Page 4 of The Haunting
“Duh, I specifically told you to turn around. But no, you spotted a side turning and thought you’d get past the flood!” Nanci berated Inglorious.
“So? It should have worked!” Inglorious retorted.
“Make-up sex between them must be so hot,” Kate murmured, and Nanci gaped at Kate before throwing her head back and laughing.
“We’re not into voyeurism!” Nanci exclaimed, and my beautiful wife blushed.
“Nanci, I didn’t mean it like that!” Kate hissed, and I grinned.
Kate was still quite shy, while Nanci was the total opposite. They met at my women’s club and, strangely enough, hit it off. They were becoming fast friends, something I was grateful for. Despite Kate befriending the Rage, Hellfire, and Hawthorne women, she hadn’t had a close confidant until now. Nanci and Kate were as thick as thieves, which was why I’d agreed to this outing. Persuading Adam I didn’t need a bodyguard because I had Inglorious had been a real issue. Now I wished Adam were with us. We were meant to be heading to a haunted hotel. Drake had mentioned it within Nanci’s earshot, and she’d got a bee in her bonnet about staying there, too.
Inglorious and I found ourselves booking into the venue without a by-your-leave and driving there today. I didn’t care because Kate was ecstatic about visiting it. Whatever made my woman happy, made me happy. It was that simple. Only, Inglorious had gotten us lost.
“There’s a house up ahead,” Nanci cried.
“Is that the place?” I asked.
“No, it’s far too big,” Kate mused as she considered the daunting edifice in front of us.
A shiver ran down my spine. This didn’t seem welcoming at all. Slowly, we drove past a sign, and Kate gasped.
“It’s called the Washington Inn,” she said as she stared at the hanging board.
“That’s convenient,” Inglorious muttered, and I smacked him around the back of his head. Inglorious sent me a dark look.
The road we were driving on led us around the back of the mansion, because that’s what it was, and towards the front. I was surprised to see two other cars parked nearby.
Kate squealed. “That’s Phoe’s minivan!”
“What?” I asked, wondering if we’d been set up. Shit, was this one of Phoe’s fright nights? We stopped close by, and I saw Drake and Chance gazing through their windscreen at us in surprise. Or maybe not, judging by the looks on their faces.
“James, I don’t think I want to go inside that,” Kate murmured, staring at the building.
“No, me neither,” Nanci agreed, and I was amused that her ball-busting attitude seemed to have deserted her when faced with the horror movie prop in front of us.
“Well, I’m not getting out to talk to them. You got us lost, I nominate you,” I said to Inglorious, who glowered. The rain was lashing down, and although it was cold, I was dry. Let him get wet!
Sabine
“Will you two idiots stop fighting for five minutes?” I snapped as I gazed out of the rear window at the flooded road.
Daniel had gotten us completely lost as Lucian proved he had no idea how to read a map. The Marquess Blackwood, my husband Daniel and the Earl of Castleton, Lucian, clearly had no sense of direction. Twin frowns were aimed at us as Maggie and I sighed once more.
It had been my suggestion for Daniel and Lucian to spend time together, and it was something I was starting to regret bitterly. Without the rest of the Rakehell Six and the Nortons to provide a buffer, their constant taunts were getting on my last nerve.
“This is fun,” Maggie muttered, and I snorted in amusement. The sweet woman had agreed. Since the war to beat Margery, we’d been trying to help the Rakehell Six and the Nortons bond. Lucifer—yes, the fallen angel Lucifer—had hinted thatsomething bigger was coming, and we had no idea what. But I realised deep down that our two groups needed to find common ground. We could and had done that to vanquish Margery and her wickedness.
This trip—lasting a month—had included our visiting some of the sights Maggie and I had longed to visit. Salem, Savannah, and several other places. We’d been driving to Rapid City after spending a couple of days in Nebraska when this storm broke.
The sat nav had crashed, and Daniel, making a mistake, had taken a wrong turn, and we’d ended up on a pothole-filled back lane. I’d been bemused when we’d driven over a stone bridge. But then Daniel had insisted on driving through what he called a small puddle. It hadn’t been shallow, and we’d barely made it through. Now we were stuck. That had started Lucian’s nitpicking, and he and Daniel had gone at it. Thank God St John wasn’t present with Henrietta.
“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to get out and walk,” Maggie suddenly snarled, and our husbands’ heads snapped towards us.
“It’s pouring with rain, you’ll get ill,” Lucian baulked.
“Then stop fighting. If we can’t go back, there is only one way forward. Take it and be quiet! You’re both giving Sabine and me a headache,” Maggie retorted.
Lucian pursed his lips together, to my amusement, as Daniel started moving the car again.
