“Hmm?”
“E-girls. Derek’s had a thing for them as long as I’ve known him. I give him shit about it every chance I get.” I adjusted her in my arms and started to the alley.
“Oh, you’resucha good friend.” She patted me on the head, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“Come on—like you don’t do it with Katie,” I shot back. “I remember how hard you razzed her about her ghost fetish.”
“You meanmy uncle?” She flailed a little. “You know, that would’ve been a great time to break that no-contact bullshit you pulled on me.”
I didn’t say anything. She was right.
And the silence between us said it louder than I ever could.
“When did you find the mirror, anyway?”
I let out a breath. “Nebraska. Scared the shit out of me. I zoned out ona long, straight stretch and—boom—he materialized in the passenger seat. He’s lucky I didn’t blow his ghostly little brains out.”
We made it to the car, and I set her down.
“God, I’m freezing.” She clutched her arms around her body.
“You’re naked. In Boston. In almost-winter.” I shrugged off my suit coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. “What’d you expect?”
“A heater.” Her eyes flicked to the Shelby. “You get a new car?”
“I couldn’t show up to theOscars of Pornin the ol’ F-250, now could I?”
She smirked.
“It was a gift. Get in.”
She did as told, and I shut the passenger door just after that long length of leg slid inside.
Circling around to the trunk and grabbed the flannel blanket I kept inside.
“You’ll only need this until the car gets warmed up,” I said, sliding into my seat and handing it to her. “You’ll be naked again before we get to Lynn.”
I fired up the Shelby and let its heartbeat settle into a low, uneven pulse before easing out of the alley.
“So… what’s with the ghoul?” Maggie folded her arms over her chest and nodded toward the shifter knob—Imhotep’s screaming face frozen mid-sandstorm. “I thought you didn’t believe in them.”
“It’s not a ghoul.” I scoffed. “Don’t you recognize Imhotep when you see him?”
She leaned closer, squinting. “You mean like from The Mummy?”
I nodded once, dead serious.
“When you said you liked the movie,” she said, fighting a smile, “I didn’t think you meant you were obsessed.”
I sighed and leaned back, one arm slung over the wheel, the other unbuttoning my cuff. The sleeve slid up slow. “Didn’t you notice the chair?” I tapped the ink on my elbow.
“Y-yeah…” She squinted, confusion pulling between her brows. “I just thought it was a drunken mistake.”
“You don’t recognize it?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Oh, come on—it’sthe chair. The one that took Beni out!”
