12. Owen

Chapter twelve

Owen

D amian's friends were strange. I mean, it was weird to meet a bunch of dead people who lived in his new house, but honestly, that was less weird than dealing with this group.

I liked Molly though. She was gregarious and full of life. Clearly, she was the leader of the little tribe that'd shown up tonight.

I watched as the house's spirits came and went through the night. None of them paid much attention to the group of black-clad figures who took turns telling us they felt certain spirits in the room. One arrogant guy kept saying he was feeling a bunch of minors in the room. The only person in there was Emma, who giggled at his proclamation before disappearing.

One of the people, Shadow, who had given me her card the night before, seemed to sense the ghosts. When a ghost I hadn't met, some young man dressed in clothes from the early1900s, walked by as we explored the second floor, Shadow paused and looked right at where the guy had been.

I logged that in my mind because it seemed important for future reference. Although, I had no idea why. I doubted I'd ever know any of these people very well. For one, I had very little in common with them, and second, I didn't like most of them.

It was one thing to be like Shadow, feel the presence of ghosts, and not respond. It was another to pretend you had all the answers. Unfortunately, most of the group fell into that second category.

I noticed Damian didn't offer to show anyone the attic. I thought he was right about that. I wasn't a wizard or witch nor had any claim to powers except whatever Damian had done. Even I could tell the attic was a protected space. Not something for outsiders.

When Molly announced we should have a séance in the dining room, I glanced over to find Orville standing at attention. I cocked my eyebrow, hoping that sent a nonverbal question as to whether that would cause problems. He seemed to understand and rolled his eyes, telling me it would be a harmless exercise.

In fact, he couldn't have been farther from the truth. Molly turned the lights off and lit a candle I'd watched Orville add to a drawer just for the occasion. Then Molly told us to join hands. They all began humming the same note, and Molly told us to close our eyes .

"Spirits of this home come to us, come and be with us this night."

At first, nothing happened, but then I saw Emma floating through the wall. She was gripping her throat in a way that made me think she was in pain. When she got to the middle of the table, she laughed out loud and quickly disappeared through the side wall.

One by one, the ghosts I hadn't met mimicked her. I glanced at Damian just as a trio of ghosts came in and began doing a bizarre dance above the candle after one of the participants began singing some off-tune, made-up song about spirits feeling welcome.

It was so over the top that Damian and I snickered, which earned a hateful look from most of the people in the group.

Molly ended the seance shortly after and shooed everyone out of the house. One of the Goth guys was the last, and he turned to look at us before he left. "You shouldn't scoff at things you don't understand. The spirit world is real, and they take your attitudes very seriously."

I bit my tongue literally as images of the ghost's shenanigans filled my memory. "Oh boy, if he only knew," I said after he stormed out of the room.

Molly walked around us, studying both of us for several moments. "You're up to something or know something you aren't sharing. Don't worry. I may not be magical or have the gifts others do, but I can pry the truth out of anyone. I'll figure out what you two are up to," she said, but her smile showed she was mostly teasing.

She hugged Damian and cocked an eyebrow at me when I didn't follow her, but she shook my hand before heading out.

"That was fun," Damian said.

I laughed. "I like your ghosts a lot more than I did earlier," I said as I reached up and rubbed my nose.

"Yeah, me too."

"I should probably get going," I said, but before I could leave, Damian reached over and took me in his arms. "Can I kiss you at least once before you go?" he asked.

I nodded, dumbfounded, as his gorgeous face closed the distance between us. When his lips touched mine, I felt like my brain exploded. I wanted this man so much. He was like some bizarre drug.

When we pulled apart, I had to look down to catch my breath. "Want to spend the night?" he asked.

"Like here, with all these, um, people?" I asked.

"Or we could go back to my apartment."

Yes , my brain screamed, but I sighed and shook my head. "Listen, Damian, I like you, a lot actually, and in my experience one-night stands never go further than that. Wouldn't you rather, you know, take things slower, get to know each other before we cross that bridge?"

Damian scooted his large frame closer to mine but smiled before kissing me again. "I think getting to know you would be fun, but I don't have any rules about what parts of you I get to know first."

I laughed and almost said yes. Then I caught sight of one of the ghosts as they slipped through the wall behind us. Emma . I was almost sure it was Emma.

I shook my head and kissed him. "We have an audience here, and that's not something I'm into. Rain check?" I asked.

Damian frowned. "I wish I hadn't done whatever I did to show you the ghosts."

I laughed again. "Good night, Damian," I said, and he moved back so I could open the door.

"Good night, handsome," Damian said, gently closing the door behind me.