Maybe Rupert had a point. Maybe I should have been killed for the benefit of everyone else. If it came to my life or Astrid’s… I’d definitely put mine on the line.

  Thinking such morose thoughts weren’t going to do me any good, I stood up and walked to one of the shelving units beside the fireplace, and pulled Betanya’s journals down from the top shelf. The shelves were mostly intact except for the left side which was a jumble of shredded books and two broken shelves. But, at least the journals were unscathed.

  I’d tried Betanya’s formula already, yes, and it hadn’t worked, but just as I’d told Rupert, I couldn’t give up. Not yet.

  I had to be missing something, but what?

  I flipped through the pages and my head started to swim and I was suddenly so exhausted. That’s when I realized I hadn’t really slept in two days. I’d had that awful dream and then I’d been on the go ever since, facing one disaster after another. I rested the journal on the floor beside me as I tried to slow my thoughts, tried to empty the ugliness out of my mind. I didn’t want to sleep because I was afraid of what might happen, but I thought maybe I could just rest my eyes. And then I’d put my first pot of coffee on.

  The journal fell out of my hands the instant my eyelashes touched my cheeks. All of a sudden, grotesque images flooded my mind. I could suddenly see myself standing in the living room, but instead of rotted corpses of animals, I was now surrounded with silver-white ghosts that swirled around me. Yet again, I experienced another outburst of blood-thirsty power welling up within me, trying to destroy everything within range.

  Hundreds of worm-ridden zombies crawled over the windowsills and into the house, lurching down the hall. They dropped dirt clods, decomposed body parts, and maggots on the freshly cleaned floors. They marched toward me, outstretching their arms, their mouths wide open.

  The ghosts howled around my head and I could feel their ghostly wind as they tore the apartment to pieces all over again.

  I opened my eyes as a scream tore from my throat. All at once, the front door, the kitchen door, and all the windows blasted open. I jolted wide awake and my heart rode up into my throat as I found the living room full of ghosts. Luckily, there weren’t any zombies and, as far as I could tell, nothing was destroyed—well, anymore than it already had been, anyway.

  But, the ghosts were still an issue. They swirled around me in a hazy cyclone of transparent white. Their screams and moans filled the living room and seemed to root in my head as I clamped my hands over my ears and clenched my eyes shut tight. I could feel the wind of their essence floating around me, through me, as they yanked my hair and pulled at my clothes.

  I flung out both arms and craned my neck to the ceiling. “Be gone—back to the grave where you belong!”

  Nothing happened.

  The ghosts whirled faster as if caught in a cyclone in the center of the room, right where I was standing. Their shrieks set my teeth on edge.

  At that moment, a pounding knock shook the duplex.

  “Wanda!” a male voice boomed. “Wanda! Open the door!”

  Lorcan.

  The instant Lorcan’s voice sounded, the ghosts shot upward and phased through the ceiling, disappearing as if they’d never been there at all. Lorcan hammered on the door, yelling at me to answer. I checked the room again, searching for any sign of the spirits but they were gone.

  I stumbled through the scattered papers and the remains of a broken lamp to reach the front door. I opened it a crack, but left the security chain in place. Why? I wasn’t sure.

  “Wanda,” Lorcan said as he tried to push open the door but got caught by the chain.

  “It’s all okay now,” I managed, but my words sounded like a lie.

  Lorcan narrowed his eyes at me. “What the devil is going on in there? It sounded like someone getting dismembered.”

  “It wasn’t.” I didn’t know what it was, but I also didn’t want to admit that to him. I just wanted him to go… “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to deliver something to you.” He scowled even deeper. “Open this door. I want to talk to you.”

  I didn’t move. Now it was my turn to narrow my eyes at him. “Everything is fine now, Lorcan, and I’m not in the mood to talk… not tonight, anyway. Can we talk in the morning?”

  “Everything is fine?” he nearly laughed at me. “Everything is far from fine! What the deuce is going on?”

  With a sigh, I unlatched the chain and opened the door, turning away from him as I started for the living room again. “I don’t know what’s going on,” I answered as I walked to the furnitureless room and threw myself down onto the rug, the only thing that had survived.

  I could hear the sound of his footsteps on the hardwood floors behind me. He walked into the living room and stood right in front of me and that’s when I finally gave him my attention.

  “We’ll have to refurnish this place in the next couple of days,” he said and then pursed his lips as he held up a manila envelope tied with a red string.

  “What’s that?”

  “The papers to transfer ownership of the duplex to you.”

  I sat up straighter as my jaw dropped. “Ownership of the duplex to me?”

  He nodded. “You’ll be able to claim sanctum and I’ve set your purchase price at five-hundred-dollars. This also includes the title to the Escalade… speaking of which… I still need to have that dent fixed.”

  The dent in question was owing to Joseph, the vampire, when I’d first met him and he’d attacked Lorcan and me. The two of them had tussled—right into the Escalade, denting the side of it. “I don’t care about the dent,” I said, still sounding awed.

  He handed the envelope to me and I eagerly accepted it. “I… I don’t even know what to say.”

  “Well, I have some stipulations of my own.”

  I frowned as I faced him. “What stipulations?”

  He pulled out another envelope from his pocket, opened it and unfolded a piece of paper. “This contract says that in order to purchase the duplex to claim sanctum, you agree to the following,” he started and then cleared his throat. “You will not kick Poppy and Finn out of Haven Hollow.”

  I nodded. “I wasn’t planning on kicking them out.”

  “Very good,” he answered and kept reading. “You will continue your place on the board of the council and you will defer to the council vote on things that affect more than just you as a witch.”

  “Okay.”

  “And…” he cleared his throat again as his eyes met mine. “You’ll agree to weekly dinners with me, on top of our attempts to reverse my Kiss with Betanya’s spells.”

  I frowned. “Working on Betanya’s spells goes without saying, but weekly dinners with you?”

  “That’s right,” he answered as he handed the paper to me with a pen. “I’m fully aware that you can now cut me out of your life and that would result in my departure into insanity and, as you can well imagine, that’s the last thing I want. Ensuring that you see me each week means I will get the time with you that I require.”

  “Lorcan,” I started as I accepted the paper and the pen, but I made no motion to sign anything. I was still too flabbergasted that he thought so little of me to come up with this additional contract in the first place. “Did you really think I would just leave you to your own defenses?”

  “I would not put it past you, no.”

  “You thought I’d just leave you to go insane? After everything you’ve done for me?” I was hurt, though I was surprised as to why. It wasn’t as though I cared about Lorcan deeply or did I? Maybe I was just becoming a nicer person? I wasn’t sure which was worse.

  “I wanted to make sure I dotted all my ‘I’s’ and crossed all my ‘T’s’ as they say,” he answered with a shrug. Then he turned away. “Let me know when you’re ready to write me a check and do the final sign-off.”

  “Lorcan, wait!” I scrambled after him as he started for the door. “Don’t go… don’t go please.”

  He turned back and then I just stood there and he stood there and we both just stared at each other for another few seconds.

  “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  I shook my head. “No, I mean it. Thank you, Lorcan. Thank you for everything. You don’t know what this means to me… all of it. I know I’ve been prickly and I know I’ve done and said things that haven’t been fair.”

  “Wanda,” he started, but I stopped him by holding up my hand. I needed him to hear me.

  “I know I’m not the easiest person to get along with and… well… you don’t know how grateful I am for… for you—for everything you do. And, just for the record, no matter what you think of me… I could never cut you out of my life and I… I couldn’t… I wouldn’t want to face my life without… you in it. You make this whole rotten situation bearable.”

  His eyes widened. For a second, I thought he might try to kiss me, but instead, he just reached out and took my hand, squeezing it. Then he released it again and from his mannerisms, it seemed he wanted to leave, though I wasn’t sure why.

  “I hope you claiming sanctum helps to keep you protected from whoever is after you, Wanda. That’s why I did it.” He grew quiet for a few seconds. “And I hope this allows you to… trust me a bit more.”

  “I do trust you,” I blurted. “You’ve proven again and again that I can count on you. You might be the one person in my life I can count on.”

  “That isn’t true. You have Poppy.”

  “Yes, but Poppy… isn’t you.”

  Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. I didn’t want to let go. “Thank you.”

  He cleared his throat. He appeared… uncomfortable. “Go fill out the paperwork and let’s get this done. Then we can get to work on Betanya’s formula and try to reverse the curse.”

  “Okay,” I said and leaning down, I signed the second contract and handed it back to him. He accepted it with a nod. “The other contract is going to take a little bit longer,” I said.

  “You can fill it out tomorrow.”

  I nodded and then we both just stood there as I searched for the courage to ask him the question that had been filling my head all night. “Lorcan?”

  “Yes?”

  “What Janice and Adrian said… about you losing interest in them?”

  He shook his head. “Adrian and Janice are not you.”

  “But…”

  “But nothing.”

  “Did you… did you date them?” I asked, hating how my voice sounded—like I was a little mouse.

  “‘Date’ is not the word I would use, my dear,” he answered with a shake of his head. “Regardless, Janice and Adrian are not the type of women who would hold my interest for long and they never have.”

  “They seemed… irritated about that.”

  “They are irritated about most things.” He gave me a large grin that made my heartrate pick up again. “Now, was that all?”

  “I guess so.”

  I was suddenly overcome with the need to kiss him and I had to wonder if it was Dev’s magical influence that was driving me towards him or if it was me acting of my own accord.

  “Very well, I will bid you a good evening,” Lorcan said and turned, starting for the front door. Then he paused and turned to face me. “And well done with the enchanted suit, I believe it had something to do with Rupert’s granting us a bit more time.”

  I just gave him a smile and nodded. “Goodnight, Lorcan.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  I picked up the envelope and untied the string. Then I paged through the sales agreement. Everything seemed to be in order. Lorcan had even included an appraisal dated six months ago—when I moved to Haven Hollow. He must have bought the duplex right before I came to town. He’d bought it and every other available house in Haven Hollow to stop me from claiming sanctum.

  I checked all the details, but my stomach turned to water when I read the purchase price. $500, just like he’d said. He was selling me this duplex for $500. He must have been out of his mind.

  Of course he wasn’t out of his mind. He was doing me a favor because… because he cared about me. I wasn’t sure why, but that information sat like a lump in my throat.

  I picked up my phone and checked my bank balance. $2,000. That meant I had more than enough to pay my rent and to purchase the duplex. Maybe I’d even have enough to purchase a few pieces of furniture from Craigslist…

  I texted Lorcan and told him I’d be ready to sign the papers tomorrow evening after sundown. That would give him a chance to get some sleep after being out all day and night.

  I tossed the documents on the floor as I realized what this meant. This was amazing: I’d be able to complete the sanctum spell and then… hmmm, while I might be safer with this added level of protection, I wouldn’t be completely safe. There was still Rupert to consider and how he’d been adamant that I come up with a permanent solution or pay the consequences.

  I picked up Betanya’s journal again, but decided to get myself something to eat while I studied the formula. I went to the kitchen. Henner had repaired the fridge from the corpse raid, well, as much as he was able to. I opened it to see the gleaming white surfaces and scrubbed shelves. Immediately, my eyes went to the bottle of wine that was still halfway full.

  Considering how things had been going lately, I elected not to drink anything alcoholic. Goddess only knew what kind of havoc I could wreak if I got hammered and passed out on the floor. Instead, I took out the canister of coffee and filled up the pot with water as I decided to make this pot extra strong. As soon as it started brewing, I grabbed a box of pistachio nuts I found in the pantry and a carton of Astrid’s pineapple juice. Then I carried my meal back to the living room, but when I got ready to sit down, another knock on the door stopped me. I left my goods there and went to see who it was.

  Lorcan peered at me with a smile.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised.

  “Have you forgotten we’re meant to sign the papers?” he responded as I opened the door and he walked in.

  “I said we’d sign them tomorrow,” I corrected, frowning up at him.

  He froze as he looked at me and furrowed his eyebrows. “Tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, tomorrow.”

  “Wanda…” he started, and his expression of confusion turned to one of concern.

  “What?”

  He spoke slowly and carefully, like I might have trouble understanding English. “It is tomorrow. You said that yesterday.”

  “That’s impossible. I was just…” I glanced toward the living room and found it fully furnished with the same furniture I’d had before—all in perfect condition which… made… no… sense. I’d just been looking at Betanya’s journal—again. How could…

  I was looking at Betanya’s journal when I had the dream about the ghosts and the zombies. Did I just… I must have… what did the mundanes call it? Losing time. I’d lost time. In fact, the more I considered it, the more I realized I had no memory of the last twenty-four hours at all. And how the furniture in my living room was back, including the gramophone… nothing computed.

  Lorcan heaved an almighty sigh. “Let’s go get those papers signed, and you can do the sanctum spell. Do you have everything you need?”

  I grabbed the paperwork, all the while in a daze, as I tried to retrace my steps for the last twenty-four hours. At least the envelope was in the same place on the… coffee table. No, I’d left it on the floor because there was no coffee table… I hooked my handbag over my shoulder and put my phone in it.

  “Did you write me a check?” Lorcan asked.

  “Not yet. But, I’ll just transfer the funds instead. It’ll be faster.” I took out my phone and opened my bank app… and almost fell over. My balance was $400, not even enough to pay this month’s rent.

  I stared at my phone in mounting horror.

  “What’s wrong?” Lorcan whispered.

  I tapped my bank app with shaking fingers just on the dim chance I’d transferred the funds while I was out of my mind. No such luck. In fact, there was no record of any outgoing payments at all. Like something out of a horror movie, my balance said I’d never had the money in the first place.

  My knees turned to jelly, and I slumped on the couch. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. Just when I had safety within my grasp, it had slipped right through my fingers.

  Lorcan sat down next to me. I didn’t mind when he put his arm around my shoulders. “What is it, Wanda? What’s going on?”

  I held up the phone so he could see the balance. I couldn’t say the words. They were too horrible and, furthermore, too confusing. What was happening to me?

  “I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” Lorcan breathed in my ear.

  I looked at him but said nothing. I just felt… numb.

  “We’ll drive to the notary office and I’ll fill out another sales agreement,” he continued. “I’ll lower the sales price to $200 and we’ll sign the papers right there, okay?”

  “What about my rent?” I asked in a hollow voice. I couldn’t afford to pay both.

  “You won’t have to pay rent this month… clearly you don’t have enough to cover it.”

  I just nodded—it was all I could manage.

  “We’ll get this done today. We won’t let anything stop us. I’ll lower the price to $50 if I have to.”

  I was shaking too badly to respond. I rested my elbows on my knees and covered my face with my hands. Staring into the darkness of my palms, I tried to grasp what in the name of spell was going on. “Lorcan, I just looked at my bank account and I had $2,000 dollars.”

  “When did you look at it?”

  “Right before you came over.” I shook my head. “And now… now I have next to nothing.”

  I had to have been losing my mind. That was the only explanation I could come up with. I’d lost my memory of the last twenty-four hours and not only lost more than $500 but somehow inexplicably never had it in the first place. Which was real? Had I originally had the money and lost it, or had it never even existed?

  Never mind. Lorcan was here, and thanks to his inexhaustible generosity, I was going to own the duplex either way. I could still claim sanctum.