Wherever She Goes (Psychic Seasons, ReGina Welling [novels to improve english TXT] 📗

“No, stay. She’ll surface eventually.”

Kat sat stock still, afraid to move, afraid to lose whatever connection it was with him that somehow triggered her vision but also wary of getting into another argument over the veracity of psychic phenomenon. She searched her mind for any other topic and came up with Logan.

“Logan Ellis.” The name burst out of her, “Is there any news?” The man had slipped in and out of Oakville as though charmed, wreaking havoc at every turn. Zack continued into the room and slumped down on the couch opposite Kat. He eyed her speculatively.

“Nothing.” He spat the word as though it were bitter in his mouth. On a professional front, the man sliding past him at every turn had not been a career-making event and on a personal one, Ellis had kidnapped his sister; he needed to pay for that. Taking away Logan’s freedom might never feel like enough justice but it would have to do. “Can’t you use your mojo on him? You found that hockey equipment without any trouble, why not Logan?”

Because the idea scares the bejeesus out of me didn’t seem to be an appropriate answer even if it was the truth. Kat tried to explain.

“You go to a wedding; you hang out with the bride and groom, their friends and family. I go to a wedding and I hang out with all of those people and the spirits who come along with them. Wherever there’s a big group of people, there’s always someone repeating the latest gossip. Well, spirits gossip, too.”

Zack quirked an eyebrow, then, thinking she could not see him, kept the tone of his voice conversational but allowed a smirk to twist his lips. It took all of Kat’s skill to keep from reacting to his deception. So far, he was unaware she could see him and, for now, that was the way she wanted it to stay.

“But unlike the living, they can only gossip about what they’ve actually seen or heard.”

“Hearsay and innuendo are not my favorite methods for solving a case.” His voice sounded disapproving as he stood up and walked over to take a closer look at the painting of Julius on the mantel. Behind his back, Kat screwed up her face, stuck her tongue out and made a series of rude hand gestures but when he turned back around, she was sitting as quietly as before, her face relaxed and eyes staring blankly forward.

“Ju…” Kat trailed off when she remembered that Zack had yet to meet the resident spirits of Hayward House. “…I don’t have a direct connection with anyone related to Logan so I don’t have a reliable source for information.” Julie’s great grandfather Julius had a tenuous connection with the man but only because he had worked out a way to track Logan through the vengeful spirit named Billy who possessed him. Maybe it was time to introduce Zack to their secret weapon but that wasn’t her decision alone to make. However, if Julius or Estelle were to show up here right now, she would enjoy the spectacle of seeing the ever-arrogant Zack deal with the facts of life after death.

As she looked at him without seeming to look, Kat noticed a difference in her vision from those times when Estelle’s presence had allowed her to see—this time she was less a spectator more an active participant. Instead of seeing only what Estelle found interesting, Kat could look at anything she chose.

And Kat chose to look at Zack.

Tall and blond like Gustavia—but there the family resemblance ended. Full, kissable lips drew her eye to the shadowy indentation of the cleft in his chin. A strong jaw that appeared chiseled out of stone when he was in an obstinate mood, as he was now, begged to be soothed into a softer line. Then there were those eyes—chocolate brown and warm but she thought he used them to hide his true feelings more often than not.

Thinking about how attractive he was made Kat feel weird—he looked so much older than the boys she had always admired—then she remembered that the last time she had been visually attracted to someone of the opposite sex, she had been fourteen. It might take her brain a while to catch up.

_,.-'~'-.,_

A little chill crept across Zack’s skin. Something was up with Kat and he hadn’t needed his cop sense to figure it out. Was she just distracted or was she communicating with someone or something he couldn’t see?

Nervous mannerisms, tension around the mouth and eyes—she was ready to jump out of her skin. Was it something he said? Knowing she could not see him, looking at her felt oddly voyeuristic, as though he peered at her through a one-way mirror that exposed her every vulnerability. He knew he should look away, but he was riveted.

Peaches and cream skin, a dark swing of hair, eyes the color of cornflowers and lips of palest pink. He swept his eyes down to take in the contours revealed by the cling of the soft sweater she wore, then farther down, still, to assess a pair of slim, jean clad legs.

She chewed her nails. Their ragged edges the only outward sign of stresses he sensed she always took great pains to hide. What was it about those brutally short nails that made him want to cradle her in his arms and smooth that tension away?

Restless energy pulled him back off his seat and over to the window. He hated feeling helpless.

_,.-'~'-.,_

He had given her the once over and with no idea she could see him doing it. Kat already thought Zack was arrogant but this was beyond the pale. Still, once he looked away, her eyes quickly followed the path his had taken.

There was time for a quick glance at the ugly tips of her fingers before she had to pull her eyes back up and focus straight ahead again. Some friends. They could have said something about