She’d spent the rest of the night in a well-lit, windowless room that had none of the amenities of the hotel-like room she’d been escorted out of. Curled up in one corner of a sofa, she didn’t so much actually sleep as manage to doze fitfully until morning. Given she was under constant surveillance by the two other women assigned to guard her, it was the best she could do. One was there to guard her, and one was there to guard the guardian in case Robert attempted to take over another body.

At least they had given her what privacy they could, sitting at the far end of the room. Her back ached, her mind felt dull and woolly, and her heart was still hurting from watching Sinjin walk away from her last night. All in all, she was in a less-than-perfect mood when Jase strolled through the door carrying what Michelle prayed was a cup of very strong coffee. He took one look at her and the grin faded from his face as he whistled low and crossed the room to hand her one of the two cups he carried.

“You look worse than Sin does.” He dropped onto the couch beside her and shook his head ruefully. “What the hell happened last night? I leave you two lovebirds alone for a few hours and the next morning I find you both looking like someone kicked your kitten and stole your puppy for good measure.”

“Sin is an idiot,” she muttered and inhaled the fragrance of the coffee with a grateful sigh. “Thanks for this. I’m in dire need of caffeine right now.”

“No problem, and yes, I’m aware Sin can be a bit thick. What in particular did he do this time? Give a man a clue here. It’s a big, wide ocean of possibilities.”

“Robert possessed him for a while last night, and now he’s convinced himself that he can’t protect me. He walked out and left me to deal with this on my own. He said the only way he could keep his promise to keep me safe was to let someone better do it.”

Jase was staring at her. “Wait, back up. Robert can possess people now?”

“Apparently.” She nodded to the two women watching them from the far wall. “Which is why I now get a two-for-one service.”

“Well that explains his lousy mood this morning.” He settled back on the couch and gave Michelle a long look, as if deciding something. “I know you care about him, that much is obvious. But what do you know about Sin? How much did he tell you about why he’s with White Knight?”

“Not much,” she confessed, suddenly aware of how little time they’d had to get to know each other.

“When Sin was in the Corp, he saw some pretty horrific things. The truth is that we all did. Some of us can let it go, and some of us…well… some of us have trouble putting it behind us. Every single employee of White Knight is either ex-military themselves or from a military family. The cooks, support staff, security officers, all of us. Remington’s company is his personal attempt to balance the scales, undoing some of the darkness we’ve all had to face. It’s our chance at redemption. We get to be the heroes, and we want to believe that the good guys don’t fail. That means we tend to take it pretty badly when we don’t win every fight.”

“So, this isn’t just about me? This is about Sin’s past.” Michelle sighed and took several more sips of her coffee. “We’re both haunted, is that it?”

“You’re much too smart for him, you know.” The smile was back on Jase’s face as he flirted with her. “When you figure that out, I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Nothing personal, but I hope you have to wait forever.” She smiled back, feeling somewhat better after Jase’s explanation. “That’s if I can get Sinjin to stop beating himself up over something that wasn’t his fault. If anyone else had been possessed, I’m not sure they’d have been able to stop Robert from finishing what he’d started.”

“That bad, huh?”

“That bad.” Michelle couldn’t stop the shiver that washed over her at the memory of Robert’s arrival last night.

“Well, luckily for you Remington knows some very interesting people. One of them is on her way here, and she’s certain she can help.”

Hope swelled inside Michelle, and she found herself standing before she’d even thought to move. “When will she be here? Can I meet her now? What do I need to do to make him leave me alone?”

Jase was laughing at her as he stood up and tucked her arm under his. “She’ll be here soon. I’ve been sent to wake you up and get you presentable, so yes, you can meet her soon, and you’ll have to ask her the rest of your questions. I’m just the messenger.” He led her to the door, pausing just long enough to speak to the two women guards. “One of you can head out. The other needs to come with me for another few minutes.”

The two stood, conferred for a few seconds, and the younger of the two came over to join them. “I’ll stay.”

“Thanks, Val.” Jase nodded toward the other woman and then winked at Michelle. “Now I for one like the ‘just got out of bed look’ on a woman, but I’m guessing you may want to get freshened up before we go upstairs. Sin looks like hell, so I imagine you will want to look like you slept well and don’t have a care in the world, right?”

“You have an uncanny understanding of women.” She couldn't help but laugh as he squired her down the hall toward what she assumed was the room she had been assigned earlier.

“Oh, he thinks so,” she heard Val mutter from behind them. “Please don’t add to his delusions, Ms. Jamieson. The rest of us have to work with him.”

Sinjin was on his third cup of coffee when he heard Jase’s voice in the hallway, and it was almost painful to hear Michelle laughing in response to whatever his friend had said to her. They came through the door together, arm in arm. The sight caused a bitter knot of jealousy and doubt to form in the pit of his stomach. She looked beautiful this morning, her blonde hair loose around her shoulders and her lips shining with some sort of pink gloss that made him yearn to kiss her. She’d managed to find a dress to wear, something light and summery, and his groin tightened at the sight of her long, bare legs peeking out from beneath the hem.

She took a seat across from him, and when his eyes met hers, the pain he saw there made him wish there was something a lot stronger than coffee in his mug. He’d left because it was the right thing to do. Why couldn’t she see that? He failed her last night. It had been his hands that had hurt her while he was being controlled by someone else. Thoughts of what could have happened if he hadn’t gotten control back had kept him awake and on edge for the rest of the night.

Jase took a seat next to Michelle, and Sinjin found himself gritting his teeth as she turned to smile at his friend as though nothing at all was wrong, all the hurt she’d allowed him to see vanishing as she turned away from him.

“We’re just waiting for Anya to arrive, and then we can start.” Remington’s voice filled the office, drawing all eyes to him. “But before she gets here, I want to explain a bit about who and what she is.” He fidgeted in his chair, a surprising show of nerves from a man who had often been accused of having ice water in his veins. “Anya Anwyl is a psychic, a clairvoyant to be exact. Her credentials are extensive and impressive. She has helped police all over the country locate missing persons and solve cold case murders. White Knight has employed her several times, with a 100 percent success rate. So, no snickering, bad jokes, and none of your usual smart-ass remarks, Waters, or I’ll have you guarding penguins in Antarctica before the end of the week.”

Jase raised his hand. “What about good jokes? I tell a great knock-knock—”

“No.” Remington glowered at the blond pilot. “Behave yourself, just for a change of pace.”

“That’s the problem with being management. You have to give up your sense of humor,” Jase muttered as he lounged back into his chair.

The mood in the room shifted a half second before a soft knock sounded on the office door. It was as though a gentle thrum of energy lightened the air itself, like the sun had come out to shine after a long storm.

“Come in, Anya,” Remington called out.

Sinjin’s curiosity was high as he turned to watch the arrival of the woman Geoff Remington, a noted skeptic, believed was an actual psychic.

“Hello, Geoff.” Anya’s voice was gentle, but somehow her words carried to every corner of the office. She was a tiny thing, no more than five foot two. Her hair was dark red, with a lock of pure white that started just behind her left temple and flowed through the red strands, making it seem even darker by contrast. She was wearing a long, flowing outfit that had more colours than he could count, and as she walked into the room, Sinjin swore he heard bells ringing. The reason became obvious a moment later when he glanced down and realized that she was wearing a pair of delicate anklets with tiny silver bells attached. A second later, he had to swallow back a chuckle as he saw she wasn’t wearing any shoes. This is Remington’s psychic? No wonder he’d warned them not to snicker.

“You must be Michelle,” Anya turned to her and offered Michelle a smile. Then she went completely still, and her eyes stared off into space, unfocused. “Oh, I see,” she murmured a moment later and then glanced over at Sinjin with a knowing look before turning her attention back to Michelle. “It’ll work out, my dear, trust me. All that you have been through has prepared you for what is still to come, but I see better things coming for you, very soon.”

Her bottle-green eyes fell back to Sinjin, and she shook her head. “And you, stop feeling guilty for things that were not your fault. This isn’t over yet, not for any of you.” She seemed to come back to herself then, and her rueful laughter filled the room. “Forgive me being so forthright. It’s a bit of an occupational hazard. When I see things, I am often compelled to say something, even when I likely shouldn’t.”

“What, no fortune-telling for me?” Jase pouted.

Anya glanced at him, and her eyes widened in surprise. “In your case, I think it would be best if I stayed quiet. Your destiny hasn’t found you quite yet, but it will, soon. And I promise you’ll be quite happy when she does.”

“She?” Jase leaned forward, and Sin groaned as he recognized full flirtation mode kicking in. “Is she a blonde? A brunette? A redhead? Are you sure it isn’t a redhead?”

“Waters, I warned you.” Remington’s voice tone was close to a growl as he stood and offered Anya his seat, taking up a standing position by her shoulder.

“Sorry, sir,” Jase apologized, looking anything but repentant.

Anya drew a small bag from her purse and gently poured the contents out onto Remington’s desk, revealing five identical glass vials, all strung with a simple black cord. “I spoke to an old friend of mine before I came here. Dale has experience with this sort of thing, and I followed his instructions carefully. He’s provided us with the means to accomplish our task. The first thing we all must do is to wear one of these, starting now.”

She demonstrated by slipping the cord over her head so that the vial sat around her neck like a pendant. “You, too.” She glanced back at Remington and handed him one of the vials. “And don’t try to tell me you don’t need to. Trust me, you do. Just be thankful it’s nothing more than purified sea salt and essence of lavender.” Her tone turned droll. “They were all out of bat wings and adders’ forks at the local shop.”

They all dutifully took one of the vials and did as instructed, everyone carefully avoiding looking at Remington as he put his on with a look of utter distaste.

“These should protect each of you from Robert’s influence. So long as you are wearing it, he won’t be able to inhabit your body. It should also slow him down if he tries a physical attack, though I’m not sure how long it will hold him off. He’s far more powerful than your normal ghost.”

“Sea salt and flowers are ghost repellents? Does this mean we’re not going to get to use proton packs?” Jase picked up his vial and looked at it with disappointment. “Flower power seems a bit tame considering what’s going on.”

“They were all out of proton packs, too, sorry,” Anya joked. “Please believe me, this may seem simple, but it will work. Dealing with ghosts and the spirit world is an ancient art, and thus the ancient ways are the most effective. Geoff gave me the transcript of your debriefing, along with Sinjin’s notes on his experience a few hours ago. From what I have read, I believe your ghost is quite real, and furthermore he could only have gotten this powerful by making a deal with dark powers. His suicide, the change in his will, all of it was part of his plan.”

Anger coursed through Sinjin at the idea that Robert had been so driven to hurt and control Michelle that he’d given up his life and possibly his soul to continue tormenting her even after she’d escaped him. The man was more twisted than he’d ever imagined.

“Can you make this stop? Can you free Michelle from this son of a bitch?” he asked. God knows he wanted to believe this odd woman could do it.

“I believe we can, yes.”

“And this?” He touched the vial around his neck. “This will make sure I can’t hurt her again? So he can’t use me to get to her?”

Anya nodded. “Absolutely. Though I’m not sure why you think you’re capable of hurting Michelle. You aren’t you know, not at all. You’re her soul’s match. Robert can’t claim her because she’s supposed to be with you.” Her gaze slid from Sinjin to Remington for the barest of seconds before dropping to her hands. “Or are you another one who is bound and determined to ignore their destiny?”

Michelle startled and sat up, her eyes bouncing from Anya to him and back again. “He’s my soul mate?”

“Of course he is. You think all that chemistry sizzling between you is the product of only a few days? Would you have been willing to die for anyone else if they’d been the one in the lake yesterday?” Anya made an elegant gesture, interweaving her fingers and locking them together. “You’ve lived and loved each other for lifetimes already.”

Sinjin shook his head, Jase frowned, and even Remington looked pained as the three men looked at each other, then at the two women. “Can’t we just get rid of Casper the unfriendly ex and deal with the rest of this later?” Sin asked. He was all for fixing Michelle’s problem so he could start trying to undo some of the hurt he’d caused her. But he’d be damned if he was going to start sharing his feelings and discussing soul mates and destiny, especially with Remington and Jase in the room.

“All right, I see I’ve disturbed all of your male sensibilities.” Anya laughed and winked at Michelle. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“You bet we will.” Michelle looked pointedly at Sinjin, and he caught the warning flash of determination in her eyes. Somehow he knew that look, though he’d never seen it on her face before. Deep in his heart, he knew it didn’t bode well for his status as a bachelor.

“Geoff, we’re going to need a private area, one without carpets, at least twenty feet across.” Anya threw her hands out wide, indicating a need for space. “We’re going to build a ghost trap, gentlemen. It’s time for Mr. Robert Tanner to leave this plane of existence and answer for what he’s done.”