Page 101 of Hell’s Half Acre

“There’s no denying it. You’re part Aztec and the blood of their gods is in you. I think we know what happened with Siobhan.”

Chapter

Twenty

Sorcha was glad she was sitting down. “I can’t be Aztec. It’s not possible.”

“I can’t speak to that fact, only that I know what I tasted. You carry the blood of the gods.”

She held her hands up. “Please give me a moment to process.” Scowling, she met his gaze. “Can you tell anything else?”

“No. Just the power that flows inside you.”

Great. He made her sound like a transponder. Her mind whirled. Who had wandered into her gene pool she didn’t know about?

But then in a weird way it made sense. “Is that why I see ghosts?”

“Probably. Xolotl was a psychopomp. He would send out his hounds to help gather the dead and escort them through the underworld and navigate the perils there. You seeing dead people would make sense.”

Sorcha had no idea how to deal with this. “I need to call my mom.”

Getting up, she retrieved her phone and dialed it.

“Hey, baby. Good morning. Everything okay?”

Sorcha hated to hear the dread in her mother’s tone. It had never been there before Siobhan’s death. Now, her mother panicked any time Sorcha called outside her “normal” time.

Even though Luke didn’t need it to hear, she put the phone on speaker and held it in her hand. “I’m fine. I was sitting here talking to my partner⁠—”

Luke plopped on the couch next to her. “Hi, Mrs. O’Malley.”

“Hi, Luke. You taking care of my girl?”

“Always. Even took a bullet for her last night.”

Silence descended.

Eyes wide, Sorcha glared at him and quickly added, “Metaphorically, Mom. Not a real bullet.”

Luke sucked his breath in sharply as he realized he’d come close to giving the poor woman a heart attack. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. O’Malley. I wasn’t thinking. I’ll never say that again.”

“It’s okay, Luke. I know you didn’t mean anything by that. I’m very grateful to have you protect her. I pray for both of you every night.”

If her mom only knew.

“Appreciate that, Mrs. O’Malley. Your prayers mean a lot.”

While most people would think he was mocking her mother’s faith, Sorcha knew better. Luke meant what he said. He did appreciate the good wishes.

That being said, he did find it amusing as he claimed her prayers could never help a beast like him.

“So why are you calling so early, sweetheart?”

“We’ve got an interesting case that we’re working, and I have an odd thing that’s bugging me. Do you know if you or Daddy have any Mexican or South American heritage?”

Her mom gave a nervous laugh. “Funny you should ask about that. Granddaddy always claimed his real father was a curandero who seduced his mother while her husband, your great-grandfather, was at war. He swore it was why he didn’t look anything like his siblings.”

Sorcha’s heart pounded at that. “Wait? What?”