Vale appeared beside me. “Everything okay?”
“Of course,” I said, trying to sound casual and unaffected. “I was just checking on the cat.”
His face softened. “It isn’t a weakness to care for someone, Maya.”
“I never said it was.”
“You don’t have to,” he said softly.
Vale was wrong. It wasn’t weakness I feared. It was how that weakness would be exploited and weaponized against me should I ever be discovered.
“Would you mind taking Jinx outside? There’s something I need to do here.”
Vale didn’t hesitate. He gathered Jinx into his arms and exited the ballroom. I walked over to the main light switches and flipped them all on. The brighter, the better.
Gina stalked over to me, fuming. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Finding your ghost.”
People took the change in brightness as a sign to leave. Good. The fewer bodies in the room, the easier to locate a shadow that didn’t belong.
I walked the perimeter of the floor as people funneled their way through the exit doors. There was no sign of a wayward shadow. If ithadbeen here, it was gone now.
I wandered outside to the execu-cart, where Vale was seated with Jinx on his lap. For the second time in a single evening, I was jealous of a cat.
“This is probably a good time to call it a night,” Vale said, rubbing the top of Jinx’s head. “All’s well that ends well.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Your help with Jinx. You stayed longer than you needed to.”
He stroked Jinx’s back. “Apparently, I did need to. Glad I could do my part, though. I know you think I sit in my ivory tower and let others fight my battles?—”
“I don’t think that, Vale.” I didn’t. I’d fought by his side. He wasn’t like other deities I’d known. He stepped in when necessary. He cared about his people.
Part of me still didn’t trust it, but I was beginning to realize that was my own issue to resolve. Vale hadn’t given me a reason to distrust him. In fact, it was quite the opposite. He was showing up again and again. It was annoying, yet also surprisingly nice. If I was being honest with myself, part of me didn’t want to see him leave—which was precisely the reason I needed him to go.
Vale stoppedat the cottage to unload Jinx and me, then continued to the HOA office to return the executive golf cart. I waited a solid five minutes before leaving the house again.
“I’ll be back,” I told Jinx. “Hold down the fort.”
A potential shadow sighting at the party was a major development that I couldn’t ignore. I climbed into my own golf cart and drove to Meemaw’s. It was later than I would’ve liked, but I didn’t want to wait until morning if the shadow was on the move.
I knocked on the door of the condo. “Meemaw, it’s Maya. Open up. I need your help.”
I listened for any sign of movement inside. I was certain I heard the sound of running water. I knocked again, this time with more urgency.
The door yanked open. “It’s late,” Meemaw said.
“I know. I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important.”
“You’re lucky I haven’t retired yet for the evening or you’d be in for quite a show.”
“Is this your way of telling me you sleep in the nude?”
Thankfully, Meemaw was still fully clothed. She wore a lime-green track suit with plain white sneakers. Rings circled every finger, including her thumbs. I wasn’t sure how she managed to function with all that jewelry weighing down her fingers. It was like resistance training for hand muscles.
