The Girl with the Uninvited Ghost: Pandemonium Cozy Mystery #1

Chapter 11

Mahogany and Tony sat together on a bench in Pandemonium's park. The air was so thick with butterflies that it appeared like a field of flowers had taken flight. Their tiny winged bodies bumped and glided on beams of the setting sun scented with the blush of jasmine blossoms.

Tony turned to her, his hazel eyes sparkling in the fading summer light. He placed a golden hand on Mahogany's umber cheek and pulled her in for a kiss. As their lips touched, a thrill ran through Mahogany, making her toes curl. Her breath caught in her throat, and she pressed herself into his warm frame. Tony took his free hand, grabbed Mahogany's waist, and pulled her into him until she couldn't tell where he ended and she began.

Mahogany repositioned herself, so she wrapped her legs around Tony's middle. His mouth moved from her lips to her neck, kissing and love-biting, causing Mahogany to gasp in pain and excitement. How long had it been since another being had touched her like this, touched her at all?

Tony pulled away and began undoing Mahogany's shirt with the deftness of someone well practiced at undressing others. The evening breeze caught Mahogany's neck and chilled the area where Tony had left his mark. She closed her eyes, relishing in the glow of the moment.

The blare of Mahogany's alarm startled her awake at 6 a.m. She slammed the alarm with her hand, quieting its insentient beeping. Next to her sleep-tousled pink hair, Bazgul was curled up, snoring, but instead of a fuzzy spider, he'd remained in slimy toad form. A puddle smelling of ripe pond water dampened the pillow case beneath him, wetting Mahogany's neck.

"Good morning, sunshine," Guy said as he materialized through her bedroom door. His radiant smile froze on his face when his gaze fell upon Mahogany's bedraggled form. "Good gods! You look awful," he said. "And, by the way, what's up with Bazgul?"

"Guy," Mahogany said, scrubbing sleep from her eyes with the heel of her hand, "what's the rule?"

"Never float through a closed door without permission." Guy's gaze fell to the floor. "Apologies."

Mahogany threw back the covers. "Well?"

"I'll just go then." Guy pointed over his shoulder at the bedroom door.

"Great."

Guy floated back into the hallway. "There's coffee when you're ready," he called, the Mahogany's bedroom wall muffling his voice.

Mahogany sighed but didn't respond. She opened the closet and shuffled through her clothes, irritated by everything she saw. With another heavy breath, she settled on a pair of dark leggings, a sweater tank-top, and a loose belt. She then headed to the bathroom to wrangle her kinky hair into submission.

With an appraising look in the mirror, Mahogany straightened her pentagram charm on its chain and headed downstairs. The loving scent of coffee greeted her as she entered the kitchen. She beelined to the steaming carafe and filled the waiting mug on the counter.

"So," Guy said, startling Mahogany, who gave a small yelp. "I thought we could go check out the wishing well by the old beach road."

"Did you?" Mahogany said, delivering enough milk into her coffee to bleach it a light tan color.

"Since my brief stay in Pandemonium as a living person didn't allow me to see the sights, I thought you could be my guide," Guy said, his tone chipper. "After all, where you go, I go."

A small pit of resentment formed in Mahogany's chest as she heaped enough sugar into her mug to make a diabetic fall into a coma.

Guy studied Mahogany's expression as she stirred the light, sweet substance in her mug.

"If you don't like the wishing well, we could check out the stone circle or the cemetery? Maybe there are other ghosts there?" Guy smiled, but Mahogany didn't see any warmth in it.