Aftermath by Bailey Bradford (most important books of all time txt) 📗

Lee and Darren—that sheet trick had been neat, and Conner had been right, it had kept Darren from going home alone and kept Lee from letting him. Maybe Conner shouldn’t have interfered but it’d been so obvious that the two men didn’t want to be apart from each other.

“See? I had a good reason. See how they can’t hardly look away from each other? And Lee has held Darren’s hand this entire time. So me scaring them was good. If you scare them now, especially Lee, since he still isn’t convinced spirits exist, who knows what Lee will do.”

Fine. He’d just hover here and be good, but he still wanted to let Lee know he was here.

“Don’t even think about it.”

God, if Stefan had eyes he’d roll them at Conner. The guy could be such a stick in the mud.

“Trust me, Stefan. Darren needs to know you didn’t kill yourself, and he and Lee both need to know the truth. Just have a little patience.”

What other choice did he have? Stefan made himself even smaller and settled in to wait.

* * * *

Darren’s skin kept flaring with chill bumps. Ever since Severo and Laine had come over, Darren had experienced the creepy sensation of being watched. He wondered if Lee felt it, too. He glanced at Lee’s arm. Little bumps prickled his skin and the dark blond hairs were standing almost straight up. That was pretty much a positive answer, wasn’t it?

Lee set down the paper he’d been reading, another official accounting of Severo’s abilities being used to help the Austin Police Department solve a murder. Darren was so glad Laine had thought to grab the file he said he’d put together on Severo when he’d shown up in McKinton. Lee said he could believe in what he could see, so maybe all the documents attesting to Severo’s…talent, would count as something seen.

Lee sighed and rubbed at his forehead, his other hand still holding onto Darren. “Okay, so Conner, who was your lover”—Lee stopped rubbing his head and pointed at Laine before dropping his hand onto the stack of papers—“is a spirit. And Severo can, as hard as it is for me to believe—but I have to, reading these—can commune with spirits. Conner came here and helped you two figure out who killed him and why, and saved a couple of people while he did it. And he’s still here.”

Laine nodded. Lee pointed at Severo. “And you’re telling me Conner is the spirit who decided to play bondage with our sheets last night at the motel. Why would he do that?”

Severo shrugged, his pale eyes focused on something behind Darren and Lee. “I don’t know, he’s being coy, the jerk. Maybe you did something to piss him off, or—and this is a guess, mind you, since Conner’s being an asshole—you said Darren was leaving. Did you want him to go?”

Darren looked at Lee, who didn’t hesitate to answer. “No, but I didn’t think he’d like me inviting myself to spend the night at his place.”

“There you go.” Severo shrugged again as if that explained Conner’s actions.

Lee frowned and glanced at Darren before looking at Severo again. “What? Conner was playing matchmaker? He was my wingman? He wasn’t bright enough to come up with a better plan than scaring the sh—crap out of us? I thought Darren was going to be suffocated or strangled or—uh.”

The temperature in the room plummeted. Darren started to get up, intending to drag Lee out of there. Lee wasn’t having it, jerking hard on Darren’s hand until he had no choice but to tumble onto Lee’s lap. Lee wrapped his arms around Darren’s waist and snarled, “What the fuck is happening now?”

Severo and Laine both smiled as the papers on the table rose into the air, floating in front of Darren and Lee. Lee’s gasp was almost as loud as Darren’s.

“Enough, Conner,” Laine snapped, his smile vanishing as he watched them. The papers shot up to the ceiling then sailed back down into a sloppy stack on the table.

“Conner can be temperamental,” Severo explained. “And yeah, I can call him names because I know him, but you irritated him by implying he wasn’t very smart.”

The room warmed back up as quickly as it had cooled. Darren didn’t relax, exactly, but his heart quit trying to climb up his throat. “So that was Conner the Vengeful Ghost,” Darren blurted, silly with relief at not being turned into a Popsicle.

“Spirit,” Severo corrected before laughing softly.

Lee tightened his hold around Darren’s waist and grumbled, “Severo had it right when he called Conner an asshole.” Lee sagged against Darren’s back. “Jesus Christ, there’s really spirits wandering around.”

There was something in Severo’s expression, a flicker of uncertainty, maybe, that had Darren tensing as if for another attack. “He’s not the only one here, is he?” The answer dawned in Darren’s mind so clearly he felt dizzy as he stuttered, “Stefan?” Whether he was asking Severo or Stefan, he hadn’t a clue. Severo nodded.

Lee went tense behind him, squeezing Darren so hard he squeaked. “No, you can’t…why would you say that?” Lee demanded, releasing Darren and nudging him to get up.

“Lee,” Darren began, not sure letting Lee up was a good thing. He’d sounded very angry. Another push at his butt and Darren stood.

“It’s true, that’s why.” Severo didn’t seem concerned about Lee’s temper at all, but Laine was slowly rising from his seat, his icy gaze locked on Lee. Darren reached for Lee’s arm only to be shoved back into his chair by… Darren blinked as Lee gaped at him.

“Dar, what—” Lee’s hair lifted, thick clumps of strand separated by an invisible touch. “Oh God.” The color leached from Lee’s skin as a breeze kicked up around him and Darren both. Unlike the scary cold presence earlier, this one was warm, gentle, like constant caresses bestowed on someone much loved.

Stefan. Darren knew, even as Severo said the name. Darren relaxed into the comfort of his friend’s embrace and watched