A Fate Unknown: A PNR, Why Choose Novel (The Ghost Girl Series Book 1)

by Sinclair Kelly

  “Nope. Save that pout for Knox or Macklin. It won’t work on me.”

  “You suck.”

  “No, but I bet you do.” He shoots me a wink as he opens the bedroom door.

  “Hmph!” I narrow my eyes at the pain in my ass, or, more accurately, pain in my pussy. “It’ll be awhile before you find out just how awesome this mouth is, you big tease.”

  He chuckles again, holding out his hand, and I all too easily relent and let him wrap his large fingers around mine as he guides us through the Gateway. We reach the set of double doors to the main chamber, and I mentally give them a little push. They slide open, revealing...an empty space. This feels eerily familiar. My stomach sinks for a second, wondering where in the hell the others are, before we hear low murmurs coming from a door off to the side of the dais.

  I take a step toward the sound, but Cole tugs me back. He’s still holding my hand and looking at me with that uber serious expression I’ve grown accustomed to. He glances down at our joined hands before meeting my eyes again. “I know things haven’t always been easy between us.”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” I mumble.

  His lips tilt up in a half-smile, softening his face for a moment before the serious Cole is back, his brows furrowing and his lips getting that tightness to them whenever he’s stressing out about something. I note that his concern from before has morphed into intense worry now. For me. For us. Whatever it is he’s struggling with, I want him to know that I can help. That we’re in this together. Partners.

  My hand comes up to cup his chin, my thumb running along his bottom lip. His tension eases, and with it, something shifts in my heart. Like a crack was just filled and repaired. I remember the first time I saw him outside the estate. The urge to do exactly this had scared the shit out of me. Now here we are.

  Mind. Blown.

  “I need you to promise me something,” he asks softly.

  “Anything,” I respond without hesitation.

  “Promise me you won’t run. No matter what happens from here on out, you’ll stay. You’ll fight for us. For what we can rebuild.”

  “I promise,” I whisper, too overcome by the depth of feelings I have for this man to say anything more.

  “And I promise to trust you and support you and prove to you every day that I deserve to be by your side.”

  I can’t help myself. I go up on my tiptoes and kiss him. It isn’t the frantic meeting of mouths it was before. This is soft. Real. Heartfelt. A way to seal our promises to each other.

  We pull apart, our hands still interlocked, and head toward the voices.

  Finding the others in an office, they’re sitting on deep burgundy sofas that surround a lovely fireplace. A small fire is warming the room, and it settles something inside me. The total familiarity of this scene - right down to the seats everyone has chosen. It all just feels...right.

  “They’re aliiiivve,” Reggie says, doing her best - which is terrible - Frankenstein impression. Then she pouts when no one pays her any attention.

  The guys jump up and immediately surround us.

  Knox is the first to get his hands on me, wrapping me up in a hug that barely allows me room to breathe.

  “Are you okay?” he asks softly.

  “I’m fine. Really.”

  He kisses my forehead before his eyes meet mine, gauging my words. I don’t need words to know how he’s feeling since his relief rushes over me like a gust of fresh air.

  Before he can reply, I’m whisked out of his arms. I expect Thad or Levi, but my brows shoot up when I realize it’s Macklin that has just stolen me away.

  I don’t get a word out before his lips touch mine in possibly the sweetest kiss I’ve ever had, telling me everything I know he’s too shy to say out loud. When he pulls back, the familiar blush is there, and I can’t stop myself from hugging the shit out of him.

  “You gave us all heart attacks,” he murmurs, and the fear and concern that he’s been struggling with since seeing me almost impaled hits me with all of the force of a wrecking ball. The breath is briefly knocked out of me, and I try to stop my body from trembling under the sheer weight of his feelings. I manage to regain control of my own senses. Barely.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I should’ve checked in sooner.”

  “She was in no condition to do anything, let alone head back into a potential battle,” Cole grumbles from behind me. Like, right behind me. I can feel the heat coming off the guy just as well as I can feel the heat from the fire. Maybe he’s part demon. It would explain a lot, actually.

  “But you’re okay now?” Mack asks as he backs away, letting his eyes survey my body. “I mean, you look pretty good.”

  My eyebrows shoot up. “Just ‘pretty good,’ eh, Mack?”

  Cue blush. Oh my ghost. It’s just too easy.

  “You look amazing,” Knox croons from my side.

  “Wait. How do you look so amazing?”

  “Jesus, Mack!” Knox slaps him upside the head.

  Mack quickly grabs his glasses as they almost fly off his face from the force.

  “I didn’t mean it like that! She always looks beautiful. I’m just wondering how there’s not a single scratch on her.” He risks a glance at Cole. “Or you for that matter. Your shoulder wound was pretty serious. It probably needed stitches.”

  I point to the five marks on my left arm. Macklin’s fingers run over the marks, and I shiver. The move was almost clinical in nature, but my damn body doesn’t give two fucks. In all reality, she’d probably be happy giving more than two fucks. Horny broad.

  Cole responds for me since I seem to have lost all ability to communicate effectively.

  “The second my mark appeared on her arm, the injuries started to heal. Swollen and bruised eye. Split lip. Bruises around her neck. Bruised knees. A small bruise on her abdomen where the knife went through her. In a matter of seconds, they were almost totally gone.”

  “Wow! That’s incredible. And your shoulder? The same thing?”

  “Yup,” he answers, pulling the neck of his shirt down and showing the smooth skin that I may have kissed while he was sleeping. Yup. I was a total creeper.

  “Are you fuckers done chit chatting? I’d like to hold my woman, now.”

  With that, Thad uses his substantial size to manhandle me away from the discussion still taking place amongst the others. The second I’m wrapped in his massive arms, I feel another body come up behind me and sandwich me in.

  Mmm...twin sandwich.

  “You really okay, sweets?” Levi whispers in my ear.

  I nod, then let my forehead fall to Thad’s huge chest, unable to speak due to the sheer amount of worry and affection I can feel emanating off these giant guys. Like an embrace within an embrace, our souls holding onto each other while their tenderness infuses me with warmth from the inside out. They may seem scary, but they’re really just big, squishy teddy bears. Just don’t tell them I said that.

  They seem to sense my struggle and hold me tighter. This would probably suffocate any normal woman, but it just makes me feel cared for on a level I haven’t known in too long. Like - at least a hundred years.

  “We got you,” Thad murmurs. “Don’t ever forget that, babe.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper back.

  Then my stomach decides to end the feel-fest with a loud rumble, followed by a round of chuckles.

  “You hungry, little ghost?” Knox asks.

  “I’m starving. I don’t think I’ve eaten since…” I trail off and try to think.

  “It’s been over twenty-four hours. Breakfast yesterday,” Mack answers.

  “Thanks, Mack.”

  Knox looks at Reggie. “Where’s the kitchen? Mack and I will go whip some food up for the group.”

  “Take the main hall to the right and follow it until it ends. It’ll be straight ahead.”

  “I think I knew that,” Macklin states, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

  “Any reques
ts?”

  Before anyone can respond, a voice from the doorway startles us all.

  “Oh my gosh, Fate! It’s really you. You’re back!”

  All eyes swing to the woman blocking our exit, the guys quickly forming a protective semi-circle around me.

  “Who the fuck is it now?” I whine, throwing my hands in the air. “What’s a ghost girl gotta do to enjoy some peace and quiet around here?”

  “It’s alright, guys. The Gateway let her in,” Reggie responds before turning to our new visitor. “Destiny, what are you doing here?”

  As if that’s all my brain had been waiting for, the flood gates open and a sudden rush of memories is released, assaulting me with an intensity I struggle to contain. My hands grab my head as arms steady my swaying body. From somewhere in the room, I can hear the guys calling my name and asking if I’m okay. I attempt to respond, but the memory drags me under.

  There is nothing more exhausting than a morning spent in the Land of Torment. It’s hot there. Really, really hot. Think fire and brimstone and wisps of sulfur on the air. Then there are the screams. From everywhere. All the time. My body is wracked with shivers. Man, I loathe that place.

  Every month, my sisters and I have breakfast together. We take turns hosting, but I just can’t seem to find it in me to get excited about it anymore. It’s not that I don’t care for my sisters. I do. But Destiny has been absent more often than not lately. Her and Karma have been at odds the past few years. Karma is just...I release a loud sigh when I think of my eldest sister. I love her dearly, but the woman is a lot to handle on a good day, let alone a really bad one. Karma is like a cocktail of negativity and paranoia with a splash of vengeance thrown in. I’m not sure if the Land of Torment made her that way, or if she’s always been a bundle of instability.

  Karma was the first sister tested by the Gateway to take over the role of Guardian of the Spirits. It quickly became apparent that she was too darkly influenced, her balance tipped to the punishment side of the scale. She was given the Land of Torment, or sent there as retribution for the chaos she’d created, depending on whose story you believe, and became the Keeper of Darkness.

  Destiny was the second sister to endure the test for the Gateway. She was everything innocent and pure, love and happiness, kindness and charity. Where Karma was the darkness, Destiny was the light. Pure, blinding light. When the balance tipped to the enlightened side of the scale too heavily, she was quickly given the role of Keeper of Light, on the Isle of Light - for obvious reasons.

  Then, the Gateway tested me, more intensely than either of my sisters. It needed someone with the ability to remain neutral, rational, and unbiased. To fairly judge those who sought their path to the afterlife. When I was chosen, my sisters rejoiced. Though Karma, in true Karma fashion, seemed slightly jealous, which only grew worse once I cemented my balance through the bonds with my guys.

  As I float through the Ether, I let my mind wander over today’s topic of polite conversation, whether I should truly trust the guys. This seems to bother my eldest sister...a lot...as it comes up frequently these days. I constantly reassure her that they’re totally dedicated to me and that I trust them implicitly, though, I will admit to having some doubts recently.

  I’m sure that’s common in every relationship that has weathered the years, right? Like the mysterious letters that the guys have been receiving that are whisked away before I get a chance to read them. Or the numerous last minute meetings one or more of them will head off to at all hours of the day and night. Then there are the low conversations they’ve been having when they think I’m not paying attention.

  Karma thinks they’ll leave me one day. Which is preposterous. We’re all bonded. They couldn’t leave me without severing those bonds and joining with someone else. But the little hint of doubt in the back of my mind grows larger every time she brings this up. I know I should just ask the guys, but it honestly seems so silly. After five hundred years together, I know them. They would never do something to hurt me.

  Then there’s Reggie. My best friend and confidant hasn’t been around much lately either. I’ll see her in passing, and then she scampers off saying she forgot to clean something. That woman hates cleaning as much as I do. Seriously, what is going on with everyone?

  I shake the negative thoughts from my head and decide enough is enough. It’s time I have a talk with everyone before my imagination gets the better of me. I’m the balance, afterall. I can surely be unbiased and rational when it comes to my five and my friend, right?

  As I arrive back at the Gateway, I make my way to the great room. The doors are open, so I call out for the guys. It’s quiet here. A little too quiet. There are always spirits lurking around, but even they seem to be absent right now. Strange.

  Walking into my office, I see a note sitting on my desk, telling me the guys are at one of our favorite spots - a deep cavern with a large, natural spring-fed pool - and to meet them there as soon as I return. Maybe they’ve been planning something special for all of us. The thought cheers me up as I transition to my ghostly form and head back through the ether.

  The humidity hits me the second I turn solid, heat flowing out of the mouth of the tunnel that leads to the cavern. I’m thankful for the flowing blue gown that is light and airy. It swirls around me as I walk down the path, cautiously excited to see my five, but I don’t get more than a few feet in before I hit a veil of power. Something strong and different than anything I’ve ever felt before. I make a mental note to ask the guys about it.

  Their voices reach me before I can see them, and I smile, warmth filling me at their playful banter.

  Then I hear a distinctly female giggle. It sounds eerily familiar. Almost like my own. My stomach drops, and my body goes cold.

  As I round the bend that leads into the main portion of the space, I stop dead in my tracks. There, before me, is Cole. In his tan trousers and white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off the forearms that always manage to spark a tingle down deep in my belly. Except this time, it feels more like a lead weight.

  In his arms, with her slender, pale hands clutching the front of Cole’s shirt, is my sister Destiny. The curls of her long white hair are flowing freely in the slight breeze that blows through the cavern. Their eyes are both closed, and their lips are a mere breath apart from connecting. There’s an odd shimmer around her, but I barely notice. My eyes are on the man that just broke my heart.

  My book, which is always with me, falls from my hands, landing on the rough ground of the cavern with a loud, echoing thump. They jolt apart, confusion etched on Cole’s handsome face as his icy blue eyes look at me like he’s never seen me before. Destiny just stares at me, though I swear I see a slight smirk tilting her lips, her eyes mocking me. Something niggles the back of my mind when I look at her, but the scene in front of me is demanding all of my attention.

  Cole’s unfocused eyes shoot to Destiny and grow impossibly wider, then dart back to me with a dawning look of horror on his face.

  “Fate? How did you…”he trails off, looking at Destiny. “Destiny?”

  His large hand comes up and runs through his dark hair that has grown longer than usual, hanging down past his chin. “Fate, I’m not sure what’s happening right now, but this is not what it looks like.”

  I can’t speak. Can’t move. Can barely breathe. I just stand here and let the tears fall while I look at my first. The one I chose before all others. With my sister.

  “Destiny? When did you get here?”

  I hear Macklin’s words, and my eyes meet his as he walks up to our cozy little group. He takes one look at my expression, his glassy eyes shooting to Cole and Destiny, noting their closeness, and takes a step toward me. My body finally breaks out of its frozen state, and I take a step back. He pauses, glancing at the ground before picking up the book I dropped, his brow furrowing and his concern growing. He knows what that book means to me. Without it, my power would disappear, and so would theirs. The planes
would be sent into chaos. At the moment, I don’t even care.

  Then I notice the others behind him. Knox, Thad, and Levi. Another step back. And another. They all have the same glassy eyes, their stares unfocused.

  Were they all indulging in drink? Drugs? Those aren’t usually things we enjoy, but others often do. Have they all changed so much while I sat here thinking everything was fine? Was I just not enough for them?

  My mind whirls with the implications. The mysterious letters and late night meetings. Hushed conversations. Karma’s insistence that they would leave me one day. My heart shatters into a million pieces, and a sob breaks free before I can stem the sound with my hand. They’re all here. They all knew what was happening, and no one cared enough to stop it. Or they’re all in on it. Together. Without me. With her.

  “Fate? Please!” Cole begs. “Listen. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but we’ll figure it out.”

  My fractured soul is bleeding from the blow, and it’s only by some miracle that I’m able to hold it together at all. I turn and start to run back down the tunnel, the need to get away so strong that I almost trip over my gown but catch myself at the last second.

  “Fate! Don’t go!” Cole shouts from behind me.

  I run faster. Just before he reaches me, I transition back to my ghostly form and head for the only person left who won’t lie to me. The one person that will help me figure out how this all went so wrong.

  As the memory begins to fade, the movie in my mind turns into brief snippets, rapidly flickering from one scene to the next. A knife, the feeling of cool night air on my skin, boots kicking my already battered body, blackness, then dirt filling my lungs, before it’s all stuffed back inside the locked box in my mind.

  My mind is reeling, and my hands have a death grip on the arm of whichever guy is unlucky enough to be holding me at the moment. But I can’t trust these guys, right? I abruptly throw the offending arm off, shuffling back a few steps. Then a couple more. It’s a struggle to breathe. To think. Tears flood my eyes before I can even stop them.