Misfortune Cookie (4 page)

“I haven’t finished explaining yet. Radiance. Please don’t leave.” Luca blocked access to the door.

“Bad idea, gent,” Julian said. He knew me well enough to know that trying to stop me was a really bad idea.

I circumvented Luca and flung open the door. “Piss off.”

“Radiance! Wait!” Luca called after me, but I didn’t care.

Damn Sebastian! This is what I got for granting the dying bastard’s wish.

Fucked over.

Chapter 3

A fun trip is traveling toward you.

Driving home did nothing to calm the fire burning in my gut. I’d heard and experienced too much for one person to handle. I mean, come on, a soul catcher? Or Redeemer? Whatever the hell it was, no thanks.

And the Ashworth fortune, the one thing I tried to steer clear of most of my adult life, was now mine. What would I do with a sprawling mansion with its own diner, movie theater, and indoor tropical swimming pool? It was too much for one person. Hell, it was too much for a hundred people.

The estate, located on the outskirts of Jericho, California, had been in the family for more than a century. In fact, the Ashworth family had founded the Jericho settlement back before the gold rush and never really left. Lucky for me, my cozy house in the hills was only about two hours away. With some speed, I’d be home in no time.

Funny, if I hadn’t inherited my place from Sebastian’s first wife, my favorite grandmother, Isabel, I might have moved clear across the country. After she passed away, I couldn’t bear the thought of selling it. The house held too many good memories for me. Isabel had divorced Sebastian after one too many affairs and it had been her bastion of happiness and freedom. Growing up, I’d never refused a chance to visit her.

Speaking of visits, I regretted my sudden departure since I’d planned to stay the weekend to spend time with Selene and Grace. Crap. I’d have to call her. She’d be worried. Come to think of it, I wondered how long I’d been out of commission. I know she would’ve noticed if I was missing for days on end. I was too pissed at Luca to ask him. The rat bastard.

My phone rang. I answered automatically. “Hey, sis! Sorry I left early—”

“We need to talk,” Julian said. His ghostly essence spilled from the phone and reformed in the passenger seat.

“No, we don’t. Because you aren’t going to tell me anything, are you?”

Julian shifted in h
is seat.

“I’ll take your silence as a no.” The twisty mountain roads demanded I pay attention. If I crashed the car, Julian would be fine and I’d probably be dead. A low pain built in my jaw and my hands throbbed, probably from clenching them so tightly.

“Radiance. Stop the car.”

“No. I’m going home and you can’t stop me.” Heat built in my palms and I flexed my fingers, trying to relieve the strain.

“It’s dangerous for you to be driving right now.”

“I’ve driven angry plenty of times and I’ve never crashed.” He was getting on my last, frayed nerve.

“No. That’s not the reason,” he insisted.

The road blurred in front of me. Pins and needles numbed my hands. Heat scorched the center of each palm. Spots danced in my vision.

The car swerved.

I had barely maneuvered the vehicle to the side of the road when images poured into my mind.

Ashworth Mansion. A man’s hands on the steering wheel of my car. The view of the driveway was through his eyes. His thoughts became mine.

What a piece of junk. She’s the new heir. Maybe she’ll drive one of the old man’s sweet rides. Man. What I wouldn’t give to live here. She’s single. I’d bang her. Nice tits.

I gripped my head and screamed.

The thoughts cut off. Anxiety twitched my fingers. Sweat slicked my forehead. White light bathed my right hand; dark light entombed my left. I sat in stunned silence. It didn’t hurt, yet I felt . . . compelled . . . to do
something
.

“You know what this is, don’t you?” I flipped my hands palms up. Two symbols stood out on the center of each. The glow faded. The strange urge passed.

Julian nodded, sadness creasing his flawless face. For the first time, he appeared more solid to me. I reached over to touch him. He jerked away. “Talk to Luca.” He vanished.

“Damn it! Why are you so unhelpful?” I slapped my hand against the steering wheel. The valet’s thoughts filtered into my head again.
Sweet tits. I’d love to
—

Repulsed, I snatched my hand away. What a pervert. Then it clicked. He was the last person in my car. No. I squashed the idea. It was too crazy. I tried again. When I got the same result after several more tries, I couldn’t deny the logical conclusion.

I could sense other people’s thoughts through objects.

Crap. I couldn’t sit at the roadside forever. And I wouldn’t risk causing an accident.

I could call Luca
. Fuck no.

I needed to get home and I could do it without running to him for help. I removed my sneakers, tossed them in the back seat, then slipped my socks over my hands, covering the marks. When I placed my palms on the wheel—nothing but my own thoughts.

Who needed Luca? I could solve my own problems.

Relieved, I put the car in drive and headed home.

Brody meowed happily when I stepped into the foyer. He weaved in and out of my path, tail held high, as I trudged up the stairs. Feeling safe to touch things in my own home, I stuffed the socks into my pocket. At the top, I reached down and scratched his ears. “I missed you too, buddy. Let me go unpack and—”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

I shrieked and swung my bag. A loud
oomph
signaled I’d connected with the intruder. I put up my fists ready to fight. Not that I was a brawler. But I could do some damage. I was on a roller derby team and I knew how to knock someone on their ass.

The assailant stepped closer.

Brody ran forward and rubbed against the last person I wanted to see. Traitorous cat.

I lowered my fists and angrily snatched the bag off the floor.

“I am not here to fight you.” Luca held up his hands, then pocketed them as if to show me I had nothing to worry about. Sunlight streamed behind him, giving him an otherworldly silhouette.

“Get out of my house,” I said through gritted teeth. “How did you get here so fast?”

“Please. We must talk. You are not safe here.”

I chuckled and headed into my bedroom. “I’ve seen that movie, too. Heroine runs off with hero and chaos ensues. No thanks.” The bag bounced when it hit the mattress. I dumped the contents on the bed. Dirty clothes were tossed into the hamper. Clean ones would be put away.

Luca stepped in behind me while I threw clothes back into their drawers. “Do not jest about this. You do not understand—”

“That’s right!” I slammed the bureau drawer shut, rattling the contents on top. “I don’t understand why you think I’ll run off with you. I don’t know you. Do you think I’m completely off my nut?”

Luca stared down at my feet. “Why are you barefoot?”

I stomped toward him and brandished my hands. “Because whenever I touch things, I hear other people’s thoughts in my head! I could have lived a long time without knowing the valet thinks I have a nice rack!” I held up my breasts for emphasis.

Nope. That didn’t sound crazy at all.

Luca’s expression froze, then darkened to a murderous glare. The air temperature in the room chilled. “I will take care of him.” His tone suggested cement galoshes and a deep body of water.

“No! This is a free country, right? It’s not his fault I’m a freak of nature.” I left off,
thanks to you
. “I mean it. I do not want anything to happen to him.”

“Fine. For now.” Luca crossed his arms over his broad chest.

I hated to admit it, but his possessive display turned me on. If anyone else had tried that macho crap, I would’ve had a very different reaction. I continued unpacking, sneaking glances at him. Not for the first time, I undressed him in my imagination. Catching me, he smiled, eyes twinkling with a hint of promise.

Heat suffused my cheeks. Blushing like a damned schoolgirl, I tossed more dirty clothes in the hamper. “Why are you still here?”

“Radiance.” He breathed my name low and soft.

I closed my eyes, the sound of his voice flowing over me like a silk blanket pulled across bare skin.

“Your mortal life is over.”

And he had to ruin my good mood. I straightened my spine, ready to argue, when I felt
it
again. The tug. That compulsion to act. Heat burned the brand in my chest and my hands itched.

Luca removed his glasses and pocketed them. When he looked up, his pupils swirled with an otherworldly glow. “Do not deny what you feel.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” With stiff movements, I left the bedroom and headed for the bathroom, toiletry bag in hand, ignoring the compulsion.

Luca growled behind me, “Do not do this.”

“Do what?” Nausea cramped my stomach. Saliva pooled in my mouth. I steadied myself against the vanity. The cool porcelain eased the tingling sensation in my palms. “It must be lack of food.”

“No. You must not ignore the call to serve.” He reached forward.

I jerked away. “Don’t touch me!” Wings fluttered. Displaced air slapped my face. Two yellow eyes stared at me, as if indicting me for my lack of action. Gray fog surrounded my vision. Through the haze, agonized screams echoed in my head.

“We’re too late!” Luca lunged forward and slung me over his shoulder in an iron grip. Strange lyrical words were spoken. Black fog rose under his feet. “Close your eyes.”

The tiled bathroom floor disappeared. Fear slammed my eyes shut before we dropped into a free fall. My stomach jumped over my head. Warm wind whipped my hair and a dull roar raged in my ears. Vertigo ripped through me. Keening wails rose from my throat as I fought the urge to puke.

We stopped abruptly.

Luca set me down gently.

I fell to my knees and vomited the contents of my empty stomach onto the dry grass. I groaned. “I think I left some internal organs back at the house.”

“Next time, don’t fight it,” he whispered next to my ear, then smoothed my hair off my damp forehead. Brownie points for a man who holds a girl’s hair back while she barfs.

Another wave of sickness gurgled in my stomach, but I managed to keep it down. Luca rubbed slow circles along my back while crooning in that strange language again. Moments later, I stood up on rubbery legs. The brands pulsed against my palms.

“Why are we here?” I studied the landscape. Night had already fallen, obscuring a row of battered houses in a neighborhood long past its prime. The streetlamps cast weak yellow halos along the weed-strewn sidewalk. My skin crawled with the heebie-jeebies. Something was wrong in this place.

“Trust your senses. There is a wayward spirit here.” The weight of Luca’s hands fell on my shoulders. “We must immobilize it, before it causes more harm.”

More harm. With a sinking sense of dread, I realized the remark was aimed at my stubbornness. Remorseful, I nodded and closed my eyes. “What do I have to do?”

“Seek out the place between the worlds, where the soul is most vulnerable to capture.”

“Could we catch it here?” I motioned to the area around us, not quite believing the situation was real.

“Too easy for mortals to observe our actions.”

“Right. We don’t want to end up on the next episode of
Ghost Hunters
.”

Luca stood an inch from my nose. Every nerve ending in my body lit up. “Do not mock what you don’t understand. It is always better for the living to remain unaware of the spirit world. Escaped souls can feed on emotions like fear. It makes them stronger. And our jobs infinitely more difficult.”

“Fine. Okay. What am I looking for?”

“There is a line between here and there. Find it and cross over it.” He took me by the shoulders and positioned me so I stood in the middle of the road.

Skeptical, I did as he asked and really looked. Sure enough, a faint demarcation glimmered horizontally as if the street was discolored on one side. I glanced at Luca.

He nodded. “Intend to be on the other side and it will happen.”

“That’s it? Peter Pan it? Clap your hands and all that.”

“Yes.” He offered me his hand and I reluctantly took it.

Together we moved over the line. The sensation of pushing through gelatin glided over my skin. After that initial resistance, the air cooled. No different than moving into an air-conditioned building on a sultry day. The chill remained in the air and, even though it was dusk, all colors were muted. Like we had stepped into a faded photograph.

Down the street, as if straight out of the ‘what doesn’t belong here’ pages, a lone barn owl perched in a tree. Its white feathers glowed with an otherworldly luminescence. Two golden eyes stared at us with a knowing intelligence beyond any wild owl I’d ever encountered.

Luca smiled. “How fortunate. A spirit guide awaits you.”

“So you see the owl too?”

Of course he sees me, daft girl. Luca, have you taught this child nothing?

“Nice to see you again, Tamzin. The female is rather stubborn,” Luca said matter-of-factly.

I opened my mouth to protest.

We don’t have time for this. Come along now.

“It’s my first day. What does she expect?” I grumbled, stifling the hysteria trapped in my chest. Twenty-four hours earlier, the strangest thing in my life had been Julian. After being shot, tortured, branded, and told life as I knew it was over, what was a talking owl? Seemed kind of tame, all things considered.

The owl took flight and drifted down the barren street, the tug in my chest attuned to her direction. Our footsteps were near silent, as if the streets were carpeted, absorbing the sound. The air never moved even though I could see tree branches swaying in the wind. It was as if we weren’t really there.

Not a single living thing crossed our path. Yet, the houses seemed to have a life of their own. Colorful lights danced around their edges, some wine colored, almost black. Others emitted vibrant greens and blues.