“What’s the matter?”
She heaved a deep sigh. “Screw it. Just get me to the hallway door.”
“Aren’t you even going to say please?”
“Sheesh! Fine.Pleasetake me the rest of the way.”
As he took her elbow and guided her on, she pondered out loud, “I wish there was something I could do to repay you.”
“I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
She clamped her lips together, realizing she should have kept her mouth shut.
Merman Jules enjoyed splashing around for several minutes in his saltwater fish tank before he relaxed and gazed outside his front windows. What was going on? He’d seen people filing in and out of the building all day. Now there were several people traipsing up the walk together. Mostly related by the looks of them. Was somebody having a family reunion?
Fortunately, the landlord and his pregnant wife were out of town, but if they were home, all these guests would put them at risk for discovery. Since part of his job included protecting the landlord’s privacy as well as property, he’d warned everyone to keep visitors to a minimum. So, who was ignoring the rules?
Jules’ super sonar hearing picked up the vibration of the buzzer as someone let in the whole troop.Damn.
He hopped up onto the wall of his tank and waited for the water to sluice off. When his body sensed he was no longer submerged, his tail divided and he jumped onto the hardwood floor, landing on his bare feet.
He grabbed a towel off a shelf, wrapped it around his waist and trickled water all the way to his bedroom. When he had changedinto blue jeans and asave the mermaidst-shirt, he ventured into the hallway.
To anyone else it would seem quiet. He fine-tuned his sonar until he could have heard blips passing through the air instead of water. The group had, apparently, wound up on the third floor. He jogged up the flight of stairs and listened. It was coming from the right. Ah, Morgaine’s apartment.
He stood outside with his ear to the door for a few moments. Suddenly all the chatter and movement inside stopped. He heard someone taking deep breaths and then more quiet. At last, a single voice said, “He’s here.”
He? Me? Crap.He knew the girls were rumored to be psychic, so he backed away from the door. Suddenly he heard a scream across the hall.
Rushing to the opposite apartment he tripped and fell before he reached the door. He glanced around his feet and didn’t see a thing he could have tripped over.What the hell is going on up here?
Suddenly the door he had been running toward opened. Gwyneth Wyatt, the pretty red-head who lived there gazed down at him. She held a phone in her hand and looked like she was just finishing up a call.
“All right, sugar. I’ll be here if you need me.” Reaching down, she took his arm and helped him up. “Why Jules! What on earth happened to you?”
“I—uh, heard a scream coming from your apartment. I was on my way to make sure you were all right, but I tripped.”
Gwyneth looked at the ceiling. “Hush, Chad. That wasn’t funny. You could’ve killed the man.”
Jules looked up and saw nothing even though he glanced all around. Eventually she filled him in.
“That was our ghost you tripped over. Chad thinks it’s funny to see people fall down—now that nobody can stop him.” Thenshe set her hands on her hips and aimed a stern expression at the ceiling. “But t’aint funny a’tall, Chad. Not cool as y’all would say.”
Jules’ spirits plummeted. He’d thought the redhead might be relationship material, or at the very least, a good romp in the sack.Why are the prettiest ones always the total nut jobs?“So, what was the scream about?”
“Y’all want to come in? I can explain everythin’.”
“Uh, no. I have a…thing…to do…downstairs…”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I was gonna tell you about our phone sex business.”
He raised his eyebrows but managed to hold his reaction to no more than that. She continued on, as if she’d just said she worked as an accountant.
“Yeah, well, me an’ my cousin, Morgaine, we started the phone sex thing to pay the rent here. You know we’re witches, right?”
Yup. Nut job.“No, I didn’t realize that.”
“Yes, well, it’s agin’ the Witch’s Rede to charge money for magic, and my cousin goes by the letter of the law when it comes to the Rede, so she started the phone sex as a home business. She don’t like to leave the apartment.”
