“That’s new,” Reaver muttered.
“Not one of the usual ghosts,” Coffee agreed.
Lucky walked around the stack of furniture. “Prez. This is literally balancing on a leg,” he called. A frisson of warning ran down my spine.
“Get back!” I yelled, and Lucky reacted instantly. He leapt back as the stack fell towards him. It crashed to the floor, and for a sickening moment I thought Lucky had been caught, and then I saw him standing plastered against the huge fireplace.
“Holy shit! That was a trap!” Reaver muttered.
“Warn the others,” I snapped as I strode over to Lucky. I patted him down even as he batted at my hands.
“Prez, I’m fine!” he said. Finally reassured, I stepped back.
“Coffee, did you get that?”
“Yeah. This thing’s trying to harm us?”
“I don’t know. As we all reacted, I felt a surge of satisfaction,” Lucky replied.
Coffee cocked his head. “Like it got off on our emotions?”
“Yeah, weird,” Lucky replied. Reaver and I began picking up the fallen furniture. Given how solid it was, we were damn fortunate that it hadn’t hit Lucky. Surprisingly, none of it had broken either.
“It’s getting stronger,” Reaver muttered.
“Yeah. It’s going to dig in.”
“I can’t exorcise it unless I know what it is,” Lucky said, and I nodded. That was the million-dollar question—what the hell was this thing?
Sunny
I wanted to pack Callie up and run. Whatever was in this Inn was bad, really evil. Callie wanted to identify it. Me? I wanted to protect my woman. These ghosts appeared more frightening than those from home. Did their older age make a difference? Didn’t know and didn’t care.
“Are you okay?” Lich murmured as I growled.
“Yeah,” I growled out. I didn’t know him well enough to talk about my concerns.
“Don’t blame you for being worried about Callie. Will she continue this after she has given birth?
“Yup.” That grated. Callie was my fucking life. She was my be-all and end-all, my ride-or-die. If anything happened to her, I wouldn’t live. Everything I’d gone through led me to the most beautiful woman in the world. Others might see Callie differently, but I understood and loved her. I was beyond obsessed with my old lady.
And I’d break my back to give her what she needed and desired. I didn’t really like her doing investigations when they turned dark. But we’d discussed this; Callie was one of the safest people out there. She knew how to handle danger and dark spirits, and her empathic nature prevented her from leaving people in trouble. Callie had talked me through their protections and procedures many times, and now that I did them with her, I understood even more.
However, spirits were able to attack and indeed did. Damn, listen to me. I’d been a complete sceptic before I fell for Callie. But watching her programme and knowing who she was, I’d become a believer. Callie wouldn’t fake footage. Everything that made it to screen was genuine. There was a shitload that didn’t get aired. Callie judged certain things as not safe for public view. That was because they’d cause panic, disbelief, or, on the other side of the coin, negative acceptance.
Untrained, ignorant ghost hunters might easily harass the spirits or ghosts filmed or bullies desiring a reaction. There were small-minded assholes who faked footage and screamed abuse and insults at ghosts. Several of that type appeared on TV, including Callie’s nemesis.
But the real ghosts Callie filmed, she protected from that exposure. Callie owned a secret archive featuring footage of ghosts we caught on camera, and a vault where haunted or possessed items were locked up.
Anyone looking at me would wonder what the hell a biker was doing in this world. It’s simple. She’s my old lady; after a lifetime of eating shit, what Callie wanted, Callie got. Truthfully, though I wished Callie would stop this work after childbirth, but I wouldn’t force her. This was Callie’s life, and she was living her best version of it. I’d never break her heart and force her to quit. I couldn’t.
The paranormal world was in her blood. Callie had a curious, inquisitive mind, and asking her to quit would be a travesty. Yup, I’d suck it up and watch her back, because this was something she loved and I refused to deny it to her.
“I sent you down a spiral,” Lich said.
“Nah. It’s something we discussed. The paranormal world would suffer immensely without Callie Dixon. I couldn’t do it to her. And our RV is a lot nicer than most people’s homes. But I’m always gonna worry.”
“What will you do when the kid needs school?” Lich asked, and I sensed his genuine curiosity.
