1 Dead Girl's Guide to Style (19 page)

“The spell is broken?” Caitlin asked.

I nodded. “Yes, it’s over.”

Rick marched to the door. “I’m out of here.”

“Good riddance,” James said in his wake.

Caitlin’s phone rang and she stepped to the side to take the call.

As we stood around wondering what to do next, I said, “I hate to mention this, but the Enforcer claimed that Max killed someone.”

Before Max could answer, Carrie said, “Max never harmed anyone. The
Enforcer just told you that so that you wouldn’t trust him.”

“Why does Mona have Max’s house?” I asked.

“Mona?” Carrie’s eyes widened. “That’s the Enforcer’s sister. She is evil.”

“I figured the evil part out quickly, but I didn’t know she was his sister.”

How had I gotten mixed up in this tangled situation? I still couldn’t believe that Max had had the coin with him all that time. That explained why when he came back the vampires weren’t able to go into the sun. It always seemed worse when I was with him too. It had been almost too much for Max to handle at the end. I was surprised that it hadn’t killed him since he’d carried that thing around with him everywhere he went. I looked over at Max and he gave a half-hearted smile.

I turned around just in time to see Caitlin click off her call. The smile on her face was from ear to ear. “Good news.”

“Thank goodness. I can’t handle any bad news right now.” I wanted the good news to keep on coming.

“I have a friend who knows someone and… well, long story short, the deed for the house is being changed
because of the newspaper article that Hadley found. It’s the proof that they needed. Apparently Mona just took over the house when he was turned and after a while that made the house hers. The house is now Max’s home again. We can kick Mona out. Plus, the Enforcer is out too.”

“Wow. Just like that?”

“Caitlin, that’s wonderful news. Thank you. I owe you a great deal of gratitude,” Max said.

“Who will be the new
Enforcer?” I asked.

Caitlin shrugged. “I don’t know, but maybe it should be you.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I don’t see that happening.”

“Why not? They have elections for it. You would be better than anyone I can think of. Regardless, the house
is back in Max’s name now. All he has to do is go to the courthouse.”

We looked over at Max. He had collapsed into the chair and was now sleeping. He looked as if he was exhausted. But since I found out that the coin had been in his pocket the whole time, now I knew why because it had to have been draining his energy.

James cleared his throat. “Aren’t you going to ask who sent the stake?”

A
ll eyes were on me. “I guess you noticed that, huh?”

“Considering you got rid of the vampires with it, yeah,” James said.

“I’m confused. Someone sent you a stake?” Max said.

I nodded. “I figured it was a joke, but it actually came in handy. I don’t know who sent it.”

James leaned back against my desk and folded his arms in front of his chest. “It was me.”

“You?
I should have known by the fact that you had it engraved. Why did you do that?” I asked.

 
James shoved his hands in his pocket and looked at me coyly. “You refused to have one in the past, but I just had a feeling that you needed one or would need one soon.”

“
So now you have a sixth sense?”

“I wouldn’t say that’s a new development. I
always had this skill,” he said proudly.

“
Well, thank you. I appreciate it and it did come in handy.”

“I’
d say. You saved our asses,” James said.

The door opened and grabbed our attention. I looked away from Max and toward the front of the shop. Mona stomped toward me with a look of determination on her face. She was the last one I wanted to see right now. I still had no idea wh
ich vampire had attacked me, but I figured she was involved. If there was any way to prove it, then I was going to do it. I walked toward the door to meet her.

Her bright red lips spread into a devilish smile.
She was wearing the red dress that I’d helped her pick out. If I’d known then what I knew now then I would have picked out a yellow dress for her. Yellow was all wrong for her. Red was definitely her color.

“What do you want?” I asked. I wasn’t even going to pretend to be nice to her now. “I don’t want to see you anymore,” I added so that she would know without a doubt how I felt.

She peeked over my shoulder toward Max. “Aw, look at the sleeping baby. He’s had a rough time since he came back, huh?”

I glared at her. “What do you want?”

She studied her fingernails and then finally said, “You do know that I was the one who turned him.”

Her words spread through me like a fire. For me that was the final straw. I couldn’t handle this news. It just made me furious. She had been doing all of this to him after she had turned him. Hadn’t she done enough yet?

“Why did you have the vampires abduct me?”

She rolled her eyes
. “Oh, God. They’re so stupid. They just mixed up and thought I meant you. I really wanted them to get Max. Once they messed up I knew I wouldn’t be able to trust them to do anything again. If you want something done right you’ve got to do it yourself.”

“What about the vampire who attacked me?” I asked.

“My brother is protective. If he finds someone in my home then he will attack.”

“Lucky for him it isn’t your home anymore.” I smirked.

Mona stepped closer and my blood boiled. When she moved even closer, she nudged me with her hand. I glared at her.

“Oh, that’s it. I’m not taking any more of this from you.” I reached out and gave her a giant shove.

She stumbled backward and fell against the counter. She looked at me with a stunned gaze.

“Yes, I shoved you, and from what I can tell, you completely deserved it. Deal with it.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

Her eyes narrowed. “You’ll be sorry you did that.”

She straightened and fixed her stare on me. I knew that this fight wasn’t over yet. I was ready for her though. I stood a little straighter. Backing down wasn’t an option. She moved closer and shoved me again. I stumbled back and that did nothing but make me even angrier. I pulled my arm back and squared a punch right in her jaw. It made good contact because she fell right on her butt. She clutched the side of her face and looked at me in a stunned daze. I shrugged. As far as I was concerned she had that and more coming to her.

After a minute, Mona finally climbed to her feet, still holding the side of her face. She stared at me in shock, but didn’t offer to come at me again. I figured I’d definitely won that fight.

She held her face and said, “
I can’t believe you did that.”

“I’
m sorry. Did I offend you? I thought you already knew you were a bitch,” I said.

“
This isn’t over. I will get you for this.”

That was when Caitlin and Carrie stepped over. Mona apparently hadn’t noticed them until now.

“You’re back,” Mona said as she stared at Carrie.

“Yes, I’m here now.” Carrie said with a satisfied smile.

Mona glared one last time and then spun on her heels and stomped toward the door. When she looked back, she flashed one last death stare at us then rushed out the door.

“You’d better not come back here,” I said in her wake.

I wasn’t sure if she heard me or not.

“What happened?” Max called out from behind me.

I whipped around and saw that he was now sitting up. He rubbed his face as he looked at me.

“Why didn’t you tell me that she was the one who turned you?” I stepped over beside him.

Max stared for a moment and then sat up the rest of the way. “I didn’t want you to get involved. I just wanted to cut all ties with her.”

“It would have been a lot better if you had told me,” I said.

He pushed to his feet. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. I realize now that it would have been better if you’d known.”

“It would have been a lot better,” I said. “Maybe I could have helped you. I sure wouldn’t have continued to help her.” She didn’t need to be stylish after what I’d discovered.

Carrie looked at Max again. “Have you seen Andrew?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Max frowned and shook his head. “No, I’m sorry.”

“Who is Andrew?” I asked.

Carrie lowered her head. “He’s the man I told you I was looking for.”

“I’m sorry,” I said softly.

He grabbed my hands and held them between his.

“Max, where is Cassandra?” Carrie asked.

His expression changed. “She’s not here.”

Who was Cassandra? Where had I heard that name before?

Carrie frowned. “Was she turned?”

Max shook his head. “I don’t know what happened to her.”

It seemed like a private conversation and I didn’t want to ask who she was right now. That was when it sparked in my mind. That was the name that I’d seen on the tombstone. But many people had that name and it was probably a coincidence.
Was the ghost Max’s girlfriend? Had she come back to give me a message? Max had been in the graveyard when I met him. He’d said he was visiting a friend. Was Cassandra that friend? Now I had to find out.

Max realized that I was watching and listening to their conversation.

“Carrie, how about you go with me and James for a drink,” Caitlin said.

Carrie nodded in understanding and they left Max and me alone. Without saying a word, he leaned down and pressed his full lips against mine. His kiss felt so right and I didn’t want it to end. I wrapped my arms around him as he pulled me close, pressing his hard body against mine. His tongue traced the outside of my lips and then he kissed me deeper again.
I was completely lost in the moment and it felt so right being in his arms. He placed tiny kisses along the skin of my arm and then worked his way back to my lips again. He was a very good kisser.

Maybe now was the time to discuss our relationship status. Did we have a relationship?
Now was the time to tell Max about seeing Cassandra in the graveyard.

Rose Pressey is an Amazon and Barnes and Noble Top 100 bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

When she’s not writing about werewolves, vampires and every other supernatural creature, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.

Rose suffers from Psoriatic Arthritis and has knee replacements. She might just set the world record for joint replacements. She’s soon having her hips replaced, elbows, and at least one shoulder.

Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky with her husband, son, and three sassy Chihuahuas.

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