Page 60
Story: Ghosts of the Dead
Shit.
Moving fast, I spin into a roundhouse kick that catches the rotter’s neck with enough force to snap its vertebrae. Its charred corpse crumples in a heap, fire still licking at its limbs. Jace remains frozen in place.
I yank off my shirt and beat out the flames until all that’s left is a smoking pile of charred flesh and bones. I turn to face Jace. “What the hell was that?”
He doesn’t answer right away, unable to tear his gazefrom the blackened mess. When he speaks, his voice is rough. “Do you remember my adopted father?”
I blink, confused, then the memory slams back.
Malcolm. The man who meant everything to Jace. The one who chose him when the rest of the world turned its back. His father in every way that mattered. Until the colony fell under the grip of a maniac.
Until Eugene, the maniac leader, a bastard with enough cruelty to rival the ones who created this damn virus, burned Malcolm alive to teach Jace a lesson. A brutal reminder that loyalty could be twisted. That getting too close to anyone came at a price. A lesson that broke Jace in ways no fists ever could.
Fuck. How could I forget?
I let out a slow exhale. “Yeah. I remember.”
Jace’s voice drops. “He died because of me. Because Eugene couldn’t stand connections. He said it made us weak.”
He looks straight at me then, defeat evident in the lines of his face, something I’ve never seen from him before.
“Someone I cared about was ripped away from me, and I couldn’t do anything about it.” His voice cracks, and his Adam’s Apple bobs. “But finding Autumn’s sister? That’s something I can still do. That’s something I won’t fail at, because she doesn’t have to suffer the same fate if I can help it.”
“So, now you think letting Autumn in means she’s a target?” Everything makes so much more sense now. He’s not a total asshole. He’s an asshole with a charred heart.
His jaw clenches. He doesn’t deny it.
I take another step closer. “Eugene’s gone, and no one left in this hellscape cares enough to torment you with that kind of cruelty. No one’s taking Autumn from you, Jace. Not me, not Caspian. No one’s taking her from any of us. That’s a choice only she can make herself.”
Finally, something inside him cracks. And this time, I see it.
Night falls harder than expected.When Jace and I finally make it back to camp after our fight, I see Autumn curled up. Even with the fire and Luna’s warmth pressed to her side, she still shivers, and something tightens in my chest.
I don’t think it. I just move.
Crossing to her side, I settle behind her and wrap my arm around her body, pulling her against my bare chest. She startles, and her muscles tense beneath my touch. “What are you?—?”
“I figured we’d save time and share,” I murmur, my arm tightening around her middle. “Body heat. Efficiency. Avoid another rotter slumber party.”
“Efficiency,” she repeats in that flat tone, but I catch the slight tremor in her voice.
I press my lips to the back of her neck and smirk. “Don’t worry. I won’t bite.”
There’s a beat between us that’s charged with something electric.
“…Unless you want me to.”
She makes a noise halfway between a laugh and a scandalized gasp. “Your entire existence is inappropriate.”
And yet, she still lets me in. God, I love her fire.
My breath brushes her ear when I lean in closer. “And yet, here you are.”
She turns her head to look at me and the firelight dances across her face. “Here I am.”
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I whisper.
Luna yawns wide and moves a couple of feet away to give us some privacy. I tuck a stray strand of purple hair behind Autumn’s ear, and her head leans into my touch.Firelight flickers shadows across her collarbone. Her pulse flutters against my thumb that’s resting at the side of her neck.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60 (Reading here)
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120