Evangelina Green (25 page)

"What’s happening, Keaton?" She was
frightened.

"It’s just the bonding, Angel...we’re
connecting to each other—heart to heart—our souls are recognizing
each other."

She loved the way he explained it. She
thought it was poetic and romantic. He was surging into her now and
the connection was getting stronger with every lunge. Lina was
beginning to hear him in her head. He adored her. He thought she
was amazing and smart and beautiful!

"Me? Beautiful?"

He gritted his teeth in a
smile that told her he was close...so close. Keaton had her
spiraling, spinning. The sensations were shattering! Then it hit.
Between the soul matching, the pure physical feelings of Keaton
pounding into her from behind, his growl of “
MINE
!"

The sounds of them slapping skin to skin was
so sexy. She could feel his sac against her every time he pushed
his huge, hard cock inside her. She could hear the wet sucking
noise of her body trying to hold him in. All combined it was the
most erotic, hot, emotional, sensual, sexy, amazing... Taking.
Giving. Loving.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Lina woke to hear Netta in
the kitchen yelling,
“Be gone!”
and laughing like a loon. She just moaned and
rolled over for just a few more minutes but she slept hard and had
another odd dream. She was with the owl again, flying over the
mansion. The green glow coming from the attic was important. She
tried to see, but her flight didn't take her any closer than the
previous dreams.

Suddenly she wasn’t flying any longer but
was standing in the mansion. She was in the dining room as it
apparently used to look. She stood looking around at the ornate
carved furniture and fancy antiques. She smiled at the really awful
wallpaper. It was really over the top, but it kind of felt like
home.

A dark haired, slim and very tall man walked
into the room. Apparently he couldn’t see her while she dreamed. He
walked to the fireplace and pressed on a stone from the surround. A
cabinet clicked open above the mantle. He looked over his shoulder
to assure himself no one was watching. Slowly he pulled the cabinet
doors open to expose...

"Lina? Are you up
yet?”
Damn! What was in the
cabinet?

All these cryptic color hints and vague,
mumbo-jumbo innuendos were gonna drive her past insane.

"No, Netta, I’m not
up
, but I am
awake…
now. What’s the
matter?”

From outside the door came a giggle.

"Nothing...but it’s after
one o’clock and I thought maybe you were sick! Or maybe had
some
company
?"
She added with another giggle.

Lina wished she had
company. Keaton had disappeared during the night.
Company, huh?
She knew
exactly who she’d have...and have...and have...she ended that
fantasy with a sigh.

"You can come in, Netta,
I’m alone and I’m not sick, although I’m sick of being alone!” She
chuckled at her own joke. Netta came bounding in, her face flushed
and eyes sparkling. It was the first time in a long time that Lina
had seen her look so good.
Hmm, wonder if
Tomas had anything to do with that??

"What is on the agenda for today? Do you
need to go to town? Are we going to work in the garden? Are you
hungry? I have some left over bacon from breakfast. You could have
a yummy BLT or I could heat up some of that chicken we had?
Anything sound good?”

Lina groaned. “I hate mornings!”

But Netta argued. "That’s
why I waited to come up here until now! It’s not morning any
longer! So
there
!"

She jumped up onto the bed and chewed her
lower lip, a telling habit when she was worried.

"I need to ask you
something and I don’t know how to put it or if I
should...
oh crap
... I should just spit it out."

Lina braced for something terrible.

"Is it possible to be in
love with a ghost? Wait… and if you are in love, say with a ghost,
ya know, and when you’re asleep and dream of that certain ghost,
and the two of you...ya know...kinda have, relations, is that
real?
Oh God
,
what’s wrong with me? I can’t even attract a “real” guy?! But Lina!
Oh, Tomas is so...hmm let’s see what’s the word? Carnal! yeah,
that’s it. And I...what? Why are you looking at me like
that?”

Lina was smiling and trying not to laugh out
loud at her darling little sister. Though they were all
approximately the same age they always thought of her as the baby,
when in fact she was older than Lina by a month or so.

"I love you! You are
adorable, beautiful, caring and you’re worried because a man loves
you. So what if he’s not corporeal. If he can, uh… perform while
you’re sleeping and together, who cares? Oh I know, it could be a
little awkward bringing him to Sunday dinner with the family but
we’ll deal with that when and if it comes up. For now, I say go for
it and enjoy yourself! It doesn’t appear to hurt
him
and it sure seems to
have a beneficial effect on you! I’ve never seen you so
glow-y
!”

She leaned over to hug her
sister and told her she loved her. That just made Netta cry, which
in turn made Lina cry, then they both exploded in laughter
and
that
made
them cry!
Sisters!
Geeesh
.

"There’s more Lina. I’ve
had dreams lately of a woman.
No
! Not that way, and actually it’s
two women, although I can’t see the woman on the bed very well. The
standing woman is dressed fully in white. Long flowing fabric like
you’d expect in a dream." She chuckled in a nervous
twitter.

"The woman in white has her hands over the
woman on the bed. She’s dressed in blue by the way, kinda reminds
me of a nun. Anyway...white’s hands are kinda glowing a white light
onto the blue lady and she’s groaning. I don’t know if it’s a good
groan or if she’s hurting her until...” She halted and turned
away.

"What, honey? Are you okay? You know you
don’t have to talk about it right now." Lina looked and sounded
concerned.

“
No, it’s not that. But I
don’t want to get my hopes up and I don’t want you to either. It’s
just that well...the white lady walks right up to me, puts her
hands on either side of my face and smiles...like she knows me,
then I wake up. The funny thing is, I always feel so much better. I
hardly ever dream more than that. It’s like a looped video, someone
or something is trying to keep me from finding out too much. Does
any of that make sense?” She was pleading.

Lina knew she wanted
someone to believe her, and funny thing was...Lina did!
Lordy! With their history of late? What made
sense anymore? Dream healers? Why not?

"I don’t care if it makes sense but it
sounds like it could be true. The best part is you feel better!
Don’t care how or why, just that it continues. Oh honey, don’t
worry anymore and one more thing, missy! Don’t you ever hold
anything back again! We need to tell each other everything.

Lina softened the admonishment with a loving
smile and then changed in a flash, surprising Netta.

"Lunch time. I’ll make some iced tea and I
will have that BLT. Hurry down or I won’t leave you any."

Lina ran around Netta, racing her down the
winding stairs, laughing. Jason was sitting in the kitchen, sipping
from a soda can, smiling at the sisters. It was good to see them
happy.

He’d returned last night as promised and
heard, damn his wolf ears, Keaton and Lina together, so he hadn’t
stayed. Jealousy raised its ugly head but Jason knew he wasn’t
ready for a mate just yet. Fate didn’t care if he was ready though.
He just felt he needed to get the bachelor out of his system before
he settled down. He was still very young in shifter years.

"Have you heard anything about where Tashi
and Victor are being held?” A somber Lina asked. The fun was over
and now was the time to deal with real life.

"Actually, Keaton brought us some
information and we’re checking into it now. I assume he didn’t have
time...to uhhh...tell you?” His grin was impish and evil! Lina had
to laugh, even though she was blushing.

"Congratulations by the way and welcome to
the family!”

Netta was watching, fascinated and
curious.

“
Uhhh, Lina? Jason? Whose
family?” Netta looked worried.

“
Keaton is my second or
third cousin but in the shifter world, we’re all basically family.
Now that Keaton has claimed Lina as his mate...”

“
What
!” Netta screeched. She hated doing that but lately it seemed
appropriate. "What does that mean,
claimed
?"

Lina was calm. “It just means that Keaton
and I are a committed couple. Two people who are now one. It’s like
a marriage but in the shifter way."

Netta took a huge breath. Lina knew what her
next objection would be and cut her off.

"No! Don’t start with me. We will have a
wedding naturally, but not until we get Tashi back. Okay?”

Jason was sidestepping toward the back
door.

"So… now… other than giving Netta a stroke
and causing a little family trouble, I have nothing else to report,
sooooo... I’ll be going. Now.” He dashed out the door.

"Chicken!" Lina called after him.

It seemed silly to say things returned to
normal. Lina wasn’t sure what normal was now. She was in love
with—and married to—a werewolf. Her sister was apparently spending
time with a ghost, but only when she was asleep. A ghost that Lina
herself could see and converse with. Her other sister was kidnapped
and chained in some cave or dungeon by a black witch, with her
boyfriend...a vampire.

Yeah... allll normal.

Lina was having the dreams
more and more often and each time the detail in them was clearer.
She flew over the mansion and saw the green glow from the attic and
now she knew she had to find whatever it was up there. The nagging
feeling of
missing something
was getting stronger daily.

Most of the larger pieces of furniture had
been moved downstairs, so it was easier to see what else lurked in
the corners of the massive space. Lina was drawn to the children's
items. There were christening gowns that had to be antiques. They
had the long skirts that fell to the ground while the babe was
being held by a parent or godparent. They were all made of
intricate lace, all probably handmade and not just on the fancier
children’s clothing. It was everywhere. Hankies, table runners,
shawls, head scarves, like the kind Catholic women used to wear for
church, were stuffed into every box.

There were still quite a few boxes stacked
up along the walls. Linens, all white, filled at least eight large
boxes. They wouldn’t have to wash sheets for a year if they used
them. But they were the kind suited for the cotton stuffed
mattresses of another time, long ago passed. They’d been packed
well, carefully and apparently with love. None of them smelled old
or musty, as would normally be the case.

"I can’t believe how well everything has
held up.”

She turned to Netta, who hadn’t said
anything in a while. She was staring at the other end of the attic
with an odd look on her face, her arms wrapped around herself as if
cold.

"I feel like I’m being watched... it’s
evil…almost feels like it’s trying to get through the walls but
something is preventing that. It wants to hurt me, scratch me and
tear my skin. Make me bleed. I can hear it thinking those
words."

She turned around to Lina.
"Why? And better yet, why
me?"

Lina let her senses spread out. She often
did that when working with her ghost friends, so maybe it would
work here. Would it help her trying to find the evil?

"I can’t pick up anything.
Other than Tomas but he’s not in here with us, although he is near.
I think he senses it also. It’s some sort of vibration, coming from
the walls. Reach out your hand but don’t touch the wall. Get close
enough to see if you can
feel
the vibration. I need to know how it feels to
you… from someone not so in tune with ghosts."

Netta had an arm out and held her hand just
a hair’s width from the wall. She felt a tingle up her arm. It was
like an invisible barrier and an outside force was banging against
it like a battering ram, trying to get through.

"I can feel something shielding us or the
house but something evil is definitely trying to get in."

Lina nodded her head.

"Yeah, that kinda what I thought. I feel
something nasty behind that outside force. Think it could be that
witch? Martiss?"

They both pulled away from the wall and
stared at each other. Netta gasped.

“
Lina! Your eyes are
glowing! You look like a green lighthouse!" She was slowly backing
away.

"I do feel odd. Not bad, mind
you...just...kinda different.”

She turned her head a realized the glow
emanating from her eyes made the attic look different from
before... it was newer. None of this made sense. The wallpaper
pattern seemed crisper. The paint wasn’t peeling any longer but
looked freshly done. She was seeing the attic as it had been—long
ago. Lina stumbled around for Netta’s hand. The minute they clasped
hands, Netta was there with her.

"Oh my God! What are we looking at Lina?”
Netta’s voice was a reverent whisper.