Good Will Ghost Hunting: Hell's Bells [Good Will Ghost Hunting 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (21 page)

Will gave what he hoped was a noncommittal shrug. “Kal is still pure, if that’s your point, sir.” Will knew damn well that was his point, but he was too mentally exhausted to spend the evening verbally jousting with his soon-to-be father-in-law. “And I plan for her to stay that way until after I’ve made her my wife.” Well, it was the truth even if Will meant it differently than the Reverend would take it. Her soul was still pure although she was now his soul mate and bonded to him.

The Reverend smiled before laughing. “I have to admit, you have a very strong backbone, don’t you? You aren’t the least bit afraid to stand up to me. Not many men would have that kind of fortitude.”

“I’m not many men. I’m just myself.”

Reverend Martin slowly nodded. “I’m still not quite sure what you are exactly, Will Hellenboek. My daughter, however, is devoted to you. I sense you’re just as devoted to her, so I suppose it’s not my place to interfere. Even if I suspect you’re more than what you appear.”

Will knew Laura Martin was asleep upstairs, so it was just the two of them downstairs. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “I’ve seen things in my life you would never believe, sir.”

“Ah, the dance around the issue game.” Reverend Martin’s eyes twinkled. “I enjoy that as much as the next man.”

“What do you want me to tell you?”

“What’s out there? Really out there? I’m curious.”

“What does your faith tell you?”

“You know, you and I haven’t had many discussions on that topic, have we?”

“Is it relevant to the fact that I love Kal with all my heart and soul, and that I would die to protect her?”

“Not really. You still didn’t answer my question.”

Will smiled. “I’m an archdemon, one of the Protectors. Think
Men in Black
without the aliens. That’s what we do. Contrary to popular belief, we’re actually the good guys.”

Reverend Martin’s eyes widened
before
he laughed again. When he finally quit laughing
,
he waved his hand at Will. “Dang it, you are a smart aleck, aren’t you? Great sense of humor. No wonder Kal loves you.” He settled back into his chair with an amused snort. “Archdemons. That’s a good one. Next thing you’ll be telling me is Hell is in Cincinnati.”

“Not quite. Atlanta.”

Reverend Martin grinned. “You should write books. You’re good. They could make a movie.” He held out his hands, marking off an invisible movie marquee sign. “Good Will the Ghost Hunter.” He laughed again. “That would be a real hoot.”

“Yes,” Will agreed with a playful smile. “It sure would be a hoot.”

* * * *

A few nights later, Kal and her mom sat at the kitchen table as they addressed more wedding invitations. Kal didn’t know most of the people her mom had invited.

Laura looked across the table at her daughter and smiled. Not a normal smile, but the kind that Kal knew imparted motherly amusement sometimes best left unspoken.

Kal was tired of it. “What, Mom?”

“He’s a very handsome man.”

Kal blushed. While she was pretty comfortable with her sex life with Will, she dang sure didn’t want to talk about it with her mother. Especially when her mom assumed she wasn’t having sex yet. “Yes, he is.”

Laura put down her pen. “Did I ever tell you about the day you were conceived?”

Horror
-
struck, Kal nearly gagged. “Um, Mom, no offense, but too much information!”

“No, dear. I wasn’t going to get that detailed.” Laura clasped her hands on the table in front of her and apparently searched for the words. “Your father and I tried for a while to have children. A few years. Eventually I came to peace with the fact that maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.” She wistfully smiled. “I spent so many nights praying to God to bless us with a baby. I didn’t care, boy or girl, whatever He saw fit to give to us.

“I remember that day, plain as yesterday. I was sitting here in this kitchen, trying to decide what to make for a church bake sale. I’d promised I’d give them a cake and wanted to make something other than a sour cream pound cake. It’s what I always made.”

Kal knew her mom had a point and wished she’d hurry the heck up and get to it because the conversation was squicking her out.

Laura Martin continued. “You’re going to think I’m crazy. I know your father still thinks I am. I was going through my cookbook and I felt a presence. I looked up and…there was this angel standing there. As clear as you are.”

Kal arched an eyebrow. “Angel?”

“I told you you’d think I’m crazy. He was so sad, so sweet. The funny thing is I even remember his cologne. It was like he was a real person, standing right there.” She pointed to the corner. “Not like some vision. He spoke in this very soft voice, looked like he’d been crying. He had the most beautiful green eyes.”

“Did he have wings?”

“This is my story, young lady.”

Kal snorted, now
pretending to
pay
total
attention. “Okay. Sorry.”
She really didn’t want to hear this. It was bad enough knowing her parents had sex at least once. She didn’t want to hear the details.

Laura nodded. “And no, he didn’t have wings. At first I thought he’d broken into the house until I realized he wasn’t human. I don’t know how I knew. He told me… well, what to do. Told me I would have a beautiful baby girl.”

Laura smiled, her mental eye focused on that day in the past. “He even told me to name you Kalyani, said it was Sanskrit for ‘beautiful.’ I looked it up later, he was right.” She returned her gaze to Kal. “He told me to raise you right, in our faith, and that you would grow up to marry someone very special. He disappeared and I went to get your father. Nine months almost to that very day, you were born. And here you are, and you are marrying someone very special.”

Kal couldn’t help it. Part of that she could believe, because her mother had taught English, probably subconsciously remembered the name from a book or something. But the rest? “White robe? Halo? Heavenly choir backup singers?”

“No, that’s the odd thing. He was dressed like a normal man. Even though he spoke very softly, I’ll never forget that he had a British accent.” She smiled and blushed, a little self-conscious now that her confession was out. “Your father always said I was most likely daydreaming, or had dozed off over my cookbook and dreamed it. It doesn’t matter, really, does it? You’re here, just like he said you would be.”

* * * *

Reverend Martin hung in there, determined to fulfill his promise to his daughter despite his increasing reliance upon pain medication and his deteriorating physical condition. Two days before the wedding, Will, Aidan, and Jeff checked into a nearby hotel. Not that they were actually sleeping there, but more for appearance
’s
sake with Kal’s parents.

Kal spent a lot of time there with Will and fought the urge to hit the hotel room’s mini bar. Will laughed and took her into his arms, kissing her, distracting her
,
and helping her with at least a little of her nerves. There was still a tiny part of her terrified that half her wedding party would explode in flames and smoking brimstone upon entering the church, despite their amused assurances that they wouldn’t.

They held the rehearsal the afternoon before their wedding. When Will knew Kal had hit the limit her nerves could take, he gathered Aidan and Jeff and drove them all to the church to wait for the others even though they were nearly a half hour early. Jeff enjoyed taking pictures and video and kept them all laughing, and, most importantly, kept Kal distracted. The official photographer and videographer would arrive shortly, as would Purs, Gery, Becky
,
and
Kal’s friend
Mia,
her
other bridesmaid.

When Kal saw her parents pull up, she hurried outside to meet them and help her mom with her dad. Will stayed inside with the others at Kal’s insistence. She wanted a little time alone with her parents to make sure they were okay.

Especially her father.

When Ryan walked around the corner of the church, Kal couldn’t explain the little thump her heart made when she saw him. It was like he always stirred a distant part of her in a way she didn’t understand. Maybe she didn’t want to. When Ryan saw Kal trying to help her father out of the car
,
he hurried over, concern on his face, and offered his arm.

“Thanks, Ryan,” Kal gratefully said.

Her father looked up, recognizing him perhaps? Kal experienced a split
second of panic until Ryan gently shouldered her aside and gripped her father’s other hand. “How are you? Reverend Martin, I presume?”

“Do I know you?” His eyes narrowed as if thinking about it.

“Kal’s told me about you, shown me family pictures when I was talking to her and Will. I’m Ryan Ausar. I’m performing the ceremony.”

Her father relaxed and smiled, allowing Ryan to help him from the car. Kal didn’t know how Ryan was smoothing over the information in her father’s mind that he was also her boss and had encountered him the night of the “Ohio
S
hoot
I
ncident.”

She didn’t want to know.

Her mother had walked around the back of the car to get things from the trunk. When Kal, Ryan, and her father reached the front door of the church, her father stopped and patted Ryan’s arm.

“Thank you, I’m fine from here.” He walked ahead with Kal while Kal’s mom caught up.

“Mr. Ausar? Just a moment please—” Ryan turned
,
and her jaw gaped. She would have dropped the armful of decorations had he not swooped in to help.

“Are you all right, Mrs. Martin?”

Her voice sounded little more than a shocked whisper. “You!”

* * * *

Mentally, Ryan winced. How could he have been so
stupid
to forget this detail?

“Yes, Mrs. Martin?”

She stepped closer, studying his face. “It’s you!”

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what you mean.” Of course he knew damn well what she meant.

She smiled, a delighted look on her face. “You’re him! My angel!”

Ryan tried what he hoped was a kind smile and not a sick
-
to
-
his
-
stomach one.
This is what becoming emotionally involved gets you, you stupid fuck.
“I’ve been called a lot of things in my life, madam, but I don’t think an angel is one of them.” Well, that
was
the truth.

Sort of.

She shook her head in stunned disbelief. “Who are you?
What
are you?”

“Well, I’m performing the ceremony for your daughter and her fiancé. They are close friends of mine, not merely employees.”

He handed her the decorations and in the process touched and firmly gripped her wrist. Her eyes clouded over as he poured every ounce of energy he safely could into her.

“Mrs. Martin,” he murmured, “I know I look familiar, but it’s just that I bear a striking resemblance to someone you once met. That was over twenty-six years ago. I can’t possibly be the same man.”

She shook her head, her eyes wide. “No,” she whispered. “You can’t be the same man.”

“I might look like that person, but I am
not
him.”

“You look just like the angel that came to me and told me I would have Kal.”

“That’s very flattering, and I’m sure it’s a quite an amusing coincidence, but I am
not
him.” Thank the gods Kal and the others were inside. Ryan’s pulse frantically raced. He struggled to bring it under control and wash the realization of his true identity from her mind.

Laura Martin nodded. “You’re not him. But you look and sound and smell just like him. I remember the cologne he wore. I’ve never forgotten it. And you’re still wearing it. He looked so sad, like he’d been crying. You don’t look sad now, but you have his same green eyes.”

“Thank you. You won’t mention your thoughts about this to anyone, however, because I am
not
that man.” He gently squeezed her wrist. “Now, did you have a question about the wedding ceremony?” He released her arm and she blinked.

“Oh, yes, I wanted to ask you about the wedding ceremony.” They walked into the church as Ryan took a deep, relieved breath.

That was too close for comfort.

Will “spent the night” at the hotel. The euphemistic term for him going out to dinner with Aidan, Jeff, Gery, and Purs, and then popping back to Tampa to sleep at home. Aidan had promised Kal he wouldn’t bring Will to the church hungover and sick.

“Sugar, we’re archdemons. We’ve got a concrete constitution for that kind of stuff.”

Kal glared at Aidan. “I don’t care what kind of constitution you’ve got. You better take care of him, or I’ll knock your block off.”

Jeff playfully smiled. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “I’ll keep them out of trouble.”

Will smirked. “You and what army?”

Truth be told, Kal suspected there wouldn’t be any wildness going on. Will wasn’t the type, and Aidan knew she’d strangle all of them. At least she didn’t have to worry about them going to a strip club.

Now if Purs had planned the evening, then she might be concerned.

Kal tossed and turned half the night. She wasn’t used to sleeping alone. It felt strange and alien to not have Will next to her. She’d never realized before how much she depended on him, how his presence soothed her. When her alarm went off at seven that morning, Becky blasted through Kal’s bedroom door barely a minute later.