Page 14 of Tall, Dark and Haunted

Chapter Seven

Rhiannon

“Whatdowedo now?” I turn to the guys, who seem perfectly content to just stand in the middle of Main Street, watching the town’s residents as they lose their shit. “This is our second chance at life. We shouldn’t waste it.”

“No, we shouldn’t,” Davy agrees, but he’s busy staring up at the sky like he’s got all the time in the world.

Two runners jog past, chatting in Welsh at a fast clip. They seem out of place here in the States, and I try to wrap my mind around the fact that we’re outside Margam Castle, which is now in the middle of Main Street in Silver Springs, New York. Except that Silver Springs is now located in Wales. Just thinking about it all makes my brain hurt, but not as much as the fact that I died and was a ghost. But now I’m not, and I’m here with my mates.

I pinch my arm to make sure I really am alive, and the need to do something—anything—with this new lease on life makes my gut clench.

“Red?” I glance at him hopefully.

He shrugs, his gaze drifting lazily from Margam Castle to the Margam Abbey ruins, and back again.

“Topher?”

“One moment, Rhiannon.” He digs in his pockets for something that can’t possibly be as important as living in the here and now.

“I don’t have a moment,” I cry. “Life is short. One moment you’re here, and then you’re gone.”

“You’re telling us?” Davy grins up at the sky like an idiot. These guys may be my mates, but they really don’t have their priorities straight. Anyone would think they wake up alive every other day.

“This is how you end up in a fountain naked!” I snap at Davy. In my case, I was staring up at the full moon, but dead is dead.

“Huh?” Davy finally tears his eyes away from the clouds to look at me. Red raises an eyebrow. Even Topher looks up from what he’s doing at the mention of my nudity.

“Never mind.” My cheeks flush as I scowl at them, my hands on my hips. “We shouldn’t waste our second lives just standing here. We need to do things!”

“I agree,” Topher says.

“Finally,” I cry, glad one of my mates sees reason.

He smiles. “I’ve prepared a list just for such an occurrence.”

“Of course he has,” Davy mutters.

“Aren’t you going to ask what list?” Topher presses.

“Okay, fine, what list?” Davy rolls his eyes.

“It’s a mental list…” Topher pauses for dramatic effect.

Davy groans and Red watches us like we’re a show on Screech and all he’s missing is popcorn.

I clench my hands into fists and take deep breaths. Last thing I need is to shift into a bear and eat my mates. Definitely not the sort of eating a bear wants to be doing with her mates—but one that’s starting to seem more and more appealing. Especially when all they want to do is stand around and argue.

“What’s on the list?” I demand. I think I also growl, making my mates grin when the smart thing for them to do would be to back the hell away.

Topher even has the audacity to wink at me—and no one should ever wink at a growling bear. “My list,” he finally says, “has all the things we should do if we ever stopped being ghosts.”

Now we’re talking! “Like what?”

“Yeah, humor us.” Davy throws an arm over my shoulder, and tingles shoot down my spine.

Not wanting to be out-mated, Topher immediately throws an arm over my other shoulder, and being squeezed between my mates makes my heart start to race.

They feel so warm, their muscles hard and tense around me. My tummy flips as desire burns through me just from the possessive way my mates are holding me. The first thing on my list would be to find a great big bed where I can stay with my mates for the next week.