“No, I didn’t. I did see the doorway though. But there’s no way she was faking her conversation with Joanna. She said stuff even that John Edwards guy from Crossing Over would never have known.”
“Who?” she asks.
Before I have a chance to answer I hear Rafe’s voice in the background. “TV show, liebling. Psychic medium who talks to dead people.”
“Is that like the Bruce Willis movie you made me watch, ‘I see dead people’?”
“Yes, dear.”
Vivian snorts and returns her attention to me. “Okay, so she says we have souls. Good to know. Now what made the ‘reaping’ different than with a human?”
“Apparently we’re stronger and don’t want to let go.”
“Figures. Greedy in life and greedy in death, too.”
“Oh, that’s not the half of it,” I say.
“How so?”
“There’s this porter to the afterlife who shuttles the souls to their destination.”
“Like Charon and the River Styx?”
I have no idea who she’s talking about. “What’s that?”
“The minion from the underworld who used to ferry the dead between the worlds.”
“Uh, yeah. That sounds about right. Well, he requires payment for supernatural souls. Says we’re more work.”
“And did you pay him?”
“I used a battalion coin that I’ve carried since the war. He said it would do, for now. But next time he wants something ‘of value.’ He specifically asked for gold.”
“I can’t decide which is more amazing—that vampires have souls or that the ferryman is squeezing us for cash. Nope, I got it. Definitely more amazing that we have souls. I’ve always wondered…”
I hear Rafe laughing in the background. He’s much more used to dealing with my boss’s quirky sense of humor and violent mood swings than I am.
“This guy won’t take cash, of that I’m certain. Do we have any valuable coins on site, Vivian? I haven’t said anything to Lisa yet, but we’ve had a lot of people die here recently.”
“Oh yes, good point. There’s a hollowed-out book in the bookshelves on the second floor landing with a few gold coins in it.”
Who the hell keeps gold at their home? Oh yeah, my crazy vampire boss, that’s who. “There’s got to be several thousand books on the second floor. Can you narrow it down a little?”
“Hmmm… Let me see… In the reading loft, not on the landings exactly. Black spine in the second bookcase, at the top, on the right wall. Think the book is ‘The Art of War’ and it’s written in French.”
“Okay, I’ll get it before she does any more reaping.”
“Good. And Asa?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“You stick to that woman like glue. If she learns anything she shouldn’t, you need to carefully remove the knowledge from her mind before she leaves. Can you do that?”#p#分页标题#e#
The image of staring into those big beautiful blue eyes comes to me, causing a lump in my throat. I will not fail in my job. “Yes, ma’am.”
A blood curdling scream rips from the room behind me.
Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure, Magic
Chapter Five
Lisa
My body slams against the far wall in an effort to get away from the approaching spirit. Creepy doesn’t begin to describe this guy. He’s the one I saw in the lobby, but he looks much more menacing now. White hair and goatee, lanky, and slinking toward me in a way that says he’s got one thing on his mind—taking a sip of Lisa.
With no knowledge of what vampire ghosts can and can’t do, I try to escape, but he has me pinned in my room and I can’t get to the door. I could run through him, but only as a last resort. A violent criminal passed through me once and I swear I still feel his taint on my soul. No telling what residual effect a vampire would leave.
He closes the distance and I lunge to the side. Before I can get around him, the spirit grabs me around the neck and slams me against the wall again. I don’t get paid enough to put up with this crap. Instantly his hand tightens.
“No.” I squeak out. My breath stutters with each painful bit of pressure. “What do you want?”
A feral smile spreads across his thin lips. “You.”
My body lifts from the floor. I kick my feet but they go right through the ghost. Now I’m eye level with him. His eyes hold a kind of crazy I’ve never seen. Unlike Joanna, my touch doesn’t seem to have a calming effect on him. Another minute like this and I’ll pass out and crazy vamp will have his way with me. Being a reaper was bad enough. Being a vampire reaper—well that would totally suck.