Page 24 of Waste (Legendary Shifters #4)

Drew/Ghoul

S helley kept gazing at him steadily. “Don’t bother lying, Drew, I can see you trying to decide what to tell me. You saw Mary Worth or Bloody Mary in that mirror. You recognised her and didn’t react at all. Deny that and I’ll call you a liar and head home right now.”

“Don’t threaten me, Shelley. This is your safety on the line, not mine. I’m doing my best to help you; don’t spit on that,” Drew retorted immediately.

Shelley’s eyes narrowed. “Stop trying to drag this out. How do you know Mary?”

“Because she saved my life too, and that is all I can tell you. I’m sworn to secrecy like you are over Ghoul,” Drew replied and focused on the road.

“How did you find out that I met Ghoul?” Shelley said slowly. Her gaze intensified, and Drew realised he’d just caused a major cock-up. He glanced helplessly towards the mirror in the car.

“Pull over,” Mary demanded.

Shelley jumped as Mary’s image appeared. She opened her mouth to speak, but Mary’s glare appeared to have made Shelley reconsider.

Drew looked for a quiet place to stop and pulled into a supermarket car park. He drove down to the bottom, where there was nobody parked, as Shelley glared at the mirror.

“I knew you were real!” she finally exclaimed.

“More fool you, because I’m not Ghoul and I will protect myself at any cost,” Mary growled out, and Shelley experienced a shiver run down her spine. Mary meant what she said.

Shelley groped for the door handle, but Drew reached out a hand and stopped her. “I tried to warn you, I really did. But you wouldn’t stop,” he said sadly. He shifted into Ghoul and, before Shelley could scream, took them both through the mirror.

Shelley landed in a heap in a stone room. Ghoul reached down to help her to her feet, and Shelley batted his hand away. She was regarding him with suspicion. Mary Worth gazed at Shelley impassively, and Ghoul knew that didn’t mean well.

“The board has discussed this, Ghoul. As you are unable to handle and control Shelley, we will,” Mary promised.

What did that mean? Shelley scrambled to her feet, searching for a way out. “If I disappear, my family will never stop looking for me. The police know I left the station with Drew. The solicitor does too!” Shelley snapped as her eyes latched onto the door.

“Do you think you’re the first to discover our secret?” Mary hissed with laughter.

“Well, it’s not common knowledge… oh.” Shelley’s mind made connections, and she didn’t like the conclusions she’d drawn.

“Yes, some died. Others had their minds wiped. If you’d only listened to Ghoul, this wouldn’t be necessary. But you thought you knew best; you needed answers. Well, actions have consequences, and this is yours,” Mary said and sprang forward.

Shelley shrieked and moved backwards, her cast impeding her, and she hit the ground hard. Ghoul headed towards her, and Shelley scrambled away as best as she could.

“Watch out!” Ghoul hissed just as Shelley smacked her head into a mirror frame. Shelley’s eyes rolled back, and she collapsed on the ground.

“Did you have to frighten her like that?” Ghoul demanded furiously.

“You were wool-gathering and wavering like a fool. You won’t handle Shelley; the board has decided to. She is too dangerous to us,” Mary snapped in reply.

“She didn’t deserve this!” Ghoul retorted.

“You didn’t have to shift!”

“I thought it might comfort her.”

Ghoul ran his hand over his bald head as Mary gazed at him in disbelief.

“You thought shifting might help Shelley? Are you mad? How on earth would that reassure Shelley?” Mary asked incredulously.

“Oh, shut up,” Drew replied, knowing that she was right. He’d panicked at being cornered, and Mary’s sudden appearance hadn’t helped any either! He carefully picked Shelley up and turned to Mary.

“Nobody will harm her,” Ghoul hissed.

“No. But she will lose her memories.”

Shelley

Flashes of voices fractured the darkness. Shelley wanted to speak but knew she had to stay quiet.

“She’s waking up,” a woman said.

“Keep her under; it’s easier to remove the memories,” a man replied.

“I know how to cast a memory removal. Don’t tell me how to use my magic!”

“I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with this. Maybe—”

“Ghoul, you had your chance to stop this human chasing you. You failed. We will now take care of this matter.”

“I’m having trouble. Shelley has a natural shield,” the woman stated.

“If you’re unable to do this, Lilith, the only other option is death,” the man replied coldly.

“Over my dead body,” Ghoul snapped.

“That’s just it! It will be over our dead bodies.

This stupid, ignorant human was capturing the attention of Hunters.

She was leading them right to us. I have a family now, Ghoul, a mate and babies.

I won’t let an idiotic human endanger them, and she was.

Like all humans, she thought she knew better and was completely ignorant of the damage she was causing.

And when warned, her ego surpassed common sense.

If Lilith can’t remove her memories, then she’ll be killed! ” the man ranted.

“Shut up, you know the memory spell is a delicate thing. One slip and I could wipe out other memories as well. We don’t want to do that!” the woman spat.

Shelley wanted to run and hide, but forced herself to stay quiet. She felt something in her mind, and it was uncomfortable, as if someone was poking around in it. Shelley wanted to scream, but instead, she curled into a small ball and started a trick her grandparents had taught her.

They’d had her and Charlie build walls in their minds.

Shelley had been a sensitive child, and to protect her, her nan had taught her to build a wall and hide her real self behind it.

That way, cruel comments couldn’t hurt her.

Shelley envisaged bricks and quickly began building walls around her.

Whatever was attacking her mind wouldn’t be able to get through, and she would be safe.

Shelley was almost painfully uncomfortable as she built quickly while hiding from the tendril that sought her out.

As she slammed the final brick into place, she heard an almost triumphant cackle. “I have you now!”

◆◆◆

Shelley awoke in a hospital bed. Charlie and her mum sat beside her. Gail looked worried and worn out, but she smiled when Shelley stared at her.

“What happened?” Shelley asked, trying to gather her scattered thoughts.

“You tripped over something and knocked your head. You’ve been unconscious for three days! We were so worried,” Gail explained, brushing Shelley’s hair away from her face.

“Oh.”

“I’ll call a doctor and let Dad know. He’s outside with Drew; they’ve both been frantic,” Charlie said.

Just like that, the memory of what happened snapped into place, and Shelley dragged in a raspy breath.

“Are you okay?” Gail demanded with concern.

“Yes, Mum. Just a bit of a headache,” Shelley replied as she tried to assimilate the memories that were flooding through her body.

Unfortunately for Drew, Shelley remembered everything, including the fact that he was a Ghoul.

The sense of betrayal she felt was immense. Drew had deliberately deceived her.

He had inserted himself into her life with no care or consideration for how it might affect her.

Shelley didn’t want to see Drew, but she knew she had to, because he was undoubtedly there to assess whether she still retained her memories.

As her mum continued to pat her hand, Gail received a weak smile from Shelley.

Shelley knew that her parents and Charlie were probably at risk from Ghoul and his friends. The unknown man had threatened to kill her should the memory removal not work. That left Shelley with little doubt that he would carry out his threat if she showed that she remembered anything.

The door opened, and Charlie returned, followed by her dad and Drew. Drew’s eyes immediately swept over Shelly’s face, searching for any recognition in her eyes or any fear. Shelley maintained an impassive face, although she now longed to call him out for the backstabber he’d proved himself to be.

Drew hadn’t been helping her family out of the goodness of her heart.

Instead, he’d deceived her and protected his own interests.

Shelley was even wondering if the Hunters were real until she recalled what the unknown male said.

It appeared they existed and hunted people like Ghoul.

That wasn’t her problem anymore. Because as far as Drew knew, she didn’t remember anything.

The issue Shelley was struggling with was how to extract Drew from their lives.

Drew would probably wish to continue hanging around because he’d want to monitor her.

Playing dumb would be easy. Then Lilith’s words came to her.

If the memory spell hadn’t been carried out correctly, Shelley would have lost other memories.

She held Drew’s gaze and allowed puzzlement to flood her features.

“Who are you?” she asked with a frown.

“Shelley, this is Drew. You’ve been spending the last few weeks with him… after the… car accident,” Gail said.

“What car accident? My car was written off?” Shelley gasped, pretending horror.

“Shelley, my girl, what’s the last thing you remember?” Jake asked.

Shelley racked her brains, wondering how far she should go back. She took a punt and hoped they believed it. “I remember returning to work after I was attacked.”

“Darling, that was weeks ago,” Gail exclaimed.

“What about the car accident?” Charlie pressed.

Shelley let her upset show, although they all took it for Shelley not remembering, not because Drew had betrayed them. “What accident? Is that why my arm’s in a cast and my ankle? Why is he here? Who is he?” Shelley allowed her fear and panic to leech into her voice.

Again, everyone would mistake the reason for them.

“What does he have to do with this?” Shelley demanded, allowing her emotions to take over. She guessed she should feel guilty, but she didn’t. Shelley had to protect her family. That was paramount.