Page 63 of Ghost

Before he noticed what? And what would happen if he noticed? “Wait—”

But she vanished, and I was left staring at the location where she once stood.

Julian’s warm hand on my face snapped my attention back to him. The temperature in the room had returned to normal, and the ominous feeling had vanished. But I wasn’t comforted.

“Bianca?” His voice soothed the edges of my fear.

“Is everything alright?” Damen’s sharp tone snapped from the speaker of Julian’s phone. “Do we need to come up there?”

The threat redirected my priorities.

“No, don’t come up!” I ducked away from Julian’s arm, making sure to keep covered as I pressed against the bathtub. “I’m naked!”

There was a heavy silence before Miles spoke up. “But Julian is in there.”

“That’s different,” I reasoned—for my own sanity. Julian was the one who worked in the medical field. And I got the impression that Damen would be theworstperson to be naked around. “The ghost approved of him. And he’s practically a doctor.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Titus grumbled.

“No, it makes perfect sense,” Miles retorted. “Julianisalmost a doctor. But what Bianca doesn’t realize is that he is as monk-like as the rest of us. In fact, his dedication to the cause only rivals Damen’s.”

My face flushed at the reminder. And there was a loud sound, followed by a pained yelp.

“Goddamn it, Damen!” Miles protested.

“I’m hanging up,” Damen spoke over Miles as he continued to curse in French. “Come down as soon as you can.”

Julian dropped a towel on my head before he picked his phone off the floor. “Alright,” he said, walking to the door. He crossed his arms as he waited. “I won’t look. Get dressed.”

Damen grabbed me, forcing the breath from my body as he held me against his. “Every time I send Kasai away, things go downhill.”

“He can’t stay around forever,” Julian replied, apparently not upset the bird was gone.

Julian didn’t seem surprised by Damen’s actions and only strolled along behind us as Damen basically carried me into the living room. He was hovering, almost to the point of annoyance, and even Titus and Miles raised their eyebrows at the scene.

But neither said a word.

“Bianca, what happened? What did they say to you?” After I sat, Damen knelt in front of me, running his hands down the length of myHello Kittypajamas. His hand hovered above my ankle, the regret on his face palpable.

“It was the girl,” I told them, somewhat shaken. “Although she was older than I thought.”

Damen’s expression didn’t change, but he gently urged me to continue. “What did she say? I can’t believe I didn’t realize…”

“She said that you couldn’t keep him away for long,” I responded.

Damen somberly nodded, but I wasn’t done. “She said he’s after me. Something about being marked. What does that mean?”

“It won’t do anything to you again.” Damen sounded so certain. “I can promise you that.”

“But that doesn’t answer my question,” I whispered, his words not putting my mind at ease. “What does it mean to be marked? Am I being used in some sort of ghostly ritual?”

Damen opened his mouth, “Of course no—”

“It’s possible.” Miles didn’t sound happy about admitting it. “But there are things we can do to make the situation safer. People we can ask for assistance. People who can actuallyseethe threat and have resources of their own. They are far more protected than Caleb Weaver.”

Damen’s jaw locked. Whoever these people were, Damen wasn’t a fan. There was a conflict in his eyes, but then his shoulders slumped. “Fine.”

“What’s going to happen to me?” I asked, still being ignored.Had Miles just confirmed ghosts could perform evil rituals?