Shadows (Bayou Magic 1)

He was wrong.

She doesn’t love him.

And now she’s in the shower. He can see her naked body, the way the water runs over her breasts and her tight nipples. She washes herself—down there—and he feels himself harden, even though he no longer has a physical body.

How?

How can he get sexually excited after death?

It makes no sense.

Once she gets out of the shower, he sets the necklace on the sink and laughs when she spies it and frowns in confusion.

That’s right, little girl. I’m playing with you.

She mumbles to herself.

He wants her attention so badly, needs to make her understand that he isn’t gone.

He focuses on the mirror and, with a great deal of effort, writes a message on the glass.

He’s even able to reply to a question.

But the effort is too much for him, it drains him, and he fades away.

He needs to regroup and grow stronger so he can use his power when he needs it the most.Chapter Twenty-FiveCash“I’ll call Asher.” I reach for my phone, but Brielle lays her hand on my arm, stopping me.

“I told you before, this isn’t something you can kill with a gun. I’m afraid the police can’t help us with this.”

I’ve never felt so helpless in all my life. Even the Carlson case didn’t frustrate me like this.

“What can help us, then?”

She bites her lip, fiddling with the stone around her neck. Finally, she moves past me and into her bedroom, where she simultaneously drops the towel and reaches for her phone.

“I have to call my sisters,” she says, absently dialing a number and pressing her cell to her ear as she reaches for clothes to toss on. “He’s still here. Yeah. I’ll tell you all about it, but I’m scared, Mill. We have to figure out how to get rid of this bastard for good. Uh-huh. Okay.”

She hangs up and tosses the phone on the bed.

“What did she say?”

“She’s calling Miss Sophia, and then she’ll call me back. I’m going to call Daphne in just a sec.”

I quirk my brow as she launches herself into my arms and clings to me, her nose pressed to my chest.

“Hey, it’s okay, darlin’.”

“No, it’s not.” She tightens her grasp. “But it will be. And I have a feeling the next few days are going to get scarier, and maybe super weird. So, I want to take a second to say thank you. Thank you for not running away, and for being a rock in the middle of all this chaos.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” I kiss her hair, breathing her in. “We’re going to get rid of this asshole, once and for all.”

“You’re right.” She smiles up at me, just as her phone lights up. “I have to take that. But when this is all over, again, I want to curl up in bed with you for a few days without leaving it. I want to snuggle and watch bad movies and eat junk food.”

“Can we be naked?”

“Sure,” she says with a laugh.

“And why do they have to be bad movies? Let’s watch good ones.”

She laughs in earnest, holding her phone in her palm. “Deal. Good movies and nakedness. Any other requests?”

“As long as you’re there with me, I’m good to go.”

She winks at me as she answers the phone and presses it to her ear. “Yes. Oh, that’s so nice of her. Okay. Did you call Daph? Awesome, we’ll meet you there in thirty. Thanks. Love you, too.”

She hangs up and turns to me.

“Millie talked to Miss Sophia, and she wants all of us to come to her house right away. This is good news, Cash. She’s powerful and knows so much. She can help.”

“Are you sure you want me there?”

She grabs my hand and presses it to her face. “Yes. I want you with me.”

“Let’s do this.”

The drive to Miss Sophia’s takes longer than the drive to the women’s mother’s house. Miss Sophia lives even deeper in the bayou. Her cabin is warm, even from the outside and in the dark. Smoke billows from a chimney. Plants and flowers line the porch, hang in boxes under the windows, and cover every available surface.

It looks like something out of a fairy tale.

But Miss Sophia is the good witch, not the one that eats little children.

“Come in,” the woman says from the doorway, ushering us in. “Your sisters are already here. I also called in some help.”

I feel my eyes widen in surprise when we cross the threshold. The house doesn’t look big enough from the outside to hold this many people.

I recognize Mallory. The rest are strangers to me.

“This is my granddaughter,” Sophia says, gesturing to a beautiful, blond woman sitting at an old, wooden dining room table. “Lena, this is—”

“Cash,” Lena finishes for her with a smile.

“Are you psychic, too?”

“Absolutely,” she says, her pretty smile widening. “But also, Mallory and Grandmama have told me about you. It’s nice to meet you.”