On Pins and Needles: Sierra Fox, Book 3 (41 page)

“And what about you? Are you going to be all right?”

I sighed. “After everything we’ve been through and the new responsibility I’ve accepted, I guess I’m going to have to be.” I couldn’t help but step closer and tilt my head so I could look at his gorgeous face. “Besides, as long as you’re with me, how can things not be fine?” I touched his whiskered cheek.

Papan reeled me into the circle of his arms. “Why do we keep coming so close to losing each other?” he whispered in my ear.

“Yet we always seem to make it back to one another.” The thought made my heart speed up. I’d never felt emotions this strong before. He made my heart sing at the mere thought of him, and made it sink at the thought of losing him. What we had was intense and a little scary. But there was no way I was going to risk losing something so good and right.

“Yeah, we do.” He lightly brushed his lips against mine. His green eyes seemed to be laughing at me as we broke away.

“Do you remember anything else about what happened to you at the Moss house?”

He shook his head. “It was like I was fighting a phantom. I could feel the presence right there, receiving my blows before it knocked me out.”

I shivered at his word choice. If what had taken him out and caused so much damage to Vixen was indeed a phantom, we were in deep trouble. I’d read and heard about phantoms but never faced one. They were the bodybuilders of the spook community and packed such a punch that none had ever been captured.
 

“I just hope we never have to face it again,” I whispered. Sending those words out into the wind was probably a bad idea. If a phantom had struck once, it would probably return, and for all I knew this could be the last person missing from the circle—someone by the name of Duff.

“Yeah…” Papan pulled me away from the door. “Listen, I need to speak to you about something.”

My heart jumped. That didn’t sound very promising and the last thing I wanted to hear right now was something negative. “What is it?” I asked when I found my voice.

“I’m going to move back into my apartment on a more permanent basis.”

I opened my mouth to fire a bunch of questions but he stopped me by squeezing my hand.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds. I just don’t think that your
partner in crime
staying over almost every night, while you’re getting to know your sister—and trying to help her settle into a new life—is a good idea.” His eyes sparkled, even under the unflattering fluorescent light.

“But I love having you around,” I protested. “And Willow likes you too.”

“I’ll still be around, just not every night.” He winked and leaned closer to my ear. “We’ll be making the most of the nights we are together. And when she’s at school, you know where I live and work.”

A warm sensation curled along my lower abdomen. As much as I didn’t want him to go back to his own place, I couldn’t deny part of me was glad. The fact he was willing to help out so much softened my heart and made me realize just how lucky I was to have such an incredible man in my life. One who filled the position of boyfriend, lover, best friend, confidant, and even partner in crime—everything a woman could ever want.

Besides, we weren’t officially living together. He’d just conveniently hung around after his gunshot wound and all the other crap with the werewolf hunter.

“I appreciate you doing this,” I finally said.

“Don’t appreciate it too much, because it took every ounce of willpower I have to actually say that. Going to bed and then waking up beside you is one of the best things in my life. Giving it up temporarily so you can be the big sister Willow needs is an incredibly hard thing to do.” He ran his hand down my arm. “I don’t like to be away from you for long. And I certainly don’t want to deal with the other thing on my to-do list.”

I groaned because I knew the full moon was around the corner and Vixen would need his help. I chose to concentrate on the positive, and on how busy I was going to be in the coming week. But mostly on how wonderful he was.
 

“You’re an amazing man, Jason Papan. You know that?”

His cheeky grin returned. “Well, I
have
been hearing it more since the girl of my dreams finally let me into her life.”

“Stop it, you’re going to get me all hot and bothered.” Technically, this was a lie because I was already burning up.

“That’s my favorite way to have you.”

“You’re insatiable,” I said with a laugh. “And
that’s
one of my favorite things about you.”

“While we’re on the topic, when are you going to get that trench coat and heels combo on for me, huh?”

My stomach flipped at the thought.

A small tugging on the back of my sweater grabbed my attention and I turned around to find a small, translucent blond boy standing behind us.
 

“Excuse me, Sierra, I wanted to show you my new pet,” the little boy said, holding up a familiar Australian Terrier.

I couldn’t help but smile because I knew exactly who the boy was. “Hello there, Tommy. I’m so glad you’re going to give him a new home.” This was the poltergeist I’d rescued from Prologue.

“Your sister said I could look after him,” he said with a smile.

“I hope you both become best friends.”

“We sure will.” Tommy smiled again before he and the dog flashed off completely.
 

It was nice to finally meet the little boy after constantly visiting him for months and never seeing him.
 

No, don’t think about the bookstore because it’ll lead you back to Jonathan.
 

On one hand, I was glad Jonathan was finally gone for all the trouble he’d caused and how he used me for his own demonic ambition. Yet, knowing he’d gotten roped in because of his interest in occult books and association with me, also made me feel a little guilty. Still, I wasn’t responsible for all his choices.

“Fox, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I answered, absently. “I just met a little boy I’d never seen before.”

“I saw him too.”

“You can see poltergeists?”

Papan shrugged. “When they want to show themselves, anyone with any amount of supernatural blood can see them, but I didn’t hear him.”

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Oh, you have no idea…”

I laughed. “Do you want to go and grab a cup of coffee from the cafeteria? I’ve got a feeling Willow will be in that room for a while. She has a lot to catch up on.”

“Ah, I’ve got a much better idea.”

“What?”

Papan put his index finger in front of his lips and led me down the mostly empty corridor until we came to a closed door. He looked to both sides before opening it.

I followed him inside and he locked the door behind me.

“What the hell are we doing in here?” I looked around at the cramped space. “Is this a janitor’s closet?”

“It’s our own personal space for now.”

“Papan, you’re a very naughty boy, you know that?”

“You have no idea just how naughty I can be.” He wrapped his arms around my hips and propped me onto the edge of a short shelf. “So let me show you…”

When he covered my mouth with his and slid a hand under my skirt, I knew exactly where this would lead. This would be
much
better than cafeteria coffee.

About the Author

Yolanda Sfetsos has always had a wild imagination, and often found herself making up stories in her head. When she was in her teens, she started putting some of those ideas on paper.

She loves to dabble in a variety of genres but especially enjoys writing urban fantasy, futuristic, and Sci-Fi tales—all with a dark, paranormal edge.

Yolanda lives in a suburb of Sydney, Australia with her small family. When she’s not writing, she’s either thinking about it, researching, reading, walking, or watching her favorite TV shows. Or maybe she’s on Twitter.

You can visit her website at:
www.yolandasfetsos.com

Look for these titles by Yolanda Sfetsos

Now Available:

Recast

Wither

Clash

Sierra Fox

A Patch of Darkness

Split at the Seams

All it takes is one broken stitch for everything to come apart at the seams.

Split at the Seams

© 2012 Yolanda Sfetsos

Sierra Fox, Book 2

Spook catcher Sierra Fox has paid her debt to the Spook Catcher Council. Life should be easier. Except everything is going to the dogs—or demons, as the case may be. Her boyfriend Jonathan is acting like a possessive jerk. She can’t stop drooling over Jason, her hunky, injured houseguest, who turns out to be a werewolf. To top it off, something seriously freaky is happening to spooks all over Sydney.
 

Prime example: a ghost who wants to hire her fades while inside her office, and soon they’re disappearing all over Sydney— sucked out of existence. When Sierra finds out who’s behind it, it’s more than just her own life at stake.
 

As the problems continue to mount, keeping her head above water is a daily battle. Add a stalking, feral animal who is determined to take a piece out of her hide—literally—and life is anything but a bunch of buttercups. Especially when those around her start dropping their façades.

Eventually, she knows, the dust will settle. Only this time, life as she knew it may never be the same.

Warning: Spook catching: Do not try this at home, if you’re under eighteen, or under the influence. Must be prepared to fight off ghosts, demons, weird black dogs and sexy werewolves… Okay, maybe not the werewolf.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Split at the Seams:

Standing in the middle of the hospital corridor with its harsh lighting itching at my skin and the smell of antiseptic, bleach and death tickling my nose, it finally hit me. Oren was very powerful, and I needed to learn as much as I could from him. It was time to stop holding him responsible for ancient family history, and appreciate that he was willing to help me understand how having witch blood could benefit me.

I needed to learn as much magical combat skills as I could.

“Excuse me?”

I spun on my heel and came face-to-face with a young woman wearing a hospital gown. Her long, auburn hair hung like dirty strands of string around her face, her skin looked pale, and her eyes sunken. Even before her proximity forced gooseflesh to sprout all over my body, I knew what she was. My breath misted in front of me as I was compelled to enter the spook’s zone and coughed a few times.

My head throbbed. After the nausea and nosebleeds back at the Council, this wasn’t going to help. Although I was usually dragged into a ghost’s area by their aura, this one had pretty much caught me unaware and zapped me in when I wasn’t ready.

I caught my breath and met her eyes. “Uh, hi…”

“I need to get back to my room.”

I doubted she was headed to her room. Anyone who was hospitalized and emaciated this badly didn’t need to linger in this world. She might not remember right now, but I was pretty sure she’d been battling a terminal disease and lost.

“I need help getting back to my room,” she repeated.

“Can you see the light?” I licked my lips, trying to moisten them. She deserved the peace of moving on to the next patch. I knew exactly what I was talking about because I’d once been tempted by the warm light myself.

The ghost looked up, past my shoulder and said, “I can see a bright light over there.” She half turned away from me and pointed in the opposite direction. “But someone’s calling me down that way.”

“Ignore everything but the light. That’s where you need to go.” My lungs were freezing inside my chest.

This was a different experience for me. I rarely helped spirits move on to the afterlife willingly. I dealt with the ones who refused to stop making mayhem and chaos, or wanted to hurt others. But hotspots like hospitals, cemeteries, haunted houses, or any location where a group of people had died made it hard to shut wandering spirits out.

She took a step.

“No, ignore the voice and head for the light.”

“Are you sure?” She frowned and it made her look a little older than I’d initially thought. “I need to go to the voice, I’m so tired.”

“No, you need to follow the bright light.”

She didn’t answer, and instead turned to walk away.

“Wait!”

“I’m coming,” the ghost girl said, a moment before her image flickered.

Oh shit, not again! “Take my hand.”

The ghost’s lips were moving but I couldn’t hear a word she was saying.

“Go
toward
the light! Turn around and go to the light before it’s too late.”

She did the opposite. Her skinny legs moved and she flickered off completely before appearing drawn out and gray farther down the corridor. Heading toward the same corner Oren had taken.