Free Coveted - Book 3 in the Gwen Sparks Series by Stephanie Nelson Page B

shrug.
     I glanced over at him. “Well thank you for doing your job.”
    “I also kinda like you and don’t want anything bad to happen,” Eddie admitted and I smiled. The ghost was in his early forties with shaggy brown hair and matching muddy eyes. He died in the seventies and was forever doomed to wear bell-bottom jeans and a blue t-shirt that read Volvo across the front.
    “So have you seen any other rogues around?” It suddenly dawned on me that one could be watching me right now. But this time I didn’t feel helpless like I did at my shop. My magic may be waning but I was surrounded by a horde of spirits and could use them to defend myself if I had to.
    “No,” Eddie replied. “But I’m sure they’ll be more. Rogues don’t back down easily. The Veil will find out the rogue they sent failed and they’ll send more to kill you. When they’re hired for a job they don’t stop until they accomplish it.”
    I walked over to a small, concrete bench and sat while the curious ghosts floated toward me. I smiled as they cautiously came closer, their eyes inquisitive. Seeing them in the period of clothing they had died in was like time traveling. What better way to learn about history than from someone who had lived it? I had no clue why I was so afraid to embrace my spirit walker side. It was pretty awesome. So what if I lost my physical magic? I could control and sense spirits and that was ten times cooler than conjuring stuff.
    “Who wants to play hide-n-seek?”
    “You cheat at hide-n-seek,” Eddie complained and the other ghosts nodded their translucent heads.
    “How do I cheat?” I stood up and placed a hand on my hip.
    “You command us to show ourselves,” another spirit answered. He was completely naked which led me to believe he either died when he was a werewolf or been caught with someone’s wife in a compromising position. Poor guy .
    “Okay, okay,” I said holding up my hands in surrender. “I promise not to order you to show yourselves.” I smiled. “Ready, set, hide.” And just like that the ten ghosts standing before me vanished with the steady breeze blowing through the cemetery.
    I crept around the base of a large oak, bracing my hands on the rough bark as I closed my eyes and tried to detect where the spirits hid. My eyes snapped open and a smile lifted my lips. Six feet to my left, behind a tombstone that had the name MORRISON engraved on it, a ghost lingered.
    “Ready or not here I come,” I called out. I just hoped no one wandered into the cemetery this late at night. It wouldn’t look good that it appeared I was talking and playing a game by myself. I could almost hear the whispers of the townsfolk now, “There goes crazy Gwen Sparks. I hear she prowls the graveyard at night to play with ghosts.”
    I inched forward, the sensation of death getting stronger the closer I got to the tombstone. A rush of icy coldness raced across my back, and I whirled around to search out the apparition making a run for it. Float for it? They were keeping themselves hidden though so I rushed forward, reaching out a hand and tagging the ghost behind the MORRISON tombstone. The spirit appeared beneath my grasp, a woman in her late twenties with a side pony and eighties garb.
    “Got you, Maureen,” I exclaimed with a smile before turning and running after the fleeing ghost. “No changing spots,” I called out. “That’s cheating.” A phantom laugh carried on the wind and taunted my ears. I recognized that laugh—Eddie.
    I raced through the cemetery, dodging the protruding stones as I ran after Eddie. In my pursuit I ran straight through a cold spot. Cringing, I turned around and gave an apologetic smile to the spirit who had been hiding there. The naked ghost slowly pieced himself back together, the air coming together to form his body again.
    “Sorry,” I told him.
    The spirit looked down at himself like he was making sure all of his bits and pieces were there. Looking up, he smiled and