Phantom's Touch: Sexy Paranormal (Book 2, Phantom Series) by Julie Leto Page A

there.
    “Hey, Gibbs,” the man shouted to a well-dressed man holding a thick book overflowing with photographs. “What’s the name of that doohickey that Athena found in the third flick? This database is useless without the right name. You know. . .the thing she wore that made her irresistible to men?”
    “As if she needed any help.” The man named Gibbs chuckled as he flipped through the pages of the book.
    Aiden agreed. With Lauren playing the role of the goddess Athena, any man within a mile radius was likely helpless to resist her.
    Gibbs slammed his hand on the appropriate page. “You mean Aphrodite’s girdle?”
    The man at the keyboard punched the buttons of the corresponding letters and spelled out the word inside a thin white block. He then clicked a button and a photograph of a thick gold belt appeared.
    “Yeah, that’s it,” he confirmed. “Is she using it in this film? I didn’t see it with the costume drawings.”
    “Don’t think so,” Gibbs replied.
    “We should add it to the background of her room, though, don’t you think? I think it’s in storage. Hey, you. . .”
    The man snagged the collar of a young woman who’d been hurrying by with a tray of steaming coffee and shouted orders for her to retrieve the girdle from “wardrobe.” She mumbled her agreement, then darted away. The longer Aiden observed, the more this organized chaos resembled the preparations before a battle. Generals and lieutenants poring over plans, shouting orders to infantry peons, who nodded their quick assent. The energy surging through the room was soothingly familiar, even if the situation was as foreign to him as the eighteenth century would be to Lauren.
    He returned his attention to the machine. He had a vague understanding that the device was a repository for varied sources of information. Could it, perhaps, lead him to his family?
    Stepping directly beside the man whose fingers flew over the keys, he called upon the magic that held him and whispered the name Forsyth into the man’s ear.
    “What?” he asked.
    Gibbs replied. “I didn’t say anything.”
    “You didn’t ask about Forsyth?”
    “What’s a Forsyth?”
    “No idea,” the man muttered to himself, then continued about his business.
    But Aiden would not be deterred. He concentrated harder, focusing his attention onto the man’s hands. Seconds later he watched as the name appeared in the little white box.
    The words “No results found in Athena database,” flashed on the screen.
    Damn .
    And yet he’d discovered that he was not only trapped by Rogan’s cursed magic, but that he had some measure of control over the power as well. This could prove quite interesting, and he wondered what else he could do once he returned to solid form.
    With a glance back in the direction of Lauren’s trailer, which remained empty, he continued his exploration. A young woman passed so close to him he felt her penetrate his space. The jolt was immediate and unnerving—for both of them. She yelped. But when no one noticed she hurried away.
    Finally he spotted a door in a far corner that flashed with daylight whenever opened. He immediately moved toward it, wondering whether the sun was as hot as it had been in his time, whether the air outside smelled putrid like London or invigorating like the valleys of Valoren. But the closer he came to the door, the heavier he felt. And then weaker. With only twenty feet between him and freedom, a painful pull yanked him back to Lauren’s trailer, inches from where she’d left the sword.
    He’d been tethered again. Bound in ways that clamped the very essence of his soul. Despite the iciness coursing through his bloodstream, he shouted in rage. Several frames dropped off Lauren’s wall with a crash.
    “Aiden?”
    It was the last thing he heard before he fell into a dark and bottomless void.

9
     
    Lauren had no idea where Aiden had gone. She’d been in the trailer for over an hour, calling his name intermittently