Page 30 of The Accidental Ghost

And he loosened his grip.

Ralph whipped around in time to see his face seconds before Darnell was there, scooping her up like a football, tucking her under his arm and making a run for it.

“Darnell?” she said in shock. She knew it was him because she’d seen him at Nina’s, changing that fuse that didn’t need to be changed, even if he didn’t know she’d seen him.

Flames whizzed past her eyes, howling whistled in her ears, heat flushed her face before Darnell, who huffed and puffed above her, made a sharp left and then they were falling, tumbling, as he held her tight against his side.

With another whoosh of air, Ralph landed back in Nina’s castle, almost exactly in the same spot as she’d been when she left.

The women and Shamus were all standing around Nina’s kitchen when she reentered. Their eyes wide.

“What the ever-lovin’ fuck?” Nina crowed, her eyes full of concern

She felt like she’d been hurled through space and time, her entire being jarred. Ralph shook her head in wonder. “I don’t know. It was hot. It was so bloomin’ hot, and there were flames and screams, and did I say it was hot? Dear Lord, was it hot.”

Wait, when she said all those words out loud, they added up to…

No.

No way.

“Hell,” Darnell provided. “She was in Hell.”

Chapter

Ten

Hell.

Yeah. That’s what all those words equaled.

“Hell?” Shamus repeated, his mouth falling open. “How did she get there?” He came to stand by her, peering at her with his beautiful eyes and scratching his beard. Lifting her chin, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“You mean, besides the guy who tried to choke me out with his kung-fu grip? Or that I just fell through the time/space continuum?—”

“That was a portal,” Darnell corrected, rocking back on his heels.

“Right. A portal. I fell through a portal. Then sure. I’m fine.”

Wanda hooked her arm through Darnell’s, giving him a peck on the cheek. “Hey, big guy. How are you? Missed you lately.”

He smiled fondly at her, giving her a squeeze with his beefy arm. “I’m fine, Boss. You good, too?”

She smiled warmly up at him. “I’m good. So how did you find our wayward ghost? Talk about random.”

He grinned at Ralph then. “I’m Darnell, by the way. The demon. Good to meet ya.”

He extended one of his enormous hands, and she tried to take it, but as was her new normal, it fell right through his in a wisp of billowy smoke.

“Sorry. Ghosts and their quirks, right?” she said on a laugh. “I’m Ralph Tucci. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

He cocked his head. “Finally?”

“Long story, big guy,” Nina answered. “I’ll tell you all about how we met Glow Stick later.”

“All good, and to answer your question, Ms. Wanda, I was havin’ a beer with an old buddy a’ mine when he heard there was an uproar down there with one of your clients. You’re not just famous here. They know y’all three in Hell, too. So I went to take a look, see what was cookin’. Some guy had her ’round the throat. She was tryin’ to get away. I got her when he loosened his grip.”

And thank God for that. “Thank you, Darnell. I don’t know how I got there, but I’m sure glad you came to my rescue. I’m still getting my feet wet with this ghost thing.” But then a thought occurred to her. “Wait, you… you could touch me! You carried me out of there like a football. How can that be?”

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