Captivating Magic (The Thorne Witches #14)

Chapter 2

2

“ B ecause we’re going to be lovers.”

Ebba felt like the biggest coward on the planet for running, but that’s precisely what she did. When Laszlo went all seductive and turned all that panty-dampening charm her way, she bolted. Why? She couldn’t say. The panic-inducing desire to run had consumed her until she was left with no choice.

Maybe it was the fear of her fantasy life meeting reality. What was the sage saying about never meeting one’s idols? What if he turned out to be a dud in bed or, worse, his personality sucked? What if she’d built him up in her mind to be this amazing guy, but he was really an asshole? What did she truly know about the Thornes? Clearly, only what they’d wanted her to.

An echoing pop had sounded the instant she cleared the coffeehouse door, and it belatedly occurred to her that not only hadn’t the patrons of the place heard Laszlo and her, but she hadn’t heard them, either. All sound returned the instant she left. Traffic noise suddenly seemed thunderous and everywhere, disconcerting her after the relative quiet. It was worrisome anyone could wield such power, and it gave Ebba pause. Should she avoid the Thornes from here on out? How did she escape the awkwardness of being a dupe for twenty-plus years?

Curled up in her bed and hiding under the covers as if she expected Laszlo to blow the hinges off her barricaded door and storm the castle, so to speak, Ebba released a miserable groan. Sure, the half of her forever crushing on him was all for decisive action on his part. But the other half, the one that didn’t know how to process what the hell she’d learned or if she should seek therapy for what might be a psychotic break, was happy to hide out by herself in her sanctuary from the outside world.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked herself aloud.

Jars rattled on a nearby shelf.

Okay, so she wasn’t alone, alone, and it was in no way a sanctuary with the pain-in-the-ass ghost haunting her.

“Go away, you fucking asshole!” she hollered, losing her temper for the first time since her invisible roommate had appeared several months ago.

The temperature dropped by a good twenty degrees, and her comfortable space became unbearably frigid. The moisture caused by her ragged breaths met the cold air, creating small, misty clouds with every exhale. Lights flickered like in an early episode of Supernatural , and if she had rock salt, she’d have made a protective circle around herself. A glance around showed no iron in the immediate vicinity. Dean was always handy with a poker.

She didn’t have any knowledge regarding ghosts, but with certainty, she shouldn’t have pissed off her resident spook. Based on recent experiences, things were about to get dicey. They always did whenever she accidentally annoyed the spirit haunting her.

It had been five months since her accident. Five months since the death of her then-current guyfriend, Spencer. That timeframe coincided with the manifestation and her periodic blackouts. She wavered back and forth between believing the apparition was real and a figment of her imagination.

Was it possible her brain was scrambled, or had Spencer refused to cross over? If so, why? They’d only gone out on a handful of occasions, and there hadn’t been enough time to fall into feelings. The guy had bored her to sleep during their one and only picnic. Granted, she’d worked a double at her mother’s new bakery that day because Mom had been short-staffed. Still, it was a dastardly dull dinner date.

But what else could the constant haunting be? Who else?

“Why didn’t I remember to ask Lo?” she muttered. After all, that had been her primary reason for seeking him out. Or so she told herself. Sure, the ink on his divorce papers was finally dry, but that hadn’t played into her visit.

More dishes rattled, and she drew the covers closer around her neck.

“I don’t know what you want.” She whimpered like the total coward she was, eyes squeezed shut.

An answering breeze swept the hair back from her chilled skin like the softest caress. The next instant, the covers were swept away. Apparently, Ebba wasn’t allowed to wallow in misery, and no reprieve from the chaos and cacophony was to be had tonight. One by one, self-help and empowerment books fell from the shelves to litter the floor.

“Funny,” she muttered, not finding it humorous in the least.

Banging sounded on the front door, and seizing the opportunity to escape, she bolted across the room. Maybe if she could get out of the apartment, the entity would calm the hell down. But before she made good her escape, a vase crashed to the floor, sprinkling shards of glass in her path. Barefoot, she skidded to a halt. If she sprinted the last five feet to freedom, she’d cut the hell out of her bare soles.

“Why can’t you just go away?” she shouted in her frustration, not even wincing at the begging in her voice. She was fed up by the countless sleepless nights due to the icy feel of fingers stroking her hair. Her ghost had an obsession, and she was it.

Laszlo’s muffled voice was apologetic from the other side of the wooden panel. “Of course. I’m sorry to bother you, Ebba. I was just checking?—”

“ Lo? Lo, I?—”

She screamed as her body was thrown sideways into the wall.

Then again when the door flew back on its hinges.

Arms raised for battle, wearing an intensely dark and frightening look on his handsome face, Laszlo blasted his way inside. There was no other word for it. He summed up the situation with a single glance and rushed to Ebba’s aid.

“Back off,” he warned as he scooped her off the floor.

It took her a few confusing seconds to realize he wasn’t speaking to her.

“You see it?” she whispered.

“I do,” he replied grimly.

“Thank God I’m not going crazy.”

He snorted but never glanced down, and his steely-eyed stare was focused on something or someone she couldn’t see. “If you are, I am.”

“Can you, uh, talk to them, too?”

“Sure, and so can you. The difference is I can hear the reply.”

Ebba gaped at him, noting the challenging expression he cast her eerie entity. What must it be like to see and speak to things beyond the normal? For that matter, what did it feel like to blow the door off its hinges without the need for mortal tools?

“Can you ask whoever it is to go away and leave me alone?”

He hesitated, and the frown between his slashing brows deepened to trench-like depths. “There’s a problem with that request, Ebba.”

The sound of his too-solemn tone woke butterflies in her belly, and not the good kind. “What? What problem?”

“The spirit on the other side of the room… Yeah, it’s you , Sweet.”

Her heart stuttered and stalled like a standard transmission shifting from first gear to second with a novice working the clutch. The vigorous thudding hurt her chest.

“ What? How can that be?” she croaked.

And what about Spencer? She had to remember to ask him when things weren’t so fucking terrifying.

“Don’t know for certain, but I’d recognize that stubborn expression anywhere.” A half smile curled his lips, but quickly dropped away. “We’ll get it sorted, but I need to contact a friend first.”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Okay.”

What the fuck else could she say, anyway? Something like, “Oh, yeah, and while you’re phoning a friend Who-Wants-To-Be-A-Millionaire style, why don’t you call a shrink for me?”

Laszlo’s mind was reeling as he stared at Ebba’s ghostly form across the room. So far, she refused to speak, glaring between them as if she were furious he’d come to the rescue.

Perhaps she was.

Ebba was independent. Had been since they were children and her parents left her to her own devices. Her entire childhood was their generation’s version of a latchkey kid. The loneliness radiating off her had prompted Liz to take Ebba under her wing and bring her home. But it was Ebba’s engaging personality and can-do determination that had gained the Thornes’ respect.

“Listen, I’m going to lift you onto the counter, and I want to examine your ribs. Then we’ll clean the glass from your feet. Is that all right with you?” he asked her spirit self.

“Yes—oh!” Eyes wide, the corporeal Ebba in his arms blinked. “You weren’t talking to me.”

If the situation weren’t so serious, he’d have laughed at her confusion. As it was, a split soul was exceedingly dangerous. Lo had to find a way to rectify the matter—and soon. Because if the soul was fractured, as hers appeared to be, other evil entities could make her body their plaything. And that he wouldn’t let happen.

As he shifted her against his chest, a white-hot ball of energy whizzed past and halted behind him. He hated to keep his back to the salty spirit, but he had to trust neither Ebba would hurt him.

“Seems your ghostly self is keeping watch to make sure I don’t do anything untoward,” he said dryly as he set her on the counter.

“Or maybe she’s mad you haven’t yet,” Ebba quipped, and then she blushed to the roots of her hair. “Fucking A! I don’t know why I said that.”

He grinned. “Maybe she’s your filter.”

Wide-eyed, she nodded. “That seems reasonable enough.”

Staring at him as she was, with those large brown eyes eating him up, her mouth slightly agape, and a becoming flush, Ebba caused his pulse to race. The hammering in his chest felt different from anything he was used to and was uncomfortable in a way he didn’t like.

The wonder fell from her as she shook her head and looked away. He could only assume he had unknowingly scowled. Charlotte was always bitching at him for his involuntary expressions, saying things like he could frighten small children.

“Did I, um… did I scare you with…” He swirled a finger around his face and tried to suppress his frown.

Ebba’s head whipped up, and her brows crashed together. “What? No! How… why would you think that?”

Shrugging one shoulder, he turned. His confidence had taken a hit when she ran from the coffee shop. There he’d been, attempting to be all flirty and suave, and she’d bolted like a greyhound out of the gate, chasing the mechanical rabbit.

Her hand shot out, gripped his, and tugged him back around. “Lo? What’s this all about? You can’t honestly believe you scare women, right? You’re the nicest guy I know.”

“I thought my suggestion at the café and magically breaking down your door might’ve turned you off.”

Ebba sandwiched her lower lip between her straight, white teeth, and her eyes flared wider.

He held his breath as he awaited her response. Why did he have to bring either of those things up? Did he have a tumor, or had he grown terminally stupid in the last half hour?

Her small snort preceded a giggling fit, and she released his hand to press her fingertips to her mouth. Tilting his head, he smiled and fought the urge to laugh with her, though he didn’t know what she found so amusing.

When she had her humor under control, she shook her head. “Okay, first, your statement at the café didn’t scare me. Not in the way you think, anyway.”

“What other way could there be?” His brows met.

“I’ll circle back to that. Second, the magical rescue was hot as hell and greatly appreciated. I mean, I don’t know what the hell to do about that busted doorknob tonight, but it was worth the cost of a locksmith to see you in action.”

Lazslo laughed. “I’ll fix the door before I go. I promise there will be no out-of-pocket expenses for any of my rescues.”

“Whew.” She swiped a hand along her brow and grinned, but her expression froze in abject horror as her gaze locked on something behind him. “Niall!”

“Niall?”

Lo glanced over his shoulder and noticed a burly stranger with a vase raised over his head. His reaction was immediate. Pivoting, he bent sideways and shot his foot into the other man’s midriff, then followed it up by knocking the impromptu weapon from his meaty fist and clipping his jaw. The guy shook like an angry bear and rose to his full height as if Lo’s defensive tactics were a mere annoyance.

“Niall, no! He’s a friend!” Ebba cried as she launched herself off the counter.

Remembering the broken glass and vase shards, Lazslo caught her around the waist and swung her to safety. Unfortunately for him, Niall, Ebba’s grizzly-bear-sized friend, took exception and shoved Lo before he could turn around.

His head became closely acquainted with her entertainment cabinet, and it was lights out.