Split at the Seams (18 page)

I playfully hit his arm. As stupid and juvenile as it seemed, I liked all of the things that were surfacing between Papan and me. It was too bad we had both been so blind to what was really going on, and instead of being honest, toyed around with playful innuendoes. Not that I wanted
all
the playing around to stop now. Flirting with Papan was too much fun.

His smile widened. “You know what I’m saying is right. There’s so much going on right now, but I’ve waited too long to rush into it now.” A smile stretched his mouth. “Besides, I think I’ve left you something to remember me by.”

Heat rushed to my face. I could still feel the satisfying throb between my legs. I wouldn’t forget what he could do while we were still dressed, but couldn’t wait to find out what he could do when we were naked.

“Don’t go shy on me now,” he said, teasing. “This was just a taste of things to come.”

“Can I ask you something?” I had to steer the conversation away from the unabated heat still surging within me. His admissions, teasing and proximity weren’t helping my racy thoughts.

“You can ask me anything.”

“Did you…?” How was I going to say this without coming across as pompous and stupid? I sucked down the uncertainty and just blurted it out. “Did you purposely keep things platonic between us because of what you are?” Somewhere in our conversation, the realization hit me. The more time I spent with Papan, and the more I found out about him, the more I was falling under his charismatic spell.

Jason Papan was turning out to be one of the most thoughtful and sensitive people I’d ever met, one who successfully hid behind a cocky, flirty exterior. He knew how to use his looks to hide a lot, including the fact he was a werewolf.

His warm breath played over my face. For a long moment, he didn’t say anything, just pushed off the couch and sat down on the coffee table. I hated his hands being away from mine, so I sat up and took hold of his left hand.

“I didn’t know how to tell you,” he said, shaking his head. “You were always so caught up in your own world of ghosts and work. You didn’t know about the existence of anything else.” Papan looked deep into my eyes. “I didn’t want to be the one who shattered everything you thought you knew. I care too much to do that. I wasn’t lying when I said I would do anything to protect you.”

“Oh, Papan.” I ran my fingertips over the bristly stubble on his cheeks and chin. “I wouldn’t have shunned you. It might’ve taken some getting used to, but we’re friends first and foremost. Even now, wherever this leads…I don’t ever want to lose your friendship.”

He nodded, kissing my palm.

“Yes, we’ll always be cool. Your friendship means the world to me too. You understand why I have to leave, right? I’m not purposely trying to make myself a target for that hunter. This is part of who and what I am.” Papan leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Because, Fox, I want to fuck you. I want to make love to you. I want you ravage you, right now…but we can’t. We shouldn’t. I don’t want to be your scapegoat. I want to be the one you truly want.”

I nodded, feeling the stir of desire tear through me. I couldn’t speak, I was so breathless.

“Good.” He kissed me, long and passionately.

“When do you need to leave?” I asked when I got my breath back.

“Tonight.”

My heart sank, but I didn’t let it show. Instead, I smiled and dragged his hand between my breasts. “Then, you’ve got no objection to having a little fun right now, do you? You know…something to remember
me
by when you’re out there on your own chasing rabbits and cats?” My smile widened when he pushed off the coffee table and stood. “I’ve got a bit of time before I need to get to the office.” I’d told Ebony I would be in by ten.

“Fox, I love how you think, but I need you to hold that thought.”

“Hey, where are you going?” For just a moment I’d thought he might have changed his mind and wanted to go upstairs after all.

“I hope you’re hungry, because I’m going to pop a pizza into the oven.”

“A frozen pizza?” Personally, I preferred to call one in.

He shook his head and left the living room. “No, I made one myself.”

Wow. “I might have to keep you.” I pressed the back of my head against the cushions behind me.

His laughter rang out from the kitchen, making me feel a swell of happiness I was sure I wouldn’t be able to recapture after what I’d ended with Jonathan.

Papan stepped back into the living room. “Now, where were we?”

“I believe we were here…”

Papan might have to go and run wild because it was in his nature, and we might not have to rip our clothes off to have rushed sex, but it didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy what we’d just mutually discovered.

I just hope he stays safe out there, and Vixen doesn’t catch sight of him.

Chapter Nine

“Seriously, what’s with the goofy look?” Ebony briefly glanced up from the screen between our desks. She also had her laptop working in front of her, juggling more than any one person should handle—like usual. “Wait a second! Did you and Jonathan just do it?”

I looked down at the same T-shirt I’d been wearing all day, though I did change from yoga to cargo pants. Personally, I didn’t think I was looking any goofier than usual, but I did leave the house—reluctantly—in a very good mood. Spending some personal time alone with Papan turned out to be soothing for my soul. It hadn’t been all hands wandering and mouths going crazy either, though my lips did feel a little swollen. We’d had a nice conversation over his delicious pizza. I warned him to be careful while he was gone and he said he would, even if we both knew he would do whatever he needed to do to survive out there.

I just hoped Vixen was busy elsewhere.

“No, we didn’t. Actually…” My voice trailed off. As much as I didn’t want to get into this, Ebony deserved to know. She was my business partner, fellow spook catcher, and best friend extraordinaire. “Jonathan and I aren’t together anymore.”

“You finally broke up with him?” Her eyes widened, as if she couldn’t believe I’d actually gone through with it.

“How did you know it was me who broke it off?” I dumped my phone and wallet on top of the desk and dropped onto the swivel chair. This one was a lot more comfortable than the one I used for several years, and didn’t feel like it was going to break beneath me. Though, maybe now it would—after having one pizza slice too many.

The phone on her desk started ringing. “Hold that thought,” she said, holding up her index finger in the air. “Good morning, Sierra and Ebony, Spook Catchers, how can we help you?”

So she’d added her name to the end. Maybe I should surprise her and get new business cards with both of our names. With the amount of work she was doing lately, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. She tackled the receptionist/secretary part of things, headed out into the field alone, and had even started putting some of her own money into the expenses account. Maybe it was time I seriously considered making this a partnership.

But today, my main focus was on making some headway on the bundle of manila folders between our desks. They were still stacked too high. Even after we’d cleared a huge backlog during the last few weeks, it never seemed to be enough. How was I going to squeeze it in between Oren’s little magic lessons?

“Yes, thank you. We’ll be in touch.” Ebony prepared to hang up. “Yes, I’ve got all your contact numbers. Bye.” She dropped the receiver back into its cradle and rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I knew because I’m not blind. I saw the two of you at the meeting and things didn’t look good. Even Conrad noticed, and you know he’s only got eyes for me.” She batted her eyelashes.

I opened my mouth to respond when the phone rang again. Ebony answered the call but my line rang too. Ten minutes and too many calls later, we both slammed the phones back into place.

Ebony stood up and made her way toward the answering machine sitting on top of the long row of short bookshelves we’d positioned against the far wall, near our coffee machine. “Okay, I’m going to switch to answering machine because I need to go, and I know you don’t want to spend all afternoon on the phone.”

We received constant calls, but the phone never rang off the hook so much we didn’t get a chance to take a breath. Something was off.

Yet all I could think about was going back home to curl up on the couch beside Papan while watching some crap on TV. I didn’t care what, as long as we were together. I really should’ve stayed with him, spent as many hours wrapped up in each other as we could before he had to take off for a few days, but after taking so much time away from the office, how could I not turn up? And finding Ebony so swamped only made me feel worse.

“What’s going on? Has it been like this all week?”

“Yeah, it has. It’s totally nuts, right?” She pressed a button on the answering machine, and as soon as she did, another call rang through, so she lowered the volume. “The phone’s been ringing off the hook for days. I don’t know what’s going on, but the ghostly activity is insane! Some people are reporting some sort of spook activity popping up out of nowhere…which wouldn’t be too strange, if one out of every two calls wasn’t about someone trying to report their familial ghost’s sudden disappearance.”

Uh-oh, this didn’t sound good.

“As I jotted down their details, I thought to ask if they actually saw them disappear.” She sighed. “And, Sierra, they all described the same thing we saw happen to Mrs. Wicker. There’s something strange going on, because I’m pretty sure spooks aren’t supposed to fade like this. Not until they’re ready to move on, right?”

I nodded absently.

Spirits could remain among the living for as long as they wanted. Some stayed because they didn’t want to leave their loved ones, or wanted to stay together if they’d died at the same time, while most just weren’t ready to face whatever awaited them on the other side. Spooks had rights, and could remain within our society, but when revenge, mischief or ill intent was their objective, we stepped in to capture them. The Council then presented these spooks to the courts.

If ghosts were fading for no apparent reason, much like both my grandparents had, it wasn’t
natural
. Something was interfering with the process, and of course I now knew what.

The Spook Catcher Council was responsible. It was their job to keep spirits in line, yet they were the ones messing up the natural order of things. I needed to put a stop to whatever they were trying to do. Even the Patch Watchdogs had noticed, which meant the situation was escalating.

“You’re right,” I said. “What’s happening now is all wrong.”

“It’s what Burr mentioned, isn’t it?” Ebony looked worried, nibbling on her bottom lip.

“Yeah, someone’s interfering with the natural flow of the ghostly patch and it’s probably why spooks are fading all over the place.”

“Well, I don’t know how we’re going to explain it to all these people.” She stood by her desk, eyeing the folders on our desks. “Anyway, I have to go. I’ve got some canisters to deposit at the Council.”

“Ah, Eb, I’d prefer it if you didn’t go anywhere near there right now.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“It’s not safe. I’m pretty sure the Council’s involved with this ghost mess and I don’t want you anywhere near them.” The thought of nearly getting stuck inside the building made a shiver crawl down my spine. If Oren and I hadn’t gotten out by his use of magic, what would they have done to me? Not worth focusing on.

“What’re they gonna do? I’m just gonna visit Roe, and I’m outta there. No one ever takes notice of me.” Ebony sighed. “It’s you they want, the hotshot spook catcher. I’m just your little apprentice. They don’t care about me.”

I bit down on the inside of my mouth. How could I tell her she was wrong for the very same reason she was right? If they knew she was in the building, what would stop them from trying to use her to get to me?

I shook my head. “You have to listen to me…don’t go to the Council until all of this is cleared up.”

“Sierra, you can’t be serious! Look at this.” She leaned over and pulled out two big knapsacks, which she dumped on the desk with a thump. “See these? They’re both filled with canisters. In fact, if I don’t get some new ones soon, we’re going to be short.”

“If spooks are fading on their own, we can do without some canisters for a while.” Besides, she didn’t know, but I had a huge hidden stash of them in my garage. It was why I could never park my car inside. My garage was full of crap, and because of that I’d risked my own safety and paid for it the other night.

“You’re being ridiculous.” She shouldered both bags and reached for her skull-imprinted handbag. “I’m going to drop these off. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“How are you getting there?” She didn’t have a car. As a matter of fact, I was pretty much how she got around nowadays.

“I’ve got Conrad’s bike.”

I whistled. “Wow, things must be serious if he’s lending you his bike.”

Ebony shrugged. “He’s got a few. Anyway, I won’t be long.”

“Eb, why don’t we head out together for an afternoon of spook catching? It’ll be fun.” I was running out of excuses. I had nothing left but the truth.

“Maybe when I get back—”

“Damn it, Ebony, do you think I’d be carrying on like a madwoman if I didn’t have a good reason to?” I pushed both my hands through my hair, wishing I’d bothered to brush it before leaving the house. My fingers got tangled in the curls. “Something really bad is going on in that building. I felt it the other day.”