“He seems like a cop,” Jaden said with clear suspicion.
“I mean, yeah. He is a cop. He’s trying to keep me from being murdered, though.” I didn’t want to explain why I was letting a cop spend the night in my house. It would get awkward really fast.
Hector nodded. “He’s protecting you. I like that. A man should always protect their woman.”
I threw my hands in the air. “He’s not my man!”
I froze. Those words never should have left my lips. Maddox cocked his head, his eyes wide as he stared me down.
“I’m almost scared to ask what is happening in there.”
“Please don’t.” I whimpered.
“We’re trying to get our neighbor laid, that’s what’s happening in here.” Perse lifted her chin victoriously even though Maddox could neither hear nor see her.
“Get out of my room.” I put my hands on my hips to stand my ground.
That meant nothing to the gossiping ghosts. Perse and Hector started talking about their long-lost lovers. Perse’s husband had died years before she had. Hector’s wife was still alive and had moved on to his best friend, which Hector approved of, much to my surprise. Jaden stared at them wistfully.
While Hector and Perse were older and had lived fuller lives, Jaden had been only seventeen when a drunk driver ended his life. Jaden stuck around because a bitterness at everything he could no longer have still festered inside his soul.
The lights flickered on and off. I cast a wary glance in Jaden’s direction. His form flickered, darkening. If his jealousy went on any longer, I would have a poltergeist on my hands.
Maddox gaped at the ceiling lights. “What’s going on? Is this another attack?”
No. This is just another night in the McCauley residence.
All I had to do was recognize the portal to the afterlife, and it appeared as if it’d always been there. I flung my hand outwards, pointing towards the exit.
“Go. Move on. You could have everything you want on the other side. All you have to do is go.” My breath shook.
Jaden’s bright gaze snapped to me. His brows were knotted together in fury. An inhuman light flickered in his eyes. The tables around him shook, their contents rattling like the warning of a snake’s tail.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Maddox asked.
He closed the distance between us and put a hand on my hip like he might pull me out of the way of danger should it come my way. Unfortunately, Jaden noticed. He saw the tender touch and the intention to protect. Jaden’s mouth split wide. A horrid roar left his maw.
I grimaced and covered my ears with my hands. The sound tore through me, pain carving me in half. Maddox shouted, but I could barely hear it over Jaden’s anguish. Though Maddox grabbed ahold of me before I could fall, I wrenched myself out of his hands, so I could stagger towards Jaden.
Lurching forward, I caught myself on the arms of the chair that Jaden sat in. Face to face with the howling ghost, I shook. The sound still hurt. It threatened to tear me to pieces. Every part of me wanted to shatter and fall apart. I kept myself together through sheer willpower.
“You are no longer welcome here, Jaden Jones.”
It broke my heart to tell him this. I’d wanted him to feel loved. It was the least he deserved after his life had been taken from him too early. Jaden couldn’t come in here and throw tantrums at two in the morning, though. I refused to sit by and let this happen.
Jaden reached out. He shoved his incorporeal hands through my chest. I gaped, my breath frozen. Though I tried to suck in air, nothing happened. Mouth flapping like a fish out of water, my breath refused to move. My lungs started to burn.
“Addie!” Maddox made a move towards me.
Jaden’s attention moved to Maddox. The detective was human. Like hell would I let Jaden lay a hand on Maddox while I was around.
When Jaden flew out of his seat, I did the one thing that I never wanted to do. I grabbed ahold of my arcana and asked for its help. Of course, it answered with vicious glee. The cold smoke blossomed and flooded in every direction.
Perse and Hector gasped. I pulled the power away from them, but it took all of my strength just to do so. The rest of my arcana rolled towards Jaden. It washed over him and swallowed him whole.
Jaden’s howl died. I could feel my arcana like an extra limb. It wrapped around Jaden and moved through him. If I let it go on much longer, it would rip him apart. I didn’t even know that I could do this. Jaden would become nothing. He would cease to exist.
That wasn’t what I wanted. I cried out and begged my arcana to stop.