Page 12 of Stalked By Shadows

Micah laughed. “Eat them in back. It gets everywhere.”

“Hush. You know you want some.”

I took the plate and headed into the back area, away from everything before carefully picking up one of the dough pillows. Sky watched me as I put it in my mouth like she was waiting for me to faint from delight. It was all right. But I’d had beignets before in France. It was a bit like eating sugar-covered air.

“It’s good,” I assured her, wiping the powdered sugar off my hands. Sweets weren’t really my thing. Though I’d tried red beans and rice thinking it was no big deal only to find I loved the stuff.

“More than good,” Sky said. “Heaven.”

Micah came in behind us and took one too. He pointed to spots of white on my shirt, but was spattered in his own a moment later. He brushed it off and looked at me. “You have powdered sugar on your face.”

“Yeah?” I wiped at my mouth and chin.

“It’s like glitter,” Micah said. “Sticks in the weirdest places.” He reached up and his fingers brushed the top of my lip on the left side. His intense gaze made my pants tighten again.

Sky snorted, a very indelicate sound for such a delicate looking girl. “The mess is part of the fun.” She was also covered in sugar. I watched her devour an entire plate of the donuts in awe.

“Right?” Micah asked. “She eats more than anyone I know and still looks like a stiff wind could blow her over.”

“I was just thinking that.” I shoved the second plate her way.

“You sure?” She asked before reaching for it.

“Yeah. I’d rather have red beans and rice or gumbo any day.”

Sky sighed sweetly and dug in. I checked the mirror in the bathroom before returning to the shop. No sugar on my face, and the semi-erection wasn’t noticeable.

Micah dug behind the counter, pulling stuff out as I cleaned up the shirt wall again. “We should get going,” he said as he glanced at the clock.

“Okay,” I agreed. I wasn’t even sure where the graveyard was.

“I’m taking Alex over to Number One,” Micah told Sky. “You got the shop?” He had his hands full of badges, his phone, and a box of books. I offered to take the box, which he handed over.

“Of course,” she said, obviously emboldened by the sugar rush.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Lukas a quick text that Micah and I were headed out of the shop and Sky would be closing alone. Maybe he’d get the hint and provide some company to the girl he liked. I added a little note as I thought it was funny,Did you know Sky collects dildos?

My phone pinged back seconds later with aReally? Interesting. I laughed and wondered if my brother would find a way to work that into their next conversation.

There was already a car waiting for us when we stepped back out into the heat. Micah opened the door and slid in. I followed, clutching the box.

“Evening, Micah,” the older black man in the driver’s seat said. He had Uber and Lyft stickers in the window. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Alex,” Micah said. “He’s helping out at the shop now, and with tours.”

“Yeah?” The man pulled the car away from the curb. “’Bout time. Never liked you out at night alone. Too many crazies in this city. Not all of them living. Won’t find cabs in the Quarter at night,” he told me.

“Why is that?”

“Ghosts don’t pay fares.”

I laughed, but he appeared to be completely serious.

“I won’t take anything from the Quarter after midnight, myself. You never know what will get in your car that late.” He drove the entire way chattering about the importance of the tours for New Orleans and how Hurricane Katrina had changed the industry, and how the ghosts were a menace to the local cab driver population.

He let us out at a church. I knew it was Catholic by the many stained-glass windows. Inside the doorway, in a small entry before the big open area for masses, was a section of candles, statues of saints, and a display of brochures, including Micah’s.

“The Catholic church is in on ghost tours?” I asked.