Page 149 of Their Little Ghost

“If Dad sees, I don’t want you getting in trouble,” I say.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” Aiden says, but he doesn’t hold my hand again.

Maybe part of him knows I’m right, or he knows better than to argue with me.

“We’ll just have to sneak into your room later when he won’t have eyes on us,” Lex says, winking.

“Is that a promise?” I tease.

Eli’s eyes trail down my body, fucking me with his eyes. “You bet it is.”

He leads me to a table and pulls out a chair like a true gentleman.

“Thanks,” I say, sitting with a smirk.

Dad thought a weekend at Sunnycrest would scare me. Somehow, I don’t think he banked on three monsters treating me like a princess.

“What did you do?” I ask, half teasing, but also curious. “It’s like you rule this place.”

The three of them exchange a look. The same look I’ve become accustomed to. A look that means there’s more they could say but won’t.

“They know what we’re capable of,” Aiden replies cryptically.

Before I can probe him further, he beckons a boy over. The boy reminds me of a scarecrow with straw-like, yellow hair and a clumsy walk. He lollops toward us like a dog being whistled by his master.

“Yes?” the boy asks, half panting. “What can I do?”

“Go to the kitchen and bring Sarah a proper meal, Alfred,” Aiden orders. “Cook will know what to do.”

“Yes, Aiden,” he says, bowing his head as a mark of respect. “Coming right up, Sarah.”

“You don’t have?—”

Lex holds up his finger to silence me. “Go!”

Alfred squeaks and scuttles away, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste.

“You can’t rule the masses without a little fear, sweetheart.” Eli smiles lazily, and his hand creeps under the table to stroke my thigh. “You’ll learn that soon enough.”

I throw the diary away and cup my ears. Erin stirs under the surface. I sense her wanting to speak, probably to say something comforting, but I push her down. I want to be left alone with my thoughts. I don’t need her to make me feel better or attempt to condone what they’ve done. And, most of all, I don’t want her seeing the darkest thoughts in my head.

I love Erin, but there’s an innate competitiveness between twins. It’s natural when you’re brought up together and compared. Erin always won out with our father. The guys were mine first. Is it so wrong that I didn’t want to share them with her? While I know it’s not her fault—she didn’t ask to be stalked—I can’t help being mad that she took something that was mine.

I remember when I first met the guys. They were fiercely protective, and I loved the feeling that they would do anything for me. It was addictive. Still, despite getting to know them, I always struggled to get them to open up fully. They always held something back. They never divulged all the details about what happened to them during their time in the asylum, yet they told Erin. Why couldn’t they talk to me?

“They’d have told you eventually,” Erin whispers.

“Are you sure about that?” I ask, giving way to her consciousness.

I thought I knew them well…

Aiden’s an alpha. He’ll do anything, including killing, for the people he loves. He’s strong, makes the rules, and likes to get his own way, but not because he likes to control people—not all the time, anyway—but because he tries to help them. I once asked him about the rat skulls he wears around his neck. He told me how they used to be his only friends and serve as a physicalreminder of how far he’s come. Perhaps that’s why he clings to those he loves so tightly…

Lex is a total heathen, and I always loved that about him. Like me, he’s not afraid of causing trouble. He’s a rebel who uses dark humor to hide his emotions. In fact, he likes to pretend he doesn’t have any feelings at all, but there’s more to him. In his gaze, I sometimes caught sight of a hidden vulnerability. I don’t know exactly how he got his scars from the fire that killed his family, but he plays up to the idea of being a monster. How much of that is real?

Eli is easier to read. He’s the most sensitive of the group and wears his heart on his sleeve. If it wasn’t for everything Dad put him through, he’d be the definition of a perfect gentleman. He has old-fashioned values, yet his obsessive tendencies give way to darker desires that lurk under the surface. That’s why he likes trophies, hair, underwear… anything to keep his latest obsession close. Conflicting thoughts pop into my head when I think of him. I know now that he killed Erin, but he wasn’t operating under his own free will. Can I ever forgive him?

“I forgive him,” Erin says.