“Most hunters in the Order don’t like when civilians join on hunts. Especially when I introduce them as my girlfriend.”
“I knew it,” I whisper-yell, flashing him a smirk. “Do I need to make sure she knows you’re mine?”
“Depends on what you have in mind?” He raises his eyebrows, motions to a broom closet, and I laugh. Mike turns around, looking at me like I’m crazy.
“So, you two…” I go on, genuinely curious.
“Hooked up a few times. S he wanted something serious and I told her there was no way I’d ever settle down with anyone.” He hooks his arm around my waist. “But then I met you.”
“Now I feel even more special.”
“You fucking are.” He leans over and kisses me, and the rush that goes through me is almost alarming. If Mike wasn’t standing just feet from us, I actually might push Ethan into the closet, undo his pants, and drop to my knees. The sudden urge to make him come hits me hard, and I’m getting wet just thinking about it.
Then something clunks above us, jarring me back to reality. And the reality is that we’re standing on the threshold of a dusty room with what looks like black mold on the floorboards. This building is haunted and there’s a good chance a demon is lurking in the basement.
But let’s sneak away and have sex, right?
Ethan swallows hard and slowly untangles his arms from my middle, making me think he’s feeling the sudden lust as well. If there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s getting down and dirty.
And hunting demons as a team.
Which is what we need to do now.
Yet, I’m still having trouble getting my feet to move.
“Should we check that out?” Mike asks after another moment goes by. This time, Ethan and I both step back, and I hold up my flashlight, shining it in the hall.
“Yeah. We need to find Steph and the boys and check in.” We start down the hall again, backtracking a bit so we can go up the stairwell. Right when we pass by the room that leads to the elevator shaft, something raps on the wall three times. We all whirl around, but only I’m able to see the pale shadow of the ghost in front of us. It’s a young man, dressed in 1980s workout clothes, and he stiffens when he sees me. Our eyes lock and he flickers out of view before disappearing altogether.
“What the hell was that?” Mike holds out his stake, brandishing it through the air like he’s slicing through an army of spirits.
“Another ghost,” I say. “He was surprised I could see him.” I close my eyes and hook one finger through Ethan’s hand, needing him to be my anchor as I try to get my mind to go into the spirit realm. I’ve done it before but only after a spell. It would be the best way to get to the bottom of this. These ghosts don’t have the energy to appear to me, but if I went to them, I could talk to them with no issue. I don’t have everything I used the first time I cast the spell, but I have enough.
“Keep walking,” Ethan says, and we make it to the base of the stairs before the two brothers come running down, nearly knocking Mike to the ground.
“It took her!” Ben shouts, face stricken. “We didn’t see it and then—then she was gone!”
“Whoa, slow down,” Ethan says calmly and moves the boys to the center of the hall. “What happened.”
“There was a noise—” Ben starts.
“—and a growl,” Zach goes on. “But the EMF didn’t go up. She told us to stay and then…then…something grabbed her.”
“Tell me everything you saw,” Ethan goes on, voice steady.
“We didn’t see much,” Zach says, looking at his brother. “Gray hands. That’s it. It pulled her into a hole in the wall.”
“Take us.” Ethan motions for the boys to lead the way. After a second of hesitation, they both set their faces and jog up the stairs. They go into the wrong room three times before we find the one they were in. Stephanie’s flashlight and knife are on the ground, right in front of a three-foot-tall hole that had been cut in the drywall to access pipes.
Ethan crouches down and looks inside. “It just takes you to the room behind it.”
“On it,” I say and rush out of the room. The feeling of dread is creeping up on me, slowly making its way through my whole body. I push my mental shields back up and it goes away. Holding my right hand out in front of me, I summon a small flicker of fire, holding it in my palm. It lights up the room brighter than my flashlight and is a hell of a lot more effective when it comes to killing, well, anything.