“You’re our wife,” Mia said, patting his knee.
“Can you be serious for a moment?”
“What did Mason say when you asked him?”
“He put it rather cruelly that he didn’t think you thought much of me.”
“Then he would be wrong. You, Tom, and Altair fall into the same category. You’re all my most trusted advisors. You don’t see me as sex kitten – ouch by the way – you guys see me as a friend, an equal. Have I got that wrong?” Mia asked.
“I do love you though.”
“I love you too, Cid. Just because we’re not knocking boots, it doesn’t mean that I don’t care what happens to you or what you think of me. I also want to be around you. Why do you think I let you torture me in the kitchen when sausages are available precooked?”
“I’ve always suspected something was up. Lazar says you’re never in the kitchen, unless you’re baking, when I’m gone.”
“Speaking of Lazar, he and Mason do not get along. I’m going to have to chuck Mason out on his butt,” Mia said. “Tom said he’d find room for him at Ethan’s.”
“You choose Lazar over Mason?”
“I can’t have another child to raise. Dieter, Brian, Varden, and Ted are too much to handle already!”
Cid started laughing. “You do have your hands full. I think Mason is just going to hang around until college starts back up. Patrick can now afford to send him someplace nice.”
“So, there’s no ghost-mining adventure scheduled?” Mia asked.
“Not for the Callens. Patrick wants to stay in the city to be close to Sabine.”
“You know Sabine has been looking at you as husband material.”
“Not interested. Besides, I’m already married to you and Ted,” Cid said.
“It’s going to be hard on us when you do fall in love,” Mia told him. “We’ll have to go through therapy, but we’ll manage.”
Cid reached over and hugged Mia. She was enjoying the protective feeling radiating off of Cid, and when Ted came out, she waved him away.
“I’m going home to mother!” Ted teased, stomping off the porch.
“I better warn your mother,” Mia said, standing up.
Cid stood up and looked at his friends. “You guys are nuts.”
“But we’re your kind of nuts,” Mia said.
“Yes, you are.”
***
Glossary
PEEPS: Paranormal Entity Exposure Partners.
Dupree, Mike: Founding partner of PEEPs and on-camera personality.
Garrett, Cid: Contractor, investigator, cameraman, and technician.
Hicks, Burt: Founding partner of PEEPs, lead investigator, and cameraman.
Jake: Ghost, research and computers.
Martin, Mia Cooper: Sensitive, lead investigator, and security. Ted’s wife and Brian, Varden, and Dieter Martin’s mother. Healer of angels.
Martin, Ted: Lead technician, computers, and communications. Mia’s husband and Brian, Varden, and Dieter Martin’s father. Technical genius.
Stavros, Audrey: Researcher and investigator, married to Orion Stavros, mother of Luke Stavros.
Murphy, Stephen: Ghost, translator, and security.
Recurring Characters:
Aldridge, Ethan: Teenage paintball-gang member who was sentenced to a juvenile detention facility for his part in coercing Rory Kline and the deaths of Jason Jones and Keith Summerfield. Aided in bring Blair Summerfield to justice.
Altair: Fallen archangel. Also known as Wyatt Wayne.
Aosoth: Evil female force in the pantheon of the Order of the Nine Angels. Enjoys participation in passion and death.
April: Former owner of Murphy’s farmhouse. She called PEEPs to help her with the ghost of Charity Murphy and brought Mia together with the group.
Bouché, Guillaume: Magician spending eternity in Purgatory. Lover of Beverly Cooper, father of Sabine.
Braverman, Don: Tom’s father and Susan’s husband.
Braverman, Susan: Mega Chicago Bears fan, housewife, Tom Braverman’s mother and Brian Martin’s babysitter.
Braverman, Tom: Acting Sheriff, school friend of Mia. Murphy brought him back to life, inadvertently giving him the sight.
Callen, Mason: Part-time PEEPs associate. Brother of Patrick Callen.
Callen, Patrick: Wheeler-dealer, friend of the Martins, and older brother to Mason Callen.
Cooper, Amanda: Mia’s mother. Sociologist.
Cooper, Beverly: Very talented sensitive. Aunt to Mia Martin, mother of Sabine Norwood, sister of Charles Cooper, and associate of Father Santos and Gerald Shem.
Cooper, Charles: Mia’s father. Archaeologist.
Elizabeth: Head Gray Lady. Healer of the birdmen and Mia.
Ed, aka He-who-walks-through-time: Superhuman, Judy’s partner.
Gifford, Edwin: ghost in Bea White’s house. Was kidnapped in A Rose by Any Other Name. Great grandson of George Wall the pirate.
Hansen, Neil: Mia’s late common-law husband. Invalid father of her miscarried daughter Hope.
Idra: Gray Lady, protégé of Elizabeth. Healer of the birdmen.
Jeff the Gargoyle: Inventor gargoyle. Day job: Dark Vault guard.
Judy, aka Refugia: Birdwoman, former Gray Lady, independent healer, and Ed’s partner.
Kowalski, Gwen: Young girl tormented by Darker than Darks (DTDs).
Komal: Master of bilocation. Lives in spirit form on a hidden island in Lake Michigan.
Leighton, Mark: Teenager who can see angels. Son of a veteran with Locked-in Syndrome.
Maggie Mae: Mixed-breed dog of PEEPs who can see ghosts.
Martin, Brian: Son of Mia and Ted Martin.
Martin, Dieter: Teenage attrpeur-âme (a catcher of souls) from Nigeria, adopted son of Mia and Ted Martin.
Martin, Sherry: Wife of Whitney Martin, killed in the hollow. Sabine took her spirit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York to be with her painting.
Martin, Varden: Son of Mia and Ted Martin. Carries the soul of dead birdman Varden, Victor’s brother.
Martin, Whitney: Former Deputy Sheriff, Mia’s high school crush and ex-boyfriend.
Matveev, Pavel: High-end fence of stolen antiquities. Friend of Patrick Callen.
Mendelssohn, Ralph: Musical stage designer, Mia’s godfather, married to Bernard Wesley.
Michael, aka Saint Michael: Prince of Angels, leader of angel winged army, Mia’s boss.
Michaels, Angelo: Birdman and associate of Father Santos. Lead warrior and librarian for the Brotherhood of the Wing.
Murphy, Chastity: Deceased wife of Stephen Murphy.
Murphy, Kevin: Irish ghost. Father of Stephen Murphy, best friend of Fergus O’Connor, and associate of PEEPS.
Nicholai: Birdman trainer. Mia’s trainer.
Norwood, Sabine: Sensitive, clairvoyant, and medium, associate of Father Santos, widow, cousin of
