Miss Fortune

Chapter Seven

Terri dropped her back at home and then left for her shift at the Hilltop, while Alex wanted nothing more than to flop onto the sofa and do nothing. She tossed her keys next to the Waterford crystal bowl on the coffee table and kicked off her purple Chuck Taylors by the dark blue easy chair. The silence told her that her sisters were nowhere to be found and that was just fine with her. She really didn't feel like sharing just then. In fact, all she wanted to do was go upstairs and see about taking a nap. Hopefully, Frerin would have found another bedroom to haunt. Somehow, she had the feeling there were quite a few he could find his way to. He certainly seemed the type.

As she passed the closed office door, she paused. Did she dare go and check on the blog? It was actually Charlie's day to monitor it, but her idea of doing that was to pop in every three or four hours, skim over the questions, and answer the ones she felt like answering and maybe change the image on the home page before going out to do whatever she wanted. The others were left for her sisters. Probably a good idea to go take a peek.

She'd do it from her own room, where she could stretch out on her bed and be comfortable, and so made her way down the hallway. Her room was hazy with inactivity. Dust motes swirled through the heavy air as Alex broke the stillness by crossing to the window and pushing up the sash. Another week or so, and the air conditioning would be running full blast, but for now, fresh air would do just fine.

The chair squeaked as she rolled it back and swiveled it to sink into the well-worn leather. A click of the touchpad, and Miss Fortune's Crystal loomed before her. Charlie had outdone herself this time, as smoke appeared to billow across the black screen. As it withdrew, the sparkling crystal globe appeared, and Alex couldn't help but smile at the cat-shaped, seductively slanted green eyes appeared on the far side the ball. "She's too much," she muttered, shaking her head as she logged in her screen name and password.

"I don't know, gives me some pretty nasty thoughts."

Alex jumped as Frerin's voice shattered the silence, even though it was only a murmur coming over her left shoulder. "Jeez!" she gasped, swinging about in her chair to try to find him so she could glare at him. "Would you—do not do that to me again, you got that? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

He came into view, a misty outline at first that slowly grew more solid. He reclined against the far wall, both arms and legs crossed. As he solidified, she could see the smug smirk lifting his lips, and she wished he were real enough to throw something at. "It isn't funny, you know. Not funny at all. Asshole."

"Sure it's funny. You're jumpy as anything, Alex. Why? You know I hang around here. And you know I'm not going to hurt you or anything." He uncrossed his legs and stepped closer. "Never mind that I don't think you're old enough to have to worry about heart trouble just yet."

"Well, that's all going to change if you keep sneaking up on me." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And what're you doing in here, anyway?"

Frerin sighed, reaching up to rub his stubbled chin. "I'm not confined to just one room, you know. I can go anywhere I damn well please. It's one of perks of being dead."

She didn't miss the sarcasm laced through his words. "Oh." A horrible thought struck then and she felt heat climb into her cheeks. "Does that mean that you've been all over the house? At any time? Without any of us knowing it?"

His sly grin answered her question and this time, she did throw something. The paperback dictionary sailed right through him without incident, though his midsection did swirl wildly and disappear completely for a moment. The book hit the wall and thudded to the floor and he didn't so much as flinch, although her second sharp, "Asshole!" brought a full smile to his face.