Page 115 of Séance

“What do you want?” Hicks crosses his arms and directs his question at the ghost, seemingly unfazed at having an incorporeal person walk through a wall and start talking.

The gangster tosses his head back with an exuberant laugh that is just a little too loud. A second later, it cuts off abruptly, and his hard eyes land on me. “I want my girl. I want my Daisy-Mae. I was promised an eternity with her, and I won’t settle for anything less.”

“This is about a girl?” Hicks sounds incredulous, a curl of disgust twisting his lips.

The gangster glares at Hicks, his expression going dead.

“I can understand it,” Jameson murmurs, his gaze landing on me like a caress. “Sometimes, when you find the right woman, one lifetime just isn’t enough.”

“Exactly.” The gangster nods, then winks out of existence before reappearing across from me. His expression gentles as he stares down at me. “You’re the spitting image of her.”

He runs a single finger down my cheek, and a bitter chill seeps into my flesh. It’s so cold that it sears my skin down to bone.

“Don’t touch her,” Gunner snarls, taking a menacing step toward us. Before he can reach us, the gangster raises a hand and snaps his fingers.

Fear churns in my gut, and my gaze jumps to Gunner, terrified of what he might do to him.

The mirror behind the bar shatters, the tinkling sound of glass hitting glass filling the air before the shards crash to the floor in a roar of noise that draws everyone’s attention. Underneath the mirror is a simple picture tucked into the wooden frame.

Ellis crosses the room with quick strides and snatches up the old-fashioned, black-and-white photo. He stills and stares down at it for a long moment, then he speaks in a quiet voice that I have to strain to hear. “You could be twins.”

Clearly unnerved, he glances up at me, worry churning in his eyes.

Not once during the exchange does the gangster look away from me, a worshipful expression on his face. It’s unnerving, and my skin tingles unpleasantly at the feel of his eyes on my body.

“While I would love to reconnect you to your lost love, she passed on to the afterlife.” I stop speaking when an unholygleam ignites in his pitch-black eyes, and I swallow hard, forcing myself to continue. “I can summon her for you to say goodbye, I can even help you cross over so you can be with her, but it’s beyond my abilities to call her back permanently.”

“Oh, I know,” he murmurs, his voice low and dark. “Daisy-Mae told me all about how her ability worked.”

Something about the way he says it, the way he looks at me like he can peer into my soul has the hairs on the back of my neck lifting in warning. “Then what do you want?”

“You,” he says, his smile slow to form as darkness takes over his expression. “If I can’t have Daisy-Mae, then I will have you instead.”

I suddenly suspect that my long-lost relative might not have died a natural death.

He wasn’t her boyfriend—she was his obsession.

Before anyone can completely process the thought, the gangster lunges at me. Then unending agony engulfs me, threatening to tear my sanity apart. I can’t move or think without drowning under wave after wave of pain.

It’s only by sheer will that I’m able to fight it.

Glancing down, I see his arm sticking into my chest.

It feels like my heart is being squeezed into a juicy pulp, and breathing becomes impossible.

“You’ll see,” the gangster murmurs, his grip slowly tightening with his words. The gesture is completely at odds with the way he gently pushes hair from my face. “Once you die, we can be together forever. Only this time, I have the power to make sure you never leave.”

Curses blister the air, and I see each of the guys charging for me, but I’m helpless to do anything as my vision blurs and darkens. I try to build my wards, but they have deteriorated too much.

Gunner throws himself across the back of the couch to tackle the gangster.

Unfortunately, he passes clear through his form.

Hicks throws a punch at his face, but his fist soars through it without resistance, whisps of smoke twisting in the air before the ghost slowly reforms.

The second punch has the same results.

A maniacal laugh escapes the gangster, and he pulls me close, whispering in my ear. “Don’t worry, my dear. We’ll be together soon.”

---