“I’m intrigued,” he said.
“You may be less so when you meet her,” I murmured.
We reached the parking lot and got out. I gripped Roan’s hand. The place was dark and gave me the creeps. Not as big of creeps as Francine. She was one of a kind.
“And who is this?” Francine asked after we’d crossed the bridge.
“This is my boyfriend, Roan.”
“Oh.” Francine darted around him. Her gaze washed up and down, absorbing every bit of Roan. “My, my, my, he’s quite the looker.”
“Yes, he is,” I said.
“Did she say something about me?” he said.
“She thinks you’re hot.”
Roan clicked his tongue in appreciation.
I elbowed his ribs. “Don’t get a big head about it.” I turned my attention back to Francine. “I struck a deal with the cemetery folks. They’ll take you in.”
Francine fist pumped. “Victory!”
“But first,” I said loudly, “you have to help me discover who killed Cora and tried to frame my friend.”
Francine smiled. It reminded me of a cartoon villain’s smile. “Of course I’ll help. That was my intention the whole time. First help you and your friend, then take my rightly place at the Oaks. Of course.”
She rubbed her hands together. “Now. What do you want me to do?”
A slow smile crept over my face. “I have a plan.”
ELEVEN
On the way back home I turned to Roan. “So you couldn’t see Francine drooling at you?”
“No. Why? Was it sexy?”
“As Susan Whitby would say, gag me with a spoon. No. It wasn’t.” I nestled into the car seat. “I’m trying to figure out the rhyme and reason to when and how you can see spirits. Maybe when your power is more activated in some way?”
He hiked one shoulder and kept his dark eyes on the road. “Until we know more about my powers, maybe get a demonologist to train me, we won’t have any answers.”
“Have you found someone to help you?”
He shook his head. “No. Axel Reign gave me a few leads, but none of them have panned out yet.”
An insane thought popped into my head. “I may have someone who can help.”
He dragged his gaze from the road long enough to shoot me a suspicious look. “Now who would that be, killer?”
“Let me do some checking first and see if it’ll pan out.”
“Sounds cryptic,” he said mysteriously.
I licked my lips. “It is.”
Silence stretched between us until Roan broke it. “Just so you know, Blissful, I don’t want our gifts to cause problems. I’ve only just found you, and I’m not interested in losing you.”
He took my hand and kissed my knuckles.
