Page 10 of The Grave Robber

A dimple appeared at one corner of her mouth. Amazing howsomething so small could shake me so hard. “I’ve heard that about him.” Shewrapped both hands around the mug and took a sip of tea as though bracingherself for her next words. “You helped me,” she said after swallowing hard.“At the gas station, you helped me get that pump, even after I treated you sohorrendously. Why?”

“I’m a member of the Knights in Shining Armor Club. It’smandatory that we help one maiden in distress a day or we lose our parkingprivileges.”

She pursed her lips, trying to keep a wayward grin at bay.“You don’t say.”

“We also get a ten-percent discount at Cracker Barrel.”

This time, she laughed—a beautiful, lyrical sound that…

Holy fuck, I had to stop. This was getting ridiculous. Ineeded to get out of here before I dropped to one knee and proposed. I scannedthe bar. Wasn’t there a redhead around here somewhere? Someone, anyone to takemy mind off Halle Nordstrom.

“Do you really have experience with all that stuff?”

I refocused on her and absently lifted a shoulder. “Thereare few people on the planet with more.” Besides some of my closest friends,but that was a story for another day.

The heat from Aunt Lil’s glare almost seared the flesh offmy face. “You’re not going to tell her about me, are you?”

“Jason says you can even see when people are going to die.”

I rolled my eyes. Did that asshole spill all my secrets?

“You’re ashamed of me, aren’t you?” Aunt Lil pouted,crossing her arms over her muumuu-clad chest.

“So, what?” Halle asked with a soft laugh to lighten hernext question. “You’re like…the grim reaper?”

“No, but she’s a good friend of mine.”

Her mouth formed a hesitant grin. “You say the funniestthings.”

“Well, I’m also a member of the National Association for theFair and Ethical Treatment of Stand-up Comedians, so…”

I saw she wanted to laugh but couldn’t quite manage it. Hernext question seemed to weigh too heavily on her mind. She stuck a chewedfingernail between her teeth and asked softly, “Can you see when I’m going todie?”

I shook my head. “Sorry.”

“And now you’re lying to her.” Aunt Lil tsked at me.

“It comes and goes,” I added, lying my ass off.

“Ah.” Relief softened the convex curve of Halle’s shoulders,a reaction I didn’t expect. But, of course, she would be relieved. She didn’twant me to throw a wrench into her final plans.

But again, none of this was my problem. I only helped thosein immediate danger, and even then, it had to be a life-or-death situation.Something I couldn’t fuck up too badly. Halle may very well be haunted, thoughI still had my doubts, but I could hardly do anything about it either way. Herimpending doom could be thwarted with good timing and a little luck, so my jobhere was done. Now, to leave. Get up and say my goodbyes. How hard could it be?

“Are you really going to ignore me all night, Constantine?”

Why did Aunt Lil love my middle name so much? I started tocast her a quick scowl to shush her—not that my threats ever worked—but changedmy mind. Maybe she was my ticket out of this situation. My escape. Perhaps Ididn’t have to leave after all and look like an asshole—not that I wasn’t. Ijust needed to scare Halle off so she did the leaving.

I pulled my mouth into a calculated smile, turned, andlooked straight at Aunt Lil. “Did your niece send you to watch over me?”

Aunt Lil stared at me, her lids fluttering in confusion. “Myniece?”

“You remember her. Charley Davidson? The saucy one withbrown hair and a killer dropkick?”

She came to her senses and crossed her arms over her lovebeads. “So, we’re on speaking terms again?”

“What are you doing?” Halle asked, her expression wary.

“Oh.” I bounced back to her. “Sorry. Remember thatsupernatural realm I can see into? Well, my boss’s aunt, who died in thesixties from a hit of acid—”

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