I'd taken a big chance asking Jeremy to join me for the week. We were--despite my hopes--just friends. Then, a few weeks ago, we'd been talking about the show and, having had a few drinks, the segue came easily. To my shock, he'd said yes. Now he was flying three thousand miles just to see me. That had to mean something.
The patio opened to a terraced yard stuffed with perennial borders, gazebos, ornamental trees and statuary. As I trotted along the flagstone path, winding around one fountain, one pond and two oversized statues, I wondered whether a trail of bread crumbs would have been wise.
Finally, far enough from the house to mentally step offstage, I found a wooden bench. Jeremy answered after the first ring.
"Did I catch you at a bad time?" he asked.
"No, I was just getting my schedule for the day. Mainly interviews plus some meet-and-greets, culminating, of course, in the welcome bash tonight--which, lucky man, you'll be just in time for. I hope you're ready to play party escort."
I stopped for breath. Silence filled the pause, and I winced and mentally smacked myself. Jeremy at a Hollywood party? He'd rather face off against a pack of ravenous wolves.
"I'm just kidding," I said. "You'll be jet-lagged, and I'm sure you don't have a tux--"
"I do. And it's packed. The party isn't a problem, Jaime..."
When he let the line trail off, my heart started thumping.
"The babies are sick. It's just a cold, but it's their first--"
A scream drowned him out--less like the wail of a sick baby than the roar of a wounded lion. I recognized Katherine, one of his foster son Clayton's fourteen-month-old twins.
"Jesus, poor Kate," I said. "She sounds miserable."
Jeremy chuckled. "She's not that ill, actually. It's Logan who's bearing the brunt of it. Of course, he's not complaining, but he's quite willing to let her express outrage on his behalf."
"How's Clay taking it? Or dare I ask."
"Let's just say he's not making it any easier. We don't usually contract colds, so he's worried. I'm sure it's no cause for alarm but..."
He let the sentence trail off. I understood his concern. A werewolf's increased immunity meant sickness was rare, so even a cold would be worrying. If the situation worsened, Clay and Elena couldn't just bundle the little ones off to the emergency ward, or the doctors might discover they carried something far more alarming than a cold virus. Jeremy wasn't a doctor, but he was the Pack's medical expert and they'd need him there. Even more important, he'd want to be there.
"Stay," I said. "We can do this another time."
"No, I am coming, Jaime. I'll be there soon as I can, hopefully tomorrow."
My heart gave a little flip. "Good. Then look after those babies, tell everyone I said hi and I'll get an update in the morning."
When I signed off, I closed my eyes, listened to the birds chirp and rustle in the hedges and let the wisps of disappointment float away. To my surprise, they were only wisps. If Jeremy had made any other choice, he wouldn't be the man I'd raced at breakneck speed to talk to. Family--and family responsibilities--came first, and that was fine by me, even when I knew his priorities wouldn't change, whatever form our relationship might take.
The birds had gone silent, their song replaced by the soft whisper of the wind and the tinkle of distant chimes. I looked around as I rose.
"Hello?" I said.
Someone touched my arm. I wheeled, but no one was there. I rubbed the spot. Probably a butterfly brushing past. It wouldn't be a ghost--with them I only got sight and sound, no touch.
I checked the schedule Becky had given me. Three interviews plus--
Fingers clasped my free hand. Resisting the urge to yank away, I looked down. Nothing. Yet I could feel the unmistakable sensation of a hand holding mine.
My gut went cold. This was how it had started with Nan. A lifetime of seeing what shouldn't be there and eventually she started imagining what she knew couldn't be there. That's what happens to necromancers, and that's what I am, same as my Nan.
Like most supernatural powers, necromancy runs in the blood. It often skips a generation or two, but in our family no one is spared. We see and hear the dead, and they are relentless in their quest to be heard. I may have learned a way to profit from my powers, but if I could be free of the ghosts, I'd give it up in a heartbeat and muddle through like every other con artist in the business. Better that than this long, cursed road that ends in madness.
The fingers slid from my hand. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Once before I'd had a ghost who'd been able to touch me. Didn't hold my hand, though. She'd sunk her fangs into my neck and nearly killed me, all because she couldn't make contact the normal way. Typical vampire--thinks the world exists to serve them.
But the chance that I'd encounter another dead vamp was remote. Extremely rare to begin with, they're so uncommon in the afterlife that I'd found only unconfirmed ancient tales of necromancers contacting one. If a vampire is already dead when it walks this world, where does one go when it passes into the next?