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Ryder snickered but stopped when his soft-hearted Gideon shot him a warning glare. He got it. No picking on the witch. Sky had been through enough tonight, and they hadn’t even gotten to the ghost part. He didn’t feel too much sympathy, though. Sky had done a fabulous job of scaring the shit out of them at Phoenix.
Gideon stepped forward and motioned toward Ryder’s front door. “Let’s go introduce you to my beautiful trunk and the ghost haunting it.”
His lover led them out of Ryder’s condo and up the creaking wooden stairs to the second-floor entrance to Gideon’s place. Sky trailed behind him with his bag clenched in his fist. Fox wisely followed him while Ryder brought up the rear. He glanced back to see Winter pause at the main entrance to the building, his eyes locked on Fox.
“I got it,” Ryder murmured, his voice loud enough to carry to Winter. The vampire nodded, his shoulders slumping in relief. It wasn’t so much that Winter didn’t trust Sky with his mate, just that no vampire trusted anyone outside of the clan with their mate.
He was just entering Gideon’s place when Sky’s voice rang out.
“Looks like your ghost has been redecorating.”
Ryder’s heart clenched but relaxed as Gideon replied, “Well, it could have been a lot worse.”
As he moved into the living room, he discovered that the ghost had strewn about every one of Gideon’s soft, fluffy pillows, but at least they were all still intact. The stools they had flipped right-side up and put away were on their tops in the middle of the dining room floor. Yet, it didn’t appear as if it had done any actual damage to the place, which was nice. The ghost child had been playful but not destructive. So far.
Sky walked through the living room and dining room. He briefly poked his head into the kitchen, only to return to the living room. Standing near the trunk, he lifted his empty hand and placed two of his fingers on his thumb.
“Definitely got a ghost here. Pretty powerful one, too. However, she hasn’t been wandering far from the trunk. Just hanging out in the living room and dining room. There’s a little residual energy in the kitchen, but not much.” He looked over at Gideon and smiled. “And I like your place. Love all the colors. I’m a big fan of colorful rooms too.”
Ryder almost snorted. He wouldneverhave guessed that based on the witch’s attire.
“Thanks. I’ve had so much fun decorating it. I didn’t expect to be sharing a place with a ghost.”
“No worries. I’ll get you to a single soon,” Sky promised with a wink.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Fox inquired.
“A few things. Let’s gather up all the pillows and put them against the wall and out of the way. Also, if Ryder could lift the trunk while we move this lovely rug,” he instructed as he put his bag off to the side and shed his long wool coat. He tossed it over the arm of the sofa and rolled up the sleeves of his white button-down shirt. “I might need to inscribe a circle around the trunk, and I brought my grease pencils. That comes up easier on wood than it does on carpet.”
“Would it be better to move the pillows to the bedroom?” Gideon asked as he snatched up the first few.
Sky shook his head. “If I piss her off, I’d rather she go for the pillows than breakable objects.”
After several minutes of rearranging things in the living room, Ryder was standing with Gideon and Fox near the doorway to the dining room while Sky sat on the floor right in front of the trunk. On his left was the open doctor’s bag, but Ryder couldn’t see inside of it.
Sky flashed one last smile at his audience before he reached out and knocked on the lid of the trunk.
No answer.
He knocked again.
Nothing.
He knocked using the oldShave and a Haircutrhythm, but the ghost still didn’t respond.
Gideon sighed and dropped his head onto Ryder’s chest. “Great. No ghost. She’s going to make me look like a liar,” he mumbled.
“Winter said he saw her, and Sky feels the ghost. He knows you’re not a liar,” Ryder reassured him.
“Oh, she’s here, and she’s waiting. Sometimes they don’t always come out right away with strangers,” Sky reassured them. “Or she’s pouting because you haven’t been here to play with the past few days. Let’s try opening the trunk.”
“Watch out for pillows,” Ryder warned.
Sky huffed a soft laugh as he reached for the trunk. It opened on the first try. However, this time, it wasn’t a pillow that came flying out, but a hardback book. Sky barely got a hand up in time to keep it from smashing into his face.
But the book didn’t hit his hand. It crashed into an invisible barrier that flashed gold for a blink of an eye.
“Well, someone is in a pissy mood.” The witch snapped his fingers and said something else, but Ryder couldn’t make out the words. It was as if some bass had dropped into Sky’s voice while pins pierced Ryder’s skull to drive straight into his brain. His fangs automatically dropped, and he hissed. All his defenses flew up as Gideon cried out next to him and clutched his head.
