“Whatever you say, Ms. Jaxson,” he said, but his eyes lingered on me and I turned away.
Killian gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing.
Toby hooked up my car and winched it onto the flatbed of the truck, then headed back the way he had come. I felt oddly bereft, watching my car vanish down the street.
“He’ll take care of her,” Killian said, wrapping his arm around my waist.
I nodded, turning back to his SUV, but then stopped. There were lights on upstairs, over the Spit & Whistle. “Damn it. I’m so tired of this. You know, I have half a mind to go in there and see if I can just clear them out.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Killian said.
“No, but I wouldn’t mind taking another peek at that basement room. I can probably figure out if there’s actually a portal there or not.” I debated the wisdom—or rather, folly—of sneaking in there by myself. But really, what could the ghosts do to me?
Knock you down the stairs, stab you with a flying knife, any number of things, Esmara said.
I stiffened. Well yes, but—
But nothing. Don’t be the heroine in the novels who’s too stupid to live, my great-aunt admonished. Come back here with the proper tools and the proper help.
Oh, all right. I sighed.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Killian said as he gave me a sharp look. “You are not going into that building by yourself, and I’m not going in there with you. I will physically pick you up and strap you into your seat belt if you even attempt it.”
I snorted. “Good luck with that.” But his concern touched me, and I leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you for caring,” I said, heading back to his vehicle.
As we began the drive home, though, I could feel the denizens of the dark waiting for me—as though they had felt my presence and steeled themselves for battle. Their confusion as we drove away was the best laugh I’d had in days, but I tried not to laugh too hard. It was never wise to challenge fate to a Hold my beer contest.
Chapter Fourteen
The drive home was easier, as Killian had predicted, and we arrived by two. As I stepped out of Killian’s car, I caught sight of Louise talking to someone through the bay window. Wondering just who she had let in my house, I made a beeline for the steps, with Killian following close behind.
As I opened the door and hurried in, I saw Aunt Teran sitting in the rocking chair, talking to Rowan Firesong, who was on the sofa, and Louise, who was curled up next to the fireplace.
Taken aback, trying to quickly shift gears, I burst out with a loud “Hello,” which sounded more like a threat than a greeting. Shaking my head, I lowered my voice as I stopped in my tracks. “I mean, hi. I didn’t expect you.”
“It wasn’t easy getting here,” Teran said. “But I was taking a nap and I had a dream about you so I called Rowan, and we both came over to check on you.”
“Check on me? Why?” I stripped off my jacket and sat down, pulling off my boots and tossing them to the side. Killian did the same, then took our coats and boots and put them away in the foyer closet near the door.
Louise stood, yawning. “I’ll let you talk. January, do you mind if I take a nap?”
“Not at all. By the way, the ghosts were wreaking havoc down at your place today. The whole top floor was lit up and I could feel them waiting to see if I was going to go inside. They were confused when I didn’t.”
“Wonderful. That makes me feel ever so special,” she said, sighing long and hard. “I wonder if I should just pick up and move. But selling that place would be hard—not just because it was my dream. But really, what if the ghosts decided to come out and scare away any new owners?”
“My guess is they’ll behave themselves if you do that, if only in hopes of getting fresh meat in there, so to speak. But don’t worry about that now. Go take your nap and relax. They can’t hurt you while you’re here.” I waved her toward the stairs, and she gave me a friendly nod and headed up to the guest room.
After she was out of sight, Teran glanced at Rowan, who nodded.
“Actually, I had a dream that doesn’t involve this case. I dreamt you were being stalked by death,” Teran said, her expression fearful. “I couldn’t quite catch a picture, but death was a man, and he was following you, obsessed with you.”
I had a bad feeling just where this was going. “So death was incarnate?”
“Yes,” Teran said.
Turning to Killian, I asked, “Can you make me a mocha? Please?”
He narrowed his eyes, but nodded and left the room. As soon as I thought he was out of earshot, I leaned forward and whispered, “In a way you’re right. Rowan, I need you to help me with Val Slater.”
“Val Slater, the vampire?” Rowan asked.
“Yeah. Okay, here’s the thing. He’s obsessed with me. I cast a wishcraft ritual for my birthday, and one of my drunken wishes was to become some kind of sex goddess–type woman, and then I get to work and find Val has left seven dozen roses for me along with a note scrawled on the wall that he’s not going to give up on trying to get me to date him.” I frowned, leaning back. “First, do rituals like that even work on vampires?”
Rowan groaned, rubbing her head. “Not typically, but if the vampire is already predisposed to be attracted to you, then I can see the magic filtering out to catch them. Why on earth would you wish for something like that?” She looked genuinely confused.
“I’ve never been the type of woman who attracts others that way…I guess in my drunken haze, I wanted to know what it felt like. And from the little I’ve seen, I can tell you mostly it’s just annoying.” I crossed my legs, leaning back on the sofa. “So, how do I dissuade him, because if Killian finds out about this, on top of what happened the other night, he’ll go after Val with a stake.”
“What do you mean ‘the other night’?” Rowan asked.
“Oh, Val came onto me at a restaurant. He was very rude to Killian, very pushy and arrogant, and almost ended up sparking off a fight,” I said. “The guy’s just trouble waiting to happen—Val, that is.”
“He’s also extremely powerful,” Rowan said. “And Val has a tremendous influence in Moonshadow Bay. There’s no good way to make someone like that back off. And if Killian were to go up against him, even if he won—which is highly unlikely—Slater’s cronies would avenge him.”
“Crap,” I said, running my head. “What do you recommend I do? I’m not interested in him and I want him to stop.”
“Maybe you need to have a firm talk with him. Have you told him to back off?” Rowan asked.
“Kind of. I guess I was afraid he might…well…” I floundered, not wanting to stereotype but damn it, the truth was, I was afraid of Val. “He’s a vampire, for cripes sake. If he gets mad enough, he may just bite me.”
Rowan started to laugh, but seeing that I was serious, she shook her head and sobered. “Don’t worry about that. Val has plenty of concubines if he gets thirsty. He’s got more than enough women who want him to feed off of them that he’s not going to push you into an unwilling relationship. He’s amoral, but I can vouch for the fact that he won’t try to glamour you into his bed. He may pursue you, but he knows the laws about that.”