Affairs of the Dead

by A. J. Locke

  Sure enough, Micah soon pulled up a certificate that confirmed that Raston’s ghost had manifested, but it was because he’d died before he’d resolved an old argument with his brother. Apparently, Victor had been helped, and his ghost had faded. Micah and I sat back and stared at his computer screen for a few moments.

  “It appears we’ve reached a dead end,” I said. “Raston’s ghost is long gone. He can’t be the one walking around in Ethan’s body.”

  “If he was, it might have explained Leslie’s death but not necessarily Athena’s,” Micah said. “So maybe it’s good that we’ve exhausted this lead. Now we know we have to switch gears.”

  “It would help if we could just track down Ethan’s damn body,” I said. Then I sat up straight and felt around my neck but didn’t feel the tracking stone.

  “What?” Micah asked.

  “I activated a rune stone to track Ethan’s body, but I left it at home,” I said. “It didn’t seem to work, but I was hoping it would kick in sooner or later.”

  “Interesting,” Micah said. He yawned and stretched those very lovely biceps over his head. His yawn triggered a yawn in me.

  “Let’s go home,” I said, getting up and stretching my entire body. When I was done, I noticed Micah quickly darting his eyes away. I smiled a little. “Monday we can attack this with refreshed minds. We can start looking into who could want Athena dead, but I already anticipate that to be a long list filled mostly with the names of stripped reanimators.”

  I immediately deflated at that fact. There would be many more people who might want Athena dead than Leslie, but would there be one person who would want them both dead? It would be one thing if we could say these murders were random, but they clearly weren’t. Both women had been sought out and killed, so whoever was in Ethan’s body had some reason for wanting them dead. I just hoped Micah and I could figure out who and stop them before they killed more people. We gathered our things and headed out of the suite to our cars. There was a moment when we stopped at my car where I thought a conversation about things not involving the case would start, but Micah just gave me a brief smile, said good night, and walked away. Our relationship had changed yet again, but I had absolutely no idea what it had changed into.

  Chapter Twelve

  I spent most of Saturday worrying over the case and keeping the news on to see if there were reports of people murdered the way Leslie and Athena had been. Thankfully, there weren’t, but I was still driving myself crazy with trying to puzzle things out. A text from Micah told me he was in the same boat. It didn’t help that Ethan was even more upset than he’d already been when I told him I had forgotten the tracking rune at home yesterday, so he was quite the pain in the ass for most of the day.

  I understood his unhappiness, but I really was doing everything I could to help him. By the end of the day, I was readily looking forward to Andrew’s cocktail party and drinking an enormous amount of alcohol. Nothing helped break the funk of discouragement like liquor.

  After taking Luna for her afternoon walk, I went to get ready. Ethan was in the living room, watching the anime channel, which I didn’t even know I had until he told me. After showering, I stood in front of my open closet in my underwear, trying to decide what to wear. I wanted to look like a knockout, but not like I was trying too hard. Nothing started rumors like being around your coworkers outside the office, especially if alcohol was involved. The last thing I wanted was to dress scandalously, capture Andrew’s attention for the entire night, and have rumors start about us.

  I’d been walking this fine line since we’d started having an affair. I wanted to look a little scandalous though, but I realized it wasn’t only so I could impress Andrew. I wanted Micah to think I was a knockout too. How strange that impressing Micah should suddenly matter to me. Clearly it had nothing to do with the fact that he’d confessed to having feelings for me. Clearly.

  Eventually, I settled on a fitted red dress that showed some cleavage but not enough to render me a skank and came to just above the knee, so it wasn’t too short. I straightened my hair so it was almost long enough to touch my shoulders, parted it to one side, and gave myself understated makeup. I was tempted to do the whole smoky eye thing, but I had to remember I was going to a cocktail party, not a nightclub. Black pumps and a clutch I could slip around my wrist completed the outfit. I put the tracking rune into the clutch and was quite pleased when I looked in the mirror. Luna barked and wagged her tail at me, so I figured she approved too.

  When I walked into the living room, Ethan’s eyes widened as he took me in. He did this stammering, spluttering thing that was adorable and made me laugh. I did a little strut and turn for him.

  “I look good, yes?” I said.

  Ethan nodded rapidly. It was nice to see another expression on his face besides despair.

  “You look fabulous,” he said, giving me a head-to-toe look. “What’s the occasion?”

  “Cocktail party at the boss’s house.”

  “Sounds fun,” he said wistfully. Luna ran a circle around him and barked.

  “It really seems like she can see you,” I said, frowning slightly. “How strange.”

  “At least someone can see me then,” Ethan said, looking at Luna as she ran off to play with one of her toys.

  “Oh, come now, I can see you.”

  “Not the same. You’re a necromancer,” Ethan said. He was looking at the ground, scuffing his shoe against it. The despair was back.

  I regarded him for a moment, then went into the bedroom and got my rune bag. I came back out with a few energy runes and slipped them around his neck.

  “I’m not supposed to do this, but if it will help you stop acting so pathetic, then I’ll do it. No one but Luna will know, right?”

  Ethan smiled a little then reached out and touched the back of my sofa, smiling even more.

  “There, now you can change the channel, play your DS, or whatever,” I said. “Just don’t go wandering around, okay?”

  “I’ll stay in,” Ethan said. “Thanks.” He gave me another sweeping look. “Have fun at your cocktail party.”

  I wiggled my fingers at him as I headed out the door.

  About an hour later, I parked in front of Andrew’s Upper East Side condo and was let in by a uniformed doorman. Andrew’s lifestyle was all about extravagance and doors opened by people whose job it was to open them. After I gave the concierge my name and he checked my ID against a roster, he let me head to the elevators.

  I was a mixture of emotions as I headed up, and that wasn’t typical whenever I attended one of Andrew’s parties. There was just something about the way Andrew had looked at Micah and me last night that made me feel like I should be worried. No matter how much I told myself that I could be with anyone and Andrew had no say in it, I couldn’t shake the weird feeling.

  No one would ever know I was feeling a little off once I stepped out of the elevator and sashayed toward Andrew’s door, though. He opened it with a smile as though he knew it was me on the other side. I returned his smile and allowed him a moment to take in my outfit.

  “Ravishing,” he whispered. There was already heat in his eyes, and it gave me both a thrill and a knot of nervousness. I was suddenly battling want and not want when it came to Andrew, and I was not enjoying it.

  I blamed Micah for opening his big mouth and saying that he liked me. It was such a novelty that it had thrown me completely off. Then again, I had asked.

  Andrew’s hand skimmed up my arm as he let me into the apartment, and I fought the urge to shiver at his touch. It would have been a good shiver though. Despite Micah, I was still attracted to Andrew.

  The party was in full swing as I walked into his expansive living room. The far wall was made up of floor-to-ceiling windows, and the ceiling was a high one at that, so it provided a spectacular view. Andrew had modern tastes, so his furniture was white leather, and his accents were chrome and black with a splash of red. It was like a wealthy bachelor’s pad, and I wond
ered if Cecilia had tried to get a word in about what she liked in home décor. If she had, I doubt it had been taken into consideration.

  Andrew had a magnificent bar set up along the back wall of the living area, and he went to get me a drink while I mingled with necromancers and dead witches from our office. Ilyse wasn’t here, but I hadn’t expected her to be. She wasn’t a drinker and was more introvert than extrovert, so this wasn’t her scene.

  As usual, Andrew had hired waiters and waitresses to serve everyone. There was also a bartender even though Andrew liked mixing drinks himself to show off the skills he’d learned during a bar-tending class he’d taken. I munched on hors d’oeuvres the waiters passed around, and enjoyed being able to talk to my colleagues about something other than work. We were actually a cool bunch once you got us out of talking about ghosts. Andrew soon joined the group I was standing with and handed me a drink, placing his hand on the small of my back as he did so. Another thrill went through me.

  “So, Andrew, where’s Cecilia?” I asked, because I couldn’t help wanting to play with fire.

  “Business trip to Paris,” Andrew replied, and I knew that was one of the reasons he’d chosen to have the cocktail party now.

  His mention of Paris set off a conversation about who’d been to Paris, who hadn’t, and who wanted to go. I let the conversation go on without me as I sipped my drink, but I didn’t miss the not-so-casual touches from Andrew every time he shifted. At one point, his hand completely palmed the side of my ass before sliding off. I almost gasped but managed to hide it by taking a big sip of my drink. Looked like I wasn’t the only one who liked playing with fire.

  Only when my eyes finally landed on Micah did I realize I’d been looking for him. He was standing at the bar waiting for a drink, so I detached myself from the group and walked over to him, all the while feeling Andrew’s eyes on me. Well, he could look all he wanted. There was no reason I couldn’t talk to Micah as much as anyone else here.

  “Hello, handsome,” I said lightly. And he did look very handsome. He was wearing dark jeans and a dark-blue button-down shirt that had a black pattern over one shoulder and part of the chest, with the sleeves folded up to his elbows.

  I looked him up and down, then realized he was doing the same to me. Our eyes met, and heat flushed my body when he smiled at me. Andrew had set up low, seductive lighting using chic lanterns, and Micah’s gray eyes reflected the light beautifully.

  “You look beautiful,” he said, accepting his drink from the bartender.

  I leaned an elbow against the bar as I faced him, still feeling warm and tingly just from some eye contact. I still couldn’t reconcile how differently Micah acted toward me now that he set the record straight. Hell, I couldn’t reconcile how differently I was acting after hearing it!

  “Thank you,” I said. I finished my drink and asked the bartender for another one. I was never a slow sipper; when I went drinking, I made the most of it. When I caught Micah’s gaze again, he was looking at me steadily over the rim of his glass.

  “I have a sudden feeling of déjà-vu,” I said. “Of you and me standing next to each other over drinks.” Micah’s lips quirked in a smile as he lowered his glass.

  “Yeah,” he said. He regarded me for a moment. “Can I be honest with you about that night, Selene?” His face was serious now.

  “Of course.”

  He looked down. “I wasn’t that drunk that night. I mean, I had a few drinks and we did shots, but I was only buzzed by the time we left.” Now my eyes widened. “I really wanted to tell you how I felt, but I didn’t know how, and you were giving me all the signs…”

  “Yeah, I remembering not being subtle about wanting to get into your pants,” I said.

  “And I protested,” he said. “Because I didn’t want you to want me only because you were drunk, and I felt like I was taking advantage of you because I wasn’t as drunk…”

  “But I was relentless,” I continued.

  The way Micah shifted and wouldn’t meet my eyes let me know that he did, in fact, feel as though he’d taken advantage of me. I took a step closer to him and touched the forearm he had resting on the top of the bar, lightly running my fingers over his bare skin.

  “You know what I remember from that night?” I said softly, looking at my fingers on his arm instead of at his face. “I remember being so drunk the world was spinning, and all I wanted was for you throw me up against a wall and have your way with me. But that’s not what you did.” Now I made myself look at him and had to take a steadying breath. “You were attentive, and gentle, and it…it felt different than any other time I’d slept with someone. You were right, Micah, you did make love to me, and I remember every moment of it.”

  I had to take another deep breath because it was hard for me to confess that, to admit that I’d never been with a man in a way that could be called “lovemaking” and not just a fuck. It didn’t make me feel good about myself, but I knew that what I got was what I put myself in the position to get.

  “Selene,” Micah said. There was a lot of emotion in his voice. We were close enough that I could feel his body heat, and it was making me feel a little heady.

  “I don’t think you took advantage of me,” I said. “I think I took advantage of you by not realizing what I was being offered and treating you like I treated everyone else. Didn’t matter that I was drunk.”

  Micah didn’t say anything, so we just stood there staring into each other’s eyes while my hand played across his skin. What I felt just being close to Micah scared me. A lot.

  “Selene, may I have a word with you?” Andrew’s voice in my ear jolted me back to reality, and I snatched my hand away from Micah like I’d been burned. But I was sure Andrew had already seen.

  I managed a smile as I turned to him. There was a dark look in his eyes, and I knew he only wanted to get me away from Micah. I wasn’t going to be pulled like some puppet on a string though.

  “Actually I’m a little busy—”

  “Micah! You made it, you look great!” The interrupting voice belonged to Amy, who bounced in out of nowhere and snaked her arm through Micah’s. “Oh, hi, Selene,” she said, very much like I was an afterthought. She turned her attention back to Micah. “The bartender let me make up my own drink, and I think it came out pretty good. You have to try it!”

  She started to tug Micah away, and he couldn’t free himself from her without it becoming awkward, so before I knew it, he was walking to the other end of the bar with Amy chattering next to him. He glanced over his shoulder at me, but Andrew was suddenly in my line of view, so I had to focus on him.

  “Yes?” I said, sipping my drink to try and hide my annoyance at him and Amy. Couldn’t two people stand around, flirt, have eye contact, and reminisce about the one time they’d been in bed together without getting interrupted?

  “Come, darling, you look far too good to stand around chatting with Micah all night.” He tried to steer me away from the bar, but I stepped aside.

  “And since when do you get a say in who I stand around talking to?” I said, unable to hide my annoyance. “It’s a cocktail party, isn’t it? The point is to stand around and talk.”

  “Oh, Selene.” He ran his hand up my side, the movement hidden by the bar and the shadows around us. He leaned forward as though he was reaching for a napkin behind me, and his lips brushed against my ear. “Why don’t we go to a quieter room to ‘talk’?” he whispered.

  I was at the same time turned on and more annoyed. I took a deep breath and stood back.

  “Resistance?” Andrew said, taking a sip of his scotch. “I do find that sexy on you. I’m not used to being resisted.”

  “I’ll bet,” I said. “But I didn’t come here for that.”

  “So you took the time to look as fucking hot as you do right now just to stand around and drink?” The tone in his voice said he most definitely didn’t believe that.

  “So what if I did?” I said, draining my drink and almost slamming the glas
s down. The strength of the alcohol as well as how quickly I’d consumed my two drinks was starting to have an effect. And if there was one thing alcohol did to me, it was make me want to take advantage of any sexy man in my sights. And right now, it was Andrew. I was still annoyed at his audacity, but also turned on by it. When I stood there staring at him without saying anything, Andrew smiled a slow, seductive smile.

  “We could slip away unnoticed for a few minutes,” he said.

  I was fighting with myself and gathering my resolve to tell him no when I looked past him just in time to see Micah lean toward Amy and whisper something in her ear, which made her giggle. Something hot and angry flashed through me, and it was probably irrational, but when I looked at Andrew again, he knew that my answer was yes.

  * * *

  We ended up in Andrew’s bedroom, but oddly enough, we weren’t on the bed. Andrew had me up against the wall, and the straps of my dress were already down, leaving my breasts bare for the attention of his hands. Well, one of them. The other hand was under my dress, which had ridden up my thighs to accommodate his roving touch.

  As usual, Andrew was all aggression and dominance, but I wasn’t getting the same thrill I usually got out of it. I kept picturing the way Micah had looked at me and how I’d felt just from being close to him. I was also getting flashes of the night Micah and I had spent together, and it was distracting me from what Andrew was doing. He ran his tongue up my neck to my lips, where he proceeded to kiss me deeply and thoroughly, like he wanted to eat my lips right off my face, and my engine still wasn’t revved up for him.

  “Care to do something for me?” he asked, pulling back and bracing his hands on either side of my head.

  He seemed oblivious to my lack of reaction, which didn’t surprise me. He spread his legs a little, and I knew what he meant. I smiled up at him, hoping that I looked enthused about going down on him, and started to unbuckle his pants.