by Lyla Oweds
I was being hunted.
No, this wasn’t real.
I didn’t know these guys very well—but something inside me screamed that this, connecting with the guys, was right. Somehow, I knew I could depend on Damen’s offer of friendship. So, if that was the case, why was I feeling these things now?
Why was I huddling on the floor in a fetal position? This was extreme—even for me. I wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore.
“I’m okay…” I forced myself up off of the floor. Whatever this was, it was very wrong. If I died now, for example, the boys would at least remember my name. Even if I would just be remembered as the strange girl Finn drove to them.
And at least Finn might remember me—for whatever reason.
“This isn’t right,” I reminded myself, trying desperately to think of anything I could do to escape this situation. If I stayed here much longer, I might go mad.
“Leave him alone!” a voice thundered from behind me—the volume so unexpected I fell back onto my knees and screamed. The presence that had been in the room since the beginning exploded in strength, and the woman’s voice grew devastatingly stronger. “He’s just curious!”
After those words, the presence vanished. But still, the velvet darkness surrounded me, and something different took the woman’s place. I tried to scramble to my feet, but I couldn’t move—frozen in fear.
But—physically—there was nothing here.
My face was wet with tears—I had never been more scared of anything in my life. “I’m sorry,” I said, hoping to appease the angry spirit. I had done something to upset him, but maybe that would help.
He grew closer, but remained unseen. “Mine,” his icy voice pierced through the darkness.
I was going to die.
My mind screamed at me to move—to fight. I had to do something. If I died, it might attack the others next. They’d never be able to defend themselves against something they couldn’t see.
A feeling stirred within me—determination. I couldn’t let this thing win. With a strength I didn’t know I possessed, I finally got to my feet, despite the overwhelming pressure in the room. “What do you want?” There had to be something I could do—anything.
The air moved like a current against me—a feeling like silk against skin. And even though I was trying to be brave, I couldn’t stop my whimpering as the sensation brushed down the length of my body in the dark. It reached my feet before it changed. A hand, the telltale sensation of skin, encircled my ankle, gripping me in a bruising hold.
I was lightheaded with fear, and the hold trailed up my calf, inch-by-inch. I screamed and kicked, moving backward as I tried to get away.
A current changed in the air, but that was the least of my concerns. There were other sounds now, but it was hard to hear anything outside of my panicked crying. A second later, the back of my legs smacked against the edge of the tub, causing me to lose my balance, and I tumbled into the now-glacial water.
The pressure around my leg vanished. And an otherworldly growl echoed through the room. “Tasty. Mine!”
“No.” I huddled in the water—the freezing temperature a better option than the alternative.
The furious roar of the creature ended in a scream. Half-a-second later, I knew why. There was another presence here. A quick light flashing through the darkness, cutting through the evil like a knife. Driving it away.
An ear-splitting whistle had preceded the light, which left as quickly as it had come. But it had done something—changed the air. Had affected the evil in such a way that it fled in terror.
But what exactly had happened, I didn’t know.
With the evil’s retreat, the suffocating chill and darkness vanished. The dim light of the evening flooded the room, overwhelming my deprived senses. I was temporarily blinded as my eyes struggled to adjust.
“Bianca,” multiple male voices called. And as the spots faded from my eyes, Julian and Titus had arrived at my side as they hovered over the tub. Someone’s warm hands touched my arms. But I hardly felt it, or cared—my focus was currently torn between Damen and Miles.
Damen wasn’t looking at me at all.
He stood some feet away, wearing a murderous expression. I was grateful it wasn’t directed toward me but was focused instead on some sort of bird…thing. He reached out toward it, and as it landed on his arm, I realized it, too, was a spirit.
I had assumed, by some of the things I had seen, that animals had souls. But it was very rare to see the ghost of one. But I hadn’t known Damen could see spirits, and the fact that he was conversing with the animal was very odd.
Miles, on the other hand, leaned heavily against the doorway. He was out of breath and looked pale and sweaty. He watched Damen with a somber look of his own.
What in the world is going on?
Within the span of a blink, the animal vanished. And all that remained was Damen and Miles—exchanging a look between them.
“Wha—” I wanted to ask what had happened, but my voice broke. The screaming had torn my throat raw.
“Wait a moment,” Julian chided. He was kneeling next to me, watching my face. Titus towered behind him, arms crossed and stern. I probably should have been embarrassed at being wrapped in only a towel, but my mind still reeled over previous events.
Besides, there was nothing sexy about the current situation at all. As the shock receded, I felt like a human icicle. Every bruise and ache was back with a vengeance. Then there was my ankle…
It felt raw—bleeding. But the lack of blood in the water indicated that wasn’t the case.
…and the water.
I couldn’t find the door, or a wall, or even the sink. But the bathtub and water had remained. Did it have something to do with Damen’s weird bath salts? I was certain if I hadn’t fallen into the tub, then I’d have been in worse shape. For some reason, it had been unable to touch me in the water.
“She might be in shock. We need to get her downstairs.” Julian’s voice snapped me out of my stupor.
“No…” I tried to speak again, because I had only been thinking to myself. But my denial was lost in the shivers that overtook my body. I hadn’t realized I was shaking…
I wanted to tell them everything was all right now. I could take care of myself. But I was exhausted and couldn’t find the energy to move.
Julian didn’t respond, but rubbed his hand down my arm before standing. “Titus, bring her,” he said before rushing from the room. Titus took Julian’s place; and for the first time, his large frame reassured rather than frightened me. I knew we would be around each other if we were supposed to be friends, but I had expected it to take longer to get used to him.
Perhaps I was shell shocked from the trauma, or maybe it was just hard to be scared of a fan of kawaii.
Titus gathered my body to his, arms under my shoulders and knees. His face twisted as he straightened. For a moment, I wondered if I was too heavy. But then he spoke. “I suppose you take warm baths, right? You aren’t Russian?”
Was he…making a joke? Trying to make me feel better? That was kind of sweet. I shivered uncontrollably. I couldn’t speak. I shook my head in response.
He frowned slightly before pulling me closer, holding me impossibly tight to his large chest. All I could hear was the steady, quick pounding of his heart. The warmth of his body was divine, and propriety fled as I molded myself against him.
He began walking, and his chest rumbled as he spoke. “She’s freezing. We need to warm her. Who only keeps one towel in a bathroom?”
Fabric was suddenly draped over me, but I half-paid attention. The angles of Titus’s jaw were distracting from this vantage point.
“Dude,” Titus deadpanned, “you don’t need to strip, Miles. We aren’t that far away from the blankets.”
“I am being a gentleman,” Miles responded. I glanced down then, and noticed that Miles had taken off his shirt and tucked it around me. And now there was something else to distract me.
Mi
les didn’t seem to notice my stare. “In my country, we are taught to treat a lady right.”
“Stop using that as an excuse for everything!” Titus growled. “You didn’t even grow up there during your formative years. I bet you spoke French to her, didn’t you? You can’t do things like that—speak English.”
“Why can’t I?” Miles shrugged, his muscles rippling as he strolled beside us while we descended the stairs. “You’re only being protective because you didn’t think of covering her first.”
“I’m holding her!”
The conversation halted as we entered the living room. I was grateful for the interruption. While it had been fascinating to learn about my friends, and to witness their interactions, it was hard for me to focus at the moment.
The second we neared the fireplace, Julian approached us with a blanket.
I had expected Titus to position me on the floor—to let me bask in front of the fire. But without skipping a beat, he proceeded to sit cross-legged on the rug, cradling me as Julian tucked the blanket around the two of us.
No one seemed disturbed by this.
“T-Titus…” I shivered, even as the warmth of his body and the fire seemed to permeate my pores. “I can sit by myself.”
He ignored me and spoke to Damen, who was now kneeling in front of the two of us. “It was freezing,” Titus told him.
Damen frowned as he cupped my cheek, his gray eyes holding mine. He was concerned, but he also appeared to be angry. I wondered what role he—they— played in this. What did they know about what’d happened that I don’t know?
His lips thinned as he responded to Titus, but he looked directly at me when he spoke. “It shouldn’t have been affected—Miles made it. It saved her life, for sure.” Damen addressed me now. “Did you use the whole bottle?”
I was struck-dumb by the intensity of his gaze—but still nodded in the affirmative.
And as my body slowly began to warm, another kind of warmth began to spread through me.
I was still completely naked—only the towel and shirt covering my modesty. The numbness befuddling my brain began to wear off, and it occurred to me just how closely I was plastered against Titus’s body.
His plaid shirt was wet now too, and the thin layers between us left nothing to the imagination. I could feel everything. Every hard, defined line of his muscles. Every breath. I could hear every beat of his heart as it pumped frantically beneath my cheek.
It was hard to focus. What was with this man and plaid? How could someone look so sexy while wearing it? I didn’t think the lumberjack look was a thing—until now.
What was wrong with me? If something didn’t change soon, I was going to spontaneously combust. This was a disaster!
I couldn’t see the rest of the room very well from our location, but I had to find the others. Anything to distract myself from him.
Damen had returned to his feet and paced between us and the fireplace. Meanwhile, Titus shifted to the side slightly, allowing me more of a view and helping the fire warm my back. Miles sat in an armchair, head in his hands. His shoulders were tense—and he was still bare chested.
And Julian. He sat on his knees beside me, whispering in my ear, “Give me the towel and shirt. And we need to switch blankets. Everything is wet now.”
Titus must have heard—his heart lurched. I hadn’t fared much better. My whole face was overcome with heat. What had I been mentally complaining about? This towel? It wasn’t too thin at all. It was my favorite thing in the world—I never wanted it to leave me.
I glanced up at Titus’s face, but his blank expression didn’t match the pounding of his heart. I didn’t understand why he’d be nervous, though. Unless, of course, he was scared of Maria. She could find out that he had touched another girl and would kick the crap out of him. Having a gangster girlfriend was probably frightening.
I was going to tell Julian that this was ridiculous. I could get dressed on my own—I only needed to go back to my room to get my clothes.
Which meant, of course, that I’d be alone. And right now, the very thought terrified me.
I was so pathetic.
Julian took my silence as acquiescence—because it really was. Thankfully though, they got no strip show. Titus maneuvered me around as if I weighed nothing, and Julian switched out the blankets and grabbed the wet items. I remained decent the entire time—which was a relief.
After the three of us settled, Miles finally looked up. He had been resting his head in his hands, and had been unmoved in his chair the whole time. However, the expression on his face was dangerous. I wondered what he had been thinking about.
“I’m going to kill him,” he snarled—eyes following Damen’s pacing form. “That thing was too powerful. No normal spirit would have affected the water. It had to be him. He’s stupid, reckless, and childish. And I’m going to put an end to it.”
Chapter Sixteen
Presence
“It’s not like you to jump to conclusions.” Damen stopped pacing and sighed wearily. “Or get angry. Besides, we don’t know what it was—even though I do agree it was not something we’d typically come across in a haunting. But normal or not, it originated from this house. It couldn’t have been him—although, it would be easier for us to assume so. We can’t do that just because it’s convenient.”
“But look at what he did earlier.” Julian gestured in my direction. “I told you that he isn’t going to give up.”
Oh. Realization slammed into me. They could only be talking about one person.
“It wasn’t Finn.” I forced the words out, hating saying his name. I was scared of him now, something I never imagined was possible. I felt terribly confused—lost. But that fear was a fact I couldn’t deny.
Damen’s focus shot to me, calculating. And the heavy weight of three sets of disbelieving eyes staring in my direction. It was obvious what they believed.
“I’m not saying that to defend him,” I said softly, looking down at my feet on the floor. I needed them to understand. This had nothing to do with loyalty—or residual feelings that I might still have toward my childhood friend. “I’m angry too. But I’ve felt one of these spirits before. This is the third time. But it’s never felt this intense.”
“You’ve felt it before?” Damen watched me over his glasses. “And there was more than one?” He frowned, glancing toward Miles. “What about you?”
Miles paused contemplatively before he sighed and ran a tired hand down his face. “I don’t know.” He sounded resigned. “This isn’t my expertise. I did feel something of a demonic nature, but you would be more aware of that than me. If there was something else, we missed it.”
That didn’t seem to please Damen at all. Titus and Julian were listening, but not contributing to the conversation. The scattered pieces of information were beginning to fit together.
“Wait,” I interrupted.
At my utterance, everyone’s attention drew toward me. I felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny, but continued nonetheless. “You’re talking about more than ghosts, aren’t you? Are you guys involved somehow? You’ve said you understand, and I’ve asked before—are you the same as me? Is that how you all know each other?”
I glanced at Julian, who was looking at me with wariness. “Can you all see spirits?” I pressed.
Miles’s shoulders slumped and Damen sighed as he sat in another armchair. Meanwhile, Titus and Julian seemed troubled by my question. The atmosphere in the room went from furious to resigned in a matter of seconds.
My stomach twisted. Should I not have asked? Had I crossed some unforgivable line with the question? But wasn’t sharing the details of your life normal amongst friends? I had, at least, told them some of my secrets. I understood about the fear of rejection—about not wanting to open yourself up to that kind of scrutiny. But whatever they had to say couldn’t be any stranger than my background.
Then again, we had only just met. Maybe they were apprehensive about me too?
“
Sorry.” I bit my lip, looking away. I was ashamed I had even asked. “It’s not important.”
“No.” Damen pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is new territory for us, to be honest. You can ask us anything you’d like. But I cannot promise to answer everything—at least right now.”
“Oh.” I glanced up. “So how do you know each other? You all seem really close, but very different.”
“We’ve known each other forever and are a close-knit group,” Damen replied in that same tone of voice. “Not a lot of people make it into our circle. Not that we don’t have other associations, of course. But when it comes down to it, we are all we have. We don’t even date—we can’t. My family, as you know, is not normal. We all share similarities in that regard. That, and our roles within our families, keep us bonded together. We’ve never even felt the need to draw anyone else in…”
Even though this didn’t make any sense to me, I could scarcely breathe. I was being trusted with the private history of other people. I’d never been so honored before in my life.
“…but there’s something about you,” Damen continued, his voice low as our gazes locked. “It’s almost as if you are supposed to be with us. This feels right—and that doesn’t happen. Not with us. That goes against our very nature. But we want to be your friends, and we want you near us. But I cannot tell you everything about what we do—not yet. That day will come as we explore this bond going forward. Is that acceptable? Or does this make you want to run away?”
“I won’t run away!” I rushed to reassure him. My heart was fluttering with excitement. Normally, where fear and anxiety would have thrived, something unknown grew. I didn’t understand it, but I felt it, too. The foundation on which I’d built my life had been shaken. I was in new territory now.
Whether or not that was a good thing, I had no idea. But I wanted to explore this strange instinctual camaraderie that I shared with these guys.
“It’s all right if you can’t tell me everything yet…” I didn’t want to lie, but I couldn’t tell them everything about myself either, for completely unrelated reasons. Some things had to move slowly, and I was perfectly okay with that. “I haven’t told you everything about my past either,” I admitted.
