Chapter Two
“ I mpossible. You must’ve heard her wrong.” Lochlan leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.
I tossed the paper bag with the fries and hamburgers onto the counter. “Ev! Dinner is here.”
Grabbing one of the foil-wrapped burgers, I took a bite and turned to face Lochlan. “I know what I heard. Plus, I double checked. She was annoyed at me for questioning her.”
“I guess there’s a first time for everything,” Lochlan mumbled, unwrapping his burger.
Evander came down the stairs, a book tucked under his arm. “A first time for what? Has Lochlan finally agreed to read a book?”
Lochlan scowled and took another bite of his burger. Unbothered, Ev snatched several fries from Loch’s pile.
“No, we were talking about a ghost I met at the library this afternoon.” Grabbing a bottle of ketchup from the fridge, I squeezed some out onto my wrapper. “She’s been dead for three years.”
Ev froze with a fry halfway to his mouth. “Three years? Even if that were possible, she’d be nothing more than flickering energy at this point.”
I shook my head and picked at my food. “But she isn’t. In fact, she’s so vibrant I could’ve sworn she was a living, breathing woman when I entered the archive room.”
My heart jerked in my chest at the memory of her gorgeous smile, inquisitive eyes, perfect curves, and her plump, kissable lips. I’d gone years without experiencing the stir of carnal desire, but today I’d been slapped in the face with it. Hard.
“Hello? Anyone in there?” Loch snapped his fingers in front of my face.
Blinking away the image of the seductive spirit, I brought the room back into focus. “Uh, yeah? I mean, did you ask something?”
“I asked if you knew how she died. But based on your expression, I’m thinking maybe I should ask how hot she was.” A smirk lifted the corner of Lochlan’s mouth. “I didn’t think it was possible for the renowned, cold-as-ice Rhodes to be smitten.”
Rather than denying my attraction, which would only have served to make him more suspicious, I answered his first question. “She claimed she got run over by Santa.”
Ev choked on a fry and Lochlan slapped his back. When at last he could speak again, Ev wheezed out, “She said that?”
I chuckled. “Yep. With a straight face.”
“Interesting. I like this chick already.” Lochlan laughed, then turned thoughtful. “I think I’ll visit the library tomorrow.”
Ev choked a second time and spluttered, “You? At a library? Someone check the weather report; I bet hell has frozen over!”
“Whatever. Books might not be my thing, but I’m pretty good when it comes to ghosts.” Lochlan leaned against the counter and raised a brow. “And I’m even better with women.”
There was no denying the truth of the statement. We made a good team, each of us pulling our weight during our missions. While I tended to be more of the muscle, and Ev did the lion’s share of research, Lochlan handled most of the communication with the living and the ghosts.
I knew most people considered me emotionless and cold, but since I preferred being left alone, I did nothing to change their perception of me.
With his perfectly messy golden hair, crystal-blue eyes, and boyish good looks, Evander could’ve had a different woman in his bed every night. But he preferred spending his evenings with a book. In fact, the man spent every waking minute with his nose buried inside the pages of a book. Heck, if it weren’t for Lochlan and me, Ev would probably have died of starvation at this point.
So suffice it to say that Ev and I didn’t have the best people skills. Lochlan was different though. He was good with both the living and the dead. And it wasn’t just his cover-model good looks that had women falling all over him. No, he exuded a sincerity that had strangers willing to spill their deepest secrets within five minutes of meeting him.
Which meant he’d be able to get the library ghost’s backstory far faster than I could. It made logical sense for him to go, so why did the thought of Loch meeting her make my stomach feel like I’d swallowed several lead weights?
Why did the thought of her big brown eyes with their beautiful green rings going all soft over Lochlan’s boyish good looks make me want to punch something? Something like Loch’s face.
“I still believe you must’ve misheard her.” Ev’s forehead creased as he tossed his wrapper into the trash can. “There are very few ghosts that haven’t faded a year after their death. After eighteen months, even the strongest ghosts have disintegrated. In all my studies, I haven’t run across a single record of a ghost who has survived two years past their death.”
“You think I don’t know that? I’ve been a collector since I was fifteen. I’m well aware of the ticking clock that starts the moment a person dies and what will happen if they aren’t sent off the Earthly plane before the time runs out,” I snapped, then regretted it when Ev dropped his eyes to the table.
Before we’d formed our posse, Evander had been placed with collectors who had little use for emotions and zero appreciation for his intellect. They’d eagerly worked to tear down his confidence, continuing the work Ev’s parents had done on him for years.
We’d been a posse for five years, but Lochlan and I were still working to undo the damage that had been done before we met him. Having Ev be comfortable enough to question me out loud was a big deal. Now, my surly tone might have set us back.
Swallowing my pride, I sagged into the chair opposite him. “Sorry, Ev. There is something different about her and it has me unsettled, confused. Being near her was as though I’d stepped from the dark into the light.”
Ev’s eyes lifted to study my face, and he pushed his glasses up his nose. I waited, but he didn’t question me further, his continued silence confirming that he’d retreated from me.
He’d become my brother, and I hated for there to be a wall between us. I didn’t want him to feel as though he couldn’t question me without fearing the repercussions. If I wanted to pull him back out of the shell he’d retreated into, I’d have to be vulnerable—something that would’ve been much easier to do if Lochlan wasn’t leaning on the counter listening to every word.
Lochlan was also like a brother to me—the bratty little brother.
Deciding to pretend Loch wasn’t there, and hoping he wouldn’t use the conversation as blackmail later, I took a deep breath and admitted, “Ev, I wanted to kiss her. Hades! I didn’t just want to, I almost did.”
“What?!” My admission practically yanked Ev from his shell. “You don’t even like anyone well enough to let them in your personal space, let alone allow someone to touch you.” His blue eyes glittered with interest.
“You’re not wrong.” I ran my thumb over the faint scratches on the table’s wooden surface. “I’m fulfilled by the work we do. Chatting with you two is more than enough socialization for me. And that’s what surprised me most at the library. I had to physically restrain myself from touching her.”
Lochlan’s laughter filled the kitchen. “Or maybe you’ve gone so long without getting your rocks off that you could barely keep it together when you met the pretty ghost girl?”
My jaw clenched at his vulgar comment, but I forced myself to relax. Loch wasn’t entirely wrong.
“It wasn’t just sexual. I wanted to touch her hair, hold her hand, stroke her cheek. It was an intense longing to be closer to her.” This time, both Loch and Ev’s eyebrows shot up nearly to their hairlines.
“She made you sentimental?” Lochlan’s jaw hung slack. “So you’re saying you didn’t want to wrap her legs around your waist, pin her against the bookshelves, and take her on the spot?”
Dropping my eyes to the table, I avoided their gazes, trying to keep them from reading the truth written across my face. I was glad the table covered my lap so they couldn’t see how a certain part of my anatomy had reacted to the mental image Loch painted.
I wanted her. Badly.
“She must be some ghost.” Ev whistled and ran his fingers through his hair. “But bro, you know we don’t have sex with ghosts. We find them, help them get to the other plane before they disintegrate, and then we feed from the energy they leave behind. Doing the deed with a ghost just isn’t part of what collectors do.”
“I know that, Ev. Believe me, I know.” Leaning back in the chair, I rubbed a hand down my face.
“Yeah. I haven’t even done a ghost,” Lochlan added, unhelpfully.
“She’s different.” I opened and closed my mouth, unable to find the words to describe the beautiful woman who’d stolen my breath. “She’s… special.”
“Then I can’t wait to meet her in the morning.” Lochlan gave me a crooked smile. “I need to see what kind of ghost can melt the heart of the ice king.”
“Don’t try me, Lochlan,” I warned, sending a blade spinning across the room to embed itself in the wooden cabinet between his legs.
Unbothered by my threat or the blade that was a mere inch from his family jewels, Lochlan laughed. “Oh, don’t look so worried, Rhodes. I won’t steal her away.” Pushing away from the counter, he headed toward the stairs, but paused and winked. “Besides, I’m fine with sharing.”
I sent a second blade singing through the air, but Loch caught it mid-air, and with a flick of his wrist, sent it flying back at me.
It was an impressive feat, and pride swelled in my chest that he was part of my circle. We were three of the most powerful collectors on earth. Even the reapers, who enjoyed messing with my species, avoided ticking my circle off.
But just because I could appreciate his abilities and trusted him to have my back in battle, it didn’t mean I wanted to share a woman with him. We’d bandaged each other’s wounds and been in countless situations where privacy wasn’t an option, which meant I could say with certainty that the male body did nothing for me. As far as I was concerned, I couldn’t see any reason I’d want to share a woman with him.
“Some collectors share a wife. It isn’t unheard of,” Evander mused out loud.
“What?” Pulling my gaze from the dark stairway Loch had disappeared up, I squinted at Ev. “You’d seriously consider sharing a wife with Lochlan? With me?”
Ev shrugged. “I was raised by three dads and my mom, so the concept isn’t strange to me. But honestly, it isn’t something I’ve given much thought to. Probably because I figured Lochlan would never settle down with one woman, and I didn’t think you’d ever get a girlfriend, let alone a wife.”
Ev rarely offered personal details, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to press for more.
“Did it work for your parents?” I asked.
Ev huffed out a soft laugh. “Mostly. My three fathers had separate rooms, and my mother would alternate which room she slept in. The problem was she made no secret of the fact that she had a favorite partner and a least favorite, so two of my dads never felt as though they were equally loved by her. But they made it work.”
I’d grown up with a single mother who didn’t know who my father was, so I couldn’t imagine growing up like Ev. And knowing the extreme pressure they’d placed on him, I suspected that growing up with no dad was easier than growing up with three overbearing fathers.
“Rhodes, I’ve seen how girls look at you and Loch, and I know I can’t compete with that. But if you or Loch took a wife, and she was happier being the only woman in the house, and you two agreed that sharing was the best for our circle, I would accept it.” Ev fiddled with the edge of his book.
“Well, I don’t think you need to worry about that. Despite what Loch says, I don’t think either of us are the sharing type. You know we’re too possessive and needy. We’d drive a woman crazy.” Standing, I made my way to the fridge and pulled out two beers. “Enough about that. I want to know if you’ve made progress figuring out why the ghosts are flocking to this city.” Grinning, Ev flipped open his notebook and began to go over the intel he’d gathered that afternoon. I sipped my beer and did my best to pay attention, but my thoughts kept drifting back to the sassy little ghost from the library.