Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon Investigations Book 5) (3 page)

That was paramount.

Once, he tried to jump out to scare her, only Bethany had warned her. Instead of messing with his wife, he found himself wearing a cup full of water as Tori stood over him.

He’d learned his lesson, and Tori had made her point. She was armed with a weapon he didn't understand.

They were chosen to carry this burden, but also got a piece of the reward. Julian had come to grips with it.

Only, Tori wasn’t the only one with a buddy.

Nyx had a tagalong too.

Trey Christensen, Tori and Beau’s deceased brother, had moved in too. He’d worked his Voodoo from the other side and found his brother and sister.

Now he was making camp in Nyx and Tori’s heads.

Frankly, it was awkward.

When you knew Bethany was watching you, it gave you the willies, but Julian had learned to overlook it. When Trey was hanging out, it made Julian nervous.

He was a brother, and he got it. Trey was
very
possessive of his sister. Wherever she was, he wasn’t far behind. He had begun body hopping, and Nyx was able to get a break from hearing him in her head. There were days he’d find Tori talking to the radios in each of their rooms.

He had two ghosts haunting his building, and he couldn’t escape it. His life had gone off the rails, and he was helpless to stop it.

When the dead said jump, they had no choice but to listen to them.

The worst part?

Trey and Bethany didn't seem to plan to move out. Short of an exorcism, he was stuck with them.

Even now, as he was sitting in his office, he knew someone was around. Tori was at her desk, not far away, cleaning her gun, and the papers beside her were slightly rustling.

There were no windows.

Yet there was a breeze.

That meant one thing—someone was near.

“Who’s here?” Julian finally asked. The hairs on his arms were beginning to stand. There was someone breathing down his neck.

It gave him the willies.

“I said…who is here?”

The radio clicked on to answer his question.

“Me.”

Julian glared at it.

Tori started laughing, not even glancing over at her husband. She could hear the irritation in his voice.

“Do we have to have that in here?” he asked. “It’s creepy as all hell. I never know when it’s going on, and he does it to scare me.”

Tori winked at him. “He’s my brother, Jules. You let your brother hang out here. I don’t see why mine can’t do the same.”

Really?

She didn’t see the difference in that?

He stared at her. “Uh, my freaking brother is alive. Yours is not. I think that’s the big difference on this one, Tor! Trey is a ghost.”

Tori headed his way. “Oh, Jules, stop being silly. Just ignore him.”

A breeze blew through the office, scattering his papers all over the floor. “Trey! Knock it off!”

The radio hopped stations to various laughter.

“Really, ignore it.”

How the hell was he supposed to do that? He had a dead soldier haunting his office. That wasn’t the simplest thing to forget about.

“It’s hard to ignore, Tori, and you know it.”

She was well aware.

At first, they had thought that Trey would head to the apartment Beau and Nyx were renting, and he had…except when she came to work downstairs, Trey would pop in.

Trey liked to be around his sister and brother, and they didn’t mind. Tori really believed her husband was overreacting to the entire thing. What was a little haunting when you could reunite with your deceased loved one?

Tori sat in his lap and kissed him, as she tried to calm him down. The mating of lips was full of love.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll take more of that,” Julian stated when his wife finally set his mouth free. “That was just what the Native needed.”

“Yuck!”
stated the radio.
“Get a room!”

Julian wanted to tell him off, but Tori reclaimed his mouth with hers. Screw the dead guy in the room. Julian had a living woman in his lap. That was a really awesome thing and he wasn’t going to let this kiss go to waste.

As Tori ran her hands through his hair, she could feel his fingers rubbing across her baby bump. Veronica was kicking and swimming all over the place at his touch.

It was magical.

They were going to be parents.

Tori was creating a life from both of them.

When Julian pulled away, his eyes were full of emotion. “I love you. I can’t imagine my life without you or Veronica. I am blessed beyond words.”

Tori felt the same way.

“I hope I do you both proud. Veronica is lucky to have you as a mother.”

She knew he was going to be a great father, but her mothering skills were still up in the air. With each day, and his positive reinforcement, she began believing him.

Julian’s reassurance helped her stay calm. Her big fear was that she was going to be a waste of skin like her biological uterus, Shelby.

Speaking of the evil witch…

“Have we heard from that bitch?”

She didn’t have to tell him who
‘that bitch’
was. Julian was well aware of who his wife was talking about.

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?”

Julian wouldn’t tell her if they did hear from her. Tori’s mother was hiding out, and that was good for all of them.

“Yes, I am.”

“Good.”

The lights flickered, flashing some secret code that only Tori seemed to understand.

It made Julian nervous.

This was a sure sign that Bethany was making her presence known. Whenever Tori was upset, Bethany would pop in to cheer her up.

“Thanks, Bethany,” she said, touching the spot on her cheek where she could feel the icy kiss. “I love you too.”

Julian was still adjusting to it.

Tori was getting stronger and stronger as a medium. Before, she had to zone out to talk to her, but apparently, that wasn’t the case anymore. His wife could keep one foot on both planes of existence.

“What do we have on the schedule for today?” Tori asked, curling into Julian’s body. They fit perfectly together, and any time she could cuddle with her sexy Native husband, she was going to take it.

That was one of the perks of being the boss.

“We have a new client meeting this morning, Christina is still at home, Kane is losing it, Justin and Viv are happy, and so are Beau, Nyx, Beckett, and Claire.”

“And us?”

“You’re in my lap, honey. That’s the epitome of a damn good day for me. I didn’t even have to trick you either. You’re either getting easy or I’m getting some mad skills.”

She laughed at his silliness as she tucked a strand of silky brown hair behind his ear.

“I think it’s the latter. You’re a wild man, Jules. I’m going to the HR department to complain about you sexually harassing me.”

He yanked open his desk drawer and pulled out a plaque that his brother had gotten him. It said, ‘HR’.

Tori snorted as he placed it on his desk. “What would the problem be, little lady?”

“My boss likes to play grab ass in the office.”

He pretended to ponder it. “I don’t see the problem. Your complaint is dismissed.”

Tori hugged him.

God!

She loved her husband.

“Aren’t we missing a staff member in that lineup?” she asked.

“We are. Roman called earlier. He’s running late. He had something personal to handle this morning, and I figured he was doing so damn well that he had earned it.”

Tori agreed.

Roman was turning into an MVP. He was singlehandedly dealing with Shelby Christensen in the media, and he was assisting with all of the cases until he had his license to investigate.

He owned it, and that was always a good thing.

“I like him.”

Julian stared at her. “And?”

She laughed.

Tori knew what her husband was waiting for from her. From the first day he began with the company, this was coming.

“And you were right. Hiring him was a good call, and I shouldn’t have questioned your gut. You are the wind beneath my wings, and I should learn to trust you more.”

Julian went to make a comment, but Trey beat him to it.

“You. The. Man,”
chimed the radio.
“How. Do. We. Live. Without. You. In. Charge?”

Tori laughed as her husband scowled.

“Some of us aren’t living, and I don’t think I need to tell you who.”

“Touché.”

“Besides, if I was
‘the man’
, you’d be on the short end of a Catholic priest’s holy water bottle—you and Bethany. Apparently, we know who’s in charge here, and it’s not me.”

There was laughter from both Trey and Tori.

“You. Love. Me. Bro.”

Julian growled, earning more laughter.

It looked like Trey wasn’t buying it. Julian would never exorcize Tori’s ghosts, and they all knew it. As far as anyone in the office was concerned, they were off limits.

Even Christina, who didn’t believe, didn’t make comments when it came to them. Tori had laid down the law. Her brother and Bethany were her family now too.

Before Julian could say more, Lena buzzed the office. It looked like they had to start their day.

“Bosses, your new client is here. Should I have her wait out here, or set her up in a conference room?”

“Get her some coffee and make her comfortable. NO FLIRTING!”

“I’m into men this week, so she’s safe, but I’d like to go on the record and say that you’re no fun.”

Yeah, he heard that a lot.

“Like. A. Toothache,”
stated the radio, flipping to find the right words.
“Someone. Needs. To. Chill. Out.”

“I’m getting a damn rosary and my own bottle of holy water. How hard could it be to get rid of him?” he muttered.

“Very. Hard. Tori. Is. Mine.”

“Correction. She’s mine. You get to watch from the other side. This babe is my girl.”

Tori was amused.

“Calling. Divorce. Attorney.”

Julian began sputtering at those words. Trey knew which buttons to push.

“Shut up, Trey! Tori, tell your dead brother to stay out of the meeting and if he calls any attorney, I will kick his ass out of here!”

“Trey, hang out here please.”

“Yes. Ma’am.”

Julian growled. “One day, I’ll have control again!”

Tori took his hand in hers, twining their fingers together. She hated to be the bearer of bad news, but the odds were not in his favor on that one, and they both knew it.

Julian was out of his league on this one.

Trey was staying.

Bethany was part of her.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to win this battle.

“Let’s go meet Matilda Boyd. Let’s see what she has to propose. Her case sounded interesting, and I’m intrigued,” Tori offered.

“No ghosts!”

Tori wasn’t sure if he meant in the case, or in the meeting. With Julian, one could never tell. He was a man on the edge, so silently, she sent a warning to Bethany.

‘Stay here.’

She got her reply.

Apparently, her ghosts were in a magnanimous mood. She’d take it.

As they headed down, Tori focused on the task at hand. It was time to get back to work. They’d played enough.

In the end, there were people to help, lives to save, and money to make.

This was their thing, and they were going to rock it.

Again.

       
         
* * *
  L   i   t   t   l  e  m  o  o  n  * * *

Church

He always went to a holy place on this day. No matter where he was in the world, working on a story, it mattered to him. Today was one of those moments where he had to commemorate their lives. It wasn’t for them.

Although, that seemed like what he was doing at first, it wasn’t the truth.

It was for him.

Every second of being in that church was about how he needed to feel to get through it. This day was so hard, and the fight, spunk, and drive were always sucked out of him the second he crossed it off his calendar.

Today was his day of hell.

It was the day that kicked off death.

Roman wished there were other ways to celebrate their lives and deaths, but he couldn’t get to their graves. They were buried on the grounds of the school, and he didn't have the heart to dig them up.