mission magic 01 - the incubus job Read Online Free

wasn’t convincing, especially since he liked to play pranks.
    More of my ghosts began to shimmer out of thin air. I’d seen them all at least once. That was my policy. If they were going to latch on to me, I wanted to meet them. It was only polite. A few of them liked to visit me a lot. Michael was one. Edna came out more rarely, though she’d taken a motherly interest in Tabitha, and that brought her out more. Sam was another regular. She was in her fifties. Her husband had burned her house down with her in it. Once she was dead, she returned the favor with him and his sleaze girlfriend. Glenda was another who came out fairly often. She’d walked in on a guy robbing her house, and he’d decided it would be fun to rape and strangle her. She’d made him pay for that later and wasn’t too shy about sharing the details. She’d been creative in her revenge.
    One by one they all came out. Seventeen of them. Tabitha made eighteen, but she was still adhered around me like plastic wrap.
    “We aren’t going to hurt you, Tab,” Sam said. “But we need to talk to you.”
    Ah, hell. As if my life wasn’t strange enough, I was now in the middle of a ghostly intervention. I’d have really liked Tabitha to peel off so I could go have a shower. I’d been in these clothes for nearly twenty-four hours now. I needed to clean up before getting down to business. Or rather, I needed to clean up in order to get down to business. My street urchin look wasn’t going to help me catch my prey. I had a feeling if I tried to go to the bathroom without dealing with Tabitha, the crowd of ghosts would just follow. I didn’t mind them when they were invisible and I didn’t have to notice they were there, but I drew the line at having a visible audience while showering and sitting on the toilet.
    “What’s it going to take, Tabitha?” I asked. “Are you going to hide forever? You know sooner or later you’re going to have to face the music.”
    No sooner had I said the words than a fist thudded against the door. My heart jumped into my throat. Speaking of facing the music. Law. Had to be. I could practically feel his fury radiating through the walls. Tabitha shuddered against my skin. I closed my eyes, my stomach twisting. I was not ready for this. He pounded again. So much for LeeAnne’s discretion. Effrayant’s owner was going to get an earful from me about his housekeeper’s loose lips.
    He pounded again and this time the door shook. I drew in a breath and let it out slowly. Six years later and it was still too soon.
    I stood and looked at my ghosts. “Better come to me. He’s an exterminator.”
    I’d barely finished uttering the last word before they all winked out of sight and layered over me like armor. I needed it. I’d always felt exposed when dealing with Law, like my skin peeled away and all my nerves were on display. I’d fallen head over heels in love the first time I laid eyes on him and I had never gotten over it. Walking away had been the hardest thing I’d ever done. I never expected to have to do it twice.
    As much as I dreaded opening the door, I couldn’t have stopped myself if I’d wanted to. I was like an addict needing a fix, and Law was my drug of choice.
    A really pissed-off drug.
    I twisted the handle and swung the door open in slow motion. He stood on the other side. I only stared, soaking in all that was him.
    The first thing I noticed was that he looked older. Not a surprise. It had been six years, after all. His face was the same—all hard angles and stone. Instead of five-day-old stubble, he had a carefully trimmed beard now, and his dark hair was longer. It was messy as if he’d been scraping his fingers through it. Gone was the battered leather jacket he’d always worn, and the inevitable black T-shirt and jeans. Now a black cashmere sweater and charcoal slacks made him look harshly elegant. The one thing that hadn’t changed at all were his eyes. The green gaze felt like hammers battering