Page 5

My words affected her, that was for sure, but what that effect was, I couldn’t tell. Her eyes widened at my declaration, the truth of them settling over her, and it was likely the only thing keeping her from running. It was obvious to me, as it had always been, that my feelings for her were not reciprocated, but I was okay with that. I was hers, in whatever capacity she decided to keep me.

I meant what I said. I was hers to command, with the exception of sending me away.

I was afraid for a moment that she would run, that the power of my love for her would scare her away, and that I would lose the only thing anchoring me in the moment. She was keeping me from dwelling on the nightmare of my little brother and what he had done to me. I focused on her beautiful face to keep my mind from imagining the horrors Blake had put her through, because I had the worst feeling that what he’d done to me was only the tip of the iceberg. If I stuck around, I was sure I would see more of what he was capable of, but still, Kali was his wife. Whatever he’d done to her, in lifeandin death, I was instinctively certain was more painful than anything he could have done to his other victims. I suspected that her torture was far more fracturing.

Yet, here she stood, strong even in the face of Death, power swirling around her like shadowy tendrils of pure energy…

Woah. How was she doing that?

‘You’ll have to teach me how to do that,’ I told her, eyes wide with awe.

But she frowned, her head tilting to the side in confusion before she came to some sort of conclusion. Then, her lips lifted ever so slightly into a morbid smirk. ‘Yeah, I’m a pro at this whole ghost thing now.’

I noticed how she relaxed at the change of subject. She clearly wasn’t ready to go there with me yet, or at all, and that was okay, so I let it slide. Instead, I glanced down at my arms and made a show of lifting them and twisting them in front of my face to see if the shadows would appear on me, or if that was something I had to work up to. There was nothing except a pale, almost colourless tone to my skin. Immediately, I missed my tan, but then I glanced back up at the woman I had misseddesperatelyfor the past seven years, and I knew I would give everything up all over again just for a glimpse of her.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked, a single fair eyebrow raising in bewilderment.

‘Um… Checking for shadows?’ It shouldn’t have been a question, but it came out as one anyway.

Her reaction wasn’t what I expected, however. She reared back as if I’d slapped her, and I swore I saw fear flash behind her eyes before her walls slammed down again, blocking out my access to her emotions. I didn’t like that. We’d never not been open with one another.

‘What are you talking about?’ Her tone wasn’t harsh, exactly, but it was demanding.

‘I was just checking to see if I have those shadow things… like… yours,’ I trailed off. I refused to be anything but honest,but I was suddenly wary after a reaction like that. Was that not a normal ghost thing?

She gawked at me for a beat, seemingly lost for words as she stammered before finally finding her words. When she spoke again, her voice was shrill. ‘Likemine?’

I waved a hand to gesture to the tendrils of darkness curling out from her. Wide-eyed, she looked down at herself, then jumped back in shock as she stared at the shadowy wisps that caressed her skin. I realised with startling clarity that she wasn’t aware of them, but I couldn’t decipher how she felt about it. There was surprise for sure, a little hint of awe, perhaps, and a heavy dose of horror, but she wasn’tafraid, necessarily. More like… unsure. She wasn’t batting at them like I might have in an attempt to shove them off, but she was holding her arms out like she was afraid to touch them, or perhaps even to move.

Were they hurting her? Did they pose a threat?

‘What are they?’ I asked her, worry building as my mind whirled with worst-case scenarios.

‘I don’t really know,’ she admitted, her tone small as she took on a faraway look. ‘I’ve seen them on someone else, but I thought they were only a Him thing.’

‘Him… like the spirit who was trying to claim you?’

My words snapped her out of her thoughts, and she was suddenly laser-focused on me. Her stare was intense, probing, and a little dangerous. It was a look that I had never seen on her before, and I wasn’t sure if I was uncomfortable or turned on. Could I be turned on in this state? Logic dictated that reproduction, and therefore reproductiveurges, weren’t necessary here, so they shouldn’t exist. So why did I feel my cock stirring?

‘I’m sorry, he didwhat?’ Her voice was low and deadly in a way that was completely opposite to the woman I had once known. And yet…

Yup. Definitely turned on.

Not the time, Chance,I reminded myself, forcing my rapidly growing erection to go down. It wasn’t difficult when my dismembered body was resting in a gory heap of blood, bone, and torn tissue at my feet. Feet that weren’t touching the ground, which was another stark reminder thatI was fucking dead.

Blake killed more than just my body, he got my damn boner, too.

Bastard.

‘Chance,’ Kali snapped, jolting me out of my thoughts. I was glad of it, too, but I felt like my mind was on the precipice of splintering under the sheer volume of my emotions. I couldn’t decide what to focus on: the betrayal of finding out my little brother had murdered the woman I loved, or that he’d murdered me, or the grief I felt at losing the life I had lost, even if I had planned to end it myself. The anger I felt towards Blake clashed with the relief and love I felt towards Kali, the immense joy I was basking in at seeing her again tainted by the simmeringragebubbling underneath it all.

‘Sorry, what?’ I asked, our previous conversation forgotten.

‘You said he tried to claim me,’ she prompted, her bow-shaped lips pursed in displeasure and impatience. I could tell that it wasn’t aimed at me, however. Perhaps I had played a part in the impatience with my wandering mind, but I felt that it was mostly aimed towards the other entity. The one that was killing people…

Oh, shit.

‘He’s been killing people,’ I told her. ‘That’s what drew me and the team down here. We were investigating the deaths. There’s been an epidemic of drownings up and down Highway 97 that we suspected was paranormal. Gloria sensed him… Shit, Kali. This guy’s bad news, and he was adamant that you belonged to him.’