The cavernous hall attached to the church is brimming with bodies, all of them bubbling with laughter, refreshment in hand. Once I exited the church I zigged left when I should have zagged right. Apparently, I was wrong about Becca and Nell hightailing it out of here. Instead, they made a trip to the ladies’ room, and that’s exactly where I corner the sweet old woman I’ve been dying to shake down since Christmas Eve.

Becca finishes up drying her hands and smiles my way. “That was quite the eulogy your mother gave. And quite a dramatic end to the funeral itself once you sealed the casket shut. Eve would have liked that”—her brows furrow—“I think.”

“Thank you.” I glance back at the stalls with their doors still firmly sealed shut. “I’ll wait for Nell. Why don’t you go out there and make yourself a dessert plate?” I lean in and whisper, “I brought some of those rum birthday cake cookies I’ll be making for Nell’s big day. I can’t wait to see what you think of them.”

“Ooh.” Becca’s head cocks to the side. She has Keelie’s gorgeous features, but her hair is a rich shade of amber. The look is new, and she wears it well. “I think I’ll take you up on that.”

A toilet flushes, and less than ten seconds later Nell stalks out, leaning on her cane every other step. Nell only brings the cane along for prolonged outings. And a funeral definitely counts as a prolonged outing.

“I thought she’d never leave.” She washes her hands quickly before leading us to the sitting area just before the exit and we fall onto a small floral sofa together. Mostly I’ve seen nursing mothers occupying the space, but at the moment it’s just the two of us, and my entire body shakes with curiosity and perhaps a touch of fear of what might happen next.

“What is it, Nell? I can’t take this much longer. Am I cursed? Am I defective? Am I some kind of a witch? How in the heck do we have the same malady?” A thought comes to me, and I gasp as Noah runs through my mind. “Oh dear God, please tell me it’s not contagious!”

A quick laugh chortles through her. Nell’s silver hair lies neatly over her forehead. It’s short all around and still full and thick as ever. Her blue eyes sparkle up at me, and I can feel the love radiating off of her like warm ocean waves covering me from head to toe.

“Darling”—she takes up my hands—“I’m not at liberty to tell you everything.” She nods up at me as if pleading with me to understand—which for the record I don’t. I don’t understand one darn thing about this. “But I will tell you what I do know about the gift.”

Huh. What else would there be to tell? But I don’t go there. There’s no way I’m making her backtrack. I’ve waited a lifetime to hear what comes next, and I’m not wasting a moment to breathe, let alone ask an asinine question.

“First, you are not a witch.”

“Oh thank God. I don’t think I could handle that. I’m a good Christian girl who has no intentions on sidestepping a holy rule or two.” Noah’s naked body comes to mind, and I blink it right back out, for now. Hey—you’ve got to pick and choose your battles. Everett’s naked body comes to mind, and a breath hitches in my throat before I blink back to life. “I’m no psychic either, am I?”

She takes a deep breath, her entire body rising six inches. “Not exactly. What you are is supersensual.”

“Supersensual?” I flatline. “No offense, but that sounds a bit porny. My boyfriend will love it, though. Although he doesn’t quite know about my…supersensual nature—at least not in that way.” Oh good Lord! Why don’t I just cop to the fact that I’ve been fornicating almost nightly, and might I add creatively with the good detective. And that I may or may not have spent the night with the judge. Gah! A thought just occurs to me. I slept with two men in a twenty-four hour period! I’m proving to be quite the supersensual little trollop these days.

“It’s a type”—she grimaces—“and you and I both certainly fall into that category.”

“How is it possible? What does it mean? Why are we seeing these long-departed creatures? Did you see that bear in there? Not only can I feel, see, and hear him, but he shut Eve Hollister’s casket!”

She trembles with a laugh. “Oh goodness, that beast must have really loved her.” She leans in, her eyes glint silver in the light. “Lottie, you and I are transmundane. It means we have the ability to reach into a world beyond the visible. Our supersensual powers are our sixth sense.”

“Sixth sense,” I parrot after her, just trying to take it all in. “But why? Why do we see them? And what does it mean that they’re able to interfere with our world?”

“They need us, Lottie. They come looking for justice for those they love.”

“Huh. They do help me when I’m about to catch the killer.” I almost feel justified impeding myself into Noah’s investigations. Maybe they are my investigations after all? “But why just one pet? I mean, maybe that’s all they had, but assuming they had more than one, why does only one come back at such a dark hour in their previous owner’s life?”

Her forehead breaks out into a series of wrinkles upon wrinkles. “It’s something I’ve wondered, too. All I can assume is it’s the one they felt the most affinity for—a special affinity.”

“Makes sense.” Speaking of having a special affinity. “I still have the dog you met Christmas Eve, Dutch, and I don’t mind one bit. Pancake loves him, even though he’s not entirely sure what it is.” Nell actually gifted Pancake to me over a year ago. She has his brother, Waffles. “But the bear can’t stay. The bear is moving things. We cannot let that happen. They’re getting stronger. We can’t let them interfere in this world.”

“Lottie”—her eyes enlarge as she pulls my hands toward her—“their ability to interfere is in direct relation to your powers. It means you have transcended the norm and you are entering unchartered territory.”

“Did you say norm?” I cock my head, squinting at her. “Because I’m pretty sure this is all unchartered territory. Unless, oh my word, unless there are more of us out there!”

Nell’s fingers touch her lips and she shudders, although the action is unreadable to me at the moment.

“Nell Sawyer. Are you hiding something deeper from me? How many of us are there? And do you meet on the regular? I swear, if you use the word coven, I am out of here.”

“Oh heavens no, we’ve never referred to ourselves as a—”

“Ah-ha! I caught you!”

The door glides open, and Becca strides over. “Nell Sawyer, would you please stop chewing this poor girl’s ear off?” She plucks Nell off the sofa and ushers her right out the door with an eye roll. But I’m on them, striding right by Nell’s side as Becca hurries them toward the exit.

“There is one more thing, Lottie.” Nell growls in frustration at Becca, but her daughter is relentless. “There is one thing you must never do!” she shouts as Becca leads her into the snowy evening and straight for her sedan.

“What is it?” I pant as the snow bites my cheeks.

Becca helps Nell into the car and buckles her in before saying goodnight and getting to the other side.

“What is it, Nell?” I whisper, leaning in.

“Lottie, please”—Becca motions for me to take a step back—“she’s liable to catch her death out here.”

Nell nods in agreement, her hand lifting as if to ease me. “My birthday is in a few days. Why don’t you join us for dinner?”

“I would love to. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” I wink over at Becca before sealing the door shut. Nell has no idea what a huge party Becca is throwing for her.

I watch as they drive away.

And I meant what I said. I will be there. And she will tell me what I must never do.