Pretty When She Kills (Pretty When She Dies #2)(55)

“Why not?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, why not?” Grinning, Pete settled in his chair. Maybe this was God’s way of working it all out and he just had to accept it. He was helping rescue the woman he loved and it was a good and noble thing.





Chapter 18


Samantha stared out the passenger window of Jeff’s battered Land Rover at the crowded sidewalks lining Congress Avenue. Even though the thermometer had tipped over the 100 degree mark, there were plenty of people out and about. Dogs trotted in front of owners while babies in strollers stared out at the world through tiny sunglasses.

The food trailers clustered in a lot were under siege by hungry shoppers. Women in filmy summer dresses and sandals and men in shorts and t-shirts huddled in the shade sipping water and eating delicious entrees or sweet desserts.

It made Samantha want to cry. It was all so beautiful and normal. Families, young couples, old couples, friends, siblings, pets with their owners, all living their lives without the knowledge that the world was not as it seemed.

Among them, Samantha could now clearly see the specters of those who had passed on. They wandered amidst the crowds, unseen and unnoticed. A few of the dead looked confused by the chaos around them, but others tilted their heads to gaze at her when the SUV drove past. A male ghost in a pink thong, boa, and big sunglasses stood on a corner and waved to her as she passed. Samantha returned his smile and blew him a kiss.

Jeff turned down a residential street and the shade of the trees was a welcome relief from the blazing sunlight.

“Are you okay?” Jeff asked, reaching out to touch her hand.

“There are so many ghosts,” Samantha answered. “I never realized.”

“You’re growing stronger, aren’t you?”

“I think so.” Samantha tore her gaze away from the hazy figure of an old woman sitting on the porch of a house. She looked straight ahead and curled her hands into fists. “It feels weird not being human anymore.”

“You’re still human,” Jeff assured her. “Just with extra powers.”

“Like a superhero,” Samantha said, flashing a smile in his direction.

“Absolutely.”

“It’s kind of a relief. Seeing all of them makes me not so afraid of dying. Not that I want to die. I really don’t want to experience the pain of it.”

“Let’s not talk about dying.”

“But it could happen,” Samantha said sadly.

Jeff lapsed into silence at her words. She felt a little bitchy for speaking the truth, but she was tired of hiding from it. For the last year she had lived a life of half-truths that had done nothing more than slowly wreck her life. Now she recognized she couldn’t allow herself to lie about the reality of her life. She was a phasmagnus and there was no going back. Even though her heart was still bruised from her relationship with Cian, she was beginning to love Jeff. He was sweet, kind, and goofy just like her. She loved his soulful eyes and floppy brown hair. When his thick brows arched upward, he looked so cute she wanted to smother him with kisses. The last few months while she had come to terms with her heartache over Cian, she had probably taken advantage of Jeff’s kind nature. She wouldn’t do that again. She was done pining over a lost fantasy.

The Land Rover pulled into the alley that led to the parking lot of the bookstore. A hunter-green van was tucked under the big cedar tree that shaded the rear entrance. The door was open and Alexia and Benchley were carrying boxes to the van. Jeff pulled up beside the van and parked.

“Sam?”

“Yeah?” Unbuckling her seatbelt, she twisted in her seat toward him.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen tonight, but I want you to know that I have no regrets. Even if things go really wrong tonight, I’m glad that I met you that day at the Spiderhouse.”

The earnest expression coupled with his sincere gaze melted Samantha’s heart just that much more. Gripping his hand, she leaned over and kissed him. His lips were soft against hers and she marveled at how much she loved his kisses already.

Sharing smiles, they parted and slid out of the SUV.

“About damn time,” Benchley called out to them from where he stood next to the open side doors of the van.

Alexia leaned her head out to glare at them before ducking back inside.

“We agreed to meet at four o’clock today. We’re not late,” Jeff pointed out as he greeted Benchley. They clasped hands and briefly embraced even though Benchley looked decidedly grumpy.

“Yeah, dude, but we were busting our asses while you were...” Benchley trailed off as he caught Samantha’s expression.

“Just shut up, Shark Boy,” Samantha said, playfully punching his shoulder. “If you could spend the afternoon getting laid, you would have done exactly that.”

“Yeah...” Benchley admitted. His crush on her was sweet, but she could see he was a little hurt by the reality that Jeff and Samantha really were together at last.

Samantha peered into the van. “Whoa. All FBI-ish and stuff.”

Alexia was tucked under a console messing with wires. Monitors and computers were tucked into a custom-built workstation that could seat two. A bench lined the opposite side, complete with seatbelts. The seat was open to reveal weapons arranged carefully, cushioned by black foam. A thick black curtain separated the two front seats from the rest of the area.