Read Online Ghost of a Chance by Katie MacAlister - Free Book Online

she told him with an impatient gesture.
    “Do you have a license?” I asked, unable to
believe I was seriously considering letting her drive me
anywhere.
    “I had the highest score in the class,” she
said, tossing her head.
    “Which means you don’t have a license.” I
sighed. I’d just have to get myself to the house on my own.
    “I have a permit! It says I can drive with
an adult present, and since you’re, like, ancient , that
means I can drive you.”
    I hesitated, weighing the hell it would be
driving myself against the concern of bringing Pixie with me to an
environment that was hostile, if not downright dangerous.
    “Come on, Karma,” she said, her dark eyes
curiously vulnerable. “I’m a good driver. My last foster mom used
to have me drive her to the liquor store all the time.”
    I winced. “All right. But only on my
conditions!” I said, holding her back when she leaped for the door
leading to the garage. “You have to promise me you’ll do as I say
when we get to the house. If Spider or any of the ghost people are
around, keep your cape on. Damn, I wish I’d thought of sending my
dad out for a glamour.”
    “Mrs. Beckett says glamours give you brain
cancer if you use them too much.”
    “That’s just an old wives’ tale.” I fretted
for a few moments more about taking Pixie with me but didn’t see a
way around it.
    “Do you think the flower chick would freak
out at a real live polter?” she asked, waving her arms around in an
exaggerated manner.
    “I have no idea how she or the other ghost
hunters would react. Some people have no issues with the
Otherworld; others refuse to believe the truth. Until I can judge
which group they fall into, I want you to keep a low profile.”
    “ Maximus deus!” she swore, rolling
her eyes. “Fine! Have it your way! I’ll keep my cape on, OK?”
    “OK,” I said, going against my better
judgment. I kept one hand on the wall for support as I walked to
the car.
    “It’s automatic, right? I can’t drive a
stick. My foster dad was going to show me how, but he was arrested
for DUI.”
    “What lovely people they must have been,” I
murmured, then gave her instructions on where we were headed.
    To my surprise, Sergei followed us.
    “You need me,” Sergei said by way of
explanation.
    “I do?”
    “I would come with you, but I have all this
pantry rearranging to do,” Cardea called from the doorway, giving
us a little wave. “Have fun!”
    “You need me,” Sergei repeated, shimmering
into nothing as he melted into the backseat of the car.
    There wasn’t much I could say to that. I
didn’t have the energy to fight a determined spirit, so I gave in
with as much grace as I could muster. Before we reached the car,
the phone rang. I hesitated, looking at the garage phone for a
moment, assessing my need to leave against the possibility of a
phone call I shouldn’t miss. “Just a second, guys. I’d better see
who it is.”
    “Probably your father,” Sergei said as I
picked up the phone. “He called earlier and left a message saying
he wanted to see you immediately.”
    “Karma? I forbid you to go out to that
house,” my father said even before I could say hello.
    “Dad, I really don’t have time for this. I’m
late, and I have a killer headache.”
    “It’s payback for what you’re about to do,”
he snapped.
    “I’m sorry; I really have to go. Can we have
this argument another time?”
    “No! This is important, Karma. I can’t let
you destroy any more spirits! It’s wrong—wrong on a cosmic scale. I
will not have a daughter of mine being the angel of death!”
    I would have rolled my eyes at my father’s
dramatics but didn’t have the energy. “I’m hanging up now. I’ll
talk to you tomorrow.”
    “I’m coming out to the house!”
    “Like hell you are! Spider will have the
hissy fit to end all hissy fits if he sees you there. Not to
mention ghost hunters are going to be there. Just stay home, and
we’ll work it out