Page 124 of Stone Cold Touch

“We need to check upstairs.”

Kitty followed us back through the house and up the stairs. There wasn’t enough light to make out the framed photos hanging on the wall, but they seemed like the family sort that might’ve been taken over the holidays.

There were only two bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom shared by both. One bedroom was a makeshift office and in the other, another small lamp had been left on.

The kitty dashed across the room and pounced onto the bed as soon as the door opened. There, she rolled onto her back, showing off a well-fed belly.

I petted the cat while Zayne checked out the bathroom. Unlike Roth’s kittens, this one didn’t try to kill me as I idly rubbed its belly.

It felt wrong being in here, all up in someone’s privacy. The bed wasn’t made. Pillows were haphazardly strewn across the head of the bed. Dresser drawers were left half open and there was a glass of water on the nightstand, next to a framed photo of a couple. Drawn to the picture, I left the kitty on the bed and picked up the photo, holding it under the light.

A tremor ran through my arm. I almost dropped the frame. “Oh my God.”

“What?” Zayne called.

I couldn’t speak as I stared at the photo. A man smiled at me. He was probably in his late twenties. He had his arm draped over the shoulders of a shorter woman.

A woman I’d seen before, although briefly.

Zayne came to my side, lowering the bag. “What is it?”

I was shaking as I handed the photo to him. “This is their house, right?”

He frowned as he took it. “I guess so. It would be weird for the owners to have another couple’s photo by the bed.”

Panic knifed through my chest. “I know her.”

“How?”

My knees felt weak. “It’sher—the cupcake.”

Confusion poured over his face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

There was a good chance my heart was going to beat itself out of my chest. “She’s the woman I fed off of Thursday night.”

Zayne dropped the bag, startling the cat. His throat worked. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I started to sit, but then I couldn’t bear to be still.

“How can you be sure? You saw her—”

“It’s her!” I shouted, pressing my hands against my lower stomach. Nausea rose. “Oh my God.”

“Wait.” He reached for me, but I edged away. “Just hold up a second. You fed off her and she walked away. Did she seem fine?”

“Yes, but you saw what happened to the lady at the foster home—to Vanessa.”

“We don’t know if that’s true and even if it was, you didn’t kill Vanessa.” He thrust a hand through his hair. “And you didn’t kill this one.”

“She’s dead. That’s a huge coincidence, right?” Sweat dotted my brow. That horrific thought from the night before came back. “What if...?”

Then I felt it.

Tiny hairs on my arms rose. The stench of something unnatural crept into the room like insidious smoke. The cat’s back arched like one of those Halloween cats’. Hissing, it darted off the bed and under it.

“Shit.” Zayne knelt, opening the bag. “We’ve got a wraith.”

“Of course we do,” I mumbled, numb to the core.

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