by Deanna Chase
“Sure. Red, white, pink. I’m an equal-opportunity wine lover.”
His eyes crinkled with amusement. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.” He turned to John. “Yes, please. Thank you.”
The wine turned out to be excellent, as well as dinner and the rich, flourless chocolate cake. The conversation wasn’t too shabby either. And by the time we were ready to go, I was more relaxed than I’d been in weeks.
“Let’s go dancing,” I said, pulling Tyler back toward Bourbon Street. “At one of the karaoke places.”
Tyler followed along but didn’t answer as he replied to a text. I decided to take that as a yes. But before we reached Bourbon, he turned left and tugged me back down to Chartres. “I need to make a stop first.”
“Oh, sure.” I hummed under my breath, more than ready to let off some steam.
I was busy paying attention to where I was walking since I was tipsy, and then I heard it. Help! Free me. I’m trapped.
Tyler stopped. “We’re here.”
I stood completely still, ice running through my veins. I can feel you out there. Free me. Please.
“Pyper?”
I jerked and stared at Tyler. “Where are we?”
“My apartment. I just need to run up and send a fax real quick.” He pulled the door open and gestured for me to go first.
A small gasp escaped as my hand flew to my throat. “Your apartment?”
His knuckles turned white as he clutched the door handle harder. Concern and… was that suspicion lining his face? “Is that a problem?”
I shook my head, clutching my bag closer to my body.
Help me.
His concern turned commanding. “What’s wrong? Tell me what happened.”
“Nothing. I just… I think the wine went to my head. It’s been a while since I’ve had that much to drink.” I hoped like hell he didn’t spot the lie—last week Jade and I had killed a bottle by ourselves. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll just stay out here for the air while you go in.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want you hanging around outside by yourself. It’s not safe. Come on up and I’ll get you water and an aspirin.”
I shook my head and made a show of taking a deep breath. “I need the fresh air. It’ll settle my stomach.”
His brow furrowed with frustration. “Pyper, I have windows. You can stand by one.”
“I just need a minute.” I waved toward the building. “Go on up. I’ll be fine. I promise.”
He reached out and curled his hand over my biceps. My skin crawled with fear and revulsion. He’d been so charming. So fun. But was he also deadly?
A couple walked toward us. I raised my voice and yanked my arm from him. “No, Tyler. I’d much rather wait down here. It doesn’t look good if a girl follows a man back to his bedroom twenty minutes after he bought her dinner.”
“She has a point, man.” A guitar busker nodded at me. “That’s third-date material.”
“Are you sure you won’t wait in the lobby at least?” Tyler offered.
It was truly tempting. No doubt about it. I’d be in the building and able to do a better reading. But I wasn’t going anywhere with him. Not now. Not ever.
“Hey, buddy. What’s the big deal? She said she wants to wait outside. Let her do what she wants,” a woman who was decked out in steampunk gear said. She was wearing a corset embroidered with watch parts and a fancy top hat that was positioned off to the side. Her boots were thigh-high and really made the outfit.
Tyler stared at my impromptu champions and then relented. “Do you want me to bring you some water or something?”
“Yeah. Sure. Water.” The night felt like it was closing in around me. There was a dead woman somewhere nearby. And I had to find her.
Our audience moved on down the street, apparently satisfied Tyler wasn’t going to force me into his apartment.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
I nodded, resisting the urge to push him into his building.
The moment the door shut, I called, “Lily?”
I’m here.
“Did you hear that voice? The trapped woman?”
I did.
My heart raced, and I realized I really was having trouble breathing normally. The adrenaline had kicked in, sending me into an even worse state of anxiety. “Any idea where she is? She needs help.”
Close by. She’s in something. Like a trunk or a cupboard. A dark space for sure.
“In this building?”
I can’t tell. Her presence is vague. Maybe.
I pressed my hand to the bricks, feeling around as if I’d be able to tell if a ghost was on the other side. “Do you know her name?”
Shelby.
Chapter 20
“Shelby?” I cried out. “She’s here?” I jammed my hand into my purse, wrapping my fingers around the small handgun. This was Tyler’s building. He’d been at Ruby’s that day. Now I knew for sure he was the killer. He had to be.
Ruby’s. The thought echoed in my mind.
I steadied myself, and for the first time since we’d stopped, I really took in my surroundings. We were on the three-hundred block of Chartres. If I wasn’t mistaken, Ruby’s was directly behind Tyler’s building.
“Miss, are you all right?” A stocky man in a beige suit stopped and was peering at me as if I were a mental patient.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was talking on a Bluetooth.” I tapped my ear to indicate I was hardwired.
He nodded but didn’t look too convinced. “Just wanted to make sure. You seemed a little frantic.”
I forced a laugh. “Just a minor emergency on the other end of this call. Nothing to worry about.” Turning my back to him, I strode off, rushing to get as far away from Tyler and his building as I could. Only I couldn’t let him think I suspected anything. Reluctantly, I uncurled my fingers from the gun still hidden in my bag and grabbed my phone.
Hey, Tyler— Scratch that. I needed to be more of the girl he knew from dinner.
Hey, nine to five man. Apparently the wine was too much for me. Feeling sick. Need to go home. Will have to rain check the dancing as well. Sorry. Dinner was wonderful. P
The message made my skin crawl. But I really had no choice but to keep up the charade if I didn’t want to make it look like I was spooked.
As I neared the corner, I glanced back at his apartment. The door opened and Tyler strode out, searching around for me. Our eyes met for just one second. But then I panicked and took off, giving him a halfhearted wave and hoping my expression conveyed sickness rather than terror.
Walking as fast as I could in my four-inch stilettos, I hit Jade’s number.
She answered on the first ring. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t even think to ask her how she knew there was a problem. “Tyler’s the killer. We need to do something.”
“Are you sure? His energy seemed so… never mind. What happened?”
“I heard Shelby’s spirit at his place.”
“Dammit. Freakin’ psychopath.” I heard rustling on the other end of the line. “Where are you right now?”
“On my way to your house.” I hurried down the street to Bourbon and turned right, instantly getting lost among the swell of tourists. If Tyler tried to follow me, he’d have trouble seeing me through the sea of partygoers.
Jade said something, but I couldn’t make it out over the music blaring from one of the clubs.
“What?” I sidestepped a man literally lying in the gutter. “I can’t hear you. I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”
I stuffed the phone back into my bag and gripped my gun once more. Three more blocks to go.
A scream permeated the crowd half a block back. I froze and turned swiftly to check out the commotion. Only the tourists were closing in on whatever the problem was, and I was too short
to see anything at all. There was nothing I could do.
There’s an older gentlemen here who wants a word with you.
“Not now, Lily,” I snapped, not caring if anyone around me realized I was talking to myself. There was no way in hell I was going to conduct a reading of the spirits on Bourbon Street just days before Mardi Gras. Talk about overload. I’d probably short-circuit. “Wait until we get to Jade’s place. Please.”
Lily retreated and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Pyper, wait!”
Oh, crap. I turned slowly, terror freezing my limbs. Tyler was pushing his way through the crowd, determination streaming off him in waves.
I glanced back. Jade’s street was two blocks away. I’d never make it without him seeing me, and I couldn’t lead him there. I stood immobile in the street, waiting. He wasn’t going to drag me off kicking and screaming. At least, I didn’t think so. Although, if he was the same person who’d attacked me at Ruby’s, he did have magic.
This was not looking good.
“Hey.” Tyler stopped in front of me, not even winded.
“Hi.” I tucked my bag close to my body again.
He studied me, frowning. “I thought you said you felt sick?”
“I do. I’m woozy.”
“Then why didn’t you go home?” He waved behind him, toward the Grind. It was a block behind us.
I glanced around, feigning confusion. “Oh, right. I guess I’m disoriented.”
He moved to put his arm around me, but I backed up and bumped into a man guzzling a beer.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Whoa. Did I do something?” Concern radiated from his eyes, and I had trouble believing the person standing in front of me, the same one I’d had dinner with, was a murderer.
“No.” I stared at my feet. “It’s not you. I’m just having a rough night.”
“Was it the food?”
I shook my head. “No. Like I said earlier, I had a little too much wine. I really think I should just go home.”
He held out his arm. “I’ll walk you.”
“But I—”
“There you are,” another familiar male voice said from behind me.
I spun, finding Julius. “What are you doing here?”
He narrowed his eyes and gave me a look of exasperation. Here he was helping me and I sounded like a jerk.
I grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. You surprised me.”
He waved a hand. “You’re needed at the Grind. There’s some sort of emergency.” He glanced over my shoulder at Tyler, giving him an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I’m going to have to tear her away.”
Tyler placed his hand on my shoulder in what most people would’ve seen as a protective manner. But it felt threatening to me in my current state of mind. “Do you know this guy?”
“Of course she does,” Julius said. “I work for her, and right now—as I said—there’s a situation.”
I finally found my voice. “Right. Okay.” I took a few steps, putting more distance between Tyler and me, and then stood next to Julius. “Sorry, Tyler. Thanks for checking on me, but it looks like I really need to go. Shop business.”
Julius whisked me away before Tyler could say anything else, but instead of entering the café from the front, he took me around to the residence entrance. We climbed the stairs to my apartment. Once inside, I immediately called Jade.
“Where are you?” She sounded frantic.
“At my apartment. Tyler followed me, and I couldn’t lead him to your place. I’m home with Julius now.” I stared at the man in question, noting his serious dark eyes and the way he watched me. Protective. Dominant. Just this side of dangerous. The combination was a trifecta of wowza. If I wasn’t so positive I’d just gone on a date with a murderer, I’d be exploring that train of thought.
Instead, I said into the phone, “We have to get into Ruby’s. Shelby’s spirit is either there or in Tyler’s apartment, which if you can believe this, is right behind her building. I think Shelby will have answers.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Then Jade said, “Are you sure you want to risk it? If we’re caught…”
“We won’t get caught. Not with you and Julius around.” I held my hand out to him, praying he’d take it. After the way I’d treated him, I wasn’t so sure.
When his fingers touched mine, I let out a breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. His fingers squeezed mine as he said, “I think we need to clear a few things up, but until then, you need to know I’m on your side.”
I nodded and said into the phone, “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“You’re not worried about the possibility of Tyler watching your apartment?”
“No. Julius can check for him and if he’s out there we’ll come up with a plan to evade him.” I gave Julius a questioning look. “Right?”
His serious expression morphed into one of complete confidence. “Not a problem.”
“He says yes. We’ll see you soon.” I ended the call with Jade and then just stood there like a moron, watching Julius.
He shifted his stance and cleared his throat. “About the last time we saw each other…”
I waved a hand to stop him from continuing. “I jumped to conclusions, but Jade set me straight. I’m so sorry I didn’t let you explain. I should have.”
His shoulders relaxed, and that slow easy smile of his was back, just the way I liked it. “No need to apologize. You’d been attacked. Your instincts are your first line of defense, and if you stop listening to that feeling, the potential for disaster is tremendous. You did exactly what I’d want you to do.”
“Even when those instincts are dead wrong?”
He nodded. “Better to feel like an ass than to risk your safety.”
“You’re really something, aren’t you?” I said softly and moved in close to him. His skin was warm—hot even—to the touch, and I craved losing myself in his embrace, even for just a moment. I wrapped my arms around his waist.
He stiffened, his eyes searching mine. “What are you doing, Pyper?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” I pressed my cheek to his chest and hugged him tight. He was so solid, so strong, so perfect… I never wanted to let go. “Thank goodness you were there out on the street. I never would’ve ditched him by myself.”
Julius held completely still, as if he were a statue forced to endure my affection. “I wasn’t there on my own. Jade sent me.”
I pulled back and looked up at him. “What?”
“I was with your friend’s stepfather, going over some information from the council, when you called Jade. She was worried, so I came to find you.”
“She was worried?” I parroted. Not him? What had happened to the concerned man who’d been with me seconds ago? The minute I’d wrapped my arms around him, he’d disappeared. My hands went clammy, and that pit in my stomach was back.
He closed his eyes. “What do you want me to say, Pyper? That I was worried? Of course I was. You were in danger, so I came.”
“But how did you find me so quickly?”
“I told you before—we’re connected.” He placed his hands on my arms and moved me backward a step, staring down at me now. “When I concentrate, I can feel you. I think it’s your soul. I don’t know why or how, but if I let myself, I can fade from wherever I am to wherever you are. But it only works when I think of you. No one else.”
A wave of pleasure washed over me. The connection was weird and different and felt completely right, even though it shouldn’t. But I was done fighting it. I stepped into him, hugging him again, willing him to yield to my embrace, and said, “I’m glad it’s me and not someone else.”
When he didn’t answer or even move, I rested my chin on his chest and gazed up at him. “You can hug me back, you know.
It’s allowed.”
He shook his head. “You said there can’t be anything between us. And I can’t pretend there isn’t.” Those onyx eyes of his were stormy with conviction. “I won’t stop you from touching me, but if I touch you, I’m not sure I can walk away again.”
My breath caught in my throat and my heart hammered against my chest. He had to have felt it. Hell, I could practically hear it. Emotion welled up from deep within the depths of my heart. “What if I don’t want you to walk away?”
I heard myself ask the question, knew I’d just dived off into uncharted territory, but I couldn’t help it. He made me feel whole. Something I hadn’t felt since I was eighteen years old. I couldn’t let him go. Not now. Not yet. Maybe not ever. The thought scared me and filled me with joy all at the same time. This man was good for me. And even though I hadn’t forgotten for a second that he was a ghost—made a point to keep telling myself that—he was one hundred percent flesh and blood when he was in my arms.
“You know I can’t promise anything.” His tone was resigned but not indifferent. More like defeated.
“I’m not asking for promises. I’m only asking for now.”
His intense gaze melted into one of wonder, and then his arms came around me and lifted me up until our lips met.
I smiled against his mouth. “Now we’re talking.”
His mouth claimed mine, and in that moment of passion, I melted into him, losing myself to his probing, demanding tongue and the hard planes of his body. When he finally put me back down on my feet, we were both breathless.
He ran his hand along the side my face, his tender touch sending a delicious tingle of warmth over my skin. “Someday soon, I’m going to be the one taking you out on a date.”
I leaned into his touch. “I’d like that.”
Chapter 21
“Wait here.” Julius stood at the back door of my building, peering out the tiny side window.
“Until when?” I’d changed into black yoga pants and a black long-sleeved shirt, and I felt very much like a cat burglar in training. He had on dark trousers and a black sweatshirt of Kane’s that I’d found in the guest room.
