“Henrietta, I don’t want Maggie hurt,” Lucian demurred.
“So, do not let Maggie get harmed. Allow her and Mr Evans to renovate the inn. Do as they wish with it. Meanwhile, you continue to thwart Margery her escape. And work with Maggie because I believe she will lead you to the answers, as Sabine did with Daniel. Ask Maggie to meet you halfway so she can restore the inn, but have her promise not to stay the night yet. You must have faith, Lucifer, my dearest,” Henrietta responded sweetly.
“Do you honestly think my future will be the same as the Rakehell Six’s?” Lucian asked.
“Yes, and just as glorious. You felt Wollscombe Hall today, did you not? Did you hear when we said our houses were sentient too? I believe Wollscombe was locked away from you, and earlier, something broke because you realised you had a way out. That snapped whatever was hiding Wollscombe from you and allowed your connection to flare. Do you not feel stronger with her beside you again?”
“It was strange. It was Wollscombe, but also something else. Something flared to life at the inn. Wollscombe was nurturing it, coaxing it to grow. But once it glowed, it was gone, but Wollscombe remained,” Lucian struggled to explain.
Still, Henrietta’s face lit up in understanding.
“You have Wollscombe to protect you. Maggie has the Jekyll and Hyde.” Henrietta gasped, clapping her hands together.
“That’s impossible. Life can’t just appear from anywhere and attach itself to a non-sentient subject,” Lucian denied, shaking his head.
“Who suggested it came out of nowhere? Wollscombe shared a tiny part of herself, and with the love and sacrifice in these walls, it created a sentience. We said, Lucian, that Maggie is your St John. Maybe Wollscombe and Jekyll and Hyde accepted that before you did. I bet Maggie could call upon the inn to protect her now.”
“I’ll not risk Maggie’s safety, Henrietta!” Lucian stated loudly, and Henrietta grinned.
“Lucifer, she’s already your soulmate!”
Maggie
The chat swirled around Maggie as she only half listened. Today’s events had been extraordinary and beyond her comprehension. It had been a struggle to accept ghosts existed. Vampires and werewolves stretched her even further. But Maggie’s entire belief system had been blasted wide open by the knowledge angels were real, and people could return from the dead. Somehow, Maggie knew they were telling the truth; this was no fantasy lie they were living.
Their horror when they spoke of their personal stories and the fear they’d felt was palpable. As was the love they shared. Unless all twelve were suffering from a mass delusion, they told facts. Maggie also had secretly read the gossip magazines, and they all commented on how Christian Russell had reversed his behaviours. From ignoring his wife and continuing his womanising ways, he’d locked himself away from society, changed his name to Tristian, and now doted on his wife. Yeah, a leopard doesn’t change its spots unless forced out of his body by an angry Black Duke!
No, the fact that they returned to life had got Maggie thinking about whether Lucian could. Or they could banish Margery, and Lucian would rest. Maggie wasn’t as convinced as the others that Lucian was meant to return. Maybe his destiny was to stop Margery and receive the peace he’d surely earned by now.
Maggie’s glance was caught as she spied Lucian and Henrietta walking on the upper level. Their heads were bowed, and their expressions were intent. Lucian held his hands behind his back, an old-fashioned gesture to prove no impropriety. In contrast, Henrietta’s were placed in front of her, clasped together for everyone to see.
“It’s those simple gestures of respect that make all the difference,” St John said, leaning over to her.
“I would assume so,” Maggie replied.
“I was reincarnated, as you know, Maggie. When my past merged with my future, it was disorientating and overwhelming. I’d been an arrogant pig. Indeed, there’d been a few women in my life. My former self was shamed by my current self’s beliefs. It took a while for me to settle and accept that whatever life I lived didn’t matter because, at the core, I was the same man.
Chapter Six.
Maggie
“There’s going to be a murder. Can you kill a ghost?” Maggie asked Mr Evans, who chuckled. Since the visit from the Rakehell Six, Lucian had driven her insane. He’d demanded that she bring Mr Evans’ back and the plans. Maggie had requested why, and Lucian replied because he wanted them. When Maggie refused, Lucian stole her phone and somehow figured out how to call Mr Evans.
When Mr Evans arrived the following day, Lucian was all grace and charm. Maggie looked quite the sour puss when Lucian explained that he had intimate knowledge of the inn and could help. After Maggie ground her teeth for a solid five minutes, she joined them as Lucian ripped apart her plans and made his own suggestions. The fact Maggie liked them didn’t count as Lucian was interfering with her project! Lucian redesigned the kitchen that Maggie gave her approval to. And added insult to injury by demanding it be finished first.
He’d shown Mr Evans some hand-drawn ideas for the bathrooms, which, again, Maggie loved. Lucian had taken hold of the stables and created an entire area that could be rented out for parties and weddings. And finally, he’d discussed his memories of what was behind the wall, blocking Margery’s part of the inn. Together they planned office space for Maggie, a dishwasher room, a laundry place, and a linen room. And even worse? He’d done all this humbly, checking for her reactions and ensuring that she liked the changes. How could Maggie scream at Lucian when he was being genuine?
In the week that passed since the Rakehell Six had left, Maggie noticed an enormous difference in her ghost. He was charming, polite, caring, and considerate. Maggie kept looking for traps even when Lucian said their war was finished. She’d heard that before! Meanwhile, Lucian continued sending her soft smiles and trying to be helpful.
“What has his Lordship done now?” Mr Evans asked.
Maggie rolled her eyes. “He’s demanding that the kitchen be completed at the same time as the plumbing and electrics. I’ve explained that those two will be a huge mess, but Lucian won’t listen to me. He just keeps harping on about the damned kitchen,” Maggie exclaimed.
“Ah, I see,” Mr Evans replied.
Mr Evans
And he did. What Maggie did not know was Lucian had torn up the plans Maggie thought she and Lucian had agreed on and handed Mr Evans his version. Mr Evans saw the benefits at once of Lucian’s ideas, but Maggie was his employer. It was a quandary he didn’t like. But Lucian gave him a heavily jewelled necklace to sell to pay for the new design.