Jacob held out his hands. “Nothing.”
“Then what is the last thing you do remember?”
“I ... was at work.” Jacob furrowed his brow as he searched his memory. “I was out at the construction site. We were laying the foundation. It’s a big job, took a lot of planning. We had to get the basement exactly right before we could do anything else.
“Once the foundation is set, the construction can really begin,” he continued. “I was excited to be part of the team. It meant having steady work for two full years. That’s unheard of on Moonstone Bay.”
“I can imagine.” Sympathy rolled through me at the man’s lost expression. “Were you there alone? Were others with you?”
“There were a few people about, but they were getting ready to leave,” he replied. “They wanted me to go to the bar with them, but I couldn’t. I had to go home. Although ... did I make it home?” He looked upset. “Casey is due to give birth at any time and I promised to go home. I don’t want to miss that. I ... um ... I guess now I am going to miss that.”
“Casey is okay,” I offered hurriedly. “I saw her last night. She misses you terribly. She’s upset about everything that’s happened, but she’s holding it together for your little one. You would be so proud of her.”
“I’m always proud of Casey.” Jacob mustered a smile, although it didn’t make it all the way to his eyes. “I wish I could talk to her again, say goodbye. I’ve tried. She can’t see me.”
“Only people with certain gifts can see you,” Aisling explained. “I’m a reaper. That’s why I can see you. Hadley is a witch. She has a whole bag of magic tricks.”
“Can you make Casey see me? Just once? Just so I can say goodbye?”
“I don’t know how to do that.” I felt terrible. “I’m sorry.”
“We can’t fix this for you,” Aisling supplied. “There’s no going back. What we can do is try to help you. It’s important to go back to that last day. You said your co-workers wanted you to go to the bar with them. Did they leave you?”
“I told them to. I was packing up the tools and preparing to leave.” Jacob’s sadness permeated the entire area. “I was almost ready to leave when ... it happened.”
“What?” I leaned forward, intrigued. “Did you see who it was?”
“No. I sensed something ... someone. There was a shadow behind me. I got spooked and wanted to hurry and go home. I ... can’t remember if I ever made it home, but I want to say I did. But I don’t know. That’s all I remember.”
I shifted my eyes to Aisling to see what she made of the story. She seemed lost in thought.
“Maybe you should try to relax,” I suggested. “The memory might be closer than you think. If you push too hard, it will hide. You need to let it come naturally.”
“I don’t care about that.” Jacob was adamant. “I care about Casey, about our baby. I don’t even know if it’s a boy or girl. We wanted to wait and be surprised. We knew we would only have the one shot at it.”
“You’ll be able to see from wherever you go,” Aisling said quietly, her hand moving to the pocket where I knew she kept the scepter her father sent her. “Just because you move on, that doesn’t mean you can’t look back.”
“Is that true?” I asked.
“Of course it’s true.” Aisling said the words but her tone told me she didn’t really know the answer. “I have to absorb you now, Jacob, help you cross over. It will be better for everyone when you’re in the place you’re meant to be.”
She had the scepter out and pointed it at him. Jacob balked.
“No. I’m not leaving!” He took a huge step back. “You can’t make me.”
“It’s my job to make you,” Aisling pressed. “I don’t really have a choice in the matter.”
“Well, I’m not letting you take me.” Jacob turned on his heel and bolted, causing me to hop to my feet.
“What do we do now?” I asked. “Should we chase him?”
“I’m not chasing a soul. It’s too hot.”
“Why didn’t you absorb him?”
“I thought we had more time. Obviously, I was wrong.”
“Obviously,” I echoed, watching Jacob’s back until he disappeared into the trees. “So ... what now?”
“I have no idea. I can’t believe I lost him. My father always warned me not to talk to souls. Suck, don’t talk. I’ll never hear the end of this.”
“Yes, that’s the most important thing,” I muttered.
“Don’t you start.”
“I was merely making an observation.”
20
Twenty
We met Galen and Griffin for lunch at Lilac’s bar. They were already seated when we entered, and Griffin jumped to his feet when he saw Aisling.
“Why are you so red and sweaty? Do you need to sit down? Do you need to go to the hospital? Do you guys even have a hospital?”
Aisling cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sweaty because we were outside.” She slapped at his hands. “I’m fine.”
“You’re warm.” He pressed his hand to her forehead by way of proof and tugged her toward a chair. “I’ll get you some water. If you don’t cool down in the next five minutes, we’re taking you to get checked out by a doctor.”
Aisling fumed as she watched him head toward the bar. “I am not going to survive this pregnancy. There’s simply no way.”
I clucked sympathetically as I took the seat on the other side of Galen. He lifted his chin so I could give him a kiss, but my eyes were still on Aisling. “You know, I hate to say it because you’re probably going to freak out, but you are a little red. I didn’t realize how much time we spent at the cemetery.”
“You went to the cemetery?” Even though he’d made a point of saying Aisling drove him crazy, Galen used his menu to fan her face. “I take it the weather in Detroit isn’t like this very often, huh?”
Her scowl deepened. “It gets hot in Detroit during the summer months.”
“Yes, and you complain the whole time,” Griffin said upon his return, handing his wife an absolutely huge glass of ice water. “I want you to drink all of that.”
“And I want you to take a chill pill,” she shot back. “I’m perfectly fine.”
“Baby, your skin is on fire and you’re sweating. I don’t like it. Drink that water.”
“Oh, whatever.” Aisling growled and lifted the glass to her lips. Before I could think of something to say to make her feel better, she’d drained the entire thing. “I’ll have some more, husband.”
Griffin widened his eyes to comical proportions. “I take it you were thirsty.”
“I didn’t even realize how thirsty I was until I started drinking.” She lowered her voice and offered him the trace of a smile. “I really am fine. We weren’t exerting ourselves or anything. We were at the cemetery and we got to talking ... it’s okay. I’m not having a medical crisis or anything.”
“Well ... .” Griffin’s expression reflected uncertainty. He didn’t get a chance to push her further, though, because Lilac picked that moment to swoop by the table. She had another huge glass of water for Aisling and a bright smile for the rest of us.
“Here you go, honey. You sit tight and drink that. You’ll cool down in no time.”
Aisling bobbed her head and greedily reached for the water. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” Lilac pressed her hand to the back of Aisling’s neck without invitation. “You are warm. How would you feel about a bag of ice for the back of your neck? That will cool you down faster than anything.”
“I’m sure I’m fine.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, we’ll take the bag of ice,” Griffin interjected, grimacing when Aisling scorched him with a dark look. “It’s that or the hospital.”
“I’m not sick!”
“You threw up this morning.”
“That’s because your kid thinks it’s funny to make me sick.”
“Oh, so now it’s my kid?”
&nb
sp; “You’re the only possible father.”
Griffin sighed, love practically oozing out of him when he looked at her. “You’re going to take the bag of ice and sit there until I’m convinced you’re really okay. We’ll go from there.”
“It’s sad, but I miss my father,” Aisling lamented. “He would’ve gotten me ice cream by now and I would be all better.”
“Your father would make you go to the hospital. I don’t know who you’re trying to kid with that crap.”
“Whatever.” Aisling muttered something dark under her breath, but I could tell the anger she felt wasn’t directed at her husband. No, that anger was aimed inward. She hadn’t realized she was flagging — and neither had I — until Griffin called her on it. Now she was feeling a bit foolish and she expressed it by acting angry.
“She’ll be fine,” I said pointedly, catching Griffin’s gaze. “It’s my fault. I forgot what it was like when I first got here. I was always hot and thirsty, too. I took her to the cemetery without thinking about it.”
“Yeah, speaking of that, why would you go to the cemetery in the middle of the day?” Griffin accepted the bag of ice Lilac handed him and immediately pressed it to the back of Aisling’s neck. Instead of shrieking, she sighed. Apparently she liked the feeling.
“You should see the cemetery,” Aisling enthused. “In fact, we have to visit after dark.”
“Why would we spend our honeymoon visiting the cemetery?”
“Because they have zombies.”
Griffin stilled. “Zombies? Like the ones we faced?”
“I don’t think so. They have them corralled. The cemetery has a huge fence and they’re locked inside.”
Griffin looked to Galen for confirmation. “Is that true?”
“It’s a curse.” Galen launched into the story as Griffin fawned over Aisling. Lilac brought the rest of us drinks, and by the time he was finished with the rather interesting tale Aisling’s color had returned to nearly normal. “So, basically we’re trying to figure out who cast the curse. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to come up with another plan. It’s difficult because people don’t want us going in and taking them down.”
“But why not?” Griffin pressed the back of his hand to Aisling’s forehead and smiled. “Feeling better?”
She nodded and waited for Galen to answer.
“Think about it,” he replied. “If your mother ... or sister ... or child was in there, would you want someone to stab them in the head to put them down?”
Griffin made a face. “I guess. They’re not the people who passed. Their souls are gone. I’ve actually had the occasion to see a few zombies, if you can believe that. I don’t know that I’m comfortable knowing they’re allowed to get up and walk around unattended after dark.”
“They’re locked in,” I supplied, my voice shriller than I intended. “They can’t get out. Don’t worry about them, because they can’t hurt you. There’s no reason to hurt them.”
The look on Griffin’s face told me couldn’t understand why my voice had suddenly gone so screechy.
“Her mother is one of the zombies,” Aisling explained on my behalf. “It’s none of our business.”
Realization dawned on Griffin’s face, but he didn’t back down. “Since when do you mind your own business?”
“Since now.” Aisling was firm as she forced a smile for my benefit. “It’s okay. He’s just blowing off steam. The thing with the other zombies was difficult.”
“You almost died,” Griffin grumbled.
“That’s hardly the only time I almost died. Besides, I was the only one who believed it was zombies at the start, if you remember correctly. You told me zombies weren’t real.”
“And we’re done talking about that.” Griffin made a face as he grabbed the menu. “What’s good here?”
“Everything is good here, sugar.” Lilac winked at him. “We have seared sea scallops on special if you’re interested.”
“That sounds good.” Aisling handed her menu back to Lilac. “Can I have some stuffed mushrooms, too? Oh, and some fried pickles … and a plate of maraschino cherries as a snack.”
“Coming right up, honey.” Lilac left with our orders, and as soon as she was gone, Aisling decided it was time to tell the men about the rest of our afternoon.
“So, we found Jacob Dorsey,” she started, causing Galen’s and Griffin’s heads to snap in her direction.
“Why didn’t you lead with that?” Galen snapped.
“Because I was dying of heatstroke and needed to be pampered.”
Galen’s lips curved down. “Seriously, dude, how do you live with her?”
“She’s an acquired taste.” Griffin readjusted the bag of ice and grinned at his wife. “She’s actually a lot of fun when she’s not in a mood. Unfortunately for you, humidity always puts her in a mood.”
“Definitely,” Aisling agreed. “As for your buddy Jacob, he remembers being at the job site and thinking that he should be home. He saw a shadow and got spooked, but he can’t remember if he ever made it home. That was the primary thought going through his head. He wanted to go home.”
“I’m pretty sure Casey would’ve known if he made it home,” Galen argued, leaning back in his chair and stretching his long legs out in front of him. “She said he didn’t come home from work. She assumed he went out with the guys, but I’m guessing that never happened. Did he say anything else?”
“He was scattered,” I volunteered. “He seemed ... out of it. I’m sure that’s normal when one is murdered, but he seemed confused and upset. He bolted before Aisling could suck his soul. It was too hot to chase him, so we need to be on the lookout in case he pops up again.”
“Oh, our little expert didn’t get her man, huh?” His teeth gleamed as he smirked at Aisling. “That has to bite.”
“You would think so, but you would be wrong,” Aisling countered. “I’ve lost a number of souls. I always make the mistake of chatting instead of sucking. I’ll get him eventually ... or leave it to your next reaper, if anyone ever arrives to take on the job.”
“Speaking of that, have you talked to your father?” Griffin asked. “I would have thought he’d already have someone here.”
“I informed him of what’s going on. You were there.” Aisling’s frown was back. “He hasn’t called.”
Griffin gave her a sympathetic pat on the hand. “Baby, he’ll be fine. I’ve been in contact with Aidan and he says your father is already ten times better than he was at the wedding.”
“You mean when he threatened to cut off your hands — and other stuff — while chasing you around the church?”
Griffin smiled at the memory. “I think that was kind of fun. It was a workout. Got my blood pumping so I was breathless when it came time to exchange vows.”
Aisling rolled her eyes. “You were scared spitless. You refused to come out of the back room unless he promised to keep his hands to himself.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re exaggerating.”
“And I’m pretty sure you’re purposely forgetting what really happened so Galen won’t laugh at you,” Aisling shot back. “I know differently.”
“I don’t care what Galen thinks.” Griffin said the words but his surreptitious glance at Galen told me otherwise. “He doesn’t care anyway.”
“On the contrary. I would love to hear the story of Aisling’s father threatening to cut appendages off mere moments before the wedding,” Galen drawled. “It sounds like a fun tale.”
“Who is getting what appendage cut off?” Lilac asked, returning to the table. The bar was relatively busy for the middle of the week, but she left her staff to handle the tables and drew a chair between Griffin and me so she could join the conversation. “I love a good appendage amputation.”
Now Griffin had the red face, so I decided to swoop in and save him. He was a nice guy and he had his hands full with Aisling.
“What did you guys do this morning?”
“We headed out to talk t
o Barry,” Galen replied, sipping his drink and making a face. “He wasn’t exactly happy to see us. It didn’t go well. He demanded a warrant, so I have a judge signing off on one because I don’t have many options.”
“You visited the cult?” Aisling leaned forward so fast her bag of ice threatened to fall off her shoulders. Griffin righted it, checked her temperature with his hand again, and then moved his fingers to her back so he could slowly massage away some of the tension.
“I don’t think they appreciate being called a cult,” Galen said.
“But that’s what they are,” Griffin argued.
“Oh, they totally are,” Lilac agreed, fire sparking in her eyes. “Did I ever tell you about the time they invited me to witness one of their fertility rituals?”
My mouth dropped open. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I’m serious.” Lilac nodded. Even in the most ridiculous circumstances, she was enthusiastic and eager to spill the gossipy beans. This was no exception. “I’ve known Taurus for a long time.”
“Barry,” Galen corrected. “If you insist on calling him by that ridiculous name he’ll expect others to do it, too.”
“You called him by his preferred name yesterday,” Aisling noted. “You only called him Barry behind his back.”
“That’s because I was worried there would be an incident,” Galen shot back. “In case you didn’t notice, they outnumbered us by a large margin.”
“There were four of them.”
“And just Wesley and me to fight them off.”
“Um ... I believe Hadley and I were there, too,” Aisling snapped. “And while I might not look big and strong, I’m ridiculously tough. Ask Griffin.”
“It’s true,” Griffin nodded, solemn. “She’s never met a tickle war she didn’t win.”
Aisling pinched his flank. “I’m serious.”
“So am I. I’m a slave to your tickles.”
“Whatever.” Aisling folded her arms over her chest and glared.
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