Though isn’t that where we are now? A battlefield?
But there are also sinister spirits. The shadows that Brielle saw, the girls’ father—they all surround us.
We’re in for the fight of our lives.
“Jack?”
I blink and look to my right where Daphne is, frowning with lines of concern creasing her brow.
“What was it?” she asks.
It was how this all ends.
“Let’s get inside,” I reply and usher Daph up the stairs to her apartment.
“Geez, Jack, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“That would have been less scary,” I admit and pace her living room. I tell her about the vision. It only takes a few minutes, yet it felt like I was in it for hours. “It has to be what’s meant to happen to make all of this end.”
“Or the possible ending,” she agrees, nodding. “I think it’s good that we’re going to Miss Sophia’s tomorrow—all of us together. I want you to work on reinforcing your shields, too.”
I frown, but she takes my hand and presses it to her cheek.
“I know that this will take a mental toll on you. It’s meant to. If you’re emotionally and mentally exhausted, you won’t be able to fight him off as well.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” I brush my thumb over the apple of her cheek. Her big blue eyes are somber and full of worry. “But that makes total sense. I’ll reinforce the shields.”
“Thank you.”
She leans into me and rests her head against my chest the way she used to. God, I want her. Not just physically, although God knows I want her naked and writhing beneath me, too.
But I just want her—for the rest of my life. Whether that’s eighty more years or three months.
She’s meant for me.
“You don’t have any of your things,” she says and looks up at me. “If you want to go back to Oliver’s tonight and come stay tomorrow, I totally understand.”
“No.” I kiss her head and then pick her up and sit with her in my lap. “I’m not leaving you. I’ll stop by Oliver’s tomorrow on the way to Miss Sophia’s. It won’t be the first time I’ve worn the same clothes two days in a row.”
She grins and pushes her fingers through my hair. “Good thing I have a washer and dryer, huh?”
“Handy,” I agree.
She leans in to brush her lips across mine, but just as our skin touches, the lights in the apartment go crazy, blinking and flashing around us.
I pull her to me and start to recite the simple banishing spell that Lucien marked in the book he gave me.
“Ashes to ashes, spirit to spirit, take this soul, banish this evil.” After the second time through, Daphne joins me. We clasp hands, our voices growing stronger and louder. And then, with a swoosh of wind, the lights calm, and everything goes back to the way it was before.
“He’s not supposed to be in here,” Daphne says with a shaky voice.
“I’m not convinced he is,” I reply.
“Do you think I suddenly have a new ghost?” she asks with an irritated scowl. Only my girl would find a ghost irritating, rather than terrifying.
“I think that the two of us together is powerful magic, Daph. I also think some bad energies are trying to work against us right now. They don’t want us together. What they fail to realize is that the more they try to scare us and separate us, the closer to you I’ll stick.”
She presses her cheek to mine. I’ve never felt anything so sweet.
“I know I said I’d sleep on the couch.” I grin when her eyes find mine once more. “But I’m not going to do that.”
“No?”
“No.” I brush her fiery hair off her cheek and hook it behind her ear. “I’m going to sleep next to you. Don’t worry, I’ll be a gentleman.”
She snorts, and it makes me grin.
“I’m warning you now, I sleep with a light on.”
I raise a brow. “Still?”
She nods.
“Doesn’t bother me.”
“Okay, then.”
“I’m surprised it took you so damn long to move in with her,” Oliver says the next day. Daphne went with her sisters to pick up Ruth, and I said I’d meet them at Miss Sophia’s later after I check in with Oliver and Miss Annabelle.
“And here I thought we were moving quickly.”
Oliver laughs and claps his hand on my shoulder. “She needs you. I’m glad you’ll be close by.”
“We’re headed over to Miss Sophia’s today. You’re welcome to come. I think we’ll need all the help we can get, and I trust you implicitly.”
“Annabelle and I will be there. She’s making some cobbler, and then we’ll head that way.”
“Is she ever not in the kitchen?”
Oliver laughs and shakes his head. “She says acts of service are her love language, whatever in the Sam Hill that means.”
“Well, I’m not complaining. Her cobbler is my favorite. I’ll see you both in a bit then.”
I toss my bag into the trunk of the car, wave at the older man, and then set off for Miss Sophia’s house in the bayou.
Daphne mentioned to me the other day when we were in her shop that the girls plan to build a cottage for their mama on Miss Sophia’s property. I wonder where they’re thinking of doing it. I could lend a hand. It would be cute on that little hill, right behind where Miss Sophia’s cabin sits.
I pull up and turn off the car. When I walk into the house, I already hear voices coming from the kitchen.
Lucien and Cash are already here, but I hear other voices, as well.
“There you are,” Miss Sophia says with a welcoming smile. She cups my face in her hands and looks deeply into my eyes. “Blessed be, Jackson.”
“And to you,” I reply before kissing her cheek.
“We haven’t seen you in a long, long time,” Gwyneth Bergeron, Lucien’s mother, says and rushes over to offer me a hug. “It’s good to have you home.”
“Thank you.”
Aiden, Lucien’s dad, shakes my hand, and I’m offered tea and cookies before we sit around the giant table in Miss Sophia’s dining room.
Her house is small, but I swear it seems to get bigger when people are here to accommodate everyone. And I wouldn’t put it past Miss Sophia to have cast just that kind of spell.
Everyone is welcome at her table.
“Oliver and Annabelle are on their way,” I inform everyone. “Has anyone heard from the girls?”
“They’re on their way, too,” Cash says and pops a cookie into his mouth. “Everything went smoothly with Ruth.”
“Good.” I turn to Miss Sophia, who’s sipping her tea. “Are you sure you’re okay with having her here with you? After everything that happened?”
“Ruth has been through hell,” she says mildly. “And she came out the other side. None of it was her fault. I’m looking forward to helping her get stronger and keeping an eye on her to make sure she stays safe from that which tries to harm her.”
“We’re grateful,” Lucien says. “We’re all grateful.”