Page 42

Story: Dancing With Death

A squealing scream slips from me when I smack my head on something. Lifting my hand to my head, I step back and frown.

How the hell did I run into the house? I hadn’t even made it to the path through the woods.

The front door flies open and Donovan, Wraith, and Brenden hurry toward me with Gael, Octavius, and Riggs right behind them.

Why are the horsemen here?

“Pretty girl? What’s wrong? Why did you scream?”

Blinking, I turn to Donovan with a frown. “I walked into the house.”

Wraith gives me a funny look. “We usually don’t recommend doing that. Why did you walk into the house?”

“I have no fucking idea. One minute, I was walking down the path just outside The Abyss, thinking about how I wished I had wings or the power to shadow walk, and the next thing I knew, I was smacking my head on the house. I don’t even know how I got here.”

“Huh.” Gael glances between me and Wraith. “I didn’t know your mate could use your magic.”

Wraith shakes his head slowly. “She can’t. That’s not something mates can do—not even fated mates.”

“First, why do you think I shadow walked? Second, what are the three of you doing here?” I ask, still rubbing my sore head. What kind of idiot walks into a house?

Gael shrugs. “I’ve walked into lots of things when shadow walking by accident—usually it’s when I’m drunk, though. Are you drunk?”

I jerk my head back, giving him a bewildered look. “No, I’m not fucking drunk. I just finished classes. Why the hell would I be drunk?”

“I don’t know. I just figured I’d check.”

Octavius rolls his eyes. “Ignore Gael. I do agree with him, though. It sounds like you shadow walked on accident. We’ll have to see if you can do it on purpose. Although, I don’t know why you’d be able to shadow walk. That’s not something Hecate’s descendants can do—not like using hellfire.”

Well, I guess someone filled in the rest of the horsemen about my newly acquired powers. It would’ve been nice if someone informed me of that.

“I still don’t understand why you’re here,” I say, my hand falling away as my head stops pounding finally.

It’s Riggs who speaks up this time. “We came to hang out with you.”

“And why would you do that?” Did I give myself a concussion when I hit my head? And if I did, why didn’t it clear up when my head stopped hurting? Or are they just not making any sense?

“That’s the exact same thing I asked them,” Wraith growls, glaring at the other three horsemen. They just grin at him in return.

“I’m so confused. Can we go inside so I can get a drink or something? I think I hit my head harder than I thought.” Not waiting for a response, I head straight up the porch, wondering if I really can shadow walk now.

Then I hit my head on a fucking wall. “Shit. What the actual fuck?”

Blinking, I glance around to see I’m in the kitchen. Either I’m losing time or I’m shadow walking—there’s no other explanation for this.

“Well, that’s one mystery solved,” Gael says with a grin as he steps into the living room. “You’re definitely shadow walking. Did you mean to do that?”

I gesture to where I’m holding my head. “Does it look like I meant to do it?”

Wraith laughs, striding across the room to pull me into his arms. “Did you hit your head again?”

“Yes. This is really fucking annoying. I was just wondering if I could shadow walk and then I was hitting my head on the wall. Someone better teach me how the hell to do this so I can stop hitting my head. I really don’t need or want a concussion.”

“Don’t worry, pretty girl, even if you got a concussion, it would be gone in a matter of minutes,” Donovan assures me. “But we’ll teach you how to properly shadow walk. Although, maybe don’t think about it until we do?”

I flip him off as Brenden appears, holding a glass of sweet tea.

“Yum. Thank you,” I purr after taking a sip. Turning my attention back to the horsemen, I ask, “So, why did you come to hang out with me? I’m a little confused about that.”