Pretty When She Kills (Pretty When She Dies #2)(52)

Dialing Benchley, Jeff poured himself a glass of orange juice from the refrigerator.

“Dude, where have you been?”

“I’m with Sam. I told you that,” Jeff answered.

“You text me she’s a phasmagnus and to research it then don’t answer your phone. Not cool at all,” Benchley protested.

“We were...uh...busy.”

The silence on the other end drew on a little too long.

“Bench?”

“You’re getting laid while my sister and I are busting our asses to get ready? Really? Really?”

Jeff winced. “Well, uh, you know...the whole ‘we may die soon’ argument sealed the deal.”

“I think I kinda hate you right now.”

“What’s up, Benchley? You weren’t texting me every few minutes for nothing.” Jeff dropped his friendly voice and opted for his more authoritative one which he rarely used.

“Fine. I did some digging while Alexia was fixing up the van. Phasmagnus are super-rare. Vampires did a great job whacking nearly all of them. Phasmagnus can summon ghosts and have them do their bidding. Phasmagnus could get them to spy, to steal stuff, and could also make them corporeal enough to do damage or kill. The more the phasmagnus uses their power, the stronger they get. If this is what Samantha is...Jeff, seriously, every vampire in the world will be gunning for her.”

“I saw her make a ghost solid.” Jeff’s happiness was dissolving into dread. “Samantha touched the ghost and within seconds it was solid enough to scratch me, knock me back, and draw blood.”

“Fuck me, dude.”

“I know.” Jeff rubbed his brow, wishing away his sudden headache.

“All from drinking Amaliya’s blood just once...”

“Samantha was close to death. That has to be why.”

“Okay, well, we’ve got to keep this on the lowdown. We’ve got to. Because if the vampires find out, it’s going to be bad. It’s bad enough Cian knows.”

“Cian won’t let any harm come to Samantha. They may have broken up, but he does care for her. I’ve seen it.” Jeff freshened Beatrice’s water bowl and searched the cabinets for her cat food as the cat stared forlornly into her nearly empty food dish.

“Everything is happening too fast,” Benchley’s voice protested. “How can we handle all of this?”

“Look at it this way. It’s good to know we have another weapon in our arsenal that no one else knows about.”

“What weapon?” Samantha’s voice asked from behind him.

Turning, he saw her standing in the kitchen doorway blinking. Her blond hair was mussed and the strap of her tank top was sliding off one shoulder. She had pulled on matching pajama shorts and looked insanely sexy in Jeff’s eyes.

“You, babe,” he answered honestly.

“Fuck,” Samantha answered with a sigh, sitting down heavily at the kitchen table.

“Also, Jeff, if Bianca Leduc has any of her mom’s powers, we’re in trouble. Not only could Josephine astral project, she could summon the dead at will, move objects with her mind, read minds, and was said to be able to appear from one place to another, over great distances, in a very short period of time. We need this chick on our side, or we need to…uh…”

“Gotcha, Benchley. I get it.”

“Anyway, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone, but you better get your ass over here soon. Alexia wants you to check out the van and she’s foaming at the mouth.”

“Okay. We’ll be over in an hour,” Jeff answered, then clicked off the call.

“So I’m a bad ass weapon?” Samantha asked.

“Yeah. You are.” Jeff gave her the details as he poured her a glass of juice and joined her at the table.

“So Amaliya gets zombies. I get ghosts.” Samantha stared at him sadly.

“Yeah.”

“And no way to get out of it?”

“No.”

“Is there at least an instruction manual?”

Jeff shook his head. “We have some information about the phasmagnus, but nothing in depth.”

“Why not?”

“The vampires killed all of them a long time ago.” Jeff winced.

Samantha shaped her hand into a gun and pretended to shoot herself.

“Sorry.”

With a shrug, she leaned over and gripped his hand. “I love you. I trust you to get me through this.”

“I love you and I promise I will do everything I can to help you.” Jeff kissed her fingers and Samantha gave him a wan smile.

The phone hummed beside him and he sighed as he picked it up. It was an unknown number and he almost sent it to voicemail until he realized it was an area code in Texas. “Hello?”

“Jeff?”

“Yeah?” Jeff didn’t recognize the woman’s voice on the other end and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Can I help you?”

“Jeff, this is Cynthia Guerra. Sergio’s wife.” She sounded rather excited, but nervous.

“Hello, Cynthia. What can I do for you?”

Samantha tilted her head, curiosity etched into her features. She snagged the pad and pencil she used to build her grocery lists from the counter nearby and shoved it toward him.