Page 19 of Impenitent Claim

No, I needed to discover what my stalker wanted.

“I have a stalker,” I breathed.

The truth was harder and harder to deny.

I’m dealing with it!

The clock turned to ten. I promptly shut off the lamp on the nightstand and snuggled deep in the cocoon of blankets. My legs twitched, the cloud-like blankets becoming an oppressive weight. The blood in my veins buzzed. I had to clench my jaw to keep the teeth from clacking.

One thought delighted me more than the others. In a matter of minutes, maybe hours, I would meet the spectre. The excitement proved this was the best thing to happen to me in almost a year.

***

I must have dozed off. What was I thinking trying to keep myself awake with espresso? I was Italian! We finished our meals with the potion. Granted, I had three times the normal amount, but exhaustion and bodily strain tugged me into the unconscious abyss that was sleep.

But that sixth sense shot through me like a bolt of lightning.

There was someone in my room.

I tracked the shadow in the dark as he moved toward my…window. The pane lifted. He scooted under the screen before replacing it as if nothing happened.

Kicking the blankets off, I was out of bed in a heartbeat. I raced across the room to peer through the glass. Sure enough, he was scaling the wall!

Good!I would intercept him at the bottom.

Already my gun was in my hand, but I skidded to a halt as I passed my reading nook. On the side table was a book. But not just any regular tome. This was a rare, highly coveted special edition of a book from a series I adored.

My fingers traced the foiled words.

“How did you find this?” I breathed.

The only copies available were outrageously expensive and still sold within the hour they were posted. When I had the disposable income from my parents, not the piss poor pittance I was allowed now, I could have been the lucky owner of this when it was released over the summer. But I had to watch other book dragons hoard the coveted copies, hoping someday I could add it as a trophy to my shelf.

But here it was.

A gift from a ghost.

Pursing my lips, I shook my head. Accepting it was wrong. Although my heart screamed at me, I plucked the hardcover offthe table and darted from my room. He was going to take it back. I was firm about that. He had to take it and…what? Dispose of it? That probably meant reselling it to another book girlie or—

“Oh, dio! Don’t throw it away,” I breathed, clutching the book to my chest. Maybe I could make him promise to rehome it.

The backyard was soaked in the eerie stillness that only a cold autumn night could bring. Most of the leaves had fallen, which made the trees seem to be giant skeletons. They shook their garish limbs to the tune of the slithering breeze.

I drew a sharp breath, grateful that I was properly dressed this time. Determined steps brought me past the spot that my window overlooked. Already, the yard was empty. But I anticipated his path out of the property. I caught sight of the spectral presence as it disappeared into the thicker trees.

The ground was slick with dew, glittering like a sea of diamonds under the pale moonlight, casting an otherworldly glow on the grass. Droplets flicked up, wetting my sneakers and splattering my jeans. Still, I ran. Overhead, the eerie clatter of the branches and the few dried leaves rustled in a soft, sinister murmur.

Nature itself dared me to proceed.

Setting my jaw, I pushed forward.

“Hey! You!” I called out in a stage whisper. “Phantom, stop. I need to talk to you, mister.”

Stupid girl, stupid girl!

I squared my shoulders and stepped into the thick shadows draping the far reaches of the yard. The darkness was deep, shifting, making familiar shapes appear strange and unknown.

A trunk moved—moved farther than a stationary object such as a tree should.

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