Chapter 2
Chapter Two
DANIEL
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, I’m not telling him that,” Connor says exasperatedly to nobody.
Or at least, it looks like nobody to me, an ordinary human who can’t see and speak to ghosts.
In reality, it’s Carter, one of the ghosts who lives here at Mannix Estate.
Carter was the farm manager in the nineteenth century and still likes to stick his nose in.
Hence him dragging Connor out here to stand in the mud and relay messages for him.
I’m shocked that Connor agreed. He’s not usually the indulgent type… except with Kieran, his boyfriend and my boss. But those indulgences are something I really don’t need to know about.
He’s glaring at Carter—or where I imagine Carter is standing—and since I don’t want to explain to Kier why his boyfriend, the demon hunter extraordinaire, had a massive stress coronary, I interrupt.
“Lemme stop you there.” I turn to the Carter patch of empty space.
“No. It was no this morning when you used up all your manifesting energy nagging me about it, and it’s still no.
It will remain no. We are not using modern farming techniques here on the estate.
We’re an immersive historic experience, for crying out loud.
” The whole point of having historic farming demos is to show historic farming methods.
Nobody’s going to come and pay to watch me do what every family farm across the country is doing.
Connor’s eyes narrow, and he slowly turns back to Carter. “You told me you couldn’t manifest because you’d been helping with the museum tours.”
I laugh so hard, I think I pull something.
“Oh fuck no. Kate and Kier banned all the ghosts from the museum years ago.” Apparently they got into a fight with one of the guests.
I didn’t see it, but I’m told it was epic.
“They’re not allowed to help with the tours or even go in there while there are guests around. ”
“Now would be a good time for you to leave,” Con says to Carter, a lot more mildly than I would. “Before I—”
“Connor! Con!”
We turn in the direction of the voice, but I don’t need to look to know who it is.
Skye. One of my best friends and occasionally my nemesis.
He’s the nicest, sweetest guy you’ll ever meet until you’re injured, and then he morphs into a drill sergeant-slash-warden who steals your pants and shoes so you can’t check up on the teenagers who are doing your job while you heal. True story.
But right now, he doesn’t look like the militant little unicorn who stood on tiptoe to jab a finger at my face and yell that I would rest, or else. He also doesn’t look like the cheerful, feisty man who rules reception with a friendly smile and a spine of steel.
He looks like something’s wrong.
“Isn’t it Skye’s day off?” Connor asks, and in unison, we start toward him.
“Yep.”
As Skye hurtles down the gentle hill toward the field we’re in, Connor’s phone rings.
“Kieran,” he tells me, then answers. “Are you okay?”
We duck through the fence, and I make a mental note to go back later to get my equipment. I’ve never just left it behind like this, but Skye doesn’t usually go tearing around the estate in an obvious tizzy.
“Yeah, he’s running flat-out toward us now,” Connor’s saying. “He didn’t tell you what—? Okay. Sure, I’ve got this.” He ends the call and says, “He just turned up, asked where I was, and came racing to find me.”
Fuck. As much as I like Connor, it can’t be a good thing when someone comes in on their day off urgently needing to see the resident demon hunter. I hope he’s not possessed by another spirit.
I flick a sideways glance to where I think Carter probably is.
Before I started working here, I thought ghosts and spirits were the same thing.
Boy, was I wrong. The way Connor and Gabe explained it to me, ghosts are the souls and memories of people who lived and died and aren’t ready to be reincarnated.
Spirits are completely nonhuman beings from a dimension that borders ours—the otherworld.
They live there with demons and other assorted creatures I don’t really want to know about.
Occasionally they come through a gateway to our world, and things get… interesting.
Skye reaches us with a skid through the fresh mud from last night’s rain.
His white Converse are never going to be the same again.
As always, it’s a shock to see him in casual clothes—I’m so used to him being in his Mannix Estate uniform.
He told me once that it’s a mishmash of styles from the nineteenth century, but whenever it’s from, he always looks like he stepped right out of a period movie.
Except for his hair. Nobody back then had pastel rainbow hair.
Hair that’s flying every which way right now, instead of sitting neatly in its usual sleek curtain.
I don’t like this at all, and I glance around to see if he’s being chased. There’s nobody nearby, but I can’t see the front gate from here… and the estate has guests today anyway.
“Con,” he gasps, bending and trying to catch his breath. Once I know he’s safe, I should maybe suggest he join me for a run occasionally, get his fitness up. Running down the hill from the house shouldn’t make him this puffed.
“What’s wrong?” Connor asks while I study Skye carefully. His eyes are their normal color… but they only changed last time when the spirit was in control. Which it probably isn’t right now.
“Spirit,” he wheezes, and that’s all I need to hear.
“Come back to our place and lie down,” I order, grabbing his arm. As always when I touch him, electricity sparks in my fingers. “Why are you running around like this? You know excitement brings it—”
He shakes me off and stamps his foot, glaring.
“He’s not possessed,” Connor says, trying not to smile. I’m not sure what’s so funny. “Skye, please take a breath and tell us what happened before Daniel shits himself.”
“I’m not going to shit myself!” Although I did read a journal article about the pros and cons of human feces as fertilizer. But I’d never do it directly in a field. That’s just gross.
“A spirit came to see me,” Skye manages, taking deep breaths and straightening. “It’s been trying to talk to me all day, but I had my shield on full and thought I just had a headache.”
“Okay,” Connor says. “We’ll talk about that later because I don’t think that’s what you came tearing out here to say. Why didn’t you call, by the way? Instead of driving out.”
Skye visibly pauses, blinking. “I didn’t think of it. Maybe because I’m freaking the fuck out.”
I pat his shoulder. “You’re safe here.” I still don’t know what’s going on, but he’s definitely safe here. I’ll make sure of it. I mean… we all will.
He sucks in a shaky breath and leans into my hand. “I was so dumb,” he admits. “I kept interrupting it, and then it started to come apart and didn’t get the chance to tell me anything.”
“It started to come apart?” Connor’s voice is sharp. He’s never the soft and gentle type, but I’ve only heard him get that edgy when it’s important. “Start from the beginning. Tell me everything.”
So we stand there beside the far south field while Skye stumbles over a story of headaches and buzzing and wispy lights…
or something. I gotta admit, my mind wanders on the details, though Con seems to know what it was all about.
I’m more focused on how we’re going to protect Skye if there’s a problem.
Will he move out here and stay in the crash room for the interim?
Connor lives in town with Kieran now, but Gabe’s here, and I’ve been promised he can deal with demons just as well as Con can.
Plus, the ghosts make for a great early warning system.
Fuck… the ghosts. My gaze darts wildly around, but of course I can’t see if Carter’s still here. He might be, trying to get all the details before he goes to spread gossip, or he might have already gone to share the news. If he has, we can expect incoming any second.
I wait.
Okay, he’s probably still here.
Skye finishes his story, and I turn my attention back to them both. Connor’s face is drawn.
“You’re sure it said it came through the hidden gateway?”
“Yes.” Skye’s answer is firm.
“Fuck. Fuck. You were so close to finding out where it was.” A muscle in his jaw ticks. Connor’s been looking for that gateway for the better part of a year.
“I’m sorry—” Skye starts, but Con shakes his head.
“It’s not your fault. You did nothing wrong. I just…” He shakes his head again. “We need to talk to Gabe, and probably the Collective. If you’ve got plans for tonight, cancel them.”
“Please,” I add. Connor’s a good friend, but he’s also an asshole. Proof of that is the look he’s giving me right now. I ignore it and ask, “What does this mean?”
“I don’t know,” Con admits, his gaze distant. “But a warning from the otherworld is something we gotta take seriously.”
“Is Carter still here?”
Connor’s eyes refocus instantly, and his head snaps around.
“Don’t you even think of running off to tell anyone what you heard here,” he orders.
Carter must say something—probably whining—because Con squints at him.
“I don’t fucking care. You keep your mouth shut, or so help me, I will make you cross over. ”
I wish that’s a threat I could make. Normally, I just go with “exorcist,” but having the power to do it myself would give more weight to the threat.
Not that I’d actually do it—I love our ghosts, even when they’re pissing me the fuck off—but sometimes they need to be reminded that coming into my bedroom uninvited to proposition me or watch me sleep or watch me do other stuff is not okay.
And Ewan and I are pretty sure someone’s been watching us in the shower, but we’re not sure who.
I’m not completely opposed to being watched in the shower, but I’d like to be asked first.
“Let’s go find Gabe,” Connor tells Skye. “And… shit. I need to call Kieran back.” He lifts his phone and stares at it reluctantly. “He’s going to freak out.”
“Yep,” Skye agrees.
I shrug. “Maybe not. Nothing happened here on the estate.” Kieran will still worry about Skye, but he’s gotta know he’s not responsible for shit that happens outside work. Right?
They both turn you’re-so-fucking-dumb looks on me, and I hold up my hands. “Fine. He’ll freak out.” I raise a brow at Skye. “Are you staying over tonight?”
He frowns. “What? No. Why would I?”
Connor beams with pride, and I resist the urge to jab him in the gut.
“Really? You’re going to go back to your place alone even after a spirit from the otherworld warned you about danger and then was ripped apart in front of you?
” I feel kinda bad for making it sound as scary as possible and maybe freaking Skye out, but at the same time, I want him to be safe.
Skye turns a doubting look to Connor. “The warning wasn’t about danger for me specifically, though. Do you think it’s unsafe?”
Con opens his mouth, and I catch his gaze. Whatever he says next had better ensure that Skye is as safe as possible. Or else… I own a lot of shovels, and I’m not afraid to get dirty.
He closes his mouth, appears to be thinking about it, then says, “Let’s worry about that later. For now, we still need to work out what might be happening.”
I nod in satisfaction. It’s not perfect, but it’ll do for the time being. “I can go up and talk to Kieran, if you want,” I offer. “I don’t have any more demos today, and there’s nothing else that can’t wait a while.” Not to mention that will give me a chance to get the boss on my side.
“Would you?” Connor sounds suspicious, and I give him my biggest, most cheerful smile.
Skye huffs. “Whatever. If you screw with me, I will make you pay threefold.”
“Threefold?” I echo. “Seriously?”
He puts his nose in the air and grabs Connor’s arm. “C’mon, let’s find Gabe.”
I watch them walk away with a smile on my face.