Love Your Entity Read Online Free PDF Page A

why.”
    Bonita’s mom moved shortly after that.
    Later, Sierra had asked her mom if she’d ever seen ghosts. Her mom had replied that she was too busy for such things. Sierra suspected it was more likely that her mother already felt haunted by the memories of the terror and pain Sierra’s father had inflicted on her. She hadn’t wanted anything or anyone else haunting her.
    Sierra lost track of how many ghosts she’d seen since then. There weren’t hundreds but there had been a number. Sometimes their message was simple, sometimes it was more complicated, sometimes there was no message and they were just confused. But they always moved on once Sierra dealt with them. But their memory remained with Sierra, which wasn’t always a good thing.
    At least Sierra’s mom was in a better place now. A few years ago her mom had met Paul James, who treasured her. The two of them were living in New Zealand at the moment, where Paul was on a yearlong teaching sabbatical.
    Her mom had been hesitant to leave her but Sierra had convinced her to go. Paul was an incredibly giving soul and Sierra could see the goodness in him. Trusting someone didn’t happen often for Sierra, and it hadn’t happened overnight but over the course of several years with Paul. He was one of the few good guys.
    Normally Sierra’s mom would frequently Skype with her from New Zealand, but for the month of February they were in an area with few Wi-Fi or cell phone connections.
    Her mom had been nervous about Sierra moving into the house in Chicago by herself but Sierra had convinced her that she’d be fine. It was hardly her first move, even though her mom had helped with the others.
    The bottom line was that Sierra had this moving thing down pat. It was the “staying” part that she wanted to work on now.
    Given Sierra’s background and the fact that she saw dead people, her romantic relationships tended to be few and short-lived. The longest had been her most recent. She and Steve had been together almost seven months when she’d decided they were better off as friends than as lovers. Steve had agreed. So the move to Chicago had come at a good time for Sierra, allowing her to move on.
    “You’re braver than I am,” Daniella said.
    Sierra carefully folded the cupcake liner and dropped it in her now empty coffee mug. “I don’t know about that.”
    Sierra certainly wasn’t as brave as Nicki Champion, the heroine in her books. Although, the more time she spent writing about Nicki, the more Sierra took up the gauntlet of courage and control. Which was why she hadn’t turned tail and run when she’d seen Naked Ronan.
    Those days of being afraid of her own shadow were over. It was time to put down roots for a bit and she might as well start here, with her great-uncle’s house. It would take her seven months to finish the book she’d just started writing. Since it revolved around a bootlegging Chicago Mob plot dating back to 1920s, this was the perfect place to find inspiration.
    So, yeah, she didn’t give up easily. To her way of thinking that just made her persistent, not brave. Because if she really were brave, she wouldn’t still want to run sometimes.
    Another crash came from the kitchen. “That better not be my Keurig,” Sierra growled.
    *   *   *
    Ronan sat on the closed casket on the basement floor. Nick sat beside him. Nick had come in from the tunnels leading beneath the house that dated back to the bootlegging days during Prohibition. That all had happened after Ronan had been turned. When he’d grown up in this house he’d been afraid to come down here. Now nothing scared him.
    Not true. The possibility that he couldn’t save his sister’s soul scared him.
    “You like the dark,” Nick noted.
    “I live in the dark,” Ronan said.
    “You won’t have to after tomorrow,” Nick said.
    Part of Ronan would always remain in the dark. There hadn’t been any lights guiding him home. Only desperation.
    He’d arrived here in