Page 33 of Bewitched By the Headless Horseman
In the distance, white specks of light dotted the cemetery, appearing like a starry sky across the foggy darkness.
The gravel parking lot was empty when she drove into it. Turning on her flashlight, Stevie stepped out of the car and approached the cemetery entrance. A chain hung from one bar of the iron fence to the other. To her right, a placard held the history of Sleepy Hollow along with a no visitors after dusk sign.
Stevie shrugged and simply stepped over the metal chain and crossed onto what the council deemed hallowed grounds, the blood-red Eye in the sky watching her. “Just so you know”—she glanced over her shoulder at Kit—“I’m risking a troop of ghosts following me home. Remember what happened after I entered the abandoned house? I got stuck with you.”
He chuckled. “I do believe you like having me around.”
Her cheeks heated, and she was grateful for the dark. The stars above had dimmed further, a few seeming to have blinked out of existence completely. She and Kit passed down a row of crooked headstones, most deteriorated and broken. A middle-aged woman with a long braid sat atop one that held crumbling angels on either side of her.
Her gaze shifted toward Stevie, and the woman muttered, “Oh wonderful, another living hussy making a spectacle of the cemetery. Go home.”
“I heard that,” Stevie sang, unable to help herself.
The woman froze, her ankles uncrossing. “You heard me?” She looked up toward the night sky. “The second Eye hasn’t opened yet. That means you’re a—”
“Seer,” Stevie finished for her. “Yes. I’m with a friend, and—” she trailed off when Kit was no longer behind her. But she found him a second later hovering near a headstone and studying it.
The woman cocked her head, her skirt swishing. “So, why are you here?”
Stevie stepped toward the ghost. “I’m helping a friend. But while you and I are getting acquainted, what do you know about the Headless Horseman? Do you have any clue where his headcould be? Have you heard of a warlock named Levi…?” She didn’t even know what his last name was, so she left it at that.
The ghost ticked a finger at Stevie. “Why are you asking about that demon? Are you one of those lovesick girls? Fascinated by him? Lusting over his body? There used to be four of them here who would stand at the fence each night, hoping to catch a glimpse of him as he rode down the streets, gossiping about him all throughout the day. When their ghosts passed on, I was more thankful than you could ever imagine.”
Stevie arched a brow. Kit once had ghost groupies? She guessed it wasn’t different than the tourists who flocked to Sleepy Hollow because of him.
“She’s not one of those,” Kit ground out as he inched closer to the woman from behind. “She’s asking forme.”
The ghost’s eyes widened and she hopped from the headstone, stumbling backward.
“I told you to stop creeping up on people!” Stevie hissed.
“You said to you and Lucia. Besides, I was already here,” Kit said.
“Headless Horseman!” the woman screeched. “He’s here to collect a head! Run for your lives!”
An uproar of screams pierced the air, the ghosts scurrying through the cemetery like white ants.
“No!” Stevie shouted as a crowd of them fled through the gates and into the woods. “He’s good! He just sometimes needs to take a head is all.”
“You tried.” Kit shrugged.
“You could’ve at least used a less villainy tone when you talked to her.” She frowned, pointing a finger at his chest.
“I didn’t like how she was speaking to you.”
“She was too focused on your fan girls.” She gave him a sly look. “Which by the way you didn’t tell me you had.”
“Another reason I avoided venturing to the cemetery on occasion,” he grunted.
Stevie scanned the cemetery, not finding a single flash of white light near any of the headstones. “Maybe I should’ve had you wait in the car while I questioned the ghosts.”
Kit trailed a finger across the top of a headstone. “You should’ve stated that proposal beforehand.”
Stevie rolled her eyes before finally spotting three ghosts slipping back into the cemetery.Not too frightened then. “Do you see Clara anywhere? What does her body look like since hair and eye color are all the same.”
“Not yet. And curvy. Tall, large breasts, tiny waist, curly hair spilling down her back.”
Already sounds like an Aphrodite to go with his Adonis self. “All right, I don’t see her yet. What was your last name?”
