Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
KIERAN
This has been the worst weekend of my life.
Well, okay, the weekend when I was seven and my parents took me to Disney World and waited until I was hopped up on sugar to tell me they were getting a divorce was probably worse.
But only because I then turned around and vomited all over Prince Charming.
He wasn’t impressed. I was humiliated. And my parents regretted the whole weekend.
But this comes close. And it’s all because of Connor.
Fiiiine… some of the blame belongs to the demon that ripped open the gateway fifty years ago.
But at least that demon didn’t watch me walk out of the bathroom like I was about to do a striptease.
Even after I was in bed with the lights off, I could feel Connor’s eyes on me.
And he’s been watching me every chance he gets since.
It’s kind of flattering.
Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m not hideous to look at. I’m not going to set the world on fire with my looks, but I get by. And I’m a nice person. I have a good job and a decent sense of humor. All in all, I’m dateable. Some people would even call me a catch.
But nobody’s ever stared at me like Connor does. Like he wants to lick me all over and bend my body to his pleasure.
I shiver.
“You okay?” Skye asks, giving me a concerned sideways glance. I force a smile. I’ve been off my game this weekend, and everyone’s noticed.
“Yeah, just tired.” I regret the words immediately. Because me being off my game isn’t the only thing everyone’s noticed.
“Connor been keeping you awake?” he teases with a shit-stirring grin.
I give him my most quelling look, then smile at the guests walking out of the museum.
“Just half an hour more,” Skye murmurs under his breath, and I nod. Half an hour until we close the gates. Then it’s only the overnight guests we need to worry about.
“Tom really didn’t mind?” I check again. Skye sighs and rolls his eyes, because this is the fifth time I’ve asked him.
“He really didn’t. He was glad for the money, especially when Connor said his friend would be fine with paying cash off the books. And he was thrilled to get away from the restaurant for a few hours. His mom and uncle have been driving him nuts lately.”
“Okay.” I bite my lip to keep from saying “are you sure?” I don’t know why I’m so stressed about this. It’s just a car ride.
Oh wait, maybe because the person taking the ride could end this whole fucking vortex—excuse me, gateway—drama. If Gabe agrees to stay, I won’t have to worry about another demon coming to steal souls, or another spirit possessing Skye.
I think. Connor hasn’t given us any more information since Friday night, and with things as busy as they’ve been, there hasn’t exactly been time to pin him down.
I thought maybe I could last night, since we’re sharing a room, but then Maisie hooked up with some of the guests.
Yes, that’s right, I said some. A married couple looking for a third.
Needless to say, Connor nearly choked trying not to laugh while Josh and Ewan and I soothed them.
They wanted to leave immediately, but we convinced them to wait until dawn by promising to stand guard outside their room for the rest of the night.
Connor very unhelpfully pointed out that they’d invited Maisie to join them, not had their room broken into, so I sent him back to the attic and guarded the damn room myself.
Josh tells me Maisie has gone into hiding to “heal her wounded pride.” For her sake, I hope I’m a lot calmer and have caught up on sleep when she emerges.
On the plus side, we now have a guest room free tonight for Gabe to sleep in. Or I might put Gabe in the attic with Connor and sleep in the guest room myself. Fuck knows I’ve earned it this week.
Tomorrow, I promise myself. Tomorrow everything will be better.
Gabe will have done his thing to the gateway, at least temporarily, and things will be quiet enough for Connor to show Skye how to protect himself from possession.
Then Skye can go home, and I can sleep in Ewan’s room at the cottage until I’m sure things are settled.
Maybe by the end of the week Connor will leave and I can go home. I think longingly of my own bed.
Josh comes in from outside, where he’s been herding guests up from the outbuildings. Daniel’s and Ewan’s demos have finished for the day, but people like to linger. “Kier, you might want to get people out and close the gate a bit early,” he says, frowning. “It looks like a storm’s blowing in.”
“What? Was that forecast?” It absolutely was not. I check the forecast every day. We have specific protocols for rain, and I need to be prepared for them.
Josh shrugs. “I didn’t see anything. I’m not sure if it’s actually a storm, but there are definitely some ugly black clouds headed our way.”
I go outside and look for myself—not because I don’t trust Josh, but because it’s my job to have all the facts before I make decisions—and see that he’s absolutely right. Normally I’d be annoyed, but today I’m damn grateful for a reason to kick out the stragglers.
“Anyone left on the grounds?” I ask Josh when I get back inside.
“I didn’t see anyone, but Daniel and Ewan are going to check. Connor’s with them too.”
“Great.” I pretend that Connor being there is completely normal. “Could you let the museum staff know we’re closing now and help them shoo out anyone who’s still there?”
He nods and heads in that direction while Skye checks the public receiving room and the bathrooms. I go back to the private rooms and check in with our overnight guests. All thirteen of them have gathered in the parlor and are standing by the window, looking out at the purple-black clouds.
“Kieran, do you think we’ll get lightning?
” Mrs. Porter, one of our regular guests, asks anxiously.
She’s afraid of electrical storms, and last time we had one while she was here, she hid under the table in the dining room.
Her husband and Adele, who used to have Josh’s job, sat on the floor beside her for an hour.
“Unlikely,” I assure her. “I just checked the forecast again, and while we’re going to get a dumping of rain, there was no mention of actual storms.” I give them my best hospitality management smile.
“It’s going to be the perfect night to watch movies and eat popcorn.
Why don’t we set that up for after dinner? ”
“Ghostbusters,” someone suggests, and they break out in laughter and general agreement.
“Great! I’ll have a chat with the kitchen staff and arrange for snacks,” I promise, grateful we don’t have a capacity crowd of eighteen. It would’ve been crowded.
Leaving them to entertain themselves until dinner, I stop by the kitchen and tell Jorge, the chef on duty, what the plan is. He shrugs.
“As long as I don’t need to stick around while they’re watching the movie, that’s fine. I’ll get a bunch of stuff together.”
“Josh and I will take care of any serving and cleanup.”
He gives me a level look. “Please. Arissa will fire me for sure if I let you clean up in here. Just make sure any dishes are stacked in the sink, and I’ll take care of it tomorrow. I’m on breakfast shift anyway.”
I cross my heart. “Will do. Thanks, Jorge!”
Next, I go back out to the front desk. Josh is watching the camera feed from the gate.
“Last visitor,” he says as a car passes through.
“The museum staff are leaving now.” I stand beside him and watch as they drive out, and just as he hits the button to close the gates, the rain starts pouring down in sheets.
“Lovely.” I stare at the screen. “The guests are planning to watch Ghostbusters after dinner.”
“I’ll get it set up while they’re eating,” he says.
“Hopefully by then Tom will have arrived with Gabe.” He bites his lip.
“It’s going to be crowded, but I think we’d better stick to the main house tonight.
With the rain like this, we’re already going to need to drive the Henriksons down to the cabin when they want to go.
Schlepping back and forth to the cottage… ”
“Yeah, I agree.” When the guests are social, like our current bunch seems to be, Josh is usually needed more.
He can’t be running back and forth from the cottage in this rain.
I sigh. “We’ll be crowded. Once the kitchen staff goes, we can use the break room.
The table’s big enough for us all.” I think. I squint while I do a mental headcount.
“Sounds good.”
Skye joins us. “Ewan’s taken Daniel and Connor up to your place, Josh. They got caught in the rain on the way up, so I gave them a bunch of the guest towels. I didn’t know how many you’ve got up there.”
“Not that many… and definitely not many that are clean and dry. Thanks.”
“I’m going to set up the break room for us to eat,” I decide.
The original plan was for us to sort ourselves out for dinner, so as not to raise the suspicions of the kitchen staff, but in retrospect, that seems dumb.
They either don’t care or they’re already suspicious.
And they probably wouldn’t believe it if they found out the truth.
I send Josh to eat, and I oversee the guest dining room myself.
We’ve lucked out with this current group—there’s nobody fussy or who insists the tablecloths are uneven and wants us to re-set the table (true story).
In fact, they basically kick me out once their main course has been served, telling me the servers can manage without me hovering.
My aching feet carry me into the staff area and down the hall to the break room.
I can hear voices and the clinking of cutlery as I approach, and I allow myself a little daydream about getting off my feet and eating a proper meal.
Lunch, which was four bites of a sandwich between visitor inquiries, feels like a century ago.
“Here he is,” Skye declares as I pause in the doorway. “Come and eat, Kier. We’ve kept you a plate.”