Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (17 page)

“
Kill
himself?” Will had said something about that at Ryan’s, hadn’t he?

“Yeah, sweet cheeks. Kill himself.” He pointed his finger at his temple and cocked his thumb as if firing a gun. “His powers were still too strong. Ryan wouldn’t release him from our bond, and I was under strict orders from Ryan not to help Will off himself. Not that I would have willingly done that in the first place. The three of us are bound as soul brothers, meaning unless he talked one of the higher-ups into killing him, he really wouldn’t be able to find a way to die without us stopping him first. Ryan and I damn sure weren’t going to help him off himself. That meant he had to do it himself, but he had to wait for his powers to atrophy to weaken the bond enough that he’d be able to pull it off. That was his only recourse since Ryan wouldn’t release him from our bond. So he’s cut himself off from women so he wouldn’t be tempted.”

“Will loved her so much he wanted to die?”

“Wants, present tense.
Wants
to die. Losing a soul mate is like losing both your arms, but the pain never goes away. He’s always in pain. Why do you think he never smiles?”

“He hasn’t been with a woman since…”

Aidan shook his head. “No. She is the love of his life, even a quarter century later. He was looking forward to joining her here in a few years. Ryan, the little fucking shit weasel, decided that wasn’t in the cards. Not that I want Will to die, because he’s my cousin and my soul brother and I love him. But I have to tell you, I don’t agree with how Ryan went about it.”

“He’d rather die than be with someone else?”

“Well, that choice has been taken from him now, hasn’t it? He won’t let you die, don’t worry. Will returned to The Firm so he could save you.”

That filled her with guilt and a sudden, unexpected feeling of pride. She was the one woman Will would change his plans for? A man who could harbor that much devotion for a woman for so many years was a good-hearted man. He had to be. “I don’t understand why he couldn’t kill himself earlier.”

Aidan looked around to make sure they were still alone. “Look, I don’t understand it all, that’s not my job. I know when an archdemon takes a soul mate, it makes them even more powerful. The amulets we wear, it helps us focus the power. The power is within us, but to get as powerful as Will used to be, you have to have a soul mate. It’s not just bullshit that when two people make love, they also make magic. There’s a universal power when two people make love, especially when they’re
in
love with each other. Will couldn’t be with anyone because even if you’re not soul mates with someone, having sex with them, if you’re an archdemon, it still gives you a power boost.”

Aidan ran a hand through his hair. “Will wants to die. He had to go without a soul mate and go without being with anyone else, let his powers weaken and atrophy enough he would be fully human and then he could kill himself. If he hadn’t been bound to me and Ryan as a soul brother, he probably could have done it when she died. Another few years alone would have done it. Because you’re a virgin, the wraith has attached to your soul, and Will’s the only one with a soul strong enough, and without a soul mate, who can get rid of the wraith. Ryan the shit weasel did his homework when he set this all up.”

He shook his head at her. “I mean, honestly, I love you, sweetie, but didn’t you ever stop to do the math? Ryan planned this from before you were born. Get real. A girl six months out of film school gets her own network show? A top-rated show? C’mon.”

He smiled and hugged her. “No offense. I’m not saying you’re not good, because you are, but real life doesn’t work that easy. Ryan needed you, specifically, to bring Will back to The Firm. You have a pure soul. You’ll bring Will’s powers back to full strength. You’ll become Will’s soul mate when he makes love to you and gets rid of the wraith, and you’ll live happily ever after in love with each other.”

The idea of making love to Will wasn’t an altogether unpleasant one. She had wanted to be married when she first did it, but considering the circumstances, there were worse—

“Wait a minute. I’m not in love with him. How can I be his soul mate if I’m not in love with him?”

Aidan shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You will be.”

She sensed he knew more than he let on. “What’s going on?”

Aidan looked at the ground. “Ryan did his homework. You’ll be bound to Will, he’ll be obligated to The Firm, and Ryan gets his head archdemon back to fight the bad nasties. Anything else you want to know, you need to talk to Will or Ryan. I’ve said too much already. Not that I use them as often as I’d like, but I’m rather partial to my nuts being attached to my body.” He reached for her hand. “Come on, kiddo. Back to the salt mines.”

The enormity of the situation hit Kal as she sat alone in the edit room and tried to focus on the footage she needed to work with. Why was she waiting? She had this evil darn thing stuck inside her, and she would probably kill someone if it wasn’t removed. It’s not like they asked her to sleep with half the Chinese army, just one very sweet, sad, hunky man.

A man she’d immediately felt attracted to from day one. A man who obviously had a lot of pain he took great efforts to hide from the world.

Kal didn’t care what Ryan said about how permanent it was supposed to be. That pushed the envelope of her credulity.

Okay, yeah, that makes sense. You’ll believe popping in and out of places, wraiths, and archdemons, but not that you’ll be in love with Will forever automatically once you do the horizontal bop with him?

Kal shook her head. This was too much. As she felt the wraith stir a little, she knew waiting was stupid. She didn’t want to spend another night in handcuffs, she wanted to spend it in Will’s arms.

She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
Lord help me, I do want to sleep with him.

There. She’d admitted it, and no holy bolt of righteous justice from Heaven struck her dead. Not like she’d go scream from the rooftops that she wanted to have premarital sex, but admitting it to herself was the first step, right? All she had to do now was spend the next couple of hours talking herself into it.

Will brooded at his desk after returning to the office. Aidan caught Kal’s attention, and they ducked out the back door for lunch at a nearby diner. She welcomed the distraction she knew Aidan would provide. Her father certainly wouldn’t approve of her having lunch with Aidan alone—or all the other time she spent alone with him—but she was happy to have a friend she knew she could count on.

* * * *

Will watched them leave. Part of him wanted to follow them, join them. How many times had he and Abby had lunch with Aidan or any of the guys?

He tried not to think about that, the throbbing ache in his soul even worse than normal over the memories.

How long until Kal agreed to this? Maybe he should call Ryan, ask him to take her as his soul mate if he agreed to willingly return to The Firm. Then he could cross off-Earth to Tavares and find something there bad-assed enough to kill him and put him out of his misery.

Will leaned back in his chair and contemplated that possibility. He could get himself offed, and Ryan could have a soul mate again. Everyone would end up happy.

Well, not everyone.

No, Ryan wouldn’t agree to that. Even though Will saw the look in Ryan’s eyes when they were at his Atlanta condo with Kal. Maybe Kal was Ryan’s insurance policy to get Will back under his thumb, but that wasn’t all. Ryan had been without a soul mate a lot longer than Will had. How had Ryan survived the pain all these years?

Will decided maybe he didn’t want to think about it. Despite his simmering anger, Will felt badly enough about the potshot he took at Ryan that night. He knew damn well Ryan understood the pain he was in. He just happened to resent the fact that Ryan had forced him to continue enduring it. If Ryan wanted to be a masochist, fine, but life without Abby hadn’t been any kind of a life worth living.

Could he not disappoint Kal? That was his other worry. He didn’t want to screw up and make her miserable for eternity.

Will tried to focus on his work and push other thoughts out of his mind, including the throbbing, persistent pain in his soul.

* * * *

Sitting in their usual booth by the front window, Kal noticed a man in tight jeans walk past on the sidewalk outside. Her eyes couldn’t help but follow.

“He’s cute,” she murmured.

“Yeah,” Aidan breathlessly replied.

It took Kal’s brain a moment to catch up with her ears. She looked at Aidan. His horrified expression told her all she needed to know. She realized what a naive idiot she must look like to all of them.

He immediately tried to backpedal and sat back, his face red. “Um, I mean, yeah, of course you’d think he’s cute, he’s got a nice body—uh, I mean you’re a hot-blooded woman, of course you’d notice…” Realizing it was useless, he closed his eyes. “Shit,” he whispered.

Everything clicked into place. She smiled, then reached out and touched his hand, her fingers gently closing over it and squeezing. “It’s okay,” she said, reassuring him.

He shook his head. “Me and my friggin’ big mouth. I told you it’d get me in trouble.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

He looked at her. “Yeah, sure, no problemo. The straightlaced Baptist minister’s daughter is going to cozy up to the token closet queer on the crew. Riiight. I’m not always the brightest bulb, but give me a little more credit than that, Kal.”

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the closed-minded bigot you’ve suddenly stereotyped me as. Give
me
a little more credit. I thought we were friends.”

He sighed and nodded. “Touché. You’re right, hon. I’m sorry.” He looked out the window again, to where the guy had turned the corner. “He had a nice tight ass, didn’t he?”

“Don’t push it,” she said with a grin.

“Right.” He looked at his food. “Don’t go making hairdresser, fashion, or Broadway show jokes, okay?”

She snorted in amusement. “You’re the last person I’d accuse of having good fashion sense.”

He smiled, then realized what she meant. “Hey!” he indignantly exclaimed.

They had a good lunch. It allowed her an hour of not thinking about wraiths, archdemons, or losing her virginity to Will Hellenboek. Aidan’s playful, funny sense of humor kept her laughing the entire time. When they finished eating and walked back to the office, Aidan hooked his arm through hers.

“We okay, sweet cheeks?”

She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked. An aura of calm always seemed to envelop her when she was with Aidan. “Yeah, we’re okay. But I’m gonna nominate you for that show where they remake your wardrobe. You definitely aren’t a stereotypical gay guy. No wonder women love you, you dress like a Salvation Army reject. Your straight-guy image is firmly intact.”

He looked at his loud tropical shirt, today red and blue macaws on a screaming yellow and green floral background, unbuttoned over his purple tank top and khaki shorts. “It’s my image. I’m the doofus, Will’s the brain.” He thought about it. “That guy who’s the cohost of that show. What’s his name, Clinton? He is pretty hot. If you want to nominate me, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings.”

* * * *

Kal somehow spent the afternoon working, pulling her mind off the decision looming over her head.

Not that it did any good.

Kal knew Will was the only other person in the office. The others would return later, closer to nightfall, to help guard her until she went home with Aidan if she didn’t agree to do this tonight.

She closed her eyes and prayed. Deep inside her she felt the wraith flex its mental talons. Kal knew she had to get it out of her once and for all. It felt like pure evil, an abomination.

It was impossible to deny what had happened. She couldn’t believe it or wrap her head around it, but it obviously happened. Denial was never one of her weaknesses. When presented with evidence, she could believe.

Maybe that’s why she proved to be such a sucky Baptist. It required too much faith and not nearly enough tangible proof for her tastes.

Will was cute. Okay, he was more than cute, he was handsome. Under any other circumstances she would be flattered to have a relationship with him. Under any other circumstances, she would willingly date him and be open to seeing where a relationship would lead.

Yet these weren’t any other circumstances. Will didn’t really want to sleep with her, even though he had to and was willing to do it to save her life.

Something in her heart longed to soothe Will’s soul. She wanted to hold him and stroke his hair and take his pain away. A man as sweet and obviously devoted as he was deserved happiness. Deserved love.

But not be forced into it.

Her mind spun. While she’d be the first to admit—outside her father’s hearing, of course—that she believed there was more to life and death and the universe than what she read in the Bible, this was beyond the pale. Not just her private world being rocked on its axis, but her theological one as well, and the fact that demons not only existed, they were the
good
guys.

Her parents would never believe it. Not that she could tell them.

She twisted the ring on her hand. When her father put it there, he’d said the only man who had the right to take it off her was the man who married her and put his own ring in its place. Over the years there’d been temptation, to be sure, but the ring had served as a reminder that she deserved the best, deserved the right to wait for the one man who would cherish her and who would hold her heart safe forever.

Maybe she’d found him. Did it really matter how she found him?

It was a sort of divine, otherworldly intervention, when she thought about it in those terms.

Taking a deep breath, Kal slipped the ring off her hand and put it in her change purse. She’d find a better home for it later, but it no longer had a place in her life.