Fated Redemption [Kindred of Arkadia 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (18 page)

already been turned on in your name. Your office furniture and supplies should arrive from New York no

later than Tuesday of next week. That scrumptious lion, Zane, is a wizard when it comes to shipping

arrangements, completely antisocial though. I have set up an appointment request form online and posted

the information for it on the door. Your new business cards will be here Monday. I have made special

arrangements with the council to forward you all copies of any reference books regarding shifter law, we

can start going through and setting up a regular caseload then. I’ve set up a database with all your notes

regarding the laws you have been looking into, you know my set up. I’ve also established a reoccurring

order at The Grind for your morning caffeine fix. If you need anything else, I’ll be on the ghost hunt and

then looking for horny lions.” Giddey looked up from his phone before sliding it into his pocket with

flourish.

“How?” Conner asked, looking stunned. Madison just smiled.

“I told you, he is an amazing personal assistant.”

Giddey preened.

“He’s only been in town twelve hours!” Connor’s eyes were wide. Abby shook her head.

“Coming, Giddey?”

“You betcha!”

Together they left the diner and walked around back. They crossed the dirt road that circled the town.

They had walked almost half a mile when they saw
the
house. Up close even Abby was having second

thoughts. It didn’t look this spooky driving into Arkadia. From the outside it looked like a life-sized replica

of every girl’s dream doll house. The Victorian stood four stories high including the attic. It had a gorgeous

wraparound porch and swing. With a fresh coat of paint it could be perfect. Abby tried to stay positive,

until she saw a shadow move past the third story window.

Fuck!

“Awesome! Doesn’t it look perfect?” Rebecca was practically hopping up and down in excitement.

Sebastian and Abby exchanged looks. It would be up to them to keep their group together.

“Spooktacular. This is going on Instagram.” Giddey held up his iPhone and took a picture.

“Are we going inside that?” Ashby asked. Abby felt sorry for the smaller man. He was ashen and nearly

shaking.

“It’s okay, Ashers. I won’t let anything hurt you.” Rebecca wrapped an arm around Ashby and dragged

him forward.

“Let’s do this,” Abby said, plucking up her courage. She and her men needed space and she wasn’t

about to let a ghost keep her from what could be her dream home. She took the key that Ma had given her

out of her pocket and walked past Rebecca and Ashby. She unlocked the door and let it swing open. A

musty smell greeted them.

“I don’t like it.” Ashby quivered.

“Oh, Abby, look at the hardwood floors. They are in almost perfect condition.” Rebecca walked past the

foyer into what looked like the parlor on the left.

“There’s no electricity, we’d have to have someone run a line to the house. That means there’s no

appliances.” Abby made a mental note to ask Moe and Rhys what their carpentry and electrician skills were

like.

“Here ghostie, ghostie, ghostie,” Rebecca called out. Sebastian, Ashby and Giddey edged closer to Abby.

Rebecca turned and looked at them, her face beaming.

“We should split up, we’ll cover more ground that way.”

“We’re going to stick with Abby,” Ashby squeaked.

“Yeah, she’ll need our help upstairs looking at all the rooms.” Sebastian explained.

Bullshit, y’all are sticking with me because I’m not inviting ghosts to start up conversations,
Abby

mused to herself.

“Good idea. I got down here covered. Now, if I were a ghost where would I be?” Rebecca turned and

started taking pictures with her digital camera.

“On that note, let’s go, boys,” Abby said, and started up the stairs. Sebastian, Ashby and Giddey stayed

close behind Abby as they made their way to the second floor. Once upstairs, even Abby had to admit

Rebecca was right. The house was in surprisingly good condition for being so old. The detail in the

woodwork alone was gorgeous.

“It’s actually really nice,” Giddey said, sounding as surprised as she felt.

“I know, I was just thinking the same thing.” Abby noticed that the second floor was divided by a large

guest suite with bathroom. On the left of the guest suite was the master bedroom and bathroom complete

with sitting room. On the right, three smaller bedrooms that shared a bathroom. Ma told her the third story

was an open space that used to be a children’s playroom. She was hoping to turn that space into her office

and research lab.

“You’d have lots of room here,” Ashby said, taking in the size of the bedrooms.

“Where do you think that door leads to?” Sebastian asked, pointing to the door at the end of the

hallway.

“Probably the attic, like in
Beetlejuice,
” Giddey remarked.

“Yeah, the ghosts were in the attic in that movie,” Abby said, then realized what she said. Everyone

looked at each other.

“That was just a movie, right?” Ashby asked, moving closer to Abby.

“Yup, Ashby, there are no such things as ghosts.” Abby nodded.

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth than they heard the first of five slams.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

One by one the opened bedroom doors slammed shut. Abby tittered nervously.

“That was just the wind, nothing to worry about.” Abby patted Ashby’s arm. A second later they heard

five latches click open.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Again the five bedroom doors slammed shut.

“Okay fuck this shit!” Abby yelled. When she turned, she realized the boys were already making their

way downstairs. When the small wooden table at the end of the hall tipped over her nerve broke and she

ran down the stairs behind them. She came skidding to a halt in the foyer. Sebastian, Giddey and Ashby

were staring into the parlor with identical looks of horror on their faces.

Oh god, Rebecca!

She pushed past them to find Rebecca standing in the middle of the room, holding up her phone.

“And this is a picture of Rhys and Moe, they are her mates. Aren’t they gorgeous? Yup, he does look

like a fallen angel. Uh huh, I’m pretty sure Moe is quite handy.” Rebecca nodded smiling.

Nope, this isn’t happening.

“Come on Rebecca time to go.” Abby grabbed Rebecca’s wrist and hauled her outside. Everyone except

Rebecca was breathless and shaking.

“That was rude!” Rebecca protested. Just then the front door slammed shut.

“Sebastian?” Abby said, pointing to Rebecca.

“On it.” Sebastian slung Rebecca over one shoulder. Giddey and Abby picked up the cooler and Ashby

led the way back as they all ran back to the diner. Abby pushed the door open and was relieved to see her

mates waiting for her. Their warm smiles of welcome turned into frowns of concern when they saw how

hard she was breathing.

“AbbyGirl, what on earth happened?” Moe said, standing and quickly folding her into his arms.

Instantly Rhys was behind her, effectively sandwiching her between their bodies. Instantly she felt safer.

“Becca! Sebastian, is she okay?” Aleks pulled Rebecca off of Sebastian’s shoulder and carried her over

to a chair cuddling her in his lap.

“I’m fine, these four have lost their damn minds though,” Rebecca said, throwing her hands in the air.

The second Gabriel pulled Ashby into his arms the small man burst into tears.

“What happened?” Gabriel growled.

Ma took one look at the wobbly group, reached under the counter, and pulled out a brown glass bottle.

Abby raised an eyebrow but accepted the mug Ma offered. As she expected it burned like hell going down,

but the aftereffect felt like her stomach had become a cozy little fireplace. Rebecca was coughing and

sputtering. Midget never could hold her liquor.

“Ma, what is that?” Sebastian asked, sounding less shaky.

“Just something I keep for medicinal purposes.” She eyed the shaking Ashby with concern.

“Connor can you bring out those Lava Fudge Brownies? I think they’re needed.”

“Sure thing, Ma.” Connor pulled a pan from the warmer and brought them over to the center table. It

was only after everyone was seated with a mug of Ma’s “medicine” and a plate full of sin that the small

group of ghost hunters relaxed.

“Okay, now what happened?” Moe asked.

“It was the damnedest thing. All the bedroom doors slammed shut one by one.” Abby shook her head at

the memory.

“That doesn’t sound so odd,” Liam said, still rubbing Sebastian’s back. Sebastian looked up at Liam

with a sick expression.

“Then they opened by themselves and slammed again.” His words silenced the diner.

“Was that what I heard? She said that Isaiah was playing,” Rebecca said, munching down on her

brownie. She was the only one that didn’t look the least bit scared.

“It was definitely a ghost,” Sebastian said.

“Oh man! I wanted to see the ghost.” Rebecca pouted.

“Unbelievable.” Abby took another bite of brownie. It figures that the freakiest stuff would happen to

Rebecca and she didn’t even realize it.

“Wait, who is she?” Aleks asked. Abby looked up, amused.

Good question.

Rebecca took a deep breath.

Here we go.

“Well, when they went upstairs to ghost hunt I poked around downstairs. The parlor was fantabulous,

but the kitchen needs a complete overhaul, I mean who has a kitchen without a dishwasher and microwave

these days? Anyway, that was when I met Ms. Whittaker. She walked into the kitchen and introduced

herself, she was so sweet. She knew a lot about the house and was interested in who would be buying it. So

I showed her pictures of Rhys and Moe, she said that Rhys looked like a fallen angel ready for sin and Moe

looked like a kind soul and very handy. She said that the house needed a man like him to take care of it.”

Rebecca licked her fork.

“Rebecca Morgan Arkadion. There wasn’t anyone in the front room with you.” Abby stared at her

friend. Rebecca waved her hand in a pshaw motion.

“Of course there was.”

“Ms. Jane Whittaker was the last owner of the house. She died there when Aaron was a boy,” Ma said,

looking at Rebecca oddly.

“I knew it!” Ashby exclaimed.

Abby wasn’t the only one staring at Rebecca.

“Come on y’all, stop playing. I think it’s funny you got together to pull this prank, but ha ha, joke’s

over. Look, Ashby is having hysterics.” Rebecca pointed to Ashby who had attached himself to his mate.

“Rebecca, we’re not playing a prank on you. There was no one in that room but you,” Sebastian

whispered. Aleks’s face was milky white.

“Right. Next you’ll be saying Ma is a ghost or Connor is a ghost or Mr.Wilbur is a ghost.” She waved

her fork at them. Aleks frowned.

“Who is Mr.Wilbur?” he asked.

“Duh, he’s our mailman.” Rebecca looked at Aleks as if he had lost his mind.

“We don’t have a mailman! Everyone picks up their mail at the Post Office once it’s delivered from

Brighton,” Aleks exploded.

“That’s just silly. He saved my life last summer. I was about to step off the porch and he warned me

about a Copperhead that was within striking distance.”

“What!” Aleks roared.

“Aleks, you’re being loud again.”

Ma sat down in the chair across from Rebecca suddenly. Her face had paled and her eyes were wide and

shiny.

“Ma?” Connor asked, concerned.

“Jeb Wilbur died saving my life when Aleks was a baby. I was in a car accident on the road heading

back up to the ranch, it was winter and there was so much ice. He was coming from the house after

delivering the mail and found me trapped in the car. He got Aleks out first and bundled him up in his mail

car then came back for me. He got me free and helped me to his car. He was walking around to the driver’s

side when he was hit by another oncoming car that had lost control on the ice. We never filled the postman

job after him, it didn’t seem right. It’s why everyone picks up their mail at the Post Office now.”

“Oh god.” Aleks’s voice sounded strangled. Rebecca looked around her eyes wide.

“I see dead people,” she whispered.

“Keep that shit over there,” Rian yelled, moving his seat back a few inches.

“No. Absolutely not! I forbid it! You get into enough trouble with the living!” Aleks ranted.

“This is so cool!” Rebecca laughed, ignoring her mate’s utter meltdown.

“I wonder what your range is? What kind of parameters are involved. I mean do they have to be dead

for a long time? Can you just stand over a grave and be like ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are’?”

Abby asked. Her scientific brain taking over.

“We can try the graveyard later.” Rebecca was practically shaking with excitement.

“Like hell!” Aleks growled.

“So, that house is off the list?” Rhys asked. Abby looked over to Rebecca.

“Did she seem okay with the idea of us moving in?”

Rebecca nodded.