Mystically Bound (Frostbite, Book Three) (14 page)

“I have no intention of doing anything to
you,” I said through clenched teeth. I nearly sent him away, but I
quickly reminded myself of a mistake I’d made last night. “Before
you go, tell me, did you know Nettie Glasgow?”

He shook his head, even if his gaze remained
cautious. “No, I’m not part of the Glasgow family. I live in a
house that way.” He pointed to the far side of the swamp. “But come
around here because of the others that stay at the house.”

Which included the ghost standing by the edge
of the swamp being entirely silent near the cotton grass. I liked
Sammy. When this mess was over and Kipp was saved, I’d do my best
to help
that
ghost, because he actually listened to what I
said. “Well, good. You won’t be a problem then and you won’t mind
me saying go away.”

Like a snap to my fingers, they winked out of
existence and I stared at the grass where they had stood. “Can you
believe that he seriously just gave me hell for helping
Victoria?”

“That’s funny.” Gretchen snickered.

“No, it really isn’t.” The breeze swept over
my skin, making me shiver and warming the coldness away from me the
ghosts had caused.

She regarded me with a tilt of her head, the
flashlight below lighting up her chin. “What did the other ghost
want?” At my shrug, since I didn’t give two craps about asking
Sammy, she added, “You know, you could find out.”

“Hell, no; that will mean being sucked into
another guilt trip.” I firmed my voice, especially considering it
had happened with Victoria. Sad stories were always my weakness. “I
have enough guilt and trouble on my hands. He’s going to have to
wait in the line of ghosts needing to be saved.”

“You’re right; he can wait,” she agreed.

Before I could say anything more on the
subject, a flash of light caught my eye and once again, goose bumps
rose on my skin. Perhaps now, after going into the Netherworld, the
sensation was more obvious than ever, because it seemed colder and
sharper. I glanced to the side, noticing the orb again. “Oh,
Alexander’s coming.”

Exactly as before, the orb danced around in
the night sky before it lowered to the grass, forming a shape
until, once again, Alexander stood before me in his odd ghostly
form. He smiled at me and then sat down on the grass, so I spun
slightly to sit in front of him.

“Hi,” I said.

He inclined his head, telling me we still had
the exact same problem as before, and I was seriously in no mood
for a game of charades. But one thing I realized more than
anything, from what Wayde told me and from my earlier conversation
with Alexander, was this man knew all about what I needed to know.
“Did you want to meet me because of Nettie?”

Alexander nodded.

“Because you knew I could do what she
could?”

He tapped his nose, indicating right
answer.

While that was interesting in itself and I
wished I could ask him why, I knew he’d never be able to answer. A
thousand questions ran through my mind. Some demanding answers.
Others building frustration, knowing I’d never get them. “Did you
want to teach me about her?” At his nod, I pondered, then went on,
“Because you wanted me to know more of what I could do?”

He shook his head and even in his see-through
form, his eyes looked troubled. Which brought forth a thought I
couldn’t push away, especially since Kipp had implied the same
thing. “To warn me of something?”

Gretchen scooted along the grass to settle in
next to me. “Warn you?”

Alexander nodded.

“Warn me of what, is the question,” I
grumbled. “But dammit, he can’t answer.” I rubbed my face,
considering all this, which got me nowhere, so I lowered my hands.
“We need to find another way to talk to you. Not only do I need
answers for what you’re talking about now, but how am I going to
help you if you can’t answer?”

His eyes became sad, his lips pursing.

Gretchen’s arm brushed mine, and when I
looked at her, her brows were furrowed. She drew in a long breath,
and then said to Alexander—or to the spot he sat, even if she
couldn’t see him, “I found a strengthening spell last night, but
I’m not sure how long it would last. It could be mere minutes,
which wouldn’t get us any further than we are now.”

Alexander’s head cocked, as he regarded me,
and then his eyes widened. He pointed to himself before his finger
aimed at me.

“Not this again,” I muttered, then to
Gretchen I said, “He’s pointing at himself and then to me.”

Her eyes searched mine before she looked at
Alexander. “Are you trying to tell us a way to fix your current
state?”

At his nod, I said, “Yes.”

Again, he pointed at himself, dragging his
finger from his head all the way to his stomach, and then at
me.

Once I explained the action to Gretchen, her
eyebrows drew together and she nibbled her lip. “I had come across
a solution last night and I have a feeling this might be what he’s
suggesting.” Her expression twisted. “I think he might be asking to
come into your body.”

My mouth dropped open. “Come again?”

“Yes, I know, not ideal.” Gretchen gave a
nervous laugh. “But if Alexander possesses a body, then he will
feed off the energy of that soul. I’d imagine it will give him
enough strength to stay with us for a long period of time.”

I swallowed, not liking this one bit, and
hesitantly turned to Alexander. “You want to possess me?”

He shrugged.

“Though,” Gretchen interjected, “it wouldn’t
be wise for it to be you.”

I snorted. “That’s good, because for a moment
there, I was thinking you were honestly suggesting I allow a ghost
to enter my body.” Gretchen’s brows rose knowingly and I rolled my
eyes. “That is so
not
funny. But exactly, the only ghost
coming into
my
body is Kipp.”

She smiled softly. “What I mean to say, is
when a possession happens, whoever belongs to the body will have no
control. As in, they’ll be asleep. We need you here and awake.”

“Oh, okay that makes sense.” I pondered for a
moment, glancing out at the swamp to the bullfrog who kept on
singing, sure-as-shit liking the fact it wouldn’t be me. Sure, I’d
do anything for Kipp, but the thought of a ghost entering my body
and taking over…I shuddered, not even wanting to consider it.
“Well, I need you with me, so it can’t be you either.”

She agreed with a nod. “Which means we need
to find someone else who is willing.”

I hesitated. “Why willing?” A similar
situation engulfed my mind, reminding me of a memory I’d rather
forget. “The demon in Memphis possessed the man without
permission.”

“Because that’s evil and Alexander isn’t.”
The bullfrog croaked, forcing Gretchen to pause until he finished,
then she went on. “The participant needs to welcome him into their
body.”

I grunted, realizing this wasn’t going to be
a quick decision. To Alexander, I said, “Since you burn out quick,
if you leave now will you have enough strength to come back later
and do whatever it is you need to do?” At his nod, I added, “Go
then and we’ll figure this out.”

In a blink, he shifted back into the freakish
white orb and only a moment later, it vanished. The dark sky once
again looked a whole lot darker without the orb. Spinning on my
butt to face Gretchen, I asked, “Do you have any ideas on who to
ask?”

She glanced down, shined the flashlight at
her jean-covered legs, and picked off a piece of lint. “I’m sure if
we asked Amelia, she’d agree without hesitation.” She lifted her
head, the beam of light making her look a little spooky. “But since
we don’t know who is involved in this, I don’t think that’s a good
idea. Amelia will tell both Wayde and Dane.”

“Ah, smart thinking, because what if one of
them is the killer,” even though, I really doubted that was the
case, “and realizes what we’re doing and to stop us, thinks we need
to join Alexander?”

“Exactly,” she agreed with a firm nod,
standing up and angling her flashlight away from my face. “We need
to find someone who we won’t need any time soon and who won’t raise
any warning signals to whoever is behind this.”

My choices sucked, at best.

Those choices: go to a group of people who
might include the killer or to a group of people I did
not
want to ask. Even I wouldn’t dare allow Alexander into my body—or
maybe I would, if I had another choice—but I was more than glad it
wasn’t me.

With little options and the solid help
Alexander could give to fix Kipp, I suspected by nightfall, I would
have a willingly participant. “All right, I have an idea.” I
shuddered in horror. “Damn, this going to be so, so, so bad.”

Gretchen paid the cab driver and I slammed the car
door behind me. The Best Western wasn’t nearly as pretty as Wayde’s
house, but heck, I’d give anything to be staying here rather than
the latter. Not to say the hotel wasn’t charming, with its yellow
paint on the top half and red brick covering the lower part of the
building. It even had a fake clock tower.

Once Gretchen joined me, we hurried through
the front door and entered the typical hotel lobby with dark wood
concierge desk straight ahead. Two brown couches rested in the
middle of the room and a pretty chandelier hung over the glass
coffee table. We ignored the man with the friendly smile at the
desk and entered the elevators to the right, making it quickly to
the second floor.

The hallway resembled the rest of the
hotel—sophisticated with its burnt orange paint and fancy patterned
rug. At room, 212—the number Zach had texted me—I knocked, and a
moment later, the door whisked open to Eddie.

I smiled at his cute face, spotting the usual
twinkle in his blue eyes that remained most times, but noticed his
brown hair was longer around the ears, meaning I wasn’t the only
one who desperately needed a haircut. “Hi—” I barely got the word
out before I was wrapped into a body of strong muscles. I gasped in
surprise since Eddie hadn’t been the hands on type.

“You all right?” he asked.

I returned his hug, leaning my head against
his chest. Maybe being surrounded by people who hadn’t been overly
welcoming made the people who truly accepted me a little more
special now. “Just dandy.”

His chuckle sounded gentle in my ear before
he stepped back, nodding at Gretchen and opening the door
wider.

The moment I stepped over the threshold, I
spotted the cream-colored paint on the far wall where the window
was surrounded by deep brown curtains. To my left, two double beds
with white linens rested against the coffee-colored wall. The
bathroom looked to be at the very back, a large wooden desk sat in
next to the television stand and abstract art decorated the
walls.

On the far bed, Caley, with the remote
control in her hand, was watching a romantic comedy, a favorite
thing of hers to do. I snickered, completely understanding why when
I looked at Max. He had a deep crease in his brow over his warm
chocolate eyes.

Poor men probably didn’t have a chance to
refuse her. Of course, Caley would watch what she wanted to and I
could only imagine the exasperated sighs filling this room as she
tormented them with her chick flicks.

As Eddie shut the door behind me, Max
immediately stood, striding forward to take me into another tight
hug. Funny thing, I never used to be close to men, only Caley. Now
every single person in this room was family to me. With my true
family long deceased in the car accident that gave me my gifts,
maybe I appreciated their friendships more than others would.

These men I never wanted to live without.

I settled into Max’s loving embrace. There, I
felt nice and safe. “So, do tell, how’d you pull off coming here
anyway?”

Max gave me another firm squeeze, indicating
he didn’t want to let go, and in truth, I didn’t want him to
either. He eventually released me, staring down at me with his dark
hair, silvered at the temple, hanging over his forehead. “I told
the higher-ups we needed to come to Louisiana to investigate a
witness who lived here.”

I gasped with fake horror. “You lied?”

“Now and again, it does come to that.” He
winked, not an ounce of guilt showing in his gentle eyes. “Any new
developments?”

“Well…” I glanced at Gretchen, watching her
settle into the seat by the front door when I heard running water
in the bathroom.

Only a second later, Zach strode out, drying
his hands on his jeans. His blue eyes were focused and intent.
“Found the hotel okay?”

I nodded, striding forward to take a seat by
Caley on the bed, and sighed as the bed bounced beneath me. I liked
squishy mattresses and the one at Wayde’s was rock hard; this one
felt like a huge pillow. “Can you turn that off?” Caley looked at
the television with sadness, but the movie flicked off. To Max, I
asked, “Okay, first, do you have anything for us?”

He returned to his seat by the desk,
currently full of papers on top. “Sadly, no.” His voice deepened
with frustration. “None of the names we ran came up with any hits.
I called a detective here in White Castle, but he hadn’t heard of
any of the people and there have been no issues at the house.”

“Figured as much,” I grumbled.

Zach dropped down on the edge of the bed,
while Eddie leaned up against the wall, arms folded by the
television stand. I turned to Max. “So, looks like we’re shit out
of luck in that department?”

He jerked his chin in agreement before he
laced his hands behind his head and leaned back in the leather
chair, sending it squeaking beneath him. “There must be something
we’re missing that’s hidden within what appears to be
straight-laced people.” His gaze firmed. “There’s always a
motive.”

“Yeah.” I knew that well enough and didn’t
doubt for a moment that behind Alexander’s death there had to be a
motive. “But finding it is the problem.”