Page 89 of Possessed By Shadows

“No, and no homeowner.”

Well, that was probably good news? “Did you check all the closets and stuff?”

“Yeah.”

I’d have to go look. The black-eyed kid said Lukas was here. Why lie? The ghost crew didn’t follow us inside, only Jason did, closing the door behind him.

“We should go. Police dispatch said someone called in noise and lights to this address,” Jason said.

“White suburbia gets faster police response than most of the Quarter? Super.” I headed toward the stairs. “Let me double-check upstairs. Look for doors missing? Closets? Any sign of Lukas?” I hated to let go of Micah’s hand, but I wasn’t going to drag him around the whole house. “Wait here, if you see police lights or hear sirens get out fast. I’ll expect you to bail me out of jail.” I tugged him close for a kiss.

“Don’t give it more,” he told me. “No more bargains.”

“Pretty sure I don’t have anything left to bargain with,” I reminded him. “It owns me. But once Lukas is safe, I’ll be hardcore working on controlling this.”

He let me go, I headed up the stairs, Jason making his way back to the garage to herd his people out, and my dad stalking through the lower level with Micah waiting at the bottom of the stairs. I went through the rooms fast. There wasn’t much there. A bed in one, the other a handful of boxes. Almost like whoever lived here was moving?

Closets empty, boring, not lived in. The bed was made. Everything looked fairly clean, like it was ready to be shown for a real estate listing? Strange. I opened the door across from the bathroom to find the laundry room and the black-eyed kid.

I swallowed a scream and jumped back. “Fuck,” I muttered, trying to keep the volume down so Micah wasn’t racing up the stairs after me. We had to get going. Did this place have cameras? I’d hate to have gotten everyone arrested for nothing. And where was my fucking brother?