by C. C. Wood
"Anytime," he replied, his expression grave.
After one more quick kiss to my forehead, he left the room. I listened as he trotted down the stairs and shut the front door behind him. Considering everything that had happened in this house over the past six months, plus the discovery tonight, I knew I should go downstairs and lock the deadbolt.
But my body didn't want to move. Exhaustion dragged at my limbs but I forced myself to stand.
I felt Teri's presence before I saw her.
"I locked the door," she stated quietly. "You should get ready for bed."
I swayed on my feet but finally lifted my right foot and took a step toward my bathroom. The first step was supposed to be the hardest but it definitely didn't feel like it. I'd never counted before, but there were ten steps from my bed and the bathroom door. Five more to the toilet and sink.
Fifteen more steps. That was my mantra as I used the facilities, washed my hands and face, and brushed my teeth. When I made it back to the bed, I didn't bother to put on pajamas. I stripped off my clothes and let them fall on the floor. Between the exhaustion caused by the use of my power and the tequila, I was more than ready for sleep and changing clothes seemed like too much effort after walking to and from the bathroom.
All of this would still be waiting for me tomorrow. Whether I was prepared for it or not.
Chapter Four
I wasn't sure if it was the tequila or the emotional exhaustion, but I slept like the dead. I'm hilarious, I know.
Considering what Angie and I learned about my magic last night, that comparison was a dangerously accurate one. I still couldn't believe that there were people who would want to kill me over an ability that I'd been born with.
When I woke up, the first thing I did was check my phone. I knew Angie said it might take a few days, but I was hoping she would have some news.
Sure enough, she'd texted me around 4 a.m. but the message wasn't calming.
I was able to convince the coven that the surge of magic they felt came from me. No one suspects anything. I need to go to the witches' reference library in New Orleans. I'll be out of touch for a few days. Everything will be fine.
Her words of reassurance did nothing to settle my fear, but I wasn't going to put pressure on her. Not until I was sure she could be trusted. I typed a return message and then decided to put Angie out of my mind for now. I couldn't do anything about the plans she might have. Even if I was aware of them, Angie was much too powerful for me to fight with magic. She'd flatten me.
Thnx for helping me. And be careful.
When she didn't respond, I put my phone to the side. Maybe she was already in New Orleans. Or maybe she was putting together her own witch S.W.A.T. team to annihilate me.
I rolled my eyes at the wild turn my mind had taken. If Angie intended to betray me, she would have done it last night. I hoped, anyway.
When Mal picked me up for lunch, he smiled when he saw me.
"You look better today."
I arched my eyebrow at him. Teri snickered behind me, but I ignored her. I was getting much better at tuning her out now that she went everywhere I did. It was either that or lose my mind because Teri wasn't going to keep her mouth shut, no matter what I threatened to do to her.
Mal shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that. You always look gorgeous to me." Teri snorted and I shot her a quick side-eye that quieted her down quickly. "I just meant that you look well-rested."
"For such a hunky dude, he's not so suave, is he?" Teri mumbled behind me.
He frowned at me briefly. "Did you hear something?"
"Oh, my God! He heard me!" Teri yelled. I winced at the volume of her voice.
"There it was again!" Mal exclaimed.
I flinched once again as Teri hollered and flailed behind him. "That's Teri. She's a little...excited that you can hear her."
"I can hear her, but I can't figure out what she's saying," Mal admitted, which immediately put an end to Teri's crowing.
"Well, shit," she grumbled. "I was hoping he'd be able to understand me when I tell him how nice his ass looks in these jeans."
It took all my willpower not to stare at the ass in question when she said that, but I managed it. Barely.
"That's amazing," Mal continued. "I wonder if my psychic ability is improving."
I shrugged one shoulder. "I wish I could tell you it was but Teri and I talked about this last night. Since I tethered her to me rather than the house, she said it's becoming easier to manipulate objects and interact with the living."
"Really?" Mal mused. "Now that's interesting. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that you're living or that you're human."
"I have no clue," I admitted.
Mal's brows lowered as he considered the subject. "I'm curious if there's any folklore or paranormal research on this."
Considering what Angie said about necromancers like me, I doubted it. Still, it wouldn't hurt to cover all our bases. Mal was a wizard with online research.
"Are you hungry?" he asked, suddenly changing the subject.
"Definitely."
"Wanna drive into Weatherford and try a new place I heard about?"
"Sounds good." I glanced at Teri. "Why don't you take a break, Teri?"
"Damn, I never get to have any fun," she complained just before she faded from view. As much as she whined, Teri did try to give me privacy when I was with Mal, which I appreciated.
It wasn't until we were on our way that he mentioned the situation that brought him to my house the night before. "Did you see the girl again after I left last night?" he asked.
"No, but I do wonder what's going on with her."
"When we talked, you said you didn't think she was a ghost. I couldn't sleep after I got home, so I did some research and I think that maybe she was an astral projection."
I hadn't studied with Angie long enough to learn all the ins and outs of necromancy, much less move on to witchcraft or other magicks, so I had no idea what he was talking about.
"Ummm, I'm not sure what that is," I confessed.
Mal grinned at me. "I'd heard of it before but I learned a helluva lot more than I expected when I started researching it."
"So what is astral projection?"
Mal's smile grew. "Are you sure you're ready for the answer to that question?"
"Just tell me," I replied.
"Okay, so astral projection refers to an out-of-body experience. The Western school of thought is that the soul or consciousness separates from the physical body and can travel throughout the universe. Even to other planes of existence. Some cultures believe this can be achieved through meditation and leads to enlightenment. Other societies believe that the separation can only occur through the ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs or self-hypnosis. When the separation occurs, the consciousness is referred to as the astral body."
"So you think that Selene projected her astral body to my bedroom? I don't understand why she would do that." Then I remembered what she said about the woman. "But maybe she didn't want to."
Mal canted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"
"She talked about a woman being there. That she wanted Selene to find me. And she called me Zoe Thorne. I never told her my last name." Worry gnawed at me. "But she sounded like she was in trouble. And I hate to think of a girl that age asking for my help, and then feeling abandoned when we don't show up. I don't want to leave her to whatever she might be dealing with."
"That's true, but what can we do? If she's alive, you can't track her the way you would a ghost, right?"
I shook my head then turned to stare out the window, my worry moving toward panic because she'd given me her location but I feared what might happen if I traveled to Austin to aid her. Clearly the girl had some magical ability, which meant that her captors likely did as well. If they found out what I was capable of, then anyone I brought with me would die. I would likely have just enough time to witness it before I was killed as well. There was no way that
I could go alone. Mal would fight me every step of the way. But if he went, he would be in danger.
Somehow in just a few months, the man had gone from a nuisance to a crush to essential to my daily life. I couldn't imagine a time without him. Not anymore.
"Short of driving down to Austin and trying to find her, I'm not sure what else we could do," I replied.
Mal glanced at me as he pulled the car into the parking lot of a restaurant in Weatherford. "You don't want to go?" He sounded surprised.
I tried not to frown. God, it was difficult to hide my emotions from him. This was why I hated lying. I sucked at it. "I do, but there's something about this situation..." I trailed off. Maybe I was allowing my paranoia to interfere with my logic. Considering Selene appeared less than an hour after my magic explosion at the cemetery, it was highly doubtful she or the mysterious woman she mentioned knew anything about my newfound abilities.
Mal parked the car, chuckling beneath his breath as he did. "Zoe, you live with a ghost, who is one of your best friends. Your job is to find spirits and help them travel to the other side. Last night, a little girl projected her astral body into your room to ask you for help. Your entire life is somewhat peculiar, but in the best way possible."
His words stung, though I knew he didn't intend it. Mal chose to pursue this unconventional job of investigating paranormal phenomenon. My abilities were thrust upon me when I was just a child and I had no say in the matter. That was the fundamental difference between us. He could walk away from his search for ghosts at any time. I didn't have the luxury of that choice.
No matter where I went, the spirits would find me and they would approach me. There was no escape. Not unless I wanted to live in a salt hut. Or a completely deserted island. Scratch that. There were probably spirits of castaways haunting deserted islands.
"It's easy to say that when you don't have to live it, Mal," I replied. It was the first time he'd truly hurt my feelings and even though I knew he hadn't intended to do it, it upset me.
He stilled at my tone of voice. "What do you mean?"
I bit my bottom lip. I could fight with Teri and my mom and Jonelle from time to time, but I hated arguing with my boyfriends. The women in my life had been there for decades and I trusted that they always would be, no matter how much we disagreed. But Mal or any other man hadn't been in my life long enough for me to build that sort of trust. And my experience with men was extremely limited anyway.
"You can walk away any time this world gets to be too much. You're not...stuck with abilities that you can't control or powers that could be dangerous." My throat closed up as I spoke the final words. "It's easy to look at my life and think it's adorably weird, but it's not so easy to wake up with it every day."
"Whoa, Zoe. I didn't mean it that way at all. I know things haven't been easy for you over the years and believe me, I take it seriously. I would never want to minimize what you've gone through. I meant it in a teasing way, but I'm sorry that what I said upset you."
I blew out a breath and leaned my head back against the seat. God, what was wrong with me? I was overreacting and I knew it. Nothing like a guilty conscience and some emotional distress to make a girl snippy.
"No, I'm sorry. I'm just overly sensitive today, I guess."
Mal took my hand. "No, I don't think you are. I was being an ass."
I laughed which caused Mal to look at me strangely.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm just not used to the men in my life apologizing. Well, except my dad, but he's usually the exception rather than the rule."
He reached out and took my hand. "Why wouldn't I apologize if I said something stupid?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. I just know I haven't had too many boyfriends who apologized immediately after they did or said something that hurt my feelings."
"Then they were immature morons," Mal replied.
I bit back another laugh. "Maybe."
His brown eyes were warm as he looked at me. "Okay, let's talk about something besides me inserting my foot in my mouth. Do you honestly think that Selene's in trouble? Maybe being held captive?"
"That's the problem. I don't really know. Maybe it's just because it's the first time I've had that experience and it freaked me out. Or maybe it's magical instinct, warning me that there's something hinky about her. I can't figure it out. Either I'm projecting or I suddenly developed mild psychic powers."
"What does your gut say?" he prompted.
"That it doesn't matter because I can't leave a scared, young girl to deal with whatever Selene is facing," I answered with a sigh.
His hand gently squeezed mine before he laced our fingers together. "Whether it matters or not, we'll be careful when we decide our course of action. If you feel like there's something suspicious here, then we will proceed with caution." Mal leaned over and brushed a light kiss on my lips. "Are you ready to eat now?"
"Yeah, I think so."
Mal released my hand and climbed out of the car. By the time I unbuckled my seatbelt and grabbed my purse from the floorboard, he was on the passenger side with my door open.
"Thanks," I said as I let him help me out of the car.
He placed his hand lightly on my lower back as we walked. "Anytime."
"So, when do you want to leave for Austin?" I asked.
Mal opened the door to the restaurant and stepped to the side to allow a woman with two small children to exit. She gave him a grateful smile that turned somewhat glazed when he smiled in return. I knew the feeling. Mal's smile was lethal to female brain cells.
Once the little family walked away, he gestured for me to enter before following me inside. "Whatever we decide to do, we don't do it without a plan. Whether this little girl is genuinely in distress or someone's using her to reach out to you, we won't make a move until we're as prepared as we can be."
His words struck a chord within me and I could almost hear the reverberations in my head. "Using her to reach out to me," I murmured.
Mal didn't hear me because the hostess was speaking to him.
Absently, I followed the girl as she led us through the restaurant to a quiet corner booth, with Mal bringing up the rear.
I was still contemplating those words when Mal's voice interrupted my reverie.
"Zoe, did you hear her?"
I blinked and focused on his face. "I'm sorry, what?"
"She asked what you want to drink."
I smiled wanly at the hostess. "Oh, sorry. Sweet tea, please."
She nodded and scurried off, but not before giving me a strange look.
"Where'd you go?" Mal asked, bringing my attention back to him.
"Huh?"
He grinned. "Your body is here but your mind was a million miles away. What happened?"
"It was something you said just a minute ago."
His brow furrowed. "What?"
"You said, 'Someone is using her to reach out to you' and it made me think. What if that's what this is? What if someone wants my attention or my help?" Or to kill me, I added silently. Dammit, I was growing increasingly paranoid. Hysteria was sure to follow. Teri would be proud.
No, it had been less than twenty-four hours since my newfound abilities surfaced, I reminded myself. No one could have found out about it so quickly.
"I don't understand why they didn't just approach you directly," Mal pointed out. "If they needed your help or wanted to speak to you, why wouldn't they just call you? Hell, they could email you."
I leaned back in the booth and stared at him as I thought about the question. "Maybe they can't." Even to me, that sounded uncertain.
"You could be right, but it makes me wonder what could possibly stop them from finding you themselves."
I fervently wished Angie hadn't left town. I knew there had to be a way to find someone using magical means, but I wasn't sure what it might be.
I leaned forward, resting my forearms on the table. "Do you know anything about finding someone using magic or spells?"
"Well, maybe the person looking for me couldn't do it, but the girl can."
"That's hypothetical. We have no proof," he pointed out.
"Yeah, but we have to start somewhere," I replied.
"Maybe we should call Angie."
I shook my head but didn't speak as a waitress approached our table with our drinks on a tray. When she asked us if we were ready to order, I realized we hadn't even opened our menus.
"We'll need a few more minutes," Mal said to her. Once she was gone, he turned back to me. "Why can't we call Angie?"
Shit. I hated lying, but I didn't have much choice. At least for now. "She had to leave town on important business. She said she'll be out of touch for a few days at least because she doesn't get a cell signal where she's going."
"She must be out in the middle of nowhere," he commented.
I shrugged. She wasn't, but there had to be a reason her phone didn't work in New Orleans, even if she didn't share it with me.
"When will she be back?" he asked.
"I have no idea and I don't think she does either. She said it was urgent and that she would call me in a few days. That's all I know." I cringed inside as I lied. At this rate, I'd end up blurting out my secret to Mal before the day was over.
Mal nodded, rubbing his jaw with his hand. "Okay, so we can't depend on her to help us this time. I'll call Carissa, see if she knows anything about this. And I'll get online, do some digging. I'll also do some poking around, see if I can figure out who Selene really is."
"How would you do that? We don't know her last name."
"I'll figure something out. We'll get to the bottom of this, Zoe," he assured me.
I knew we would. I only hoped that Mal would forgive me when he found out that I'd been keeping secrets from him.
Chapter Five
Between the magical detonation in the cemetery and the sudden appearance of a child's astral projection in my bedroom, I'd completely forgotten what today was. At least until my alarm went off at three p.m. with a reminder.
