Chapter One.
Callie – Saturday – New York State.
Guarded, I watched as the SUV pulled up, accompanied by a Harley. I should be terrified, and I was. It was Magic!
A grin was plastered all over the wild man’s face as he came into view, and Sunny groaned under his breath. “Here we fuckin’ go,” Sunny complained.
“Sunny, you promised me everything would be okay!” I shot back, and Sunny swallowed hard and nodded.
“It will be! I swear.”
Funny how I could hear the doubt in Sunny’s voice.
“Are you kidding me? I’ve read so much shit about this place. Let the ghosties wrestle with a real man!” Magic boomed, stepping out. “A-fuckin’-star!”
“Wonderful,” I gritted out and sent Sunny a sideways glance. Sunny looked slightly pale under his tanned skin. A woman swung out of the SUV and headed towards me.
“Callie, you look amazing!” Bunny exclaimed as she grabbed me in a hug. Her husband hopped out and glared at Magic. Fantastic! Looks like they’ve been fighting already!
“You cut me up on the way here,” Pyro ground out.
“You were dawdling,” Magic countered.
“Magic, I was hitting eighty!”
“Too slow, asshole. Learn to drive!” Magic retorted and lunged towards me and Sunny. Two strong arms wrapped around Bunny and me as Magic hugged us tightly.
“You look fuckable,” Magic boomed to me, and I laughed. It was either that or cry. That was Magic’s cute (abrupt) way of saying I looked good.
Sunny reached out and snatched me to him and glared at Magic. Magic winked and slung an arm across Bunny’s shoulders.
Pyro glared at him but didn’t grab Bunny from his arms.
“Knows his place,” Magic whispered to me, which meant it was a near shout.
Pyro’s frown darkened as Bunny chuckled and prodded Magic in his ribs.
A low whistle escaped Magic. “Nice setup, babe.”
“Thanks,” I said as we turned to the vehicles with us.
There was the tour bus, which slept everyone but Sunny and me.
It also doubled as the crew’s home, with a decent-sized kitchen and living area.
Mine and Sunny’s RV was parked next to it with two SUVs and Sunny’s Harley already unloaded.
The command centre was just on our offside, and the guest RV stood close to the tour bus.
“Which one is mine?” Magic inquired.
“You’re sharing with Pyro and Bunny,” Sunny said and pointed at the guest RV.
Magic grinned and lumbered over to the SUV Pyro had been driving, grabbing two rucksacks and a suitcase.
“Wait? What?” Pyro demanded.
“What?” Sunny asked with an evil grin as Bunny and I exchanged amused glances.
“Pyro, there are two RVs and no extra room on the tour bus. It was made very clear to Chance that those visiting would share an RV,” Sunny stated and folded his arms.
“Not to me it wasn’t. Magic should stay with you, get to know Callie better,” Pyro said.
“Nah, it’s fine. He’ll have plenty of time to bond with Callie during the investigation.” Sunny grinned.
“Yeah, I ain’t sharing…” Pyro began.
“There’s only one double bed in the RV; the others are two singles. I’d hurry before Magic claims the double,” Sunny suggested, and Pyro took off at speed.
Bunny and I started laughing. “Somehow I don’t think this is how Pyro saw things going,” I added, and Bunny nodded.
“Magic had planned to come with Alice and Diesel, but he couldn’t wait. You know how he considers her a daughter. Diesel was crowing when we left. I didn’t have the heart to tell him Magic planned to go with them, too!” I laughed until Bunny’s words hit me.
“Ah, fuck!” Sunny blurted, quicker on the uptake than me.
Bunny sent us both an evil grin. “Welcome to the family!” she teased and linked her arm through mine.
Shouts came from the guest RV, and Sunny smirked.
“Michelle’s cooking tonight, and she’s a great cook. Come on, Bunny,” Sunny said, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“Michelle? New member?” Bunny queried.
“Yeah. You already know Jack, Phil, Freddie, and Harry, who form the investigative team. Diaz, Solace, Ashford, and Merrick are our security and drivers. On our last investigation with Levi and Madi, we asked Michelle, a well-known exorcist, to join us. She brought Connor Cartwright with her, and he’s joined on a trial basis,” I explained.
“Holy crap, that’s quite the operation you’ve now got going,” Bunny exclaimed as the shouts escalated, and the RV began rocking from side to side. Bunny glanced at it and headed inside the tour bus. Sunny sent a smug smirk over his shoulder and trailed her.
“Hope Magic breaks that asshole’s head,” Sunny murmured.
Oh boy! Here we go!
Sunny
Magic appeared first, looking none the worse for wear. I was disappointed until Pyro followed him up the steps. Pyro was sporting a red mark on his cheek and what looked like the beginning of a black eye.
“Nice,” I muttered to Magic.
Magic chuckled and leaned into me. “Didn’t plan to take the double bed, but it was worth beating on that asshole for five minutes.”
Laughter burst out of me as Pyro spun to Magic, enraged. “What did you say?” he demanded. I bit the inside of my lip at Pyro’s outraged look.
It was common knowledge that Magic adored his girls, as he called them.
He treated both Alice and Bunny as daughters and had added Sallie-Anne to that mix, too.
Nobody harmed one of them and walked away.
Magic was also verbose about how he barely tolerated Diesel, Pyro, and Banshee and made sure those three knew it.
Oh, Magic liked them as MC brothers, but not as sons-in-law, and he watched them closely. I could see this week might be fun, as long as Magic’s innate craziness was contained.
“So, what happens now?” Magic demanded after he’d finished greeting the team. He settled in the seat that I’d claimed as mine and earned my scowl.
“Tonight, we relax and eat. We try to stay up as late as possible so that we can sleep in. Tomorrow, we set up, and Harry will give us the background on this place,” I said.
“Not that it needs an introduction. This Asylum is legendary,” Magic boomed, and I agreed.
“Nope, but Harry always finds stuff we don’t know or weren’t aware of. Don’t forget, we’re not aiming to prove what’s previously been claimed. We’re looking to debunk or confirm what we discover. While it’s great to be alert to former hauntings, we look for our own evidence,” I said.
Magic nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. Stoked to be here, though.”
“Good to hear. Just remember, Callie and Jack lead the team. If they give an order, obey because it’s not issued lightly,” I warned both of them.
“Callie will sideline you if you take risks,” Michelle chipped in.
The priest sat down and gazed placidly at everyone.
Dressed as she was, in her ripped jeans and rock band tee, nobody would think Michelle was a priest. “In the same way, if I tell you something’s dangerous, I expect you to listen to me. ”
“Definitely. Michelle knows what she’s talking about,” I said.
“You’re a female priest and an exorcist?” Pyro asked.
“Yes. My religion, while not orthodox, allows women to become priests, and I’m one of the few female priests who are also an exorcist. I’m a rarity!” Michelle replied with a warm smile.
“Damn. Are you single?” Magic muttered with a wink, and Michelle burst into laughter.
“Yup. Not looking for a husband at the moment, but if I were, you’d have to watch yourself,” Michelle teased.
Holy crap, I swear I just saw love hearts in Magic’s eyes.
“Shit,” Magic muttered as Callie and Bunny clambered into the tour bus.
“Hey gang,” Callie called. “You all remember Bunny.”
“Hey,” Harry replied as he came down the stairs from the upper level. Freddie was following him, tapping away on her tablet.
“Hi, Bunny, welcome to the team. Callie, where’s that booster for the Wi-Fi? I’m not getting a great signal,” she complained.
“I’ve got it and just set it up,” Phil announced, entering the tour bus. Jack was behind him. “None of us were experiencing a full connection, which would have played havoc with the cameras. Connor and Diaz are setting one up now on the farthest side to boost the signal.”
“Damn, I really don’t want to be running miles of wiring tomorrow,” I complained.
“What does that mean?” Bunny asked.
“Our cameras can be operated by being wired into a generator, they’re also Wi-Fi ready, which is what we prefer to use.
But if the signal breaks down overnight, we lose potential evidence.
We’ll see how the cameras act between now and tomorrow night.
If it comes to it, it will only take a few hours to wire everything up once they’ve been placed,” Callie explained.
“Seems The Asylum is already proving problematic,” Jack grumbled.
“Yeah,” I said with a glare at the structure in the distance.
“That’s a spooky building,” Bunny murmured as she also stared out of the window.
“Yup, and famous for its hauntings,” Callie replied. “It would be nice to debunk a lot of the crap and get to the truth.”
Nods met Callie’s words. I gazed at The Asylum and wondered what it had planned for us.
Pyro
Sunny called me as I headed out to move our bags into the RV and caught up with me on a jog.
“You checked that fucker, right?” he asked.
I snorted. “Nope.”
Sunny grabbed my arm, hauling me to a stop. “You’re kidding me? You haven’t searched him?” He shook his head. “Never mind. You got on a plane, he can’t have smuggled weapons on that.”
I debated whether to tell Sunny that we took Phoe’s private aeroplane because Magic point-blank refused to fly without his sidearm. Nah, he’d find out soon enough. I didn’t doubt that Magic was armed; he always fuckin’ was!
“How’s Madi and Levi?” Sunny asked.
“You only saw them a week ago,” I replied, and Sunny shrugged.
“And?”
Good point. “They seem stronger, like they’re healing. The time with you helped,” I said.
Why did Sunny keep talking to me? I wasn’t fond of conversation. I frowned and hoped my lieutenant would get lost, but then Sunny kept walking.
“Callie’s pregnant. She’s keeping it on the down low for now,” Sunny admitted.