Then he seemed to remember he was filthy and plopped me back on the ground, stepping away with an embarrassed smile. “Darn... I forgot I was covered in dirt. Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to get you all dirty too.”
“Oh, I’d love for him to get me dirty!” Darla purred as she blipped into existence, seemingly out of nowhere.
Both Finn and I jerked in surprise, eyes darting her way until we could spy her near the coffered ceilings. She bobbed there like an unwelcome spectral balloon that had stayed long past its expiration date. She stared down at the assembled, mostly male crowd, like I’d sat her down in front of a smorgasbord. And she was right, sort of. There wasn’t a bad looking one in the bunch.
I shot her a brief warning look before returning my gaze to the men in the kitchen. RJ was waiting expectantly, his smile wilting a little around the edges. Not immediately responding with an assurance was a breach of the social contract.
“Sorry, I just uh… spaced off a little,” I answered with a smile. “I’m not worried about dirt,” I continued as I faced the stove. “But what exactly were you doing buried up to your waist in my stove?”
RJ scrubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, smearing soot in a solid black line across his neck. “Marty actually called me in to see if I could take a look at your stove. He mentioned it was acting funny. I just so happen to be something of a handyman when it comes to appliances.”
“Oh, well, I appreciate it very much. Thank you.” Then I looked over at Marty, who was already looking at me with a strange expression on his face—maybe one of admiration? I wasn’t sure. “Thank you,” I said, and he just gave me a quick nod.
Darla had come to hover around RJ’s shoulder, stroking the swell of his arms. I twitched, but tried not to let the consternation show on my face. If he noticed her presence, it didn’t show. Most normal people were like that. They wouldn’t be able to see a ghost if it kicked them in the keister. Some people didn’t even notice cold spots.
“Oh, I could just kiss him… all over!” Darla purred. “And I think I will.”
And she did.
I did my best to ignore her.
“Thank you so much,” I said, facing RJ and trying my best to ignore Darla who was now weaving around him, her arms extended so she could feel every inch of him with her ghostly fingers. I noticed goosebumps cropping up on his skin and he glanced around himself a few times, as if he could tell something was going on. Guess he’d never been felt up by a ghost before. “What’s your hourly rate?”
RJ waved my comment away with a small smile. “No charge. Marty says you’ll be helping us with some potions. That’s payment enough.”
I nodded. “So RJ, what part do you play on this team? Besides fixing appliances?”
“Well, I’m not just another pretty face,” he said with a big grin. His voice was deep and resonant.
“RJ is way more than another pretty face,” Henner agreed.
RJ smiled at him. Then he looked at me again as Darla continued to assault him. “I got a degree in comparative religion. Then I took it a step further and deep dived into the occult sciences, mythology, and conspiracy theories.”
“Conspiracy theories?” I repeated.
He nodded. “They’re not all bunk. There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that all those cryptid stories are actually real. There are monsters out there in the…”
Marty threw his elbow into RJ’s side and motioned to Finn. RJ grunted but he took the hint and didn’t finish his sentence. Finn was frightened of ghosts. I’d never get him to leave the house if he thought the lunch lady was a ghoul.
“RJ’s also an aficionado on Big Foot,” Henner added.
“You are?” I asked RJ.
He nodded a few times. “Sure am.”
“Big Foots are real?” Finn asked.
“Of course!” RJ almost sang back to him. “I go on sasquatch expeditions every month or so.”
“Have you ever seen one?” Finn asked.
“More than once… at least I’m pretty sure I have.”
“That’s so cool,” Finn said, smiling finally.
“Oh, and look at this one,” Darla continued, oblivious to our conversation.
She’d floated just behind Henner. And just like she’d done to RJ, she ran her hands over Henner’s chest, like she could feel him up through his clothes. I knew she couldn’t interact well with the mortal world, or at least that’s what she’d said. As a ghost, if you had enough power to manifest at all, you were still limited. She’d compared it to touching objects through a thick, wet towel. Apparently, she didn’t care at this point. Not that I could blame her, exactly. It had been over ninety years since she’d gotten any, and now she was surrounded with attractive men.
Henner shuddered when she stroked the bare skin of his face. That meant he had to be, at least, a little sensitive to magical energy. Not that I was surprised—he had a witch in his family line. That meant he’d be more sensitive to things that went bump in the night than other humans would be.
“Now, you stop that!” Henner muttered, and I was pretty sure he was addressing Darla.
Hmm, interesting.
Darla’s hands wandered even further south, crawling like pale spider legs down toward his groin. That was when I remembered I wasn’t the only one watching her. Finn could see her, as well.
“Darla!” I snapped, glaring at the spot above Henner’s shoulder with a reproachful glower. It had to look like I was snapping at Henner. There went my reputation. “Stop it!”
Finn had turned away with a cranberry-red blush, mumbling something about needing something from his bedroom. Then he fled. I was betting he was going to retrieve a banishing potion, if only to keep Darla away from the hunky men in the kitchen. At this point, I applauded his judgement. It did leave me alone in the room with RJ and Marty staring at me with clear questions on their faces. Henner looked unperturbed. It seemed to be his default state.
“You can see the ghost?” RJ asked.
“I... erm...” I began. Should I lie? No, that would probably make me look unhinged. And it wasn’t as though they weren’t going to believe me. It was just… I didn’t like most people to know the extent of what I could and couldn’t see and do. That subject was one of those things better kept to yourself—I’d learned that from experiences. I sighed. “Yes, I can see spirits.”
“Can your son?” RJ asked.
I nodded. “Yes, Finn can too. It’s a lingering trait from our Traveller blood.”
“Yeah, Marty told us all about how you’re a gypsy and you’ve got special abilities,” RJ said with an impressed smile.
“I didn’t realize you could actually see spirits, though. You never told me that part,” Marty said, studying me.
“Well, it’s not something I like to advertise.”
“They don’t even have to be trying to show themselves?” Marty asked.
“No. I can see them all the time.”
“Wow, that’s… incredible.” There was an almost hungry edge to his expression. Fiercely joyful, like he’d just discovered the game he was playing had bonus levels. “Can you talk to them? Interact with them? Can they talk to you?”