1 Broken Hearted Ghoul by Joyce Lavene; Jim Lavene Page B

more than vague illusions.”
    “Which is why you should be at the inn figuring it out. You only have a few days, not to put too fine a point on it.”
    “Yes.” He smiled and seemed a little confused. “You are correct, of course. You are able to shield yourself from such things. I should be looking to my own difficulties. My apologies.”
    “Maybe I can help later when I get home. We could look it up on Wikipedia or something.” Okay . I was trying to throw him a bone. I still felt sorry for him.
    His strange green eyes stared into mine. “I am uncertain what Wikipedia is, Skye, but I do not believe the answers are to be found so easily. In the meantime, I would bestow a small charm against evil, if that is permissible?”
    “Sure.” I was pretty sure it wouldn’t matter, but I had nothing to lose.
    I expected him to give me a talisman or something. Instead, he put his hand behind my head, and quickly brought my mouth to his. His kiss lingered for a few sweet seconds, sending sparks flying through me.
    “How is that going to help?” I asked when he’d moved tantalizingly away.
    “A kiss for luck. You wear my mark now. It cannot be erased. Anything evil that approaches you will know that you are under my protection.”
    Smiling, I kissed him again. “That’s very sweet of you. Thanks.”
    He seemed surprised. “I knew there was more between us than you wanted me to know.”
    “I’ve made my choices, Lucas. I can’t abandon them now. Not for you, or anyone else.”
    “I understand.”
    He got out of the van then, and I watched him walk away from the school with his hands in his jacket pockets. Jacob’s jacket pockets .
    I sighed.
    Lucas was right. I felt something for him too.
    Maybe I didn’t have any magic—besides the tattoo on my heel—but I knew what a man looked like when he could mess up a woman’s plans for the future. Lucas was definitely that man, the first for me in two years.
    As far as his protection was concerned, I decided to stick with my own. He might have magic, but I’d taken him down with a stun gun. That told me my stuff was more reliable than his.
    I glanced in the rearview mirror to see if there was really anything visible on my lips. The only thing I saw that shouldn’t have been there was a big, sloppy smile. I shook my head at that smile, and shut it down.
    A school janitor was emptying the trash near the van. He was already staring at me in a suspicious way. I nodded to him, and left the parking lot.
     

Chapter Fourteen
     
    The light coating of ice was gone as I drove back toward Nashville. The roads were wet, but clear. The blue sky overhead seemed to say that everything was okay. I’d never put much stock into signs and portents before I became a zombie. Things changed once I was dead, but still walking around.
    I thought about what Lucas had said about something, or someone, evil marking me. There was no doubt that I came into contact with a whole truckload of weird all the time. I could have accidentally brought something with me.
    A year ago, right after Addie’s death, one of the zombies who’d worked for Abe turned out to be some kind of werewolf. He was changing when I pulled in for the pickup.
    I shot him three times with tranquilizer darts before he went down. It had been scary, dragging him back to the van. I wasn’t sure if he’d wake up and change again before I could get him to the mortuary.
    I’d seen a werewolf. I knew zombies were real—maybe sorcerers too—what else was out there?
    I put that thought out of my head as I approached the small, frame house where I was supposed to pick up the dead zombie. The yard was neat and clean, nothing special. There was a string of Christmas lights on the edge of the roof even though the holiday was long past.
    It was then that I noticed the sheriff’s car parked in the drive on the side of the house. Had Abe called Martin too? I was pretty sure he wouldn’t call any other deputy.
    I pulled out my Beretta