Veiled Spirits

“I can’t tell you,” Bishop growls, fury seeping into his voice. He takes an agitated swing at one of the punching bags in front of us, his fist connecting with a solid thump. Muttering under his breath, he asks, “Why can’t Izzy ever catch a break?”

“Why can’t you tell us?” I press, trying to understand what’s going on. I can’t keep my little mate safe if I don’t know what’s threatening her.

“Izzy would never forgive me. Telling you would put the three of you in danger. I’m willing to do almost anything for Izzy’s happiness, but betraying her trust isn’t one of them.” Bishop hangs his head when he finishes.

“Fair enough, man,” Archer replies, trying to defuse the situation. He’s a natural peacekeeper, always trying to make everyone happy. “Can you at least tell us about what she meant with her last comment?”

My heart rate kicks up at the reminder of our mate talking about her death like it wouldn’t kill us too. She clearly doesn’t understand what mating means if she thinks we can just find someone else to replace her. From the moment we met her, she’s all there will ever be for us.

Bishop clenches his jaw and closes his eyes. He scrubs a hand over his face before opening his eyes again. “People like Izzy don’t have a long life expectancy. Part of what she can do is also dangerous. She swears she’s stopped doing it after she almost died, but I don’t know if I believe her. That’s the thing about her. Izzy will always put everyone else before herself. Even if it kills her.”

I trade concerned looks with Archer and Cain at what Bishop is sharing. What the fuck does he mean, our mate doesn’t have a long life expectancy? It also worries me that Izzy’s so quick to put everyone else before her own well-being. That’s a recipe for burnout.

I won’t press Bishop for more information on what she is, because I respect him protecting her trust. But I do have one other question about her. “What caused her reaction to me pinning her?” The sheer terror on her face as I pinned her down will haunt me for the rest of my life. I never want my mate to be scared, but it’s so much worse when I’m the one who did it.

Other than the end, I enjoyed sparring with her. I’m impressed with her skills. Izzy was so sure she’d lose, but she put up a good fight. Her technique was spot on, both with sparring and her punching bag work earlier.

As soon as I came into the gym tonight, I knew my mate was here. Instead of rushing over, I observed her as she pounded on the punching bag. Her form was nearly perfect. I’m surprised she was able to hit the bag for almost two hours straight. Most mages don’t have that stamina.

After our sparring, her punching was sloppy. That’s probably why she broke her damn hand. I’m not sure what worried me the most—the fact that she fractured two knuckles or that she had a minimal reaction to the pain. There’s no reason she should be so accustomed to pain that broken knuckles barely phase her.

“I don’t know. I’ve pinned her many times before. She’s never had a reaction like that. But I’m damn well asking her the next time we’re alone.” Bishop’s blue eyes are swimming with both rage and pain. I understand the feeling when it comes to Izzy. The little mage has turned me inside out in a matter of hours.

“Let us know what she tells you or at least what we can do to avoid triggering her. What’s the best time for us to take her out on the dates?” Cain’s the planner out of us. Without his meticulous organization, there’s no way our pack would be thriving like it is.

“If you don’t want Izzy to hate you, ask her yourself. She can’t stand people deciding things for her,” Bishop informs us. He squints his eyes in thought. “Izzy should be free Monday afternoon. If you head down to Hawthorne Grove, we can all hang out together. Hopefully Izzy will be a little more receptive to you three after cooling off this weekend.”

Both Archer and I look at Cain. He knows our schedule better than either of us. After thinking for a moment, he nods to himself. “That’ll work. Text me the address and time, and we’ll be there.”

Bishop gives us a curt nod in response, clearly lost in his own thoughts. I bet he’s worrying about Izzy. That’ll be the norm for all of us from now on. I can already tell she’ll make me go gray way before a hundred.

He opens up a portal ringed in blue magic almost the same color as Izzy’s. Bishop starts toward it before turning back to me at the last second with a half grin. “Bring the Charger, Luca. Izzy will get a kick out of it, and you could use all the brownie points you can get with her right now.”

I huff out a laugh, wondering if my little mate likes cars as much as I do. “I can do that. We’ll see you Monday, Bishop.”

CHAPTER 9

IZZY

“You’re really pretty,” Billy, the ghost I just finished healing, tells me. With floppy curly brown hair, a baby face, and a lanky build, he looks far too young to be dead.

“Um. Thanks.” I look at Aggie to see if she has any idea what to say when a dead kid hits on you. She shrugs her shoulders at me. Not sure how to respond, I just ask, “Are you ready to move on?”

I never force the ghosts Aggie brings to me to move on. Once I heal them, though, most want to cross over.

Billy nods while staring at my boobs. I roll my eyes at him. Even dead, boys are all the same, I guess. Turning to the horizon, I point out the road that leads over the lime green hills. “Follow the yellow brick road. It’ll take you where you need to go.”

He looks off into the distance, probably taking in the lavender sky and fluffy baby blue clouds for the first time. With a bright orange sun, chartreuse and hot-pink plants, and blue rocks, the spirit realm is an interesting experience. It’s kind of like if a preschooler colored our world with only markers from the neon pack. Everything’s super saturated, and the colors don’t always make sense.

“Like The Wizard of Oz?” Billy questions, his brows pulling down in confusion. His brown eyes are clear now, unlike when Aggie first brought him to me. He’s not deathly pale anymore, either.

I chuckle. “Yep, just like that.” Whoever created The Wizard of Oz either had to have been to the spirit realm or heard about it from someone who had. It’s too much of a coincidence to be anything else.

“Is it scary? The afterlife?” Billy nervously looks at the yellow path disappearing over the hill. Most ghosts are a little scared of crossing over. It’s understandable to be worried. No one really knows what’s on the other side, not even me.

“I don’t think it’s any scarier than what you’ve already been through. If it helps, the people I’ve seen cross over always do it with a smile.” I usually let people cross over in peace. But some ghosts want someone there with them. Whatever I can do to ease the transition, I try to do.

“Okay,” Billy hedges, kicking the blue dirt with the tip of one of his beat-up Vans. Rolling his lips between his teeth, he rocks on his heels for a moment before coming to a decision. “I’ll go. I’m ready to see my family again.” My heart squeezes at everything the kid’s been through. I usually don’t ask ghosts what happened to them. Billy wanted to share, so I was happy to listen.