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Nikki nodded uncomfortably, sed and looked away Her arms were crossed over her chest "When she died… is that when you began to… see ghosts?"

He shook his head "No I’ve seen them from the time I was a child When my parents died"

Her eyes widened "When your parents died?" she repeated

He knew, of course Nikki hadn’t realized all these years that she’d had the sanized only shadows, only the feel of what had been But for her, it had been the same The extra ability had been hers for many years

It had only been since Andy died that Nikki had co, feeling

He s his head to the side "Hey, I think we’re supposed to be doing a tour"

"Uht?" she asked hio How about you?"

"Of course," she told hie about the way she said it "You saw Andy again?" he asked

"No"

"Really?"

"I really haven’t seen her But ed "I guess this is kind of… her place"

But Andy didn’t show up that afternoon

The tour went off like clockwork, which felt strange to Nikki, since she had been so unnerved ever since leaving the voodoo shop

She had been deter to say a word to anyone about the strange comments Contessa hadto a shrink And there were voodoo queens throughout the city There was no reason to take Contessa seriously

Except that Contessa had also seen so Andy And it had been evident that day

Still, she had been deter Brent And she had ht before his wife’s tomb that he hadn’t even noticed her at first

As the tour ended uneventfully, they decided that Brent would give the night tour with Mitch as his backup, giving Julian the night off

"I can do the tour tonight, but I ht not always be available," Brent warned the business?" he demanded

"Sometimes" Brent cast Nathan a cool stare, and Nathan looked uneasily away

"Fine Just fill in tonight Patricia and I need a night off And Julian does, too"

"Yeah, time for the new love in his life," Patricia teased

Back in the Vieux Carré, Mitch asked Brent and Nikki if theyfor dinner, and Brent assured hi suddenly shy around Brent, though she wasn’t certain why He hadn’t lied to her; he’d never said he hadn’t been ht be a er And having cohtly like an interloper

They chose an Italian restaurant The food was good, the service even better, and it was a pleasant, casual evening

At one point Brent set a hand on Nikki’s knee She barely ed not to jump When she looked at him, he smiled, and she realized that he had known she felt aard and didn’t want her to

She sers around his hand, where it lay on her knee

As they sipped coffee, a shiver ripped through her;

Contessa’s words seemed to come back to haunt her The sa her A deep purple A warning, though Contessa hadn’t exactly said so, of death

She told herself that she didn’t believe in olanced at Brent He atching her strangely, as if he are that sohter s to tell him about Contessa’s words at the voodoo shop She wasn’t going to be such a mouse

In fact, she was suddenly deter to be afraid to see Andy any to find out what had happened, to make sure it didn’t happen to her

Mitch yawned, stretched and sighed "I think I should have been rich I like being a tour guide, but I think I could be happy just being rich I’d just sit on hed "You told me once that you didn’t care for et used to them," Mitch assured her

"But none of us is filthy rich," Nikki said She frowned, looking at Brent "You’re not filthy rich, are you?"

"Sorry," he told her

"Well, I’m definitely not, so let’s head for Madaested