“Yeah, no one who catches ghosts is straight and narrow,” Alice said.
Since when had I asked for this sort of heckling? I flared my arms. “Okay. I get it. I’m not exactly cut-and-dried. Anyway, Roan went with me to the house and helped catch the ghost. Before anyone gets excited, for some reason this creep still has power. It attacked me last night.”
“Oh no!” Ruth felt my head and shoulders. “Are you okay? Blissful, did it break anything?”
I wiggled out of her hold. “Nothing was broken, but then another really strange thing happened.”
“Oh, I’m afraid to hear it.” Alice plugged her fingers in her ears. “I don’t want to know.”
Good grief. I gently tugged her hands down. “It’s nothing to be scared about, but Roan called the ghost off.”
Ruth folded her arms and nodded. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Why?”
She slapped her thigh. “We told you about his grandfather and all his mysterious doings. It’s no surprise at all that Roan’s got some abilities.”
“They’re latent.”
“Better late than never,” Alice said. “What sort of abilities?”
I inhaled deeply. After these words came out, the women’s response might sting. “He’s a demonologist.”
“What?” Ruth threw up her hands.
Alice frowned. “What’s that mean?”
“He can banish. I don’t know how it works. Roan doesn’t know how it works, either.” I glanced at my watch. “And I hope I won’t have to worry about it for a while because we’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
Alice pointed to the door. “Like that fish?”
My head swiveled. Approaching the store came a tall man, athletically built with broad shoulders and slim hips. His dark hair brushed his chin, and his blue eyes sliced through the scenery.
With him strode a woman with long, luxurious red hair. Big brown eyes peeked out of her face, and the rest of her features were delicate—chin, nose and even cheekbones. Freckles constellated her nose and cheeks, giving her a girl-next-door look.
Before they reached the door, he took the woman’s hand. He turned his face toward her, and they beamed at one another.
Clearly the sun rose and set in each other’s eyes.
He surveyed the room, quickly picking the three of us apart with his eyes. When his gaze settled on me, he said two words.
“Blissful Breneaux?”
“You must be Axel Reign.”
“Axel who?” Alice whispered to Ruth.
“I don’t know. It must be one of Blissful’s friends,” Ruth shot back.
“They can’t be friends because they just introduced themselves,” Alice argued.
I swear those two would be the death of me.
Axel ignored them. “This is Pepper Dunn.”
The woman stepped forward. “How do you do?”
“Well, thank you.” I nodded toward Ruth and Alice. “This is Ruth Biggs and Alice Cassidy.”
