Page 72 of Ghostly Touches

Yup, definitely a hostage situation.

I don’t say anything for a moment while I search his face for something. This is a desperate man. Desperate people will do crazy things to save themselves. A future running with these guys is going to lead to a horrific death. I already know it. I canfeelit. I have to get Jonah and I out of here so these three can deal with their shit on their own.

There’s only one person I know who may have answers as to how to get us out of this mess. Consequences be damned, I lean forward and say, “I know someone whomaybe able to do something about our souls. We should go to them.”

Theo frowns. “You said there is nothing that can be done.”

“Well,Ican’t do anything at this point, but this personmightbe able to. She’s the most powerful necromancer I know.”

She’s also going to be the most pissed off necromancer I know when she finds out what I’ve done.

“Where is this woman?”

“She’s about a five days drive from here, which should be far enough away that we don’t run into any more Ghosts.”

Please, let that be true.

Theo doesn’t respond right away as he considers my proposal carefully.

“Do you trust this woman will keep this between us?”

I chuckle darkly. “I trust her with my life, and since that’s tied to yours, yes. I believe we can trust her completely.”

“Who is this woman?” Theo’s suspicion is a bit misplaced.

I swallow. “My mother.”

Theo’s brows raise in surprise. “Your mother?”

“Did I stutter?”

Theo’s lips twitch as if he’s going to smile. He doesn’t.

“If we’re going to be a team, I realize that I’ll need to put some faith in you so that you will do the same for me.” Sighing, he gets to his feet. “If you think she can help in some way, we’ll go to her. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning. The bouncing around in the van wouldn’t be good for your injury, or we’d head there now.”

“How are you paying for this room by the way? And what van do we have?”

And where is my VW bus now?

At Theo’s slight hesitation, I know the answer to my first question. “Let me guess: you used my credit cards? You know I’m about as broke as it gets. Those cards have a limit, and it was close to being reachedbeforeyou guys showed up.”

“It was necessary. We have some cash that was stashed at the safehouse we’ll use when your cards reach their limit.” He shrugs as he stands. “And Viktor stole a car that we used for a bit until we used your ID to get a rental.”

With that, he strolls over to the door and leaves the room.

Kwil doesn’t follow him. The hooded man takes a step towards me, but then stops. “I’m sorry, Willow.”

“For what?” I look away from him, hating everything about this situation.

“For everything. That we came to you and brought you into this mess, Viktor’s temper, and Theo’s single-minded focus. All of it. You shouldn’t be involved, and it’s not fair.”

Reaching up, I rub my temples as my headache continues to pound behind my eyes.

“Yeah, well, sorry doesn’t change anything. Hopefully, in five days our souls can be pieced back together, and we can go our separate ways.”

Kwil’s body shakes once before he stills.

“You’re still cursed, as is Jonah. We’ll keep you safe as we figure out how to remove—”

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