I nearly told him to go screw himself when Gretchen said softly, “He isn’t wrong in telling you this. You’re more open to supernatural energies than I’ve ever felt before.”
I held my tongue, and instead said, “I’m open to ghosts because I have no problem with them in my life.” Had I just said that?
Dane sneered. “We know exactly why you have no problem with it.”
“And like I said that’s none of your business.”
Gretchen studied me long and hard, then finally said, “I did sense the bond with the ghost that was here earlier.”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “So?”
Concern washed across her features, yet Dane butted in, “I know you wonder why he hasn’t crossed over. And I can tell you it’s because of this relationship you have with him.”
“You don’t know that.” I countered, and swallowed past the hard lump in my throat that it might be true.
His intense scrutiny never wavered. “Max told me of the Hannah Reid case and I can guarantee that he would’ve crossed over at that time with her. But because of your connection to him you’re forcing him to stay.”
That should’ve bothered me. It didn’t. I had no intention of letting Kipp go, and if our connection kept him here, then so be it. “And your point is?”
“My point is...” His voice dipped deadly low. “You don’t have the right to keep him here. And you need to stop this.”
My heart would refuse that statement. “Sorry, but I’ll never willingly do that.”
“Exactly the problem,” he retorted.
Silence grew thick around us, and for the first time, I understood why this conversation hadn’t come up until now. Kipp wasn’t here.
Had Dane wanted to say this from the beginning? Had he thought he’d be able to talk me out of loving Kipp? He was a damn idiot if he did. Nothing would come between my heart and the ghost who held it.
Gretchen finally broke the silence and said, “It’s not our place to tell you how to live your life.” She gave Dane a stern look. “But you need to realize the danger you put yourself in.”
No matter what I felt now, I needed to understand how this all worked. “How does my loving Kipp put me in danger?”
“Because you’re fully exposed,” she replied. “You can’t welcome one ghost in and not welcome them all.”
She smiled softly in a way that I took as reassurance. “This is where danger sits at your doorstep. If you want to fight against a demon you need to close yourself off, or it will walk right in and have the power to attack you.”
I pondered that, then said, “I’m not closing myself off to Kipp. That. Is. Non-negotiable.” My voice was clipped as I intended. “So, we need to find some other way to protect me.” I grabbed onto my necklace. “Besides, I have my Archangel. Dane said it would protect me.”
He huffed. “For now.”
I really had enough of this asshole. “Then tell me what I need to do—without letting go of Kipp—to keep safe.”
A cold, detached expression filled his face. “If you won’t do it yourself, I will ensure it happens and he moves on.”
The hard edge of his gaze sent a chill right down to my toes. Kipp’s warning hit me hard in the face. Dane wasn’t to be trusted. But not because he wanted to slice a knife in my and Kipp’s relationship. More so, because he wanted to completely stab it until it was dead.
I glared at him. “Is that a threat?”
Before he could reply, Gretchen said, “I think we can all do without threats. It’s her choice and, I for one, will honor her wishes.”
The urge to give a fist pump captivated me, but I held back especially when she added, “But I do agree with Dane that you need to be guarded and stronger around ghosts than I feel within you right now.”
I shifted in my seat to ease the burning sensation in my blood. “Well, I’m ready and eager. I want to get back to my normal crazy life so tell me what to do.”
“Raise your voice.” At the clear confusion that surely formed on my face, she continued, “If you want a ghost to leave you alone you have to find the strength within you to ask for it, and believe you have the power to do so.”
She cocked her head, examined me. “The same goes with demons. You, as a living person, have the right to will it away. But if you don’t believe you hold that right is when you’ll have trouble. So let me hear it.”