By the time I reached the first floor, Zeke was out the door and the twins were just coming in.
Ethan came in first, still in the mesh shorts he usually wore to bed and a dark red tank. His chocolate eyes were half asleep as he passed me. “Tell me there’s coffee.”
“Of course,” I said. He flashed me a half-hearted grin before heading for the kitchen. Isaac stepped into the house and shuffled toward me in his lime green monster pajama bottoms and slippers. A white tank undershirt sadly covered the muscles of his chest.
“Morning.” I grinned up at him.
Instead of saying anything he pulled me close. My heart skipped a beat as I hugged him back. The scent of limes was everywhere.
“Why am I up?” he mumbled into my throat.
I chuckled. “Because there is a Necro in New Orleans and I need to go meet them.”
He grumbled as he squeezed me tight, kissed a spot on my neck that sent sparks down my nerves then shuffled off to the kitchen.
“Tell me you two got permission this time?” Rory demanded as he refilled his coffee mug.
The twins nodded in unison. Tara sat at the table silently, her mouth pressed in a thin line.
“Ma thinks Miles has a family thing to go to and we’re tagging along,” Ethan explained before he took a sip.
Miles came through the front door, Asher wasn’t too far behind. My heart ached as his eyes met mine. What was he doing… he was coming? What?
“Hey,” he said in his rich baritone.
“Hey,” I answered, confused. Silence stretched. Say something! Anything! Fix this! But I didn’t know if there was anything that could fix it now.
“Do we have everything?” Miles asked before I could come up with something to say.
“Um, I think so.” I dropped my eyes from Asher's and ran through a list in my head.
Rory left the kitchen to come to us. “Here.” He handed me a credit card. “There should be enough there for food, a hotel and to get you around the city.”
Tara made a small irritated noise but otherwise stayed silent.
“Thanks, Rory,” I said as the twins left the kitchen to join us at the door. Zeke leaned on the door jamb and waited for us.
“Now, I know you are probably planning to take Hades. But I think that would be a mistake,” Rory said.
My hand tightened on the leash. “Why?”
“New Orleans is humid. As in, almost a hundred percent.” He gestured toward Hades. “And you’ll be in the city. That’s a lot of cement on his paws.”
I sighed. He was probably right. Plus, the guys would be there, so I should be okay. I knelt down and hugged Hades tight. “I’m sorry, baby.”
Hades whined.
“I’ll spoil him.” Rory promised. “Tonight’s steak night.” Hades started wagging his tail. He didn’t seem too put out.
I got to my feet and turned back to him. Rory hugged me carefully. We hadn’t really hugged much since I came to live here, it was awkward.
“Take care of yourself, kid. Alright?” He gave me a squeeze.
“Yeah, I will.” I squeezed him back then stepped away.
Rory turned to the guys. “Be careful, pay attention around you. And stick together.”
There was a chorus of ‘we will’ and ‘yeah, we know’. Then we headed out.
The guys had loaded up my Blazer with my luggage. Isaac, Ethan, and Claire ended up with me. While Zeke, Miles, and Asher drove themselves. Before I got in I reminded them I needed to stop at the cemetery and that we’d meet them at the airport. No one argued.
When we reached the veteran’s section of the cemetery, I parked and shut off the car.
“The crowd is thinning out,” Isaac said as he unbuckled his seat belt.
I looked over the crowd of ghosts waiting for me. The size had gotten smaller but… I hadn’t crossed that many.
“I’ll wait here,” Ethan stated as he played a game on his phone. Claire started watching over his shoulder. Ethan didn’t like ghosts, he said they creeped him out. Especially the rotting ones. Though he didn’t seem to mind Claire looking over his shoulder. In fact, he turned his phone a bit so she could see better.
I smiled to myself as I climbed out and walked around the Blazer.
I met the ghost who wore a long flowy skirt and cardigan set. What was her name...? The outfit screamed fifties librarian. But in life she had been a school teacher. A strict teacher who probably ran her class room like a drill sergeant, but a teacher none the less. She was extremely organized and liked lists. It was one of the things she missed the most about living, her lists. Prudence! That was it. I had barely reached her when she announced. “We’re missing people.”
“What?” That didn’t make any sense. “They just might not have shown up today. People get tired of showing up when they're not crossing.”
“Joy is one of them,” she stated.
My stomach knotted. Joy had wandered here from Texas. She’d been waiting patiently for two weeks for her turn, which was today. She wouldn’t just not show up. “Did anyone check where she was staying?”
Prudence nodded. “I sent one of the others to search the abandoned barn and she’s just gone.”
“Could she have crossed over?” Isaac asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so; the walls are still really foggy in the Veil.”
“What happens if they get too rotted out and don’t cross?” Isaac asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but she wasn’t that far along.”
“She had some rotting on her hands but that’s all,” Prudence supplied. "She still had full capacity.”
“And she’s not the only one?” I asked, hoping I heard wrong.
She shook her head. Fuck.
“Okay, I’ll have to look into it after I get back.” I shrugged. “Let’s get as many done as we can.”
Chapter 3
July 11th, Wednesday Afternoon
A hand shook my shoulder gently.
“No,” I groaned and curled up even more.
There was a soft chuckle. “Beautiful, you need to wake up. We’re landing in a couple of minutes,” Ethan said in a soft voice.
I grumbled as I opened an eye and glared at him. He grinned down at me from his chair. Giving up, I uncurled myself and set my chair back to its upright position. He elbowed me carefully then pointed at Zeke. The giant was across the aisle, Zeke’s knuckles were turning white from the death grip he had on the arm rests. I bit back a grin as the plane landed. We had learned on the way back from Boulder that Zeke hated flying. I hadn’t noticed it on the way out but on the way home he paced, cursed and ran his hand through his hair so much I was amazed he had any left. The poor guy.
Once the plane had landed and we got the all clear to deboard, I stepped out on the ladder. The air was thick and heavy. Almost like walking through nacho cheese. I instantly wanted a shower as I broke out into a sweat. Quickly, I pulled my hair into a pony tail and hoped it wouldn’t frizz too much in the humidity.
It wasn’t too long before we were off the plane, had our bags and were leaving in a black SUV Miles had called ahead to rent.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” I asked as I settled between Ethan and Claire in the middle seat of the SUV.
“I want my rematch!” Claire declared. “Isaac cheated at checkers. I know he did.” The guys chuckled.
“Okay, but first we might want to go meet that Necromancer,” I reminded her. She grumbled.
“Oh yeah,” she muttered, clearly disappointed.
“We’ll play later tonight,” Isaac promised with a grin.
She raised an eyebrow. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Everyone chuckled.
“I’ve reserved us a suite at a hotel in the French Quarter,” Miles announced as he drove onto a freeway.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said as Ethan moved his arm over the back of the backseat.
Miles shrugged. “This way we’re all in the same place and
we’re in the same rooms.”
“Good idea,” Zeke muttered as he looked out the window.
Ethan’s thumb started slowly stroking the exposed skin of my shoulder.
“Claire, how are we going to find this Necro?” I asked, trying to distract myself from the chills running over my skin.
“Oh, I memorized his, what do you call it? His email,” Claire said cheerfully. "He's also at Tulane a lot."
I pulled out my phone.
Asher pulled the directions to Tulane up on his phone for Miles.
“He?” Isaac asked. “This Necro is a guy?”
“Yep,” Claire chirped as she looked out the window at the beautiful garden-like setting of New Orleans.
“Can we grab some food on the way? I’m starving.” Ethan announced.
“There should be a few restaurants near the university.” Miles told us as he turned down another street.
“You’ll have some time, I don’t know where he is in his class schedule right now,” Claire said. Isaac shifted in his seat.
“Then we can ask him to meet us at a café or restaurant,” Miles decided.
“Jackson Square?” Asher suggested as he looked up from his phone. “There a nice restaurant called Café Pontalba. It’ll help ease Zeke into the crowds.”
“Great,” Zeke muttered. Everyone else chuckled.
I pulled my phone out and typed in the email address that Claire gave me. I gave a vague message about meeting at Café Pontalba in Jackson Square.
I hesitated. I was emailing another Necromancer. My stomach knotted as anxiety threatened to drown me. Oh, come on! I hit send.
A phone rang. Zeke picked Miles’s cell up off the console and held it up for him to see. Miles glanced at it then went back to driving. “Voicemail.”
“Happy to,” Zeke growled as he swiped and set it back down.
I clutched my phone to me as I waited for a response. What if he changed his mind? I would have dragged everyone down here for no reason. And I'd still have no answers. Ethan pulled it out of my clutches. I turned and met his warm chocolate eyes.
“It’s going to be okay, Beautiful,” he said softly, his arm wrapping around my shoulder.
I gave him a tense smile. “It’s just the what ifs.”
His eyes grew softer. “I know but going through them doesn’t help.”
I sighed. He was right, I was just going to drive myself crazy. I needed a distraction.
Miles pulled to the curb near the gate to Jackson square. “I’ll let you guys out here and go check in at the hotel.”
“Aren’t you having lunch with us?” I asked as Ethan opened up his door and got out. The others did the same, leaving me alone with Miles.
Miles looked over his shoulder to me. “Of course, I’m just going to check in and have the bell hops take our luggage up. I’ll be back in forty-five minutes at most.” His fingers began tapping on the wheel.
“Are you okay?” I asked, sure something was wrong.
He gave me a small smile. “Yes, I’m alright. I just don’t want you to miss this Necromancer because we’re checking in.”
Okay… I still didn’t believe him but if he didn’t want to talk about it… I’d just have to drag it out of him later. One thing Isaac’s demon possession taught me was to pay attention to the little stuff. “Alright. See you soon?”
He gave me that secret smile and nodded. My pulse picked up.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” he promised. I got out of the SUV, closing the door behind me. Miles pulled out into traffic. While the others were looking around, I was watching as Miles pulled out into traffic.
That chill ran down my neck. Shit. A ghost.
“Anyone else seeing this?” Asher’s question had me turning. I cursed. The dead were everywhere. The crowd was thick with them. Why didn’t I think of this? Of course the city was going to be filled with dead. First, it’s a large city. Second, there was no one here who could cross them. Third, it’s New Orleans. Shit.
I looked up at the guys. Ethan was slightly cringing, Isaac looked curious, while Asher and Zeke looked around at all the souls. And they were rowdy as hell; several even ran through the crowd. Some hung from the street lights, others, believe it or not, were making out like drunken college students. What the hell was going on?
Several souls turned toward me in unison. Shit. I searched the crowd and tried to find a space for a quick ghost talk but I found nothing. The ghosts came toward me. I stepped in front of the boys and turned to face them. “Okay, this is happening in a crowd. So, you guys know the drill. Let’s face each other and pretend I’m talking to you guys.” They moved back to me, creating the illusion that we were normal.
“Can’t we just ignore them?” Ethan asked, his shoulder bumping into mine.
“You can and get away with it, I can’t,” I said. “I look like a light to the dead and they’re persistent.”
The soul of a man with a large dark beard and scars on his face chose that moment to look over Zeke’s shoulder. My gaze met his. The bearded man’s face was stunned.
“You can see me,” he announced.
Zeke turned his head to find the soul too close for his liking. “Get the fuck away from me.” A woman behind the soul turned, she saw Zeke. Her face turned pale as she grabbed her kid’s hand and hurried away.
The soul stepped away before turning back to me. “Why can you see us?”
I kept my gaze on Zeke’s chest. “I’m a Necromancer.” I glanced at him then went back to looking at Asher’s shoulder. “I can cross souls over. And I will. Where’s the closest cemetery?”
“St Louis Cemetery Number One,” the ghost supplied.
I nodded. “I’ll be there at ten in the morning every day I’m here. As long as I’m left alone for the rest of the time.”
“They’ll leave you alone or deal with me,” Claire added as she stepped out of the crowd. I bit back a grin.
“I’ll spread the word. Thank you,” the ghost said before he walked back through the living. I let out a deep breath.
“Think he’ll keep them away?” Isaac asked.
“It’s possible.” I rubbed my temple. “Let’s get to the restaurant. My neck is killing me.” The circle broke apart as Asher led the way.
“Come on, we don’t want to lose you in the crowd.” Ethan took my hand and gave me a small tug. I followed, still stunned by the amount of souls here. In Spring Mountain, I kept crossing the dead so they weren’t everywhere. Then again… What Prudence said popped back into my mind. Souls were missing. Rotting souls mostly and some only starting to, but it’s not like they just dissolved and disappeared. Right? I hadn’t gone back to the bowling alley since I was jumped in December just in case the soul of that serial killer was still there. There was too much I didn’t know. Which was the whole reason I was here, to meet this Necro and get some answers.
Jackson Square had a green lawn, a stunning church and many stores and restaurants. The whole place was buzzing with activity. I slowed to a stop as I spotted the artists selling their work around the gate to the square.
Ethan stopped me from going to get a closer look. “After food and meeting that Necro, Beautiful.”
“But… art.” I grinned up at him over my shoulder. Just because I was here on business didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy myself.
He chuckled and pulled me in the direction where the others were waiting for us to catch up. “I promise we won’t leave until you get to see everything you want to.”
“Oh, that’s a dangerous promise,” I teased as we caught up with the others.
“What is?” Asher asked as everyone headed to the café.
“Beautiful saw the paintings and artwork they’re selling. I had to reel her in,” Ethan explained as we reached the café.
“Table for seven, please. Our eighth should be here soon and well, we might have a ninth coming, we’re not sure yet,” Asher said to the hostess. She eyed our group. I bit back a smile. Asher had counted Claire.<
br />
I stepped forward. “He means six and we might have a seventh coming.”
She relaxed, picked up seven menus and led us to our tables. The boys helped her put two smaller tables together in front of the window.
I sat down on the end. Zeke sat beside me as Asher sat across from him. Claire sat a few chairs down on the other side of Zeke, across from Isaac at the end. Isaac pulled out his small magnetic traveling checkers game and set them up another game. As long as Isaac moved Claire’s pieces for her, it shouldn’t look too out of the ordinary. Ethan sat between Zeke and Claire.
I fanned myself and sighed. This was man’s single greatest invention. Not the wheel, not penicillin, but air conditioning. Even in just shorts and a tank top I was sweating. And I wasn’t the only one. Everyone living was wiping sweat off their foreheads.
“This humidity sucks balls,” Isaac announced. Everyone agreed as we opened the menus.
“Are we waiting for Miles?” I asked them.
“We could,” Asher said.
“I’m starving,” Ethan reminded us.
“Well, we could get appetizers to hold us over until he can get back.” I tucked a stray curl behind my ear.
The guys agreed then started arguing over what to get. I stayed quiet and smiled to myself. It was strange but I loved hearing them argue over little things. The blend of their voices as they argued made my heart warm. It was comforting.
Eventually, Zeke looked down at me. “Are you going to weigh in on this?”
“Nope,” I chirped. “I’ll eat whatever.”
“Don’t say that, Red. They’ve got alligator on the menu,” Isaac warned.
I grinned my shit eating grin. “I’ll try it.”
That started the conversation all over again. By the time they figured out what they wanted, our drinks were half empty and Ethan was all but threatening murder. We finally ordered the appetizers and started talking about what we wanted to do in the city.
I was watching Isaac and Claire play a fierce game of checkers when my phone beeped. It was my email. The Necro, whose name was Louis, was going to be a couple of hours. He had two classes left for the day. I emailed him back that we’ll most likely be in Jackson Square, still probably looking at artwork.
Secrets From the Grave Page 3
