Page 47 of Dead Vengeance

Edgar nods, dipping his head against my palm one last time, then he flaps back up the road towards Archer’s place. “He’s um… He likes me,” I tell him, as if the implication that he only likes me could keep Fabian’s pretty face out of Archer’s way somehow. But I know all Edgar’s done is make Archer seem more interesting to this weird ghost-lover.

Ugh. They’ll probably have hours of stuff to talk about. I bet Archer has so many stories to tell. And this guy will be all, ‘Cooooool,’ and ‘Fuuuuuuuuck,’ the whole time, with his dumb, beautiful lips.

Even so, as galling as he is, I don’t actually want him to die today, so I explain, “We’re almost there. I know this seems pretty interesting, and maybe even a bit exciting—”

“It’s so cool, man.”

“Yeah. That. Um, I know it seems fun, but really, someone very almost died yesterday—”

“Cool.”

“Not cool,” I reply, raising my voice a little. “There was blood everywhere. I spent that whole afternoon in the ER with him. So please.” I pause again to try to make him be more serious. “Don’t piss the ghosts off, okay? Any of them, if we see more than one. But you need to know, there’s something else there too. Something that’s not a ghost. And that’s going to be our main focus today. Figuring out what it is and stopping it. So please stick close, don’t talk to ghosts without me, and don’t get yourself killed, okay?”

His head tilts to the side, and my insides twist when a weird smile drags itself back across his face. “Now why would I go and get myself killed?”

His lip is beneath his teeth again. His stupid white teeth and his stupid sexy lip, and what the fuck is even with this stupid hot guy?

And what is Archer going to think of him when he sees him?

sixteen

A Ghostly Reintroduction

Archer

Along croak comes from the open window, and I glance across to find Edgar nodding and bowing excitedly.

He’s obsessed with Liam. And I can’t say I’m faring much better.

I’ve had all morning to think about this situation, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Liam is:

Hot

Captivating

Sexy

In need of my protection.

“Thanks for letting me know he’s here, Edgar,” I call over. I flip the kettle on and slip the pastries into the hot oven.

Did I go overboard? I don’t know. I may have made some blueberry friands, and some raspberry ones, maybe a few danishes that might have taken me longer than is strictly necessary for a casual breakfast. But there’s nothing wrong with freshly baked bread and good French butter. Unless it’s to go with pastries…

Ugh, it’s so carb heavy. I hope he likes carb-heavy breakfasts.

I hope he slips into a carb coma and naps right there on the sofa where I can ogle him with abandon.

Snap out of it, Archer!

I’m having Liam over for one reason and one reason only. Until that man quits this ridiculous job, he’s staying here with me, safe and sound, where I can keep an eye on him.

Well, relatively safe and sound. But given the recent uptick in ghost activity across the UK, he’s got to be better off here with me than in any of the other hundreds of haunted buildings dotted about the place.

I’ve got ghosts aplenty, tonnes of stuff I can teach him about for the next decade if need be. And I can control most of them. And if these ghosts aren’t enough, I’ll call a few more up.

I just need to keep him safe from the thing. That I can try to take care of by myself. Or find someone else to call who is actually experienced with the supernatural.

Just not Liam. Not sweet, hot Liam, who’s walking up the drive right now, chestnut hair shifting in the breeze, skin fresh and glowing, his very fashionably oversized overalls dipping in all the right places to show his arms and chest off.