He reached out to place his hand on her cold, soft cheek. "I'm sorry for your loss, Simone." What surprised him most was that he actually meant it. He really did care.
Simone saw the hesitancy in Xypher's eyes. The uncertainty. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was afraid of touching her. She placed her hand over his and gave a light squeeze. "Thank you."
He inclined his head before he dropped his hand. "I didn't offend you by touching you, did I?"
"No."
Jesse made an odd choking noise. "Yeah, but you're both offending me with all this lovey-dovey crap. Get a room. No wait, don't. Separate rooms. Both of you!"
Simone shook her head. "Jesse, stop."
Jesse ignored her as he ran ahead. "Oh, look, we're home. Goody!"
Xypher stepped back as Simone pulled a set of keys out of her pants pocket. She stopped in front of a green steel door that opened into a short, narrow alley before it led to a large courtyard.
She swung the door open and stood back. "Jesse, lead the way while I lockup."
Xypher followed the ghost into the immaculate courtyard that held a couple of stainless steel barbecue skills and a black fountain.
"My condo is straight back." She passed by them and went to a brown door with the number 23 on it.
Xypher followed her into a small lining room. The building was old, but her furniture was new. Decorated in tans and browns the apartment was neatly kept with nothing out of place.
She indicated the back of the house. "There are two bedrooms. Jesse? Will you sleep on the couch?"
He looked horrified by the mere suggestion. "No way! You're not giving him my room, are you?"
"You don't really sleep ..."
"Well, yeah, but what if I get bored in the middle of the night?"
"You can haunt around the kitchen and living room."
He let out an aggravated squeak. "You make me do that and I'm going to stack furniture and reset your alarm clock."
"And I'll find an exorcist."
Jesse narrowed his gaze on her. "That would only work on a demon," He sent a pointed stare to Xypher.
"A psychic, then. I'll go to Madame Selene's shop in the Square and have her use a banishing spell on you."
"Oh, you would," Jesse accused. "Fine, Grump can sleep in my room, but he better not drool on my pillows. Or sleep naked. The last thing I need is to go blind from it."
"I don't drool."
Jesse appeared pleased by that. "Good. What about the naked part?"
"You're not my type, Jesse."
Jesse screamed before he took off running to the back of the house.
Simons rolled her eyes at Jesse's antics. He could be aggravating, but honestly, she couldn't imagine her life without him.
She pulled her coat off and hung it up, then waited for Xypher to do the same.
Once they were down to their shirts and jeans, she indicated the back of her condo with a tilt of her head. "Follow me and I'll show you the way." She led him toward the back and through the kitchen to where there were two bedrooms "I'm on the right. Your temporary room is the one on the left."
There was a bathroom between them.
Xypher paused as he took in the small place she called home. It was nice and comfortable. Not overly posh, but the perfect size for a woman who lived alone . . . with a ghost.
She took him into Jesse's room which was painted blue. Xypher was fine with that, but there were posters of bands and monies from the 1980s plastered all over the walls. Lost Boys. Joan Jett. Ferris Bustler's Day Off. The Damned. Flash Dance. Wendy O. Williams. The Terminator. The Clash. Go-Go's. Bananarama. It was like a strange time capsule.
Three wooden crates designed for vinyl albums were stacked against the far wall and filled with LPs. On top was an old Pioneer stereo with a turntable. The dresser was scattered with odds and ends, including a Rubik's Cube, multisided dice, and Atari cartridges. It looked like a teenager's bedroom from 1987.
Xypher took a minute to let that seep into his consciousness. Most people who had a ghost force itself into their life wouldn't go to this much effort to make it feel at home. There was even an antiquated Apple computer on the desk by the crates, and an Atari hooked up to the TV.
"You love Jesse." It was an obvious statement given the room they were in.
"I do." Her eyes shone with sincerity and truth. "He stayed and looked out for me after my family was gone. He was like a big brother ..." She tilted her head and smiled before she continued. "Now he's more like a younger one. But there's nothing I wouldn't do for him."
How he wished he had that kind of loyalty from someone. His problem was there was nothing anyone would do for him.
"You can put your clothes in here." She opened an empty drawer in the bureau:
Xypher set the bags down on the floor. "You know, this might not work."
"How so?"
"Your bedroom might be too far from this one. We may not be able to separate."
She sucked her breath in sharply. "I'd already forgotten about that stipulation. How will we know?"
Xypher stood back. "Start walking. When you hit a spot where you're gasping for breath, that should tell us our limitations."
"Oh, joy. I can't wait to be the guppy."
"Glub, glub, little fishy. Start walking."
Simone wasn't sure about this as she headed for the door, slowly. She walked through the doorway, into the hall. After a few steps, she was less afraid. So far so good.
"This doesn't seem ..." Her voice broke off as she choked. All of a sudden, she couldn't speak or move. Everything around her was getting dark. Frightening.
Out of nowhere, Xypher was there. He scooped her up in his arms and earned her to her bedroom and laid her on her bed. His face was red as he, too, struggled to breathe.
It took her several minutes before she could breathe normally again. Xypher stayed by her side, watching her with an expression that she would have called worried if the very idea of his concern for her wasn't ludicrous.
"That was scary," she said quietly once she could speak again. "How did you make it to me when you couldn't breathe, either?"
"Raw determination."
She placed her hand on his cheek where his whiskers teased her palm. How could a demon have moments of kindness and compassion? "Thank you."
He inclined his head to her. "Now we know how little space we have."
It was true. They had maybe fifteen to twenty feet before it killed them. "What are we going to do?"
Xypher considered their options . . . none of which were very good. He cleared his throat before he answered. "We're going to find some way to get you out of this."
"What if we can't?"
Then she was going to die with him when he killed Satara. And there wouldn't be any way to avoid it.