Jeaniene Frost - One Grave at a Time

Tyler looked at me, then Bones. And smiled.

“No way,” I said, not needing to read his mind to figure out what he intended. “No. Way.”

“Forget it, mate,” Bones replied sternly. “We have enough unwanted guests already without adding one more.”

Tyler’s smile vanished, and he sank to the floor as if our rebuffs had sapped his strength.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t stay with us,” I said, making my voice a lot kinder because Tyler hadn’t done anything to warrant my snippiness.

“He’s going to find me and kill me,” Tyler said again.

I shifted uncomfortably. Maybe it was too dangerous to leave him on his own. Besides, even though he’d dealt with ghosts long before meeting us, we were the reason one had almost put him in the grave just now.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dexter limp over, whining even though he also wagged his stubby tail. Tyler pulled him onto his lap, wincing when the dog let out a sharp cry as his injured leg was jostled.

That was all I could take. I turned to Bones, who was already shaking his head with a distantly jaded expression.

“It’ll just be until we take care of Kramer, and he did say that he knew some people who might be able to off a ghost . . .” I began.

Tyler’s mournful expression vanished as if by magic. He sprang up, still holding the dog.

“Wait right here. It’ll just take me a minute to get my and Dexter’s things.”

Several hours later, we pulled into our driveway with two more passengers than we’d left with. Dexter’s left hind leg was secured in a cast, and his eyes were distinctly glassy because of the painkillers the vet had administered.

“This is where you live?” Tyler cast a look around at the steep, forested terrain surrounding our Blue Ridge cabin. “I’m amazed I don’t hear banjo music.”

I ignored the quip, reminding myself that near-death experiences were very traumatic for people who weren’t used to them. Besides, it wasn’t news to me that our home was in the middle of picturesque nowhere. That had been the intention, so Bones and I would have more privacy. Little did we know that having privacy would prove to be wishful thinking. At least our lack of close neighbors meant Tyler’s thoughts were the only ones inside my head aside from my own.

Dexter let out a low whine, picking his head up. “Are you sure it’s safe?” Tyler asked. “Dexter’s telling me there are ghosts nearby.”

Bones let out a sardonic snort as he got out of the car. “Too right.”

Tyler had mentioned that he could see ghosts, just not right away. I’d better prepare him for life at Casa Russell. My cat had gotten so used to the ghosts here that he almost never hissed at them anymore.

“There are a lot of ghosts here. All friendly,” I hastened to add. “They just, um, like to hang out around our house.”

Liar, Tyler thought, his gaze narrowing. Dexter chuffed like he didn’t believe me, either. Too bad. Only a select handful of people knew why I was so popular with ghosts, and it wasn’t information I was about to share.

“Maybe we built on a former burial ground, and that’s why this place is such a hot spot,” I improvised as I got out. “You know. Like in Poltergeist. ”

Lying her pasty white ass off , Tyler thought, but smiled blandly. “Could be, sugar.”

I debated telling Tyler that Bones wasn’t the only one who could read minds, but decided not to. For all that we’d brought Tyler home with us, we still didn’t know him. Getting a peek into his thoughts would go miles toward determining if he was someone we could trust. I didn’t perceive him as a threat, but we still had to be careful. We’d already taken a risk by showing him where we lived, but that information could be erased from his memory if need be.

Who was I kidding? With how vigilant Bones was about my safety, he would probably insist on doing that regardless of how trustworthy Tyler proved to be.

“Go on inside, I’ll be there in a minute,” I said, heaving a mental sigh as I spread out my hands and waited for the barrage of transparent greeters. I still felt off kilter from summoning the Remnants, but it wouldn’t be fair to march into the house without saying hello in the manner that my ghostly acquaintances preferred.

Tyler gave me a strange look but hefted Dexter and went into the house. Five minutes later, my hands tingling, I did as well. Bones wasn’t in sight, but I could hear him upstairs on the phone with Spade, and his tone was less than pleased. That’s right, honey, give him hell, I thought wryly.

I found Tyler in the kitchen, checking out my refrigerator’s contents with dismay.

“I know you’re both vampires, but a few packets of cheese and some tonic water can’t be all you have.”

“I’ll go shopping tomorrow, but you’ll have to make do with some canned soups and crackers from the pantry in the meantime.” It was not like we’d been expecting company, and I didn’t feel like driving forty minutes to get to the grocery store tonight. It would probably close before I arrived, anyway.

Fabian floated up to me, leaning down near my ear.

“I don’t know if I like this man,” he whispered. “He made a comment questioning your decorating skills upon entering, and now he disparages your hospitality. He won’t be staying long, will he?”

“If we’re lucky, no,” I replied. Tyler’s staying a long time would mean we’d failed to stop Kramer, not to mention wreaking havoc on my patience. Neither option was acceptable to me.

Fabian frowned. “Are you well, Cat? You look tired.”

“I’ll be fine after a shower.” A lingering chill still clung to me, and the thought of banishing that under a steady stream of hot water sounded heavenly.

My cat chose that moment to come sauntering down the stairs but stopped short when he spotted Dexter. The dog spotted him, too. He got to his feet—the three that worked, that is—and wagged his tail while emitting a friendly-sounding chuff.

Helsing hissed, his dark hair fluffing out to stand on end. That hiss turned into a garbled, extended growl, with a distinctly threatening undertone while his ears went flat.

“No, no. Be a nice kitty!” I ordered. Poor Dexter had stopped cold and cringed even though he outweighed my cat by about thirty pounds.

Helsing’s growl ended with a final hiss before he turned to give me a look that could best be summed up as A dog? How could you? Then he ran back up the stairs, tail twitching in agitation the whole way.

Okay, so no one was thrilled about our new guests, but it was only temporary.

“Ohhhh,” Tyler drew out, staring to my right. “You’ve got a ghost floating next to you.”

“You can see me?” Fabian asked in surprise.

I left the kitchen to start closing the drapes. “Tyler, meet my friend, Fabian. Fabian, this is Tyler, the medium we went to see today. Things didn’t go as planned, but we’ll get into that after I take a shower . . . and pet my cat until he forgives me.”

After a blissfully long, hot shower—and some groveling to my cat that I doubted Helsing understood—I came downstairs to find Tyler on the couch, wearing nothing but my favorite blue robe.

“My clothes are in the wash, and it was this or a towel,” he said with a shrug.

Of course Tyler would want to change out of his bloody outfit. I should’ve thought to offer him some of Bones’s clothes. “Sorry, I’ll get you something else to wear.”

His casual wave stopped me from heading back upstairs. “This is fine for now.”

Fabian buzzed over to me, almost twitching in anxiety. “It is unseemly that he wears your robe, Cat!”