by Cege Smith
David’s expression was unreadable. “Maybe, we’ll have to see. You wouldn’t want to make anybody suspicious by using the way lines too often. That’s how you get caught and get into trouble.”
“Oh, of course,” Ellie said lightly. “I wouldn’t want Mikel to find out what we were doing. I am sure he wouldn’t be happy with either one of us.”
David nodded. “Exactly. Staying on his good side is the best thing.”
He led her back to the spot where she first saw the house and said the same words that she remembered him saying earlier, and then the bright light engulfed them again. Ellie closed her eyes this time, and when she reopened them, they were back in the basement of the mansion facing the pedestal.
“I hope you don’t mind, Ellie. But I’m feeling a bit worn out. I think I’m going to go rest for a while,” David said.
Ellie was relieved. Keeping up the pretense of acting like she was interacting with David knowing that it was probably Mikel was wearing on her, and, especially after what she had just learned, she needed time to think. “I know what you mean. I could use a little downtime myself.”
David smiled. “But dinner later? I’d really like it if you’d tell me more about your parents and growing up there. Seeing the house makes me curious to find out even more about you.”
“Sure,” Ellie said as they started to climb the stairs. She pointed at the library. “I’m going to grab a book to take upstairs with me.”
David leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
As soon as he was out of sight Ellie rubbed at the spot on her forehead where his lips had touched her skin. It burned, and she knew why. Ellie walked into the library and looked up at the shelf of books where earlier Jeffrey had pulled the Max Turner book from; she wondered if there might be more books there that covered the same topics of the Afterlife. Then she realized that what David had shown her with her clothes may come in handy.
She closed her eyes and thought hard about what she wanted. She opened them and saw that on the small table beside her, a book had appeared. She picked it up. Histories of the Afterlife by Max Turner. She grinned. Max Turner appeared to be quite the expert on the Afterlife, just as she was hoping. Taking the book and sitting down on the couch, she opened the book to read and wait. If Lucy didn’t find her, she’d go looking for the witch herself. She had things that she needed to get straight before she saw David again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
As she hoped, she had just turned the first page when Lucy flounced into the room. The witch was wearing a black skintight bustier and black leather pants. Her shoes were red platform heels that added about three inches to her height. A heavy black choker circled her throat. She looked gorgeous, if not a little dangerous.
Ellie raised her eyebrows. “What’s up with the outfit? Vamp witch or what?”
“What?” Lucy said, batting her eyes and striking a pose with her hand on her hip. “I’m in desperate need of a little romance. Needless to say the prospects aren’t so great in Purgatory, so I’m ready just in case anyone in your next trio is a hottie who needs a little extra comfort during his transition to the Afterlife.”
Lucy’s words were so silly and so humanly normal that Ellie burst out laughing, and then Lucy did too. Lucy came around the sofa. She sprawled on it on her stomach with her feet crossed at the ankle in the air, her head propped up on her hand. “What are you up to? Did you have fun on your date?”
Ellie grimaced then pointed to the book in her lap. “Doing a bit of light reading on the Afterlife.” Ellie gestured in a circle around the room and then pointed at her ear. She saw Lucy’s confused expression. She sighed. “So that thing that you did earlier, you know, that thing? Can you do that again?”
Recognition dawned on Lucy’s face. “You know, I just passed Jeffrey in the kitchen. Looks like he’s whipping up a feast,” she said, shaking her head with a twisted frown. “He seemed a bit put off by the fact that you and David had disappeared right before the next group arrived. Something about prepping you on some details.” She ran a finger across her throat.
Ellie sighed in frustration. Communicating in code wasn’t going to help her, and she wanted to tell Lucy about what she found. She also needed Lucy’s help with her body double spell she had been thinking about.
“So where did you and your boyfriend wander off to? Jeffrey wasn’t the only one looking for you earlier,” Lucy asked casually. “Must be nice to have somebody like that who is so attentive. I’ve never had good luck with men. Being single as long as I have sucks.”
Were they going to pretend to have idle girl chitchat? Ellie tried to figure out how to ask Lucy what she wanted to ask her without giving away too many clues and arousing the suspicion of any eavesdropping ears.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky sometimes,” Ellie said slowly. She widened her eyes and leaned toward Lucy, who she could tell was listening closely. “I admit that I haven’t known him that long, but things are so easy with him. I just wish that I could tell what he was thinking sometimes. I mean, I know I love him, but we’re still learning a lot about each other. It’s good to know that he’s the right person for me, if you know what I mean.”
Lucy licked her lips.
“I mean, I wouldn’t ever want anyone to come between us. So just knowing that David is there with me is comforting.” Ellie hoped that she was getting her point across.
“Sure, I mean, it sucks to fall for a guy and then find out he’s not who you thought he was,” Lucy said slowly.
Ellie was relieved that at least some of her code was making sense. Lucy was following her. “Sounds like you’ve been around longer than me,” she said. “I obviously didn’t make a very good decision the first time around when I married Jake. I mean, how do you tell that someone is the right one? So you don’t make a complete fool of yourself by saying something that you shouldn’t?”
Lucy shot up and stared at Ellie. Then she bit her lip. “I guess you just know. I’m not an expert either. Why? Do you have any doubts about David?”
“Not at all,” Ellie said. They had trod into dangerous territory and she knew from the look on Lucy’s face it was time to change the topic. “He took me to see the house I grew up in before my parents died.”
Ellie was surprised at the shock on Lucy’s face.
“He did what?”
“It was kind of like a date. He knew that I missed my parents a lot,” Ellie said. She was trying to act like it wasn’t a big deal, but the more she thought about it, she wouldn’t have traded that interlude for anything, even if it involved Mikel.
“That is very dangerous for him to do,” Lucy said. “He must care about you a lot.” Lucy got up and walked to the fireplace, wringing her hands.
Ellie could tell that Lucy wanted to tell her something else, but didn’t know how. Lucy cocked her head listening, and then looked at Ellie in dismay. “We’ll have to talk about it more later. If we can. Sounds like you have company.”
At that, Ellie heard the sounds of voices coming from the back of the house. “I didn’t know that we’d get another group so quickly.”
“People are dying all the time.” Lucy shrugged. “My guess is that you are going to be getting a lot more activity now that this waypoint has a true Guardian again.”
The idea wasn’t comforting. Every time a new group came to the waypoint, it meant that Ellie would need to be trolling for psychic abilities for Mikel’s collection. She looked up at the mantle, and even though she couldn’t see the box, she knew it was there. “I guess I’d better go greet them, she said.”
“I’ll go with you,” Lucy said. “I call dibs on any hotties.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. As she stood up, Lucy strode over to her side. She took Ellie’s hand and closed her eyes. Ellie felt a tingle through her skin and then it was gone. She looked into Lucy’s eyes with a question.
“Touch is such an intimate thing, don’t you think?” Lucy said faintly.
Even though her face had paled, her voice was calm and hypnotic. “You are able to see so much clearer with a simple touch.”
Ellie didn’t know if she was reading Lucy’s message correctly, but she thought the witch had just given her what she had asked for. She wouldn’t know for sure though until she saw David again. She nodded.
“Thanks, Lucy, I’m glad you are here.”
A brilliant smile crossed Lucy’s face and then she caught Ellie off guard when she threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like I had a friend. I’m glad I met you, Ellie Coulter.”
The simple declaration seemed genuine and Ellie realized that she was glad she had met Lucy too. She returned the hug. Then she hitched a thumb toward the kitchen and Lucy gestured for her to go first.
Unlike the last time with the ski trio, when Ellie entered the kitchen and saw the new arrivals, she was immediately hit with a strong wave of energy that gave her a pounding headache. She winced and saw that the group at the table had gone quiet.
This time the group was three men. They looked at Ellie and Lucy, but it was Lucy in particular who grabbed their attention. One of them stood and pointed at the empty seat next to him. “There’s plenty of room,” he said. “I’m Dan.”
“Why thank you, Dan,” Lucy said with a slight purr in her voice. She lightly brushed Ellie’s arm and then went around the table to join the group. “I’m Lucy.” She started asking questions and soon the group was involved in discussion again.
Ellie turned to find Jeffrey standing at her elbow. He handed her a cup of tea and then motioned for her to join him closer to the stove. The teapot had just started to whistle.
“Seems we have a strong one in the group,” he said quietly. “Are you all right?”
Ellie’s eyes widened as her fingers brushed her temple “Is that what this is from?”
“That one will have priority on the escorts’ list for sure,” Jeffrey said with a concern. He looked over Ellie’s shoulder at the group and frowned. “You should expect them tonight.”
Ellie’s mouth tightened in dismay. “I’m not ready to go through that again.” If one of the men was a strong psychic, she was sure there was no way that Mikel would let her off the hook of taking his ability.
“I am sure that Lucy has been educating you on what NOT to do with your guests when presented with a similar situation as last time,” Jeffrey said, taking the pot off the stove. “By the way, Mikel would like you to join him in the greenhouse. I can take care of these guests while you do that.”
“The greenhouse?” Ellie said, smarting at Jeffrey’s casual mention of how she’d bungled taking Martin’s ability. “I didn’t know there was a greenhouse here, so maybe you can point me in the right direction. Any idea what he wants?” she asked. She took a sip of the tea and was relieved that it seemed to help calm the throbbing in her head. She stared into the cup, wondering what else Jeffrey was stowing in the liquid.
“Unlike other people, I follow my orders,” Jeffrey said with a hint of sarcasm. He took the cup out of her hands and turned her toward the door at the back of the sunroom and pointed.
Knowing that she had been dismissed, Ellie sighed and waved at Lucy as she crossed the kitchen to the back door. The door opened to a long covered corridor that on the Other Side led to the garage. Here, she could see that the corridor only went about halfway down and ended at a doorway where the door was open. It wasn’t the garage. Feet dragging, she made her way to it. She had had enough of Mikel that day.
Reaching the doorway, she stood there looking inside and felt a momentary flush of pleasure. Bright light filled the room and appeared to come from a multitude of translucent panels that made up the roof. She was surrounded by lush green plants of varying shapes and sizes. Ellie had nothing but a brown thumb, but she still appreciated the care that had to go into keeping all of those plants alive. Ellie’s sad attempts at keeping house plants over the years had always ended tragically for the plant, but she kept trying because her mother had always had plants all around the house. She refused to believe that she hadn’t inherited any of that skill.
She didn’t see Mikel at first, but stepping into the humid air, she finally saw a figure toward the back under a large bushy overhang. Instead of calling out to him, she decided instead to get a closer look at what he was doing.
Stepping as quietly as she could, Ellie moved closer. The last time she had seen him he was wearing a three-piece pinstripe suit. Now he was dressed in a pair of jeans and a heavy chambray shirt that was untucked and fell loosely around his waist. A pair of boots completed the outfit. The casual look was completely at odds with the image that she had in her mind, and that was only further solidified as she saw that he was standing in the midst of a dozen different colored roses.
She heard him murmuring to each one as he gently touched a petal on one and then a petal on another. In his hand he had a small watering can, and he was pouring water into each pot as he moved along. Ellie had no idea what to say. She felt like she was interrupting something private.
“Cat got your tongue?” he said without turning around.
Her cheeks burned. “Jeffrey said you were looking for me. This place is lovely. I didn’t realize that it was here.”
“My own little getaway,” Mikel said. He set the can down and then finally faced her. There was a small smudge of dirt on his cheek and she wondered again how someone so dark could appear so normal and human. “Yes, I was looking for you. I was having some trouble locating you.”
It was a test, Ellie realized. He was trying to figure out if she knew or suspected what he was doing with David. “I was spending some time with David,” she said carefully.
“Of course,” Mikel said evenly. “It must be comforting to have your boyfriend here to support you during the transition.”
“What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” Ellie asked, deliberately inserting an undertone of impatience into her voice. She had no desire to continue double talking about her recent encounter. She knew if she kept up the pretense for too long she’d end up tripping herself up. At least here, Mikel was Mikel and she didn’t have to pretend to like him. “I have guests.”
“Ah, yes.” Mikel nodded. “I think we have gotten lucky that there is an empath amongst them, and a strong one at that. He’s a little put out by the fact that his ability doesn’t appear to be working, but I had to block him. It wouldn’t do for him to know what was going to happen to him. I don’t think you’ll find your time here dull, Ellie. But actually the real reason I asked you out here was to find out how you were doing.”
“What?” Ellie asked. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure about that? Lucy was concerned that you weren’t taking to the transition well after what happened with the other boy. I know that things here in the Afterlife are a bit different than what you are used to, but I hope you can see there are some things that should make it feel more like home.”
She was tired of Mikel’s sales pitch. Ellie looked at the yellow roses to her left. “These are beautiful. They are yours?”
“I have always had a weakness for Ecuadorian roses,” Mikel replied. “They are so much lovelier than regular roses, and when they are properly taken care of they blossom into the largest roses you’ve ever seen; absolutely unmatched.”
Ellie sensed that he wasn’t talking about the flowers anymore and she shifted uncomfortably. “I’m adjusting, Mikel. Thank you for asking. If you don’t need me anymore, I think that I am going to go check on my guests and then I’d like to rest. I’m supposed to meet David for dinner.”
He was watching her carefully. Then he stepped next to her and pulled the yellow roses that she had been admiring off the table. “Here. You can have these. Put them in your room. Perhaps it will remind you that things aren’t as bad as you may think they are.”
“I can’t,” she said, taking a step back. “My room doesn’t get the right kind of light I’m sure, and I�
��m horrible with any kind of plant.”
“I insist,” Mikel said, pushing the pot into her hands. “You will find that if you set the pot next to the window and water it regularly, they will be fine.”
“Thank you,” she said. She bowed her head a notch and then turned to leave.
“Oh, and Ellie? Next time you see David, be sure to pass along my thanks that he is taking such good care of you.”
Heart pounding, Ellie left the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
By the time Ellie returned to the kitchen, the group was gone and Jeffrey was washing the dishes. He pointed at a plate sitting on the edge of the countertop.
“Thanks, Jeffrey,” she said, setting the roses down next to her and sitting on the edge of the stool. The short exchange with Mikel had left her mentally exhausted.
“I see that you found Mikel,” Jeffrey said, glancing at the roses.
“Yes, he’s got quite the green thumb. Who’d have thought?” she said as she started to pick at the meat on her plate. She was noticing that the hunger that plagued her when she first arrived was gradually subsiding.
“A complex fellow,” Jeffrey agreed.
It occurred to Ellie that she didn’t know all that much about Jeffrey other than he seemed to be the one that kept things around the waypoint puttering along. “How did you end up working for Mikel, Jeffrey? Are you like Lucy?”
“I am nothing like Lucy,” Jeffrey scoffed. “I am not bound by Purgatory or any of the other places. I was chosen to be a servant of the waypoint. I do my job and no one bothers me.”
“If that’s the case, that girl Lila said the Guardian is supposed to be neutral. Shouldn’t that apply to you too?” Ellie wasn’t trying to start anything, but she was tired of having to carefully pick and choose her words. She wanted to speak plainly and get direct answers in return.