Page 44 of Ghost Girl

I didn’t know what this meant for me. For her. I didn’t care, because it meantsomething. Whether we spent eternity at each other’s throats or looked to one another for companionship, I was positively giddy thatI was no longer alone.

I was transfixed as I watched her transition. It was like she was simultaneously emitting light while sucking it all into her like a black hole. It was stunning, confusing to witness, but awe-inspiring all at the same time. It pulsed from her, was sucked back in, and then repeated the process again and again. Each time, the pulses became stronger, faster, shorter, until eventually she was vibrating with energy. The same energy she had been attempting to harness as a mere ghost. Now, she would be able to access that power whenever she pleased. She could grow it with each soul she consumed, becoming one of the most powerful entities to exist.

I could taste her potential from the moment I first caught wind of her, the fight inside of her calling to the deepest, darkest parts of my withered soul. She was the first to snag my attentionin such a way, the first to prove themselves worthy of the transformation she was so close to completing. The white flame that called to me so persistently.

She waseverything.

The pulses of energy finally calmed, so they were no longer attacking everything surrounding her. Instead, they encased her in a cocoon of power that she fed from as her entire being morphed into something new, like a moth. It was an analogy I had used on myself more times than I could count. Going through a metamorphosis that changed the very structure of her being, she would emerge a dweller of darkness, drawn to the light, and consuming power while leaving beautiful destruction in her wake.

I couldn’t wait to see what she would be capable of in her newly elevated state of being.

When she didn’t move, not even a twitch, I settled in for a long wait. I did not know how long it would take. I had no one with me when I underwent my own transformation, and I had never seen it happen myself. My personal experiences were the only ones I could draw information from, but there was no guarantee the girl’s path would be the same as mine. Her power could be different or weaker. Possibly even stronger. She could emerge as an entirely different being than I had, though I hoped that wouldn’t be the case.

The loneliness that I had held off for so long, that I had convinced myself was no longer present, had rushed back into me with a crushing force when I had first discovered my ghost girl lingering over her grave, watching her killer destroy more of his victims. I had come across the other spirits as they moped about, which was typical of them, but she was different. She hadn’t been moping, she had been plotting. Planning. Spewing venom from her glares as if they could harm the man who had wronged her so viscerally.

Yet, despite the hopes I had involuntarily placed on her, she hadn’t figured it out. I still wasn’t sure she had, yet she had blown through my disappointment and had succeeded anyway, purely by accident. But oh, what a beautiful accident it had turned out to be.

My shadows converged beneath me to form a seat, cupping my body comfortably in the icy tendrils as I settled in for the wait. I had a feeling it was going to be a long one, but I wasn’t missing this for the world.

Chapter 19

Kali

‘Honey, can you pack the cooler? I need to get on the road before the traffic hits if I want to make it to the river on time.’

I sighed, annoyed at his lack of planning, but I had married him with the full knowledge that the man I loved had the time-keeping skills of a plank of wood. Luckily for him, I had already planned for his mad dash this morning, so I didn’t even have to drag myself out of bed as I yelled out from beneath the blankets.

‘I packed it last night, babe. You just need to put it in the trunk.’

Footsteps approached before the blankets were pulled back, and Blake’s handsome, smiling face hovered above me. He pressed a kiss to my forehead that lingered for a beat before he pulled away, love shining in his eyes that made me want to grasp his collar and drag him back to bed so I could make him gasp and groan in pleasure, my tongue laving at his fucking incredible cock.

He did groan when he saw the heat in my eyes, but pulled away. I pouted, and he chuckled, running a hand through his thick, luscious hair as he debated the merits of a quickie beforehe had to be on the road. A few more minutes couldn’t hurt, right?

But no. He bit his fist as he moved further away, shaking his head. ‘Sorry, honey, but I really have to go or I’ll be late.’

‘Do you have to go?’ I whined, curling the blankets back around me to get comfy again. He had let the chill in when he’d pulled them off me.

‘I promised the guys I’d be there, and the cabin is in my name. I’d cancel if I could, but they’re relying on me,’ he explained for the umpteenth time. He seemed mildly annoyed at the repeated question, but he tempered it with a sweet smile. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can, and then I’ll wine and dine you, I promise.’

I sighed, already knowing there was no talking him into staying. It was his post-surgery ritual. Every time he took part in a complicated medical procedure, he took a week or two off withthe guys. They would rent out a cabin down south, pull out the poles, and fish to their heart’s content. The problem was that I’d never metthe guys, nor had he ever named them. As far as I knew, they were coworkers, fellow surgeons who worked with him on his more intense cases, but none of whom I had ever actually met.

I was beginning to think they didn’t exist. Some part of me hoped I was wrong, that Blake’s friends were real and they truly were going fishing, but my suspicions grew the longer I didn’t meet any of the so-called ‘guys’.

The last time he went fishing, he came back smelling like a woman’s perfume, and that was when I had started snooping. I hadn’t found anything yet, so I was taking that as evidence that I was just being paranoid. I hadn’t brought it up with Blake, afraid that I was just overthinking things. I didn’t want to ruin what we had with false accusations, but that feeling in my gut was there. He was keeping something from me, I knew it. I just didn’t know what.

But… that wasn’t true. I did know what he was keeping from me. He wasn’t just meeting women behind my back, he was killing them.

…Right?

So… how was I in my bed, back at home, still married to the man who had murdered me? I didn’t just dream that all up. There was no way.

‘Right, I’m off! I’ll call when I land. See you in a week, honey. Love you!’

‘Love you, too!’ I called back automatically, as if I had no control over my mouth. ‘Have a nice trip, and drive safe!’

My brows dipped low in a scowl as I fought to keep the words from leaving my mouth. The last thing I ever wanted to do was tell that piece of shit that I loved him. I hadn’t loved him in a long time, even if – and I was ashamed to admit it - I had stupidly held onto that love despite him killing me. And for quite a while.

Yeah, I hadn’t handled his particular brand of betrayal very well, had I? Talk about denial…

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