Page 96 of Blade

Most monsters either blended in so well they could pass for human or stood out like sore thumbs. There was no in between which was how my family stayed so busy. But ghosts weren’t something I could pick out, so I mostly just stood in the parking lot with Blaine while it looked like he talked to himself.

“Good evening, would you be willing to find Miss Ida and let her know she has a visitor?” He was polite even if he looked nuts,but his smile said he liked what he was hearing. “It’s good to see you. Yes. I was over there last week. It was incredibly busy.”

I couldn’t decide what business they were talking about but as Blaine chatted with the air in front of him, it seemed like whoever was invisible to me was bragging about their granddaughter and her success in something.

There was nothing I could contribute to the conversation for a variety of reasons, so I just tried to keep a pleasant expression on my face and waited patiently.

I felt ridiculous but Blaine was clearly having a good time.

He was animated in a way I hadn’t seen before. Whoever he was talking with didn’t carry the same baggage of hunting him or having helped hurt him to begin with, and he was simply enjoying reminiscing.

It was cute.

But it seemed like his new friend was going to be helpful when Blaine went quiet and turned back to me. “Mr. Artis is going to find her. He says she’s usually playing cards in the old cafeteria in the evenings but he’s going to check.”

That was…weird.

“I’ve heard your people talk about ghosts but I’ve never actually seen one.” Well. “Okay, maybe I’ve seen something that could’ve been a ghost but there’s been nothing concrete I could document.”

And if you couldn’t document it then it didn’t count.

So for my family, they didn’t exist…which really was strange but I wasn’t going to argue with crazy people about invisible people.

CHAPTER 30

BLAINE

Miss Ida.

“What were you thinking, boy? Those women were always trouble. I told you that.” She came charging out of the side of the old, boarded-up brick building like a force of nature, glaring and pissed at me because that was just what she did. “But no. You had to do your own thing because you’re special.”

Even incorporeal and floating instead of walking, she stomped across the pine straw and sand with her arms crossed over her chest. I’d seen that same expression so many times it hit me harder than anything else that’d happened.

Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I stood straighter because the only thing she liked worse than sass was slouching, and I wasn’t going to bet against her being able to manifest a wooden spoon. “You were right. I’m sorry.”

I’d ended up a monster, so I wasn’t going to argue with her.

Even if I wasn’t sure she was right, but I wasn’t dumb enough to debate her about it.

The immediate agreement took some of the wind out of her sails, so I took the opportunity to change the subject as she finally reached the parking lot. “Miss Ida, I’d like to introduceyou to my mate Kenneth. He’s human, so he can’t see you right now but I’ve told him all about you.”

Henley blinked, probably at the strangeness of it all, but just as quickly he smiled in the direction I’d been looking. “I’m sorry I’m just human and can’t properly introduce myself, but it’s a pleasure to meet you. Blaine has told me how important you are to him.”

She smiled, letting out a long sigh. “You found your mate, boy. He’s a handsome one.”

As relief rushed through me, I nodded. “He’s very smart and he’s been catching me up-to-date on technology and society in general.”

Making a tsking sound, she shot me another glare before Henley got a smile. “Tell him it’s good to meet him and thank him for taking care of my boy.”

Groaning was not what she wanted from me, so I quickly swallowed back the drama that wanted to escape and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Henley was doing his best not to snicker, and took the whole thing seriously as I repeated the words to him. Nodding slowly, he charmed her with a smile. “I’m doing my best, but he doesn’t make it easy.”

Brat.

Before I could figure out what to say, he turned up the charm on Miss Ida. “He’s a trouble magnet. I don’t know how you did it when he was younger.”

Ugh.