Page 69 of Purrfectly Haunted

“All my money will go to you,” Lana says, pointing an almost threatening finger at James and me. “You’re the ones fighting ghosts to save this house. ExorSquad won’t touch a penny!”

James smiles and raises his hands in surrender. “Fine by me, boss.”

I nod when she turns to me. I don’t really care about keeping this job, it was never about the money. I wanted to learn more about ghosts, and learn I did.

“Great! Now let’s get to work and find out how to destroy this old bastard,” Lana says.

Half an hour later, we’re all seated around the kitchen table, deep in thoughts.

Shirley raises a finger. “So first we need to force this creepy ghost...”

“Agnes,” I provide.

“Agnes, to move on by finding her remains. And probably set them on fire or something. Then the monster that used to be Earl Lynch will be unleashed and we have to send him to hell, or wherever, before he can destroy the house and get us all killed.”

James shrugs. “Pretty much.”

She makes a face. “Great... yeah.. A typical Monday.”

“It’s Sunday,” Lana says.

Shirley groans.

“Do you know where your family mausoleum is?” James asks Lana.

“I think so, yeah. I inherited it with the house. I can get you the location today. It’s somewhere in the city. We also need to prepare to move the guests.”

Shirley looks up. “The guests?”

“We can’t have them in the house when we fight this thing. It’s too dangerous. We’ll have to relocate everyone until we can deal with this.”

“But that’s over eighty people.”

“I know,” she says grimly.

Relocating means losing days of income and probably bad reviews for the hostel. This will be a blow to the business. But she’s right. If it all comes to the worst, and the house crumbles... I shiver. Let’s not think about that.

“The cats have been restless all day,” she adds. “We’re arriving to a breaking point. Something needs to give, and we need to make sure it’s not the house.” She puts a hand on the table and looks at ceiling. As if answering her, the light above our heads flickers.

“We’ll make sure what gives is the damn bastard in the basement,” James says, a dangerous edge to his voice.

With him, I always feel like we’re unstoppable. He’s not just the muscle of this team, he’s the blood pumping in it’s heart.

“So that makes our second date in a cemetery. How romantic,” James says as he lands on the wet grass on the other side of the iron fence.

I stare at him through the rusty bars after throwing the ExorSquad bag over the fence, followed by an empty suitcase. “Da—date?” My heart skips a beat.

He laughs, gesturing for me to climb. “Sure. You and me, flirting by the graves. Be careful.”

I hoist myself up, avoiding the spikes of the fancy-looking fence. He grabs me by the waist when I make it to the other side to help me land softly. I’m a big, athletic guy, I can climb down easily, but the way he treats me like a princess is doing things to me. And from the way he grins at me, he knows it. My cock swells and I have to remind myself we’re in a place where dead people are buried.

“Were you flirting with me that first time we went out in the city?” I ask, face aflame.

“Ewan. I’ve been flirting with you since the first night at the hostel.”

“Oh.” Down boy, down, I think to my erection.

He kisses the tip of my nose and turns to survey the dark cemetery. The grass is covered in yellow leaves and the trees rustle in the cold breeze. On the horizon, Edinburgh castle rises above the fog, dark and ominous. It’s three in the morning on a Monday and the streets are quiet. We met a few ghosts on the way, but now that I am aware of my gift, one angry word from me sends them floating away.