“Because some dick that wants you to cross over gave it to you. They get some kind of brownie points when they do that. All a bunch of horse shit if you ask me. Why would someone want to leave this place when there is so much to do?” Joel told him he’d thought the same thing. “Right. Shove the thing away. Just, you know, tell it to go away. By the way, you can use that on most anyone. Just say for them to be gone and they can’t bother you no more. They can’t even bother you in a place where they died, either. Some kind of mojo stuff. I heard that you already had someone shut you out.”
“Yeah, the man who murdered me. He was protecting what was his, I guess.” Dane nodded and smiled. Joel had to look away. His mouth looked like he’d never heard of a tooth brush, much less used one. “I was murdered there too, or so they tell me. How do I go back there if he shoved me out?”
“Don’t go back.” Dane shrugged. “I go back to my place only ‘cause I’m looking for my dead wife. My stepdaughter is there, but I got no use for her. They’re both dead, and the sooner that stepboy of mine is too, I’ll be a content man.”
“What about my things here? I can’t just leave them. Howard told me that they’d be auctioned off and I’d get nothing from it. What about my money?” Dane just laughed again. It was beginning to sound less and less scary to him, and that made him more afraid of himself than Dane now. “And I want to go to the board meeting. I have some things I need to see to.”
“You do know that you’re dead, right? Some people have to reminded all the time. I had it in my head that I was fine and dandy until I seen my stepdaughter. Mess she was. Anyway, just let it go, buddy. If you do, then you’ll have a better time. You can’t spend it, and I’m here to tell you that the thing where people say you can’t take it with you is true. You can’t. So fuck it and all this shit you think you have to do. You can’t make a difference in the living world. So you might as well have fun being dead.” It made sense, but the book in his hand vibrated again. Putting it on the bed, he left the room after Dane did. But he stopped him just before they left the house together. “You shoved it away, right? That book, you shoved it away.”
“I did. And good riddance to it too.” Dane looked back at him but said nothing. Joel had no idea what the look was, but he didn’t care for it. He nearly went back to his room and got the book, just to keep it with him in case of an emergency, but didn’t. There was fun to be had, and Dane was going to be a good teacher for now.
As soon as they exited the house, Joel could see things he’d never noticed before. Not just the colors, which seemed to be brilliant, but the people milling about. There were so many of them that he had to tread carefully.
“Are these people like us?” Dane turned and looked at him, then continued walking without speaking. “They’re dead too? Like we are?”
“They’re dead, but not like us. They’re the ones that will drop everything to go and help others, the living, for some reason. Me? Not so much. I got me my own rules to fly by. You will too when this thing with that bastard is done.”
“What is his name? Perhaps it will help me help you find him.” Dane stopped and turned to look at him. “You said you knew Addison. What does this have to do with her and him?”
“They’re together. The two of them. He’s one of them necromancers. They try and kill us.” Joel knew what the word meant, but never thought of it as being a real thing. “There are a bunch of them living up there in that house. Got them a real nice place too, but you and me, we can’t go there. We have to wait until it’s time.”
“Time? Time for what?” Dane turned and walked away again. And no matter how many times Joel asked him, Dane refused to answer. Joel decided that for now, he’d let it go. He was going to get to Addison, and that was forefront in his mind right now. Then he was going to see about killing her, so they’d live the rest of their days together. Just as they were meant to do.
Chapter 5
Nick watched her sleeping. It wasn’t like him to remain idle for so long, but he found it peaceful to just sit and watch her. The nurse had told him that she was doing well. He hoped so; they’d taken a great chance getting her here. When Carlton came into the room with him and Aster, Nick got up and left to stand in the hall to talk to him. Nick knew that she was in good care with Aster with her.
“I’m sorry, my son, but your stepfather is around.” Nick felt like Carlton had slapped him, the information was so hard to take. “He’s hooked up with another like him, and the two of them are plotting. I have heard from my sources that the two of them are looking for your dead mother and another woman. Your mother is…if you do not mind me saying, she is as bad as she was when she lived. Sad woman, she is.”