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I snorted. “Tell me about it.”
“Well, here.” She offered me the tray. “Gretchen told us you made a connection with Kipp. Wayde has said you can have the night to rest before you talk again. And I made you and Gretchen some cucumber sandwiches, since I thought you might be hungry.”
I accepted the small tray as the sweet smell from the dill weed made my stomach rumble. Amelia wasn’t hard to like. I hated that about her. Why couldn’t Dane have married a nasty wench? Making friends with his wife was not on the top of my priority list. “Thank you.”
Her blue eyes crinkled with her wide smile. “You’re quite welcome.” Without another word, and the kind smile still planted on her face, she turned and headed toward the kitchen, but I could have sworn she said something.
I frowned. “What was that?”
She glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows furrowed. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You weren’t just whispering?”
She laughed. “No.”
“Lord, I’m tired.” Honestly, now I was hearing things. I needed to go to bed, immediately. “Okay, thanks again for the sandwiches.”
“Of course.” She gave her warm smile. “Sleep well.”
I watched her fade into the kitchen and shook my head. Now I sounded like a total nut. Wonderful.
On my way up the staircase, the sandwiches smelled too good to deny. I gripped the tray in one hand and took a bite of a sandwich. The garlic mayo exploded in my mouth and a warm sensation sped through my body—excitement, no doubt, that I finally gave my body fuel.
I finished off one of the little sandwiches as I approached the bedroom door. There, I whisked the door open and discovered Gretchen, sitting on the corner of the bed in her very country-looking plaid pajamas, staring down at a white piece of paper. “Guess what?” I shut the door behind me. “I saw Nettie’s grave in an old cemetery near the forest.”
As I stepped farther into the room, she still hadn’t looked at me or away from the note. “What’s that?” At her non-response, I raised my voice. “Gretchen.”
She startled at my voice and snapped her head up. “Pardon?”
I chuckled, shaking my head at her. “Whatcha reading?” I approached her, yet stopped halfway. I hadn’t notice before, but her face was sheet white. “What’s wrong?”
She hesitated and worry raged in the depths of her eyes. “When I came back into the room, I found this note on the bed.” Her hand trembled, sending the paper to shake. “Here.”
I hesitantly approached her, keeping my gaze on her face and the concern there. I placed the tray of sandwiches next to her on the bed, and then I accepted the note and lowered my head to paper.
You’re not safe. Get out!
Chapter Thirteen
Loud voices stirred outside the bedroom and I snuggled into the pillow, staring at the sun beaming through the window. The front of my skull throbbed, as did behind my eyeballs—no doubt from my travels into the Netherworld. A slow ache slid over my body, reminding me I had done something completely unthinkable. Not only my trip into the ghost world, but I had sex with Kipp.
To my disappointment, I never returned to him in my dreams last night. In fact, I hadn’t dreamed at all, and my heart hurt a lot worse than my head. I wondered if there were Netherworld rules that prevented me from going there as much as I’d like. But at this point, who knew? I didn’t have a handbook of instructions, nor did I have anyone to ask.
Perhaps it’d been a tease, and an even bigger mistake, to test the waters, so to speak. The loss of Kipp cut deep, even if seeing him again strengthened my motivation. That, I wanted for real, repeatedly, until I physically couldn’t handle any more. Which I suspected, by how much I longed for him, wouldn’t happen anytime soon. I doubted I could ever grow tired of Kipp’s touch.
Outside the bedroom door, the voices grew louder and closer, as did the hard stomps of feet. Turning onto my side, Gretchen gave me her sweet smile. Her hair in bed-head state, stuck up in complete disorder, and her eyes were glossy from sleep. “What’s going on?” she asked.
I shrugged against my pillow, fighting against both the throb in my head and the hollowness in my chest, and the scratchiness of my eyes from crying last night. “Yelling.”
She chuckled. “You don’t say?”
A sudden loud curse sounded on the other side of the bedroom door, and I shot up in bed, recognizing the voice. I instantly regretted it, too, since my head reminded me it hated me with a fierce throb.
Only a split second passed before the door whisked open and a blonde bombshell stormed into the room, her blue eyes blazing. “That’s it, you mother fuckers. I’ve had enough.”
I blinked at the sudden appearance of my best friend. “Caley?”
Before I had a chance to even process her arrival, Zach entered the room behind her, scanning the area as if he were looking for a gunfight. I pushed the blankets off me, pleased I had dressed in yoga pants and T-shirt, not my typical pajamas. “What—”
