Page 61 of A Shared Mind

Those words stopped me in my tracks. “You’ll... What about us?” My heart pounded in my chest.

Justin met my gaze and grinned. “You’re not getting away from me that easily, Clay Fines. I just need to get my life straightened out. I gotta figure out where I’ll live—”

“You’ll live right damn here, darlin’.” I was not joking. His place was by my side.

He chuckled as he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my neck. “Simmer down, you sexy man. I just need to take a few days to break my lease, get my stuff, including my car, and quit my job. Basically, I need to implode my life, and I couldn’t be happier about doing it.”

I nuzzled into his neck, smelling the beautiful, unique scent of the man I loved, and I knew all would be right in my world. We just had to get through this bullshit—alive!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Justin

After a tight hug and a quick kiss, Clay grabbed his garment bag and we locked up the house. EZ was sitting in a patio chair while the hounds ran around the yard. When he saw us, he stood and snapped his fingers. The hounds immediately came over to him and sat, awaiting his next command.

“I guess we’ll take my truck?” Clay said as he looked around.

EZ snickered. “No truck needed.”

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind nearly knocked me on my ass, so I grabbed Clay’s hand and closed my eyes, unsure of what the fuck was happening. When the gust died down, I opened my eyes to see we were standing in front of Madame Stella’s shop. The sun was up, the skies were bright blue, and EZ was nowhere in sight.

I stared at the cheesy sign over the door and shook my head. “Jeez! What the hell was... Why would I think anything would be normal about any of this? I guess we need to go inside and see when I can get an appointment?” Clay opened the door and I went inside, grateful that he followed me.

The same receptionist I’d encountered the first time I’d been to the shop glanced up from a laptop. “Mr. Watkins, Madame Stella has been expecting you. Give me a moment, please.”

The woman left the desk and went to a blue door that was different from the brown door of the room where Madame Stella held her séances, disappearing through it.

“Dramatic much?” I turned to Clay. “I guess after whatever this is, we’ll have to find a room. This all seems very surreal, doesn’t it?”

Clay put the garment bag in one of the side chairs and pulled my body into his. “Darlin’, there’s nothing about this whole thing that seems real. I keep touching you to be sure you’re real because I’m worried this whole thing could be a fever dream.”

Man, he had that right.

The lady with the strawberry-blonde dreads returned a minute later, caftan swirling around her. “Madame Stella said to come back at eleven forty-five tonight. Don’t be late.” Her caftan rustled and the charms in her hair clanked as she left us again and went into the séance room.

“I guess that’s our cue to leave.” Clay picked up the garment bag and opened the door for us. When we were back on the sidewalk, I glanced in both directions, but EZ was nowhere in sight.

Clay glanced at his watch. “My watch says it’s seven o’clock. Let’s get something to eat. That toast wasn’t enough. After we eat, we can find a hotel and rest, and then this afternoon, we can go look around. I’ve never been here. It looks kind of what I expected.”

I glanced around Rue Decatur, as one sign read at the corner, and I noticed the street was pretty empty of foot traffic. “I guess it’s too early for people to be out?”

Clay snorted. “Hell, I’ll believe anything at this point. Let’s find somewhere to eat.”

We crossed the street and entered the world-famous beignet café, not surprised to see EZ sitting on the patio with the two hounds on the pavers beneath his table. There were no other patrons in the place, which was unusual because the shop was usually packed with a line circling the block, according to social media.

Clay led us to EZ’s table. “What’s going on? How is there nobody around? Even if everyone is hungover from last night, some people should be staggering around, right?”

EZ motioned toward the empty chairs, so we sat down. There was a bag of warm beignets coated in confectioners sugar, and two cups of regular coffee with sugar and cream.

“What was up with ditching us at the creepy shop? What’s going on, EZ?” Justin asked as he doctored my coffee with a little cream before handing it to me.

“Well, see, your in a strange place right now. You’re in New Orleans for sure, but this plane is only occupied by the three of us and the hounds. It’s very difficult to explain, but you get to see The Big Easy without crowds. So, enjoy yourselves. What time will Madame Stella be able to see us?”

“Oh, you’re coming to the appointment with us?” Clay asked.

“Kinda got to. My boss will be there. You need to be ready to give him some reason to redeem Ramon if that’s your intent. He’s raising a hell of a ruckus where he is—you like what I did there?” EZ seemed proud of himself for his wordplay.

I rolled my eyes.