Dialing Benchley, Jeff poured himself a glass of orange juice from the refrigerator.
“Dude, where have you been?”
“I’m with Sam. I told you that,” Jeff answered.
“You text me she’s a phasmagnus and to research it then don’t answer your phone. Not cool at all,” Benchley protested.
“We were...uh...busy.”
The silence on the other end drew on a little too long.
“Bench?”
“You’re getting laid while my sister and I are busting our asses to get ready? Really? Really?”
Jeff winced. “Well, uh, you know...the whole ‘we may die soon’ argument sealed the deal.”
“I think I kinda hate you right now.”
“What’s up, Benchley? You weren’t texting me every few minutes for nothing.” Jeff dropped his friendly voice and opted for his more authoritative one which he rarely used.
“Fine. I did some digging while Alexia was fixing up the van. Phasmagnus are super-rare. Vampires did a great job whacking nearly all of them. Phasmagnus can summon ghosts and have them do their bidding. Phasmagnus could get them to spy, to steal stuff, and could also make them corporeal enough to do damage or kill. The more the phasmagnus uses their power, the stronger they get. If this is what Samantha is...Jeff, seriously, every vampire in the world will be gunning for her.”
“I saw her make a ghost solid.” Jeff’s happiness was dissolving into dread. “Samantha touched the ghost and within seconds it was solid enough to scratch me, knock me back, and draw blood.”
“Fuck me, dude.”
“I know.” Jeff rubbed his brow, wishing away his sudden headache.
“All from drinking Amaliya’s blood just once...”
“Samantha was close to death. That has to be why.”
“Okay, well, we’ve got to keep this on the lowdown. We’ve got to. Because if the vampires find out, it’s going to be bad. It’s bad enough Cian knows.”
“Cian won’t let any harm come to Samantha. They may have broken up, but he does care for her. I’ve seen it.” Jeff freshened Beatrice’s water bowl and searched the cabinets for her cat food as the cat stared forlornly into her nearly empty food dish.
“Everything is happening too fast,” Benchley’s voice protested. “How can we handle all of this?”
“Look at it this way. It’s good to know we have another weapon in our arsenal that no one else knows about.”
“What weapon?” Samantha’s voice asked from behind him.
Turning, he saw her standing in the kitchen doorway blinking. Her blond hair was mussed and the strap of her tank top was sliding off one shoulder. She had pulled on matching pajama shorts and looked insanely sexy in Jeff’s eyes.
“You, babe,” he answered honestly.
“Fuck,” Samantha answered with a sigh, sitting down heavily at the kitchen table.
“Also, Jeff, if Bianca Leduc has any of her mom’s powers, we’re in trouble. Not only could Josephine astral project, she could summon the dead at will, move objects with her mind, read minds, and was said to be able to appear from one place to another, over great distances, in a very short period of time. We need this chick on our side, or we need to…uh…”
“Gotcha, Benchley. I get it.”
“Anyway, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone, but you better get your ass over here soon. Alexia wants you to check out the van and she’s foaming at the mouth.”
“Okay. We’ll be over in an hour,” Jeff answered, then clicked off the call.
“So I’m a bad ass weapon?” Samantha asked.
“Yeah. You are.” Jeff gave her the details as he poured her a glass of juice and joined her at the table.
“So Amaliya gets zombies. I get ghosts.” Samantha stared at him sadly.
“Yeah.”
“And no way to get out of it?”
“No.”
“Is there at least an instruction manual?”
Jeff shook his head. “We have some information about the phasmagnus, but nothing in depth.”
“Why not?”
“The vampires killed all of them a long time ago.” Jeff winced.
Samantha shaped her hand into a gun and pretended to shoot herself.
“Sorry.”
With a shrug, she leaned over and gripped his hand. “I love you. I trust you to get me through this.”
“I love you and I promise I will do everything I can to help you.” Jeff kissed her fingers and Samantha gave him a wan smile.
The phone hummed beside him and he sighed as he picked it up. It was an unknown number and he almost sent it to voicemail until he realized it was an area code in Texas. “Hello?”
“Jeff?”
“Yeah?” Jeff didn’t recognize the woman’s voice on the other end and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Can I help you?”
“Jeff, this is Cynthia Guerra. Sergio’s wife.” She sounded rather excited, but nervous.
“Hello, Cynthia. What can I do for you?”
Samantha tilted her head, curiosity etched into her features. She snagged the pad and pencil she used to build her grocery lists from the counter nearby and shoved it toward him.
“Jeff, I don’t know why we didn’t think of calling you earlier, but I tried calling my husband a little while ago and he didn’t answer his phone. He may be having bad reception, but I got a little nervous. So I thought about calling you.”
Jeff scribbled the woman’s name onto the pad. “Call me about what?”
Samantha raised her eyebrows after she read it was Cynthia Guerra on the phone.
“Pete Talbert came by this morning with a man named Ethan Logan. Do you know him?”
“Damn,” Jeff muttered. He added another notation.
Samantha tilted her head, her brow furrowed as she saw him underline the man’s name.
“Jeff?” Cynthia’s voice asked after he was silent for a little too long.
“Yeah, I know him.” Jeff sighed, rubbing his chin.
“So he is a paranormal investigator,” Cynthia said with relief.
“No, he’s actually a supernatural bounty hunter. He tracks down monsters of all kinds for various employers for a ton of money,” Jeff answered.
“Oh, God, Jeff.” Cynthia sounded suddenly terrified.
Beside him, Samantha’s eyes visibly widened.
“Ethan came to your house for what reason?”
“We should have called you!”
“Cynthia, talk to me. Why was he at your house?”
“He said he has the cure to vampirism. That he could turn Amaliya back to human, but that he needed the ashes of the vampire who made her.”
Jeff scribbled down everything she was saying, the sick feeling in his stomach growing. “And he was with Pete Talbert. The guy Amaliya admitted to feeding off of and wiping his memory?”
“Pete remembered her again. He knows she’s a vampire. That’s why he was helping Ethan. Pete wants to help her become human again. Can Ethan do that? Or is he trying to track her down to kill her?”
“I can’t say for sure, but if he’s after The Summoner’s ashes this may have nothing to do with Amaliya at all. Or at least, not directly. I’m not sure. Dammit. Why didn’t Sergio or Innocente call me?” Jeff lifted his eyes to see Samantha biting her bottom lip. Fear and horror tangled in her gaze.
“I don’t know! We were all so excited about being able to save Amaliya we didn’t even think about it! Jeff, they went to the cemetery where The Summoner died! They left three hours ago and I can’t reach Sergio!” Cynthia sounded close to hysterics.
“Cynthia, we’ll deal with this. I swear it!” Jeff gripped Samantha’s hand tightly. “I just need to talk to my team and make a plan, okay?”
“Jeff, should I call the police?”
“No! It will make it even more dangerous for all of them. Hopefully, Ethan will get what he wants and move on without causing an issue. We’ll deal with this, I promise. I will call you as soon as I know something.”
The woman’s sobs from the other end of the call made Jeff’s chest hurt.
“Cynthia, I promise. We’ll take care of this. It’s what we do.”
“Jackie kept telling me that Ethan was a liar. She said she could see it in his mind,” Cynthia wailed. “I should have called you sooner!”
“Jackie reads minds?” Jeff was flabbergasted.
“We think she got it from Innocente. Plus, I’m Irish you know. Could be from my side, too.” Cynthia regained control of her voice, but she was obviously scared. “I should have listened to her.”
“Cynthia, you can’t blame yourself. Ethan is very, very good at his job. Trust me. I’ve heard what he is capable of. I want you to make sure to call me if you hear from Sergio. Okay?”
“Okay...okay...I trust you,” Cynthia whispered. “And call me if you hear anything.”
“I will, Cynthia. I promise.”
