Page 41 of Broken Destiny

“Habit,” I whisper, still feeling the imprint of his hand on my face even though he’s retreated again.

“When someone tells you that you are one thing your entire life, it’s hard to change your way of thinking. At the moment, I’m not complaining. I rather like shutting you up.” His smug smile makes my lips press together with irritation, but we’re interrupted before I can respond.

“Isn’t she magnificent?” a voice says, sticking their face right between ours. I jerk away from Garrett, feeling like I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t. Bren perches just behind us, his forearms supporting his upper body on the back of the couch.

“She’s something,” Garrett answers with another caveman grunt. I’m uncertain whether to interpret it as a compliment or an insult.

Bren turns his beautiful face in my direction, and his smile is infectious. His pale green eyes shimmer in the light being filtered through the dome above us. “Are you getting pointers on how to shift? Garrett is the best one to ask, being he’s the shifter and all. There was a moment yesterday, a chance that he might not have agreed to stay.” Bren’s eyes momentarily glaze over, and his voice loses its cheer. “The outlook for that wouldn’t have been good. But, he’s here. We’re here! Let’s turn you into a pussy cat.”

Garrett makes a sound that sounds suspiciously like a laugh covered by a cough, and I picture him rolling his eyes mentally. I can’t help but smile at Bren. He and Avery fill me with such joy, an emotion I’ve sorely missed in my life. Unfortunately, my momentary pleasure fades just as quickly as it arrived.

“I don’t know if I can. The memories…they’ve been blocked for so long.”

Bren skips around the couch and sits on the table in front of us, his knees brushing against mine. My first instinct is to pull away. I’m well aware that my legs aren’t pleasant to touch, but he stops me with a hand on my thigh. The heat of his palm seeps through the cloth barrier of my stretchy jeans. Avery waits just behind him, as silent as the moonlight. His silver hair shines, matching the glow of his eyes.

Bren opens his mouth, and I think he’s going to say something inspiring, but instead he yells loudly. “Kodi! Get your ghostly ass over here!” That ghostly ass pops into place in our little nook, a sour expression on his face. Bren nods in satisfaction. “She needs all of us, especially you.”

My eyes widen at the same time as Kodi’s, but there’s fear in his. “Why?” I ask when it’s clear that the ghost won’t or can’t.

Bren’s gaze turns serious. “Because he was there.”

Chapter Twenty

Zosia

Garrett’s fists clench as Kodi’s face falls. I don’t know whether to concentrate on the shifter’s anger or the ghost’s obvious distress.

“He was there?” Garrett growls ominously. I instinctively cover his large hand with mine, trying to quell some of the fury coursing through his powerful body. He can’t injure Kodi physically, but he can hurt him mentally. I won’t allow it.

“Brother, we don’t know the full story,” Bren begins, but even he looks taken aback at Garrett’s response.

Garrett’s eyes flash to mine. “You don’t seem surprised.”

I shrug. “We thought there might be a possibility.”

“Ghosts don’t usually haunt people unless they have a reason,” Avery adds carefully, his words measured as he monitors the tension in the room.

Garrett takes several deep breaths. “Well then, let’s get the full story. Mark my words, Ghost, if you just stood by and watched some psychopath bludgeon this girl nearly to death, I will find some way to hurt you.”

His words infuriate me. I remove my hand from the shifter’s and my cheeks heat with something other than embarrassment for once. “You don’t get to decide that, Shifter. They are my memories, and it’s my past. What’s been done is done. More violence only accomplishes whatever goals that psychopath had in the first place.” There’s a momentary silence as my words ring out with powerful command. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. Whatever Kodi did in his life, I’ve already forgiven him. It’s a matter of whether he can forgive himself. My greatest worry is that he’ll just let go of whatever is holding him to this plane once he learns the truth.

The ghost in question slumps noticeably, his form drifting all the way to the floor. “I had my first inkling that I might be involved in her past yesterday morning. I regained flesh for just a moment in time, but I had memories. Some involved Zosia. You can’t protect me, Princess. I’ll face whatever punishment is decided. I’ve already come to terms with that.”

“You’ve saved me countless times in your afterlife, Boo. Surely, that makes up for whatever you might have done when you were young and alive.”

Kodi shakes his head, but his eyes finally meet mine. They’re sad and desperate, but mostly resigned. It breaks my heart. “If I allowed you to be hurt or helped someone make you into the way you are, you wouldn’t have needed protection, Zo. That’s the point I’m trying to make. Nothing could ever make up for something so horrible.”

Bren is suspiciously silent, and I slant a look at him. “Do you know more than you’re letting on?”

He shakes his head, dark hair flopping in his face. His eyes are sad. “I have had visions of you for years but only after you were released from the prison that held you. I only know that you’ll see him in your memories. My skill is in divining the future, not remembering the past.”

I nod with sudden conviction. “Fine. Then, I’ll just have to access my memories to prove Kodi’s innocence. Avery, would you like to sit down?” I feel bad that he’s still standing, but he only shrugs one slim shoulder. He can tell there aren’t more chairs. I blink. Weren’t any other chairs. Two have appeared across from us, accompanying the refreshments suddenly laid out on the table beside Bren. I reach for a glass of water, gulping it down in one long drink. My hands shake.

I want to do this for Kodi now, not just to bring out my shift, although Sage probably knew what she was doing when she appeared to me in beast form. If I can look that regal, that beautiful, and that supernatural, then I want to. But Kodi has been my dearest friend for years. I refuse to let the past dictate the future, not when the past was so horrific. He’s suffered enough. She asked for trust and faith. I will give it to him.

Garrett takes deep breaths, his skin rippling as if he’s holding off his shift. I turn halfway toward him, struggling on the deeply-cushioned couch. “Kodi is one of us, regardless of what my memories show me. He’s already suffered enough while thinking he might have had a part in whatever happened to me. He’s paid his penance. You’re not to deliver justice.”

I don’t really know this man. I’m nothing to him to demand his cooperation, and he doesn’t have to listen to me. I’m not sure he will. He looks between the ghost and me, his dark eyes squinting with uncertainty.

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