here, and that I think the house is beautiful.” Her voice caught on her last words. How in all of fuck she’d become so weepy these days befuddled her.
“She’s here,” Kellen confirmed, jamming a finger into his ear and wiggling it.
Delaney rose from her high-backed chair and scanned the warm room with eyes that squinted. “Damn you, Marcella Acosta, where have you been? What happened after that night that left you like this?”
She floated in front of Kellen. Because it was a nifty little power, because she could, and because it left her feeling like she was just a little in charge of a situation that had gone careening out of control. “Okay, so I wasn’t entirely honest with you earlier today. I’m not a demon anymore. I’m a ghost, and I would have been happy continuing on as a ghost if you’d left me alone instead of sucking me like a milk shake through a straw here to Delaney’s. I’ll have you know, it’s uncomfortable, to say the least.”
Kellen’s lips thinned again, the signal he was about to protest, but Marcella threw up a hand with the most pathetic excuse for unmanicured nails he’d ever seen. “And before you get that thing called indignation you have so cornered going, I didn’t tell you because I figured you’d be more likely to buy a story like that I was off partying far easier than you would my ending up a ghost.” While that hurt, she never expected anything less. She’d refined her party-girl, livin’-on-the-edge persona over the years, knowing full well Kellen found women like that despicable.
She noted the fleeting look of guilt on his face before it hardened in a defensive expression. Marcella planted her hands on her hips. “And I see I was right. Now we have a problem because Delaney’s going to be very upset and start whining about sacrifices—which we both don’t want, amigo. I did what I did because my future has no end. Delaney’s does, and when it ends, I want it to end with Clyde and a dozen kids surrounding her. So let’s keep the drama to a minimum, okay? Between the two of us, I just know there’s something we can cook up that’ll make her believe I’m happy right where I am. Got it?” She had him by the short hairs, and he knew it.
He didn’t look thrilled about it, but he nodded curtly while Delaney and Clyde looked directly through her, waiting. “Good. Tell D I don’t know how I ended up a ghost. One minute we were trying to take down that candy-ass Satan, the next I woke up on what I lovingly call Plane Drab. I don’t know how I got there, and I don’t know why. I would have contacted her sooner, but contact isn’t as easy as it seems. So tell her she’s right when she said there were kooks out there who couldn’t really see ghosts. I know because I attempted to use their services and failed dismally.
“And on that note, you, Kellen Markham, can shove your speculation on my whereabouts right up your tight, stuffy ass. Believe me when I tell you, there’s nothing I’d have liked more than to have spent the last three months shopping and partying in Rio. But that wasn’t exactly the case, as evidenced by my dress.” Jamming her face in Kellen’s, she rolled her neck on her shoulders in a “take that” gesture.
Delaney gripped the sleeve of Kellen’s sweater. “You don’t look happy. What’s she saying?”
“She said she doesn’t know how she ended up a ghost.” He passed on the rest of the message, omitting the part about his tight ass.
Delaney’s eyes filled with tears just as Marcella had known they would. “Uriel promised me he’d look out for her! I don’t understand how this happened. But I do know it had to be Lucifer who took her earthbound privileges away. That has to be what it is. That fuck! There has to be something we can do.”
If only. And who was Uriel? Never mind. She didn’t want to know. Marcella put a hand to her head to massage her temples only to find that, if she didn’t use a light touch, her
“She’s here,” Kellen confirmed, jamming a finger into his ear and wiggling it.
Delaney rose from her high-backed chair and scanned the warm room with eyes that squinted. “Damn you, Marcella Acosta, where have you been? What happened after that night that left you like this?”
She floated in front of Kellen. Because it was a nifty little power, because she could, and because it left her feeling like she was just a little in charge of a situation that had gone careening out of control. “Okay, so I wasn’t entirely honest with you earlier today. I’m not a demon anymore. I’m a ghost, and I would have been happy continuing on as a ghost if you’d left me alone instead of sucking me like a milk shake through a straw here to Delaney’s. I’ll have you know, it’s uncomfortable, to say the least.”
Kellen’s lips thinned again, the signal he was about to protest, but Marcella threw up a hand with the most pathetic excuse for unmanicured nails he’d ever seen. “And before you get that thing called indignation you have so cornered going, I didn’t tell you because I figured you’d be more likely to buy a story like that I was off partying far easier than you would my ending up a ghost.” While that hurt, she never expected anything less. She’d refined her party-girl, livin’-on-the-edge persona over the years, knowing full well Kellen found women like that despicable.
She noted the fleeting look of guilt on his face before it hardened in a defensive expression. Marcella planted her hands on her hips. “And I see I was right. Now we have a problem because Delaney’s going to be very upset and start whining about sacrifices—which we both don’t want, amigo. I did what I did because my future has no end. Delaney’s does, and when it ends, I want it to end with Clyde and a dozen kids surrounding her. So let’s keep the drama to a minimum, okay? Between the two of us, I just know there’s something we can cook up that’ll make her believe I’m happy right where I am. Got it?” She had him by the short hairs, and he knew it.
He didn’t look thrilled about it, but he nodded curtly while Delaney and Clyde looked directly through her, waiting. “Good. Tell D I don’t know how I ended up a ghost. One minute we were trying to take down that candy-ass Satan, the next I woke up on what I lovingly call Plane Drab. I don’t know how I got there, and I don’t know why. I would have contacted her sooner, but contact isn’t as easy as it seems. So tell her she’s right when she said there were kooks out there who couldn’t really see ghosts. I know because I attempted to use their services and failed dismally.
“And on that note, you, Kellen Markham, can shove your speculation on my whereabouts right up your tight, stuffy ass. Believe me when I tell you, there’s nothing I’d have liked more than to have spent the last three months shopping and partying in Rio. But that wasn’t exactly the case, as evidenced by my dress.” Jamming her face in Kellen’s, she rolled her neck on her shoulders in a “take that” gesture.
Delaney gripped the sleeve of Kellen’s sweater. “You don’t look happy. What’s she saying?”
“She said she doesn’t know how she ended up a ghost.” He passed on the rest of the message, omitting the part about his tight ass.
Delaney’s eyes filled with tears just as Marcella had known they would. “Uriel promised me he’d look out for her! I don’t understand how this happened. But I do know it had to be Lucifer who took her earthbound privileges away. That has to be what it is. That fuck! There has to be something we can do.”
If only. And who was Uriel? Never mind. She didn’t want to know. Marcella put a hand to her head to massage her temples only to find that, if she didn’t use a light touch, her
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