Lead Me Astray

Original Edition: CHAPTER 10 - AURIE

"What? Haven't you people seen Ghost? It's like my mom's favorite movie. Mys, you're a medium. You can be my Whoopi Goldberg," I said.

"So meta. First, I'm not a medium. Second, I am not letting you use my body to kiss some college boy. Ew!"

I pulled a face at the game of semantics. "If you're not a medium, what would you call it?"

Zyr replied, "I think the term is—"

"Your new roommate," Mys spoke over him. I raised a brow. "That's what we came to suggest to you. Remember my speech last night about Overlay City?"

"Yeah. You said Supernaturals aren't evil, but the bad actors are like criminals with superpowers, oh, and being dead won't protect me," I recited.

The detective had more to add. "Our suspect is a powerful vampire who thinks he's above the law. Rumors of his predatory behavior have circulated for years, but we've never gotten charges to stick. Be that as it may, I believe you're the key to taking him down."

"Which is why," Mys said uneasily, reading my expression no doubt, "for your protection, we'd like you to stay at my apartment until the detective is certain Darcy Cyprian doesn't know you're in Overlay City."

My eyebrows clashed. "Dudes, my unfinished business is to go tell my secret crush I'm secretly crushing on him. Besides, I need to see Haley and Mom. There's no way I'm spending my Afterlife here with strangers, no offense."

"It's temporary, and while you're..." Zyr ruffled my hair. Or he tried it. I gave him a Wtf look. He flashed a sheepish grin, which—why the hell was that sexy? "While you're here, we'd like to be your Supernatural family."

"I already have a family-family. Anyway, what if Darcy finds out I'm in Overlay City? Would that mean I stay in hiding indefinitely?"

"Nahin. Once the Council opens an official investigation, you're free to move about the city. Cyprian won't be able to do anything under their scrutiny. If he finds you before that," Zyr trailed off and shrugged before resuming, "You're not a protected class like the humans anymore. You're one of us now."

I pictured Darcy getting hands on my ghost and shuddered. It wasn't like I had a life to rush back to. I slouched on the sofa with a groan. "How long am I supposed to be haunting this cubicle?"

"This cubicle? A while ago you were haunt-less." Mys popped me with a throw pillow.

Giggling, I dropped my bad attitude and impulsively hugged them. "Aww, I do appreciate the hospitality, but now that I remember my life, I want to go home."

"Let's give it two weeks," said the detective.

"What if I spend days with my family while the vampires are sleeping?"

Zyr grimaced. "Darcy Cyprians has plenty of humans working for him. Even a brief trip home could be detrimental since he's sure to have surveillance on your house."

"Wait, does that mean Haley and Mom are under threat because of me?"

"There's no evidence of that," the detective reassured me. "Either way, I had your mom increase her security detail as a precaution, and NOPD is providing extra patrols. You can keep them safe by letting us protect you here for the time being."

Mys squeezed my shoulders. "C'mon, stay with me. We can tell some guy he's your dream zaddy."

"I guess I don't really have a choice. Anyway, I spent all evening working on this stupid love letter. Will you deliver it for me since I'm stuck in quarantine?" I asked Mys.

"Let me see." The detective lifted it from the coffee table. I let out a yelp and jumped to get it back, but he playfully held it aloft, reading in a teasing voice: "'Dear Willie-Jay, my feelings for you shine in my heart. I wonder if you'll ever see the light. I'm the girl who runs into you accidentally-on-purpose every day—' Okay, no, Aurie, no!"

I crossed my arms indignantly. "ROUGH draft, bruh."

"I knew you could use Supernatural family, sis," he jested.

I snatched the letter from him and stuck out my tongue. Mys made a show of checking the time. I inspected the phone, too. "Hmm, nearly three in the morning. Spending the night, fam?" I asked the detective with a grin.

He beat a hasty retreat to the door. "It was nice meeting you both. Here's my card if you need me. I'll...probably be a frequent fixture while Aurie's here. You know, to give updates and check on things. Is that okay with you, Mys?"

Mys nodded, cheeks flushing pink. I hid a grin as I watched the detective exit. Once the door closed, I whispered, "I ship it."

"Don't even." They smiled.

"Was it business?" I asked in a scandalized hiss.

Mys turned away and started unbuttoning the collar of the linen dress. A bashful grin curved my lips, and I averted my gaze. It was easy to see why Detective Zyr was hooked at first encounter. Mys was unconventionally captivating. My new roommate stepped behind the dressing screen to finish disrobing. I moseyed off to enjoy fantasies and the faint scent of their cologne.

"Does it matter?" they asked out of sight.

"What? Whether or not it was business? Yeah, I don't want to encroach. I worked hard learning how to transfer energy to take you up on your offer from last night."

Mys poked their head above the screen, saw my mischievous smile, and laughed in relief. "Offer expired, Willie-Jay's Girl," they said out of sight again. "Now, if you're asking how ghost sex works, you can fuck other Supernaturals, but your phantom booty can't get it on with non-Supers."

"Aww! Next lifetime for me and you."

"I'm curious. Now that you know I'm not a medium or psychic or some other mumbo jumbo, how do you think I see you, Aurie?" They stepped out wearing the kimono and blue silk pajamas from last night, and that's when it hit me.

I had no idea what they were, but Mys wasn't human.