Tate chose that moment to step out of the kitchen. He smiled and looped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, are you the one who's going to de-ghost us? Because we could use it. I just got that blast of cold air thing. It's freaky. It's unseasonably hot. I shouldn't be scrambling for a sweater. Also, I'm pretty sure one of the ghosts keeps patting my ass. That weirds me out a little, but I do understand it. I really work on these glutes."
The medium stared at them, looking just shy of annoyed. "You should have told me there were extra people here. I explained that I need the house cleared. This is going to work best if there are no disruptions."
Tate seemed utterly unfazed by the woman's obvious irritation. He simply smiled. "This is as cleared as we get. Trust me, this is quiet for us. It's usually a madhouse. I'm surprised we don't scare off the ghosts. I turned all the ringers off on our phones so we shouldn't have a ton of noise."
Helena was texting again, her fingers moving in an almost angry fashion.
The hair on the back of Belle's neck started to stand up. Something was off about the medium. She seemed stiff, and there was something about the way her eyes darted around that made Belle wary. Helena kept looking from her phone to the door as though she couldn't wait for her assistant to show up.
Perhaps the house was overwhelming her?
"Can I get you a drink? Anything while we wait?" She had to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes the house seemed oppressive to her, and she wasn't even psychic.
Helena's jaw tightened. "No. Perhaps Tate here could take the dog for a walk. It really would be better if we were alone. I sense this spirit doesn't appreciate the presence of males. Yes. Please take the dog out the back and give us an hour or so."
Tate's hold tightened and he looked down at Belle. "Is she serious? I mean I know they cleared the place out in Ghostbusters but that was because they were worried about crossing the streams. I don't think we're worried about that here. I'd rather stay with you."
Sometimes it was hard to keep up with Tate's pop culture references, but he was on par now.
"I'd like you to stay as well. Sometimes, the house scares me," she lied.
Something told her not to separate from Tate. Besides, Helena seemed to have it wrong. The ghost hadn't been bothering the men. Every instinct she had told her the malevolent spirit had a problem with women.
"Then I'm not going anywhere. The ghost will just have to deal," Tate pronounced. He turned to Helena with a shrug. "And so will you. I understand if you can't work under those circumstances. We can find someone else."
Helena held up a hand. "No. I'll work around it."
There was a brisk knock on the door, and Tate walked toward it, his hand outstretched.
"That's my assistant," the medium explained quickly. "Let him in. Just tell him to set up, starting in the bedroom."
"But the library is the worst room," Belle began. Something chilly ran through her, causing her to shiver. Something was wrong. So wrong. Her heart started to race-and it was all centered around that door. Instinct flared inside her. "Tate, don't open that door!"
But he'd already had the knob turned. Belle watched in horror as a man's silhouette loomed in the doorway.
"Oh, crap. Not you again. What do you want?" Tate groused.
Her grandmother's lawyer stepped up, leveling a gun at Tate's chest. "I want to get this piece of shit job done."
There was a tiny ping.
Tate turned to her, his eyes wide. He pointed toward the back of the house. "Belle, run."
There was an odd capsule-like dart sticking from his chest. Tate took a single step in her direction before his face went slack, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Tate went down hard, his big body sliding to the floor.
What the hell was going on? Belle screamed as the man pointed the gun her way.
Chapter Nineteen
A hand clapped over her mouth, stopping Belle in mid-scream. Something hard pressed between her shoulder blades.
"Shut up or he'll hit your boyfriend again," the so-called medium hissed into her ear. "And I'll have to put a bullet in your spine, too. I don't want to do that, so you'd better stay calm."
The world seemed to have stopped as she turned to stare at Tate's unmoving form. Was he dead? How could he be gone? He'd held her not an hour ago. He'd promised her a life together, that he'd never leave her. How could it be over? Would she end up like her mother, mourning and bitterly shutting out the other survivors?
Tears made the world blurry as Belle stared at Tate, willing him to live. Then Gates stepped over his prone body and into the light.