Page 108 of Marked By Shadows

Alex let out a long sigh, shared a look with me and headed back to the car. I wondered if there were things Lukas had found that Alex didn’t remember. Would it help clarify things for Alex? Define what he saw?

There was also a miniature house on the table. It almost looked like a replica of mine. Tiny room, painted walls, and furniture built from wood.

“That’s Lukas’s new hobby. I ordered it for him to try. He spent the last few days working on it,” Sky said. “I figure I’ll order him a few more to keep him out of trouble.”

Jet hissed and I frowned, looking down at my cat who had his back up and tail puffed up. He stared at one of the chairs in my tiny dining set. There was a white cat sitting on the chair, tail flicking like it didn’t have a care in the world.

“Fuck,” I grumbled.

“What?” Sky asked.

Alex returned with my old sewing machines and glanced at me. “What?”

I waved at the cat in the chair. He looked that way and his cheeks turned pink. “Sorry. That’s sort of my fault.”

“What?”

“She seemed lonely. And easily agitated. So I invited her along.”

The words slowly processed. “You invited a ghost cat to come home with us?”

“Ghost cat?” Sky’s eyes went huge, looking at the table and chairs like it would bite her.

“I thought Jet could use a friend.”

Jet was not happy about the idea of a friend at that moment. “A ghost cat?”

“She’s less likely to be agitated by us,” Alex pointed out.

“But have cat wars with Jet?” He still had his back up and stood close enough to me to touch. “Maybe you can invite her to stay with Lukas. I hear he’s got a new house that might already be haunted. Sounds like a great place for a ghost cat. Cats love him.”

Alex leaned close to me for a kiss. “Sure. We’ll work on that. Funny how you can see the cat now? Not just a shadow.”

I blinked, realizing I had been seeing a lot in the past twenty-four hours. “Well fuck. This is going to make tours interesting.”

“They always are,” he said. He headed over to the table and began flipping through folders. “Wonder where he got all this.”

“It might have answers.”

“Or more questions.” He sighed, and his eyes fell on the model. “That’s cool.”

“Apparently your brother’s new hobby.”

“Good. I’ll buy him more to keep him busy,” Alex said.

“Operation distract Lukas is on,” Sky agreed, raising her hand for a high five. I had a feeling they weren’t going to be as successful as they hoped. Lukas was nothing if not tenacious when he had a mystery to solve. He’d been investigating mine for two years.

Alex pulled me into a hug.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

He let out a long slow breath. “Just happy to be home.”

Jet hissed and dashed up the stairs to the loft. “You had to bring the ghost cat…”