Page 18 of Captivating Magic

“I can’t recall with any certainty. The days fade in and out. But the first time I remember something being off was when I appeared in a hospital room about twelve hours after my body was admitted. Liz was talking to me, her, er, my body. Fucking hell, this is confusing.” With a shake of her dark curls, she focused on his sister. “She said I wasn’t allowed to move on because she wouldn’t know what to do without me. I’ve been fighting to get back into my body ever since.”

Consternation drew his brows together, and he nodded slowly before facing Liz. Facts needed to be verified, but first he wanted to know what she had done to secure Ebba’s spirit to this plane.

“Liz, I need you to think back to the day of Ebba’s accident when she was admitted to the hospital and you spoke to her.”

“How did you…? Never mind. I can guess.” Waving her hand, she dismissed her previous question and asked, “What specifically do you want to know?”

“Did you use magic to tie her to this plane?” Her sharp inhale was followed by a coughing fit, and it was all the answer he needed. “Okay, that’s a no. But her spirit is present, and she said you called to her. What exactly did you say?”

Frowning, she glanced at the bed, likely trying to recall the words she’d uttered in her worry and grief. “I told her she couldn’t leave me, and I wouldn’t know what to do without her.”

Her gaze was stark with remembered fear. “Ebba was so fragile, lying there, Lo, and the doctors weren’t confident she would pull through. But I remember, in those early hours, it was like she wasn’t there. Like her body was a shell of itself.”

“It’s all right,qalbi.” Rafe wrapped an arm around his wife and kissed her temple. “She’ll be well soon. We’ll make it so.”

A charming mix of Maltese and French, Rafe was a woman’s wet dream. In addition to his dark good looks, he had the whole ex-spy thing going for him, lending him an air of mystery. But he only had eyes for Liz, and she for him. After a holiday fling and a four-year separation, they ran into each other again. Rafe took his mission to make her the happiest woman alive seriously, and from what Laszlo could tell, his brother-in-law was succeeding. He’d promise her the world and do his damnedest to fulfill that promise.

“I love him for her,” Spirit Ebba said, releasing a hearty sigh. “They are true soulmates.”

“Yes,” Lo agreed, letting the others assume he was responding to Rafe’s comment.

What was it like to find your one true love? Castor and Alastair had busted his balls earlier, but he wasn’t in love with Ebba, as they suspected. He didn’t have the capacity to love fully. Charlotte had seen to that. Perhaps it was for the best that Ebba had rejected him. If he did anything as stupid as seducing her, there would be no way she emerged unscathed. Her heart was too open and giving. If they became involved on more than a friendship level, she’d end up in a world of hurt.

He ignored his cynical internal voice, laughing its fool head off.

Heaving a weary sigh, he approached the bed. All he wanted was to curl up beside her and take a nap. Maybe cuddle her in the process. He smiled at the lovely picture she made, but it quickly morphed into a scowl as another ripple passed beneath her skin.

“I’m going to eradicate you,” he promised the other entity haunting her.

Lo wasn’t prepared for it to strike back, and the forceful shove sent him into the nightstand. The corner impacted his hip.

Sonofabitch!

“What the hell?” Liz ducked as objects began to fly, and Rafe bent to protect her from the debris.

A shard of glass caught Lo just below the eye, and he swore under his breath. “Go! Get out!”

Two more figurines crashed into his shoulder and head as he ushered Liz and Rafe from the bedroom and slammed the door.

“We’ve got a serious problem,” he told them.

Ebba was suffocating,or at least it felt like it. The weight on her chest made breathing a struggle, and with each inhalation, the pressure grew. Her skin felt too tight for her body, and it itched as if fleas were biting her torso. The desire to scratch was strong, but her extremities wouldn’t move.

“They think you’re crazy, Ebba,” the voice inside her mind taunted, and the sneering sound made her stomach ache. “You have to get out of here. Escape.”

Escape.

Escape.

Escape.

The word drummed through her head without relief, allowing no other thought but to do as instructed. The instant the pressure on her chest subsided, she jumped up and ran for the window. After she inched it open, she glanced down.

“Two stories isn’t high,” the voice assured her. “Lower your body over the edge and hang on with your hands. Let your feet dangle as far as you can, then let go.”

She nodded, but doubts assailed her. Twenty feet was a long way to fall.

“Ebba.”

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