14
“Ghost attack?” I echo.
“Yes.” Jacques looks back at the TV. “Another man was brutally attacked in front of his girlfriend. She described the attacker as a young woman in a pink dress. There’s a sketch of her.”
“Fuck.” I drop my purse on the ground and rush in through the foyer, stopping in front of the TV. The news just ended, and a commercial for regulating bowel movements comes on. I turn around, finding the remote on the coffee table, and rewind the program until I find the sketch.
“I didn’t know you could do that. Wish I would have known that when I missed the end ofThe Bachelorthe other night,” Gil says, and Hasan gives him a dirty look.
“That’s her,” I say, pausing the TV and staring at the sketch of the attacker. “That’s the ghost I saw.” My breath leaves me, and the high I’d been riding comes crashing down. “Did I summon her? Is this my fault?”
“No,” all four guys say at once.
“You didn’t mean to do it,” Thomas says with a guilty shrug. “Though you did open the rift and basically let her out.”
I shoot him a look, hoping he knows how lucky he is we already had sex tonight. “I need to stop this ghost.”
“You do,” Jacques agrees. “Did you find out anything from the medium?”
“I did,” I say, still not wanting to lie. “But it wasn’t anything that helpful. Though I was told ghostscantouch people if they have enough energy.”
“Coming through the rift…” Hasan starts, looking at Jacques. They must have talked while Tom and I were out. “Isn’t the normal way spirits cross over. She’s full of energy.”
I sink onto the couch, head in my hands. “I need to stop her. It’s my fault she’s out there hurting people.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Gil says, hand landing on my shoulder.
“I can, and I should. I know I didn’t mean to let this happen, but I did.” I exhale heavily and look up. “I need to figure out who she is.”
“How are you going to do that?” Gil asks gently.
“It’s what I do,” I say, snapping back to myself. “I’m a detective. I solve impossible cases. And having a sketch of the girl helps a lot. I’ll go into work in the morning and run things through the databases. Everyone else will be looking for a living woman, but I know to check with the dead.” I let out a breath and feel better already.
Jac nods. “In the meantime, we should focus on your defenses. This spirit is vengeful. You should be prepared.”
“Right. I’ll get more sage too. Just in case.”
“Have you been practicing summoning the fire?”
“You can’t burn a ghost,” Thomas counters. He knows I’m emotionally spent tonight. Crashing in bed is tempting. Maybe we can even have sex again and I’ll pass out, sleeping through the night, and wake up to find the ghost took her ass back to the spirit world where it belongs. Ha. Yeah the fuck right.
“I have the banishing spell memorized.”
“Good,” Jacques says. “We should have some of the herbs mixed up and ready to go as well.”
“Should we line the windows and doors with salt tonight?” Hasan asks, seemingly unfazed.
“Yes.” Jacques’s eyes meet mine and I can feel his worry. If this ghost is attacking people, who’s to say she won’t come after me?
“I’ll do it.” Hasan leaves the living room and goes into the kitchen. I’m going to have to start investing in salt at this point. I lean back on the couch, and Thomas takes the spot next to me. He hooks his arm around my shoulders and pulls me in.
“You know you’re going to kick her ass, right?”
I give him a half smile. “Yeah. I will. Well, as soon as I figure out how to not have my foot go right through her.”
“If she’s beating people up, that means she can be beaten up too.”
“I didn’t think of it that way.”
