A Most Excellent Midlife Crisis - Robyn Peterman Page 0,33
“I was using the Ouija board so it wasn’t exactly clear. I also think she was confused. She told me she’d been dead for over thirty years and implied that it was a piece of me inside Missy.”
Heather froze and examined me from head to toe.
I laughed. I’d had the same reaction.
“I’m all here,” I promised.
“You sure?” she asked, worried.
“Yep. I’m positive. However, something is really wonky.”
Heather was pensive as she moved to the window and stared out at the darkness. “I agree,” she said softly.
“After the luncheon, Birdie pointed to Missy and said she would die for me,” I explained, rolling over to my back and launching into a punishing round of crunches. The pain felt good.
“I’m sorry. What?” Heather demanded, whipping around from the window.
“Don’t worry—even though I still am,” I admitted. “When I questioned Birdie, she said that Missy wasn’t going to die for me.”
“Then what did she mean?”
I sighed and finally let my body relax. “I don’t know. I’d have to mind dive to really talk to her.”
“That’s out of the question right now,” Heather said firmly.
“Do you know something more than we already discussed?”
Heather paused far too long for my liking.
“Out with it,” I said.
“I could be wrong,” she said hesitantly.
“Or you could be right,” I pointed out.
She nodded and rolled her neck. Clearly, she was feeling the tension. “It’s a remote possibility that each time you dive into the dead, you’re losing your mortality.”
“You told me a person had to be created Immortal,” I reminded her as I jumped to my feet and began to run in place like I was gunning for first place in a marathon. “I don’t have a footprint.”
“You don’t,” Heather agreed. “However, I can think of no other explanation. It’s time to have Charlie test your blood.”
“And that could solve the mystery?” I demanded, feeling like Alice falling through the Looking Glass.
“It might. It might not,” Heather replied, running her hands through her attractive short pixie cut and making it stand on end. “I just don’t know, Daisy.”
“Charlie can take a sample tomorrow,” Gideon said, standing in the foyer of my house.
I screamed.
“Not exactly the reaction I was looking for,” he said with a grin as he crossed the room, pulled me to my feet and hugged me like he would never let go. “You scared the hell out of me when you almost didn’t come out of Steve’s mind, Daisy.”
“That would be awful, considering Hell is where you reside,” I said with a laugh as I breathed him in.
He smelled like sexy, soapy man. He smelled like happiness and home.
“Very funny,” he whispered in my ear and took a little nip that sent happy chills through my body.
Heather cleared her throat. “I don’t want to interrupt.”
“Then don’t,” Gideon said.
“Be nice,” I chastised Gideon as I disengaged myself from his embrace.
I felt the loss of his heat acutely, but since both he and Heather were here, we needed to talk.
“Are all three of you back?” Heather asked, getting right to the point.
Gideon nodded. “We are.”
“Did you find Clarissa?” I asked. Her name on my lips made a fire burn in my chest. I despised her.
“No,” Gideon replied, staring at me strangely.
“Do I have cookie crumbs on my face?” I asked, brushing my mouth with my hand in embarrassment.
“Your eyes,” he said, squinting in shock.
“Angel eyes,” Heather said, tossing me another small box of contact lenses to wear when I was around my human friends.
“That happened when you came out of Steve’s mind?” Gideon asked, still staring.
“I guess it did,” I replied, feeling wildly self-conscious. “Do you hate them?”
“I could never hate anything about you, Daisy,” he said as relief washed over me. “I’m just surprised. That’s all.”
“You see why I want Charlie to test her blood?” Heather asked.
“I do,” Gideon replied. “Not sure it will tell us much. Does Daisy leave a footprint?”
“No,” I said, wanting to be part of the conversation since I was the subject. “However, I did throw Candy Vargo as high as the house and ripped the door off of Heather’s car while it was moving.”
“Don’t forget you put your foot through the floorboard when you slammed on the brakes,” Heather reminded me with a chuckle. “Totaled my car.”
“Yep. Well, that’s what you get when you try to mow down Karma and then crash into my house,” I replied tartly.
“Should I ask as to why this occurred?” Gideon asked, biting down on his lip to suck back a grin.