How to Rattle an Undead Couple - Hailey Edwards Page 0,48
for her emergency surgery.
“We’ll find another way.” Adelaide rocked back on her heels. “I’ll report in when we get there.”
“Don’t bother.” Grier shoved Linus at her. “Go.”
“I’m not leaving you.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “You need me.”
“Always,” she said softly, “but right now your mother and Boaz need you a little bit more.”
“I won’t leave her side,” Lethe vowed from the doorway. “Potty breaks included.”
“See?” Though Grier wrinkled her nose, she didn’t complain. “I’m all set.”
Chest tight, he made his decision. “Will you keep Cletus with you so that I can look in on you?”
“Yes.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll even keep Oscar and Hood in here if it makes you feel better.”
“I’ll leave that to your discretion.” He brushed his lips across her forehead. “I’ll be home soon.”
“Be careful.” She caught him by the front of his shirt and yanked him down for a kiss that stole his breath. “I mean it.” Shoving him back, she wiggled her fingers. “Hand.”
Dutifully, he allowed her to draw an impervious sigil on his wrist. “I love you.”
“I know,” she said smugly and winked. “I’ve seen your art studio.”
A flush swept up his throat into his cheeks, and he cleared his throat as he stood.
“I got this.” Lethe flopped down on his side of the bed. “Go save your mom.”
“She’ll be fine.” Adelaide touched his arm. “We need to go.” She chewed her bottom lip. “I’m not sure how long Boaz can afford to stay in one place. We might lose them if they have to move again.”
The added urgency spurred him into motion. He wasn’t the only one with a loved one in harm’s way. He owed it to Adelaide to get her to her fiancé safely, and to extract his mother and Boaz before they were forced to flee again.
“All right.” He sidled past her and hit the stairs. “Corbin?”
“Right here.” He strolled around the corner with Oscar on his shoulders. “Time to go?”
The ghost stuck out his bottom lip, and it trembled with the promise of tears.
“We have a lead,” Linus confirmed. “We need to move fast.” He searched the entryway. “Clem?”
“He’s pulling the van around,” Corbin supplied. “He’ll meet us out front.”
With that in mind, he packed his kit with a bit of everything, should they need more magical firepower.
Corbin slid his gaze past Linus. “Are you coming too?”
“I got you the lead,” Adelaide said tartly. “The least you can do is bring me along.”
Oscar tucked in his lip and leaned forward. “Can I come?”
“It’s too dangerous.” Corbin picked him up and set him adrift. “We’ll play when I get back.”
Floating on air currents Woolly provided, Oscar swam to keep from drifting away. “Promise?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Corbin poked the ghost and sent him tumbling. “Only if you don’t cheat this time.”
“I don’t cheat.” Oscar puffed up his chest. “I can’t help if you can’t go through walls like me.”
“We’ll finish this later.” Corbin ruffled the boy’s hair. “Keep an eye on Grier while we’re gone.”
“I will.” He snapped out a salute. “Here.” He manifested a small foam dart gun from wherever he kept such things until he required them. “It’s got a full clip.”
“Thanks, buddy.” Corbin accepted the weapon with solemnity. “Later.”
Without further delay, Linus slung on his messenger bag and exited the house.
Unarmed and undaunted, Adelaide followed, and Corbin brought up the rear.
They piled into Moby, and Clem drove them a block from the coordinates then parked on the curb.
Though several stores in Savannah kept Society hours, the lingerie store wasn’t one of them. Its windows were dark when they arrived, and Linus wasted no time drawing on a sigil to pop the lock on the door. Flashing lights past the threshold warned of a security system, but he deactivated it with a swipe of his wrist too.
Clem shouldered in first, and Linus let him. Boaz was his friend, and he had a right to worry.
Adelaide came in behind Linus, then Corbin, and they spread out to begin their search.
Ten minutes later, they met up at the manager’s office at the back of the store.
“I got nothing.” Corbin checked with Clem. “You?”
“Nope.” He looked to Linus. “You?”
Linus shook his head then noticed Adelaide hadn’t joined them but remained apart. “Adelaide?”
“Do you hear that?” She cocked her head. “It’s like water dripping, but it’s too steady, too perfect.”
“I figured it for a leaky sink.” Clem tested the office door. “The employee bathroom must be in there.”
With a practiced twist of his wrist, Linus drew on a sigil to