by Lissa Kasey
“Micah’s got ideas too,” Alex said reaching out take more stuff out of the car. “But I don’t want you looking into my disappearance.”
“You don’t get to say what I do and don’t do,” Lukas said. He unveiled the sewing machine and studied it for a minute. “Fancy machine,” he muttered.
“You don’t get to say what I do and don’t do,” Alex echoed back at him.
They glared at each other, twin daggers of daring. I sighed and looked at Sky. “At least he didn’t command us that we have to live in his haunted house with him.” I took an armful of stuff and headed up the path toward the house. “I like my place.”
“Has he asked you to move in yet?” I asked Sky.
“Not yet,” Sky said. “Though I have to say it’s big enough to fit a half dozen people. Never been in a house so big.” She opened the door, holding it for me, and Jet greeted me with his normal leg rub. We began making a pile of the bags near the side window. It would take a bit of time to get it all sorted and put away.
Sky reached out and hugged me tight. “I was worried. Worried you’d be gone again.”
“I don’t seem to have control over that. But I have no plans to go anywhere. The whole crazy person after me is not a thing I want to repeat.” I squeezed her tight.
“Heard you were badass.” She grinned as she let me go. “Fighting back.”
“My stick skills are on par. I mean she gave me a gun, but what do I know about guns? Sticks? Fabric and thread? Hot wax even, I know all about that. You think you know someone, right?”
“You haven’t been a part of that group in a while,” Sky reminded me. “Been too busy with the shop to run around the world.”
“Makes me wonder if it was my fault,” I admitted.
Sky took my face in her hands and smiled at me. “You know it’s not.”
“Alex tells me all the time I’m not the center of the universe.”
“The universe probably not, but his? Sure. That boy traveled five hours to hang out with you and all your nerdiness. Serial killers aside, I think that’s love.” She ran her fingers through my hair, playing with it a little like she was fixing it, but there was little she could do to tidy up the small ponytail I had holding it back.
“He said he loves me.”
“Yeah?”
“I told him I love him too.”
“How’d that feel?” She wanted to know.
“Right.”
“Good.”
“What about you and Lukas?”
She huffed out a long sigh and went to start pulling things from bags. “Work in progress.”
“But you’re not giving up, right?”
“Of course not. Do you know how fine that man is? Sure he’s got a few issues, but don’t they all?”
“He quit the force.”
“Yeah, butted heads with his sergeant. Had a feeling it was coming.”
“Over Alex?”
“Yes, and no. Sounds like he was along for an arrest and the arrest went bad. At least Lukas wasn’t hurt. But whatever happened turned everything upside down. He came home really upset and told me he’d handed in his badge. I spent the rest of the day looking up PI stuff for him and feeding him Oreos.”
“Oreos do make things better,” I agreed.
“Ben and Jerry’s is better.”
“Unless you’re lactose intolerant like me.”
“True. But at least you guys are home safe now. The house thing was a surprise. He asked me to tour it with him. Happened so fast I didn’t even get to read cards on it.”
“Uh oh.”
“Right?” She shook her head, stacking some of the fabrics in separate piles based on type. “It needs work. Still has some water damage from Katrina.”
“Wow. Did you do a card reading since?”
“Of course. The house is haunted, but it doesn’t appear to be anything dangerous.”
“Mhmm.” A haunted house, a new job, and far too much time to focus on Alex. I had to admit I was a little worried about Lukas.
Alex and Lukas came in, carrying the new sewing machine. They set it down near the dining room table. I’d have to unbox it and find a good desk. It was then I noticed a stack of files on the table. “What’s all that?” I asked Lukas as they headed toward the door.
“Tips on where Alex was,” he said.
“In the month he was gone?” The stack was at least five inches thick. No way one man could go that many places in a month.
“The past year, since he got out of the military.”
Alex paused too, looking at the pile. “I told you all about that.”
“Mhmm,” was all Lukas said.
Alex let out a long sigh, shared a look with me and headed back to the car. I wondered if there were things Lukas had found that Alex didn’t remember. Would it help clarify things for Alex? Define what he saw?
There was also a miniature house on the table. It almost looked like a replica of mine. Tiny room, painted walls, and furniture built from wood.
“That’s Lukas’s new hobby. I ordered it for him to try. He spent the last few days working on it,” Sky said. “I figure I’ll order him a few more to keep him out of trouble.”
Jet hissed and I frowned, looking down at my cat who had his back up and tail puffed up. He stared at one of the chairs in my tiny dining set. There was a white cat sitting on the chair, tail flicking like it didn’t have a care in the world.
“Fuck,” I grumbled.
“What?” Sky asked.
Alex returned with my old sewing machines and glanced at me. “What?”
I waved at the cat in the chair. He looked that way and his cheeks turned pink. “Sorry. That’s sort of my fault.”
“What?”
“She seemed lonely. And easily agitated. So I invited her along.”
The words slowly processed. “You invited a ghost cat to come home with us?”
“Ghost cat?” Sky’s eyes went huge, looking at the table and chairs like it would bite her.
“I thought Jet could use a friend.”
Jet was not happy about the idea of a friend at that moment. “A ghost cat?”
“She’s less likely to be agitated by us,” Alex pointed out.
“But have cat wars with Jet?” He still had his back up and stood close enough to me to touch. “Maybe you can invite her to stay with Lukas. I hear he’s got a new house that might already be haunted. Sounds like a great place for a ghost cat. Cats love him.”
Alex leaned close to me for a kiss. “Sure. We’ll work on that. Funny how you can see the cat now? Not just a shadow.”
I blinked, realizing I had been seeing a lot in the past twenty-four hours. “Well fuck. This is going to make tours interesting.”
“They always are,” he said. He headed over to the table and began flipping through folders. “Wonder where he got all this.”
“It might have answers.”
“Or more questions.” He sighed, and his eyes fell on the model. “That’s cool.”
“Apparently your brother’s new hobby.”
“Good. I’ll buy him more to keep him busy,” Alex said.
“Operation distract Lukas is on,” Sky agreed, raising her hand for a high five. I had a feeling they weren’t going to be as successful as they hoped. Lukas was nothing if not tenacious when he had a mystery to solve. He’d been investigating mine for two years.
Alex pulled me into a hug.
“What’s this for?” I asked.
He let out a long slow breath. “Just happy to be home.”
Jet hissed and dashed up the stairs to the loft. “You had to bring the ghost cat…”
Letter from Lissa
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Marked by Shadows the sequel to Stalked by Shadows! This is the second mystery in the Simply Crafty Paranormal Mystery series. If you enjoyed this series check out my Kitsune Chronicles Series starting with Witchblood or my Haven investigations series beginning wit
h Model Citizen.
Be sure to join my Facebook group for fun daily polls, writing snippets, and updates on new releases to this series and others. For a sneak peek at my work before it’s published join my Patreon group. Patrons receive three new chapters a week and many other perks. For monthly updates on what’s coming out and character shorts subscribe to my Newsletter. Also check out my website at LissaKasey.com for new information, visiting authors, and novel shorts.
If you enjoyed the book, please take a moment to leave a review! Reviews not only help readers determine if a book is for them, but also help a book show up in searches.
Thank you so much for being a reader!
Lissa
About the Author
Lissa Kasey is more than just romance. She specializes in in-depth characters, detailed world building, and twisting plots to keep you clinging to the page. All stories have a side of romance, emotionally messed up protagonists and feature LGBTQA spectrum characters facing real world problems no matter how fictional the story.
Also by Lissa Kasey
Also, if you like Lissa Kasey’s writing, check out her other works:
Hidden Gem Series:
Hidden Gem (Hidden Gem 1)
Cardinal Sins (Hidden Gem 2)
Candy Land (Hidden Gem 3)
Benny’s Carnival (Hidden Gem 3.5)
Survivors Find Love:
Painting with Fire
An Arresting Ride
Range of Emotion
Kitsune Chronicles:
Witchblood
WitchBond
Inheritance Series:
Inheritance (Dominion 1)
Reclamation (Dominion 2)
Conviction (Dominion 3)
Ascendance (Dominion 4)
Absolution (Dominion 5)
Haven Investigations Series:
Model Citizen (Haven Investigations 1)
Model Bodyguard (Haven Investigations 2)
Model Investigator (Haven Investigations 3)
Model Exposure (Haven Investigations 4)
Evolution Series:
Evolution: Genesis
Boy Next Door Series:
On the Right Track ( 1)
Unicorns and Rainbow Sprinkles ( 2)
Simply Crafty Paranormal Mystery Series:
Stalked by Shadows
Marked by Shadows