine.
“Do you have any food in this place?” Bo asked.
“Whatever Moxie left in the fridge.” I waved a hand, indicating he should help himself. As I pulled out mugs for the coffee, he scavenged the kitchen. Coffee cake, blueberry muffins, blackberry cobbler, and vanilla ice cream all made it to the table.
Jade found plates and utensils, and by the time I poured the coffee, they were all digging in to their indulgence of choice.
I took a slice of coffee cake but barely nibbled as I studied Bo. That vague sense of familiarity hit me again, but I wasn’t sure why. I studied his face, his angular jawline, the raven, wavy hair, brilliant blue eyes. Besides our eyes and hair color, we really didn’t look alike, at least not that I could tell. He was almost a foot taller than I was, different nose and chin. But those eyes. They were the same ones I’d been staring at my entire life.
Bo looked up from his cobbler and met my gaze. “You’re creeping me out.”
My lips twitched as I took a sip of coffee.
He shoveled in a few more bites, then put his fork down. “Are you going to tell me who you are?”
“Excuse me?”
“People don’t just go out of their way to help people they just met. So you either want something from me or you’re some kind of saint. Which is it?”
“My money’s on both,” Miss Kitty said, her eyes sparkling.
Jade laughed and covered Miss Kitty’s hand. “I hate to disappoint you, but she’s no saint.”
“Hey!” I cast her a mock offended look.
“Then you want something from me.” Bo propped his elbows on the table. “What is it?”
I sighed and put my coffee mug down. “Information, if you have it.”
Wariness clouded his eyes and the interest vanished. “Emerson doesn’t tell me anything.”
“It’s not about him,” I said. “Though I’m certain the council will want to talk to you at some point.”
He sat back in his chair, slumping one shoulder while he watched me with suspicion.
Damn. That wasn’t the attitude I was looking for. “Let me start at the beginning.” I launched into the explanation of meeting Sterling Charles, the information on Mia and the clue about the “key.”
Bo sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re saying this ghost says Mia is still alive?” His voice cracked when he said Mia’s name.
“Yes. And I believe you might literally be the key to finding her.”
His face turned ashen as he stared at me. Then as if someone had flipped a switch, he sat straight up and brought his fist down on the table with a roar of frustration.
I jumped, startled by his outburst, but Jade and Miss Kitty just sat there, totally unfazed.
“You’re a sick person,” Bo ground out. “How dare you come here, pretend to give a shit about my life, and then lay this crap on me.”
“I—”
“Mia died a long time ago. Whatever you thought you heard, it was wrong.” He stood up so fast the chair fell backward, clattering to the floor. He gave me one last look of disgust before he strode out of the room.
That sharp pain in my chest intensified. The urge to get up and follow him was so overwhelming I was already rising before I even gave it conscious thought.
“Mia is alive?” Miss Kitty covered her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.
“We have reason to believe she is,” I said, wondering if that was even true. I only had the word of one ghost. They weren’t always reliable, and yet I’d bought his story hook, line, and sinker. Just because her body had never been found didn’t mean she hadn’t been fed to the gators We were in the bayou after all.
“You should be totally honest with him,” Jade said quietly. “He needs someone he can trust.”
“That’s not going to happen overnight.” A sick feeling took up residence in my gut. The reality of Bo having no one in his life he could count on was too much.
“You have to start somewhere,” Jade said.
“You’re right.” I poured two more cups of coffee and went off in search of the one person I might be able to call family.
22
“Hey,
” I said to Bo and set both mugs down on the coffee table in the living room. A faint trace of Moxie’s lavender perfume lingered, making me wonder if we’d ever see them again. “Mind if I join you?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not my house.”
“It’s not mine either. But you can tell me to go away if you don’t want to talk to me.” I smiled gently. “I’ll go if you want me to, and I’ll even leave the coffee.”
He glanced over at the table. “Cream and sugar?”
“Yes to both.”
Inching forward, he grabbed one of the mugs. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” I waved at the other end of the couch. “Is this okay?”
He nodded and sat back into the cushions.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I blurted and then mentally cringed. That wasn’t exactly how I’d imagined broaching the subject.
“You have some other ulterior motive for blowing up my life with Emerson?”
“No. I admit that it appears I want something from you, but it’s only information. Getting you out of that house was just the right thing to do. Emerson is a dangerous man, and—”
“You don’t think I know he’s dangerous? I’m the one who’s had to live with him for four years. But what choice did I have? My father dumped me off on him, and without Emerson, I’d be a homeless street bum. So say what you want, but at least there was food in the fridge and a place for me to sleep.”
“You need more than just blankets and burgers,” I said.
“It turns out that’s not entirely accurate.” The steel in his tone and expression scared me. He was entirely too young to be so hardened.
“I hear you, but maybe we can change that.”
“What’s that mean? Gonna call social services and get me a new family? Because if that’s the case, I should start walking back to Emerson’s. When he’s released, he’ll just find me anyway.”
He was probably right. If he knew anything about Emerson’s business, the biker would never let him leave in peace. But not if I had anything to say about it. “You know that spell we did earlier that landed you in the magical circle?”
“Yeah.” He stared down into his coffee mug but made no movement to take a drink.
“Well, there’s something interesting that happened. We were using the hat you lost at Mayhem Gator Tours. You know, when those other bikers forced you into the SUV?”
“You have my hat?” He glanced around the room as if it would magically appear.
“We have your hat, but it, uh… well, probably needs a cleaning.”
“It needed one before I lost it. It’ll be fine.”
“It has blood on it.” Before he had a chance to process that statement, I plowed on, explaining the blood sacrifice and that Jade was certain we were related in some way.
“Related?” He frowned. “That’s not possible.” Shaking his head, he added, “I know your eyes are the same as mine, but there’s nothing else. Besides, my mother was an only child and only had two kids. And my father.” He snorted. “All his family is out west somewhere. Arizona, Utah. Maybe even California. You’re not from there, are you?”
I shook my head. “No. And my mother only had one sister, but she died at a young age.”
We sat there silently, contemplating what I was suggesting.
Finally Bo spoke up. “What’s your last name?”
“Rayne. Yours?”
“Bowman.”
“Bowman,” I breathed as my insides turned to jelly. “Your father’s name?”
“Red.” He watched me curiously. “Are we cousins or something?”
The backs of my eyes stung, and I did nothing to stop the tears from silently rolling down my face as I shook my head. “No, definitely not cousins.”
He put his coffee mug down on the table, picked up a tissue box, and handed it to me. “Then why are you crying? Are you that relieved you’re not related to a loser like me?” His tone was light, but something in his eyes told me that’s exactly the way he saw himself.
“Not a loser, and we are related.” I stood and crossed the room, grabbing the leather handbag I’d left there earlier in the evening. After rummaging around, I eventually put my fingers on the item I’d been looking for. I held up the photograph and asked, “Recognize this man? He’s my father.”
He took the old, beat-up photo from me, squinted, then threw it down on the table. “So. You’re my half-sister then. Did good old Dad come back to you after he decided I wasn’t worth the effort?”
“Back to me? Hardly. I haven’t seen that man since I was five years old. And I have no desire to do so now. But you…” The tears started to flow again.
Bo started to look panicky at the idea of dealing with a blubbering idiot.
“Hold on,” I said, forcing a smile. “Let me just splash some water on my face.” I disappeared into the nearest restroom and stared at my blank expression in the mirror. It was as if I’d had too much brain stimulation and could no longer continue to function. Squaring my shoulders, I strode back into the room, determined to keep my emotions in check.
Bo sat on the edge of the couch, studying the photo. I stood there waiting until he finally looked up. “How old were you when this picture was taken?”
“I don’t know. Four? Five maybe? He left shortly after that. I never heard from him again.”
Bo blew out a breath. “Five years old.” Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “He left me when I was twelve. I guess I don’t have much to complain about compared to what you must’ve gone through.”
“I don’t think it’s something that can be compared. Pain is pain no matter what the circumstances are.”
He picked up an abandoned pen, popped the top button with his thumb, snapped it again, and continued the motion, filling the room with a constant click, click, click sound. It was hypnotic in a way, something to focus on while we both processed this new reality. Finally he paused. “He only stayed as long as he did because my mother died.”
The words hit me like a sucker punch. Not only had our bastard father left him with Emerson Charles, but he’d done it after the kid had lost his mom. And for what? “Do you have any idea where he went?”
“None.” Bo’s expression turned cold. “He told me one day it was time for him to move on. That I was man enough to take care of myself, and that was that. He packed his bags, dropped me off with Emerson, and took off, never looking back.”
“Son of a… That bastard,” I said almost to myself.
“Yeah. But you know what? I don’t need him. I don’t need anybody.” His muscles were taut with tension and his tone full of conviction.
I recognized something in him I’d long harbored within myself. A fierce determination to survive, to make something of myself if only to prove that I could. “Everyone needs someone, Bo.”
He barked out a humorless laugh. “People only disappoint you in the end.”
My heart hurt. He was only seventeen. I ached to wrap my arms around him and make promises of a better future. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Trust would be hard earned from a boy who’d lived a life of heartbreak. Instead, I said, “I’d really like a chance to prove I’m not one of those people.”
He cast me a sideways glance. “What, just because we share DNA, you think you owe me something? Well, forget it. I don’t need you or your charity.”
“Bo, I didn’t know until about a half hour ago that we’re related. The minute I saw you forced into that SUV, I was planning how to find you.”
“Right, because you think I know something about my sister’s disappearance.”
“Oh hell.” I stood up, suddenly unable to stay seated. How had I forgotten that? Did that mean I’d just gained a sister too? “Do you mean our sister?”
“No.” He got up and started to pace the edge of the area rug. “My sister. Not yours. She and I have different fathers. But if you think for one minute that I knew something about her disap
pearance and never said anything to anyone, then you’re as crazysauce as the rest of them. Mia was the only person who had ever been there for me. The only one, got it? And I’d do anything to help her.”
I let the words hang in the air for a moment. Then I stared him straight in the eye and said, “If that’s true, then here’s your chance. I believe there is a decent possibility that she’s still alive, and that unbeknownst to you, you might be the answer to finding her.”
He threw his hands up. “What am I supposed to do with that? I can’t provide information I’m not aware I have.”
Jade appeared under the arch and cleared her throat.
When we both turned to look at her, she walked into the room, straight up to Bo, and took his hands in hers. Staring him in the eye, she asked, “Do you want to find your sister?”
His eyes closed and a visible tremor shook his body as he nodded.
“Then I can help. With you here, all we need to do now is perform a finding spell.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. Of course. In my shock of learning I had a brother and that my father had started a new family and then left Bo as well, I’d completely missed the fact that Bo’s connection to Mia was a game changer. If Mia was anywhere in the southeastern part of Louisiana, we’d find her using a couple of drops of Bo’s blood.
“It’s that easy?” he asked, suspicion in his tone as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“Not easy exactly, but if all goes well, it could lead us to her.” Jade tightened her grip on his hands and gazed up at him. “I, too, know what it’s like to be abandoned. It’s not something you ever get over; at least I haven’t despite having found answers and peace in my life. But you can’t let it define you. This moment, right now. It’s one of those times that matter. Make sure you make it count.” She pulled him in closer and gently placed a kiss on his cheek before she quietly retreated from the room.
Bo glanced over at me. “You trust her?”
“With my life,” I said.
“Then let’s do this.”
23
The cool spring air sent a chill over my skin, but I barely noticed. We were once again back outside near the cypress tree, Jade at the northern point of the circle, me at the southern, with Bo and Miss Kitty at east and west.