“Isn’t that your secretary?” Arsen asked, glancing back over his shoulder. “The one who was just in your building, acting a little crazy?”
He nodded as he cradled Tori against his body. She’d already begun crying, and he couldn’t blame her.
He wanted to weep too.
Julian couldn’t believe this.
Lena was dead.
So much for this getting easier. Their secretary had taken a swan dive off a building he owned, across from a flock of media staking out his home and office.
They’d filmed it.
ALL.
OF.
IT.
They were screwed.
Royally.
Chapter Seven
Tuesday
T o say that they were shocked at what had happened would be an understatement. No one saw this coming. It was so out of character for Lena. She was wild, but for the most part, she was stable. It didn’t make sense.
None of this did.
The only thing saving them was that the media was calling it a suicide. They’d watched the woman jump from the building.
No, they filmed it.
All of it.
They assumed the poor girl had opted to take her life.
Yeah, only, no one at the office bought that for a single second. They knew Lena. She’d worked there for over a year. There was something foul afoot, and they were going to get to the bottom of it.
What choice did they have?
They’d lost one of their own. Lena might not have been blood, but she’d worked with them every day, and that mattered.
She mattered.
This was far from over.
Once the police were on the scene, Julian, Tori, and their team were escorted back into their building, and they were asked to have a seat.
It looked like they were sleeping there tonight by order of the local PD.
At least they were all together. Even Julian and Justin’s mother was there. Clarissa had heard the commotion, and she came downstairs with a sleeping Veronica in her arms. She’d been in Tori and Julian’s apartment, watching the baby until they were done working.
So, the family was in lock down.
Together.
The first thing they did was mourn. The whole group, as a collective, wept over Lena’s death. While some of the team wasn’t as close to her, others were even closer.
Justin looked like he’d lost a good friend. Truth be told, he and Lena were buddies. She called him her spirit animal—all in good natured fun. He in returned called her the lesbian who got away.
Now he was wiping his eyes and saying goodbye to someone he genuinely cared about.
Vivian was by his side, making sure he was okay.
Roman and Mattie were silently looking up things online. They were trying to figure out why Lena had done it. They were also searching for any family that Lena might have had.
Unfortunately, none came up.
Lena Lexington was an orphan of sorts, and that made it a million times worse.
Her light was extinguished, and no one would be any the wiser. She was one more soul leaving the world.
Kane wasn’t a man of many words. His actions always spoke volumes. From the floral arrangement in the main lobby, he pulled a few sprigs of flowers from the vase.
Lena always told them it would take more than a bunch of flowers to class this joint up, and he felt it was right. Gently, and with affection, he rested them on her desk in memory of her.
Silently, he said a prayer, wishing her safe passage, and then he returned to the couch to wait.
Tori took it the hardest. Possibly it was because she had handpicked Lena to work for them. She saw the uniqueness as just one more asset. Perhaps the pain wasn’t just tied to her death, but guilt at what she’d said to her.
The dead had to be involved, and she knew it.
Julian waited for his wife to stop crying, and he knew what he needed to do. They would handle Lena’s funeral. While he knew that they couldn’t afford it with Beau’s expenses tying everything up, he still had to do it.
They owed it to her.
Rubbing his hand over the spot on his face where she hit him, he didn’t believe she did this on her own. He also didn’t believe it was Tori throwing her out that caused this.
He knew his wife.
She was feeling guilty.
He wouldn’t let her carry this.
It wasn’t happening.
Claire and Beckett were sitting on the couch, his hands tucked safely beneath her shirt and against her skin. It was how he grounded himself. Everyone knew there was no way he was going to risk touching anything Lena had left energy trace on in the office.
He didn’t want to see her die.
That would be horrible.
On top of the mourning, Julian had that sick feeling that Lena’s death was going to somehow cause major shit for all of them. One of their employees just took a header off a building into the pavement across the street.
This was bad.
Julian watched his people as they rested on the couches, floors, and chairs. They were trying to sleep, but it wasn’t happening.
“I wish there was something we could do,” Beau stated out of the blue. “I feel horrible.”
They all did.
There was one person who felt the worst in the group. It was Nyx.
This was on her, and she knew it. It was hard to carry the secret of hiding Evangeline, but knowing that’s what caused Lena’s death?
It was crushing her.
She should have told them what they were working against, but now she knew it was too late. Lena had lost her life and the family was going to hate her.
This was one of the worst days of her existence.
They were going to send her away.
It sucked.
Night had turned to day, and no one was sleeping. “We should probably have something to eat and get to work,” Julian offered. “If anyone wants to take today off, due to the circumstances, we completely understand.”
They looked around at each other.
No one left.
How could they?
As if timed right, Clarissa entered, carrying Veronica.
“I’m going to make food for everyone,” she offered. “I know how hard today will be for this team, but you have to keep going.”
Here came the mom pep-talk.
“Lena wouldn’t want you to mourn. She’d want you to put on loud, horrible music, and push forward. She loved being here, and she loved Beau. Save him in her honor.”
She was right.
Lena would want that.
“Here is your daughter,” she said, handing Tori the baby who was swaddled in the pack. “She needs you.”
Tori took her daughter and cuddled her. At least in this moment, she could focus on something good.
She would focus on the little life.
Veronica began crying.
“I have to feed her,” she offered. “Is anyone going to be offended?” she asked.
Tori glanced around the room, and when her gaze fell to Justin, she knew he was going to go there.
“How can I be offended by seeing boobs?” Justin joked, trying to lift the oppressive mood. The team was under a cloud.
“Hit him for me,” she said to Vivian.
“I will. I hope he feels the same way when I ask everyone that exact question.”
He pretended to be offended.
If he could get the team to laugh, it was worth it.
“No one’s offended, Tori,” Roman offered. “Feed Veronica. In death, it’s always good to see some life.”
And that was the truth.
Tori headed to a chair, grabbed a cloth, and served up breakfast while the rest of the team waited for their breakfast and to get the game plan.
Clarissa knew they were struggling.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” she offered. “Lena was a sweet girl. I hate that she took her own life.”
>
Tori didn’t buy that BS for one damn second. There was no way she’d committed suicide.
No.
Freaking.
Way.
“Shelby had to have something to do with this,” she stated. “Lena was acting all weird, and maybe she made her do it.”
Julian didn’t know, but trying to figure it out was better than sitting around mourning what they didn’t understand.
Mattie didn’t understand any of this. Maybe it was because she didn’t have a gift.
“Can they do things like that? I mean, I’ve seen you possessed, Tori, and Nyx, too, but kill yourself? Isn’t the will to live stronger than that?”
Nyx wanted to weep.
“It has to be because of this place and the dead, Julian. The last couple weeks, the office has felt oppressive. We’ve had scissors flying, pens embedding themselves into walls, and all kind of crazy.”
“Yeah, but Shelby has only been dead a week. This has been going on longer.”
Nyx was getting sick.
Tori continued as she finished feeding Veronica. “I know, but what else could it be? It’s like some evil thing is here, and now Shelby dies, and this happens. We are officially screwed.”
Julian was aware.
“They can’t pin this on us, Victoria.”
She wiped her eyes.
Beau didn’t get it. “Why are we discussing this being pinned on one of us?” he asked.
Beckett clued him in. “We’re the center of an active murder investigation to get you off from a murder charge, and now our employee jumped. It looks like something nefarious is going on here. We’re all going to be suspects. Beau, you’re out on bail, and the cops are going to go there first and foremost.”
“But we were all here,” he said. Yes, Lena was dead, but the cops couldn’t possibly think they had something to do with this.
Could they?
“Yeah, we were here, but the police don’t really care. If they did, you wouldn’t have been charged with murder, now would you have been?” Beckett asked.
Okay, he had a very valid point on this one.
“We’re going to have to prove ourselves innocent. We own that building,” Julian stated.
They all felt horrible.
The Littlemoon name was being mired with more garbage and muck.
“If my egg donor wasn’t dead, I’d kill her myself,” Tori stated. “No one likes a mean, dead, bitch. Before the day is done, I’m going to call a priest and get her exorcized. I’m over this. She’s crossed a line. I don’t care if she can tell us who killed her. She’s going to where all the evil dead things go!”
It was clear that Tori was three days past pissed.
Nyx knew it was time to own it. If they got rid of Shelby, they might not save Beau. It was all connected, and she couldn’t pretend anymore.
If she was going to lose them, so be it. There was no way she could watch Beau rot in jail because she kept her mouth shut. The damage was done, and she’d own it.
“It wasn’t Shelby.”
Everyone glanced over at her.
“Then who was it?” she asked.
“Trust me when I say that Shelby couldn’t possibly pull this one off, but I know who could.”
They were all focused on her now.
“Who is it?” Tori asked, as she handed her baby back to Clarissa.
Oh, this was going to suck. Nyx was scared shitless. The second she told them…
It was over.
“It’s Evangeline. The spirit from Lennox’s estate.”
There.
It was out in the open.
They all stared at her and no one spoke. Talk about blindsiding someone.
Here it was.
“Evangeline is here?” Julian asked. “How the hell did that happen?”
Nyx was about to tell them when the dial on the radio in the corner went crazy.
“YOU. ARE. SCREWED!”
Oh, they were well aware.
“She followed us home?” Julian asked. “What the hell? Do the dead have no boundaries?”
Nyx knew this was going to escalate, and fast. Julian looked like he was going over the edge.
“Yes, they do have boundaries, but she didn’t follow us home.”
Beau was now staring at her. “What’s going on, Nyx? You’ve been acting weird, you’ve been scary at odd moments, and you’re frightening me right now.”
She knew she was.
Only, she was afraid of losing him.
“When we were leaving Lennox’s home, remember when I went back for my bag?”
He nodded.
“I invited her to live in me.”
They all gasped.
Tori closed her eyes, knowing how bad this really was. Nyx allowed a dangerous entity into their space. She’d given the fox access to the henhouse.
Beau stood in horror.
“WHAT?”
“I was so desperate to have my gift back and a spirit guide that I didn’t think this one through. I invited her into me, and she’s body jumping. She was riding Lena when she took the plunge. I could hear her amusement. Even when she’s not in me, she’s still in me—if that makes any sense.”
Beau began pacing. None of this made any sense, and if his fiancée thought it did, she was bat shit insane.
Why would she…?
Then the full magnitude of it hit him.
“She’s been in you?” he asked, spinning around.
“Yes.”
“When we sleep?”
“Yes.”
“Make love?”
She nodded.
When she moved toward him, Beau pulled away from her to put space between them. The look on his face said it all.
He was horrified.
This was her fear, and it was happening.
“I didn’t want to tell you. I figured you’d hate me for doing it.”
“I don’t hate you for doing it, Nyx, but you did something behind my back, and it created a mess. We’re supposed to be getting married, and you…”
“What?”
“You betrayed me.”
That stung like a slap.
“I didn’t mean to…”
“You let another person into our bed who I didn’t invite. If I wanted to have sex with someone else, I would. I had no choice in the matter. What if I took your free will away? Evangeline is a fucking freak. She creeps me out, and now she’s squatting in my fiancée.”
Well, at least he didn’t just call her his girlfriend.
“I’m sorry.”
“Get rid of her. We need to get rid of her.”
“I can’t,” she offered.
“Why not?” Julian asked, walking over to Beau to pat him on the back. He got it. He’d been the victim of someone possessing his wife and then riding him in sex.
It felt…dirty.
There was fantasy, and then there was violation.
This was the latter.
“A spirit is easy to kick out. I thought she was a ghost, but she’s not.”
“What is she?” Tori asked, almost afraid to know the truth. She could only imagine what was going on inside Nyx to make her do this kind of thing.
She didn’t understand that desperation.
“Break it to us,” Julian stated, bracing himself for the worst-case scenario. He was sure it was coming.
“She’s a demon.”
Clarissa began saying a Native prayer over Veronica as she moved the baby as far back from Nyx as possible.
Julian closed his eyes.
“I hate shit like this.”
The radio came to life.
“DEMONS. ARE. BAD. SHIT. BRO. YOU. CAN’T. SEND. THEM. AWAY. UNLESS. THEY. WANT. TO. GO.”
Even better.
His day was looking more and more shitty as it progressed. His wife was now in danger, and so was his child.
AGAIN.
They had a dead employee and one vicious demon who could body jump bodies at will.
>
Oh, they were screwed.
“Salt the place,” Tori said. We’ll have to hope for the best.”
“I’ve tried to get her to go, but she’s pissed. I made a huge mistake, and I understand if you all hate me.”
They were pissed.
“I cost Lena her life.”
Yes, yes, she did.
But, she wasn’t the only one involved.
“Nyx, I don’t know what to say,” Julian stated.
Tori laughed. “Oh, I do.”
He stared at his wife.
She was angry.
He could tell.
Before he could stop her, she went off. “What you did was childish, immature, and dangerous. You know that the things we deal with aren’t to be messed with, and that’s exactly what you did.”
“I know.”
“Why did you do this?”
“You took my spirit. I was empty. Once I realized I could still channel, I had to find something to fill me. Imagine waking up tomorrow with no ghosts in you.”
“I’d be thrilled,” Julian stated. “We’d all be thrilled.”
Tori wouldn’t.
She got it.
That helped bank the fires. She couldn’t blame the woman for hurting. That she got.
If she lost Trey and Bethany, she’d be missing a big piece of herself. What wouldn’t she do to fix that?
“Tori, we’d be thrilled, right?” Julian asked.
“I couldn’t live without them. They’ve become my identity.”
“WELL. SOMEONE. LOVES. US. IT’S. ABOUT. TIME.”
“Zip it, Trey!” Julian stated. “This is a bad situation, and you don’t need to commentate.”
He went quiet.
“I’m sorry,” Nyx offered.
Tori sighed. “We’ll get through this.”
“You’re going to ignore that this caused Lena to die?” Julian asked. “How do we forgive that?”
Maybe his wife was being magnanimous, but he wasn’t exactly going down that route.
“I’m not ignoring anything,” she said.
He was getting mad. “Yes, you are. One of the stupid dead has crossed a line. One of the living is now gone. This is her fault. She goes.”
Nyx’s eyes filled with tears.
“No, Julian.”
“She’s weak!”
Tori moved toward him, but he shoved her. He pushed her so hard, that she fell backward onto the floor and slid into the wall not far away.
Kiss of Souls Page 15