Free CnC 4 A Harvest of Bones by Yasmine Galenorn

The fire must have been horrific, to sweep through and gut the house before the firemen could stop it. Of course, back then, technology still hadn’t come into play in a big way, and the firemen may have had a harder time fighting the flames.
    As a noise startled me, I glanced up. A fuzzy calico face was peeking at me from a patch of nearby brambles.
    “Samantha!” Holding my breath, I crawled back over the rope and slowly began to inch my way in her direction, but three steps away, she turned and hightailed it into the thick of the bushes. “No!”
    I whistled for her, called “Here kitty, kitty, kitty … here Samantha!” until my voice was hoarse, but there was no way I could follow her into the tangle without getting ripped to shreds by the thorns. Frustrated and shaken, I turned on my heel and marched back over to the house.
    As I yanked off my jacket, Joe peeked through the door, startling me. I threw myself in his arms and gave him a long kiss. Every time he was out on a bad call, I reacted this way, but he took it in stride, letting me hold him until I was certain he was okay.
    “Hey, it’s okay. I’m home. Em? Em? What’s going on?”
    “I thought I saw Samantha next door, but I couldn’t catch her,” I said, taking his hand as I led him into the living room. “I don’t know if I really saw her, or if it was wishful thinking. Anyway, it’s been crazy around here.” I told him about the Randa and the ghost outside her door. “I don’t think the spirit’s up to any harm. In fact, I’m not even sure she saw me, or if she’s a spirit at all. There wasn’t much actual energy there.”
    He frowned. “If it wasn’t a ghost, what was it?”
    I shrugged. “Could be a specter or a haunting … could be my tired eyes playing tricks on me.”
    “Not likely. So what else is going on? You’ve got that ‘things-aren’t-quite-right’ look plastered across your face.”
    I glanced at my reflection in the mirror over the fireplace. He was right. Unfortunately, I also noticed the new surge of silver sprinkles in my hair, and right now I felt old, especially with my birthday coming up. Maybe I would visit Harlow’s favorite salon and treat myself to a color job. Pampering would be good for my birthday. And what better way to pamper than a spa day?
    I’d learned to happily live with my curves—although they were more toned now thanks to the yoga—and I had finally accepted that I’d never be an inch over five-five. My growth spurt ended over twenty years ago. But my hair and a facial—now, that might just be the ticket to help me feel rejuvenated for the coming autumn.
    “Honey? Honey?”
    Startled, I realized that I’d been staring at myself in the mirror for over two minutes. I gave Joe a quick peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I was just drifting. Listen, about the lot you bought …”
    “What about it?”
    “We have a problem with dancing lights.” When he looked at me, puzzled, I spelled it out for him.
    Joe dropped back against the sofa, shaking his head. “At least you haven’t found any dead bodies yet.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Emerald,” he said, and I could see the beginnings of a grin, “Since I’ve known you, you’ve stumbled over two murdered bikers and a dead romance writer and her daughter. You’ve been cursed by dragons, and together, we saw a big, potentially nasty legend come to life. Face it, you’re a trouble magnet.” He tried to cover his butt by kissing me soundly. A damn fine kiss at that; a full-lay-back-run-hands-through-my-hair-breath-stealing kiss.
    After I managed to regain my composure from the unexpected but welcome ravishment, I shook my head and crossed my feet into a semi-lotus position. I hadn’t mastered the full one yet, but I was working on it.
    “Cad. Plying me with romance!” I bopped him over the head with a pillow resting behind my back and he laughed, grabbing it from me and tossing it across the room.
    “You’re not