Page 24 of Ghost
I didn’t even have a chance to be surprised, because the burly man from before stepped forward.
“Your girlfriend seems to be nervous,” he interrupted Damen and Jamie’s conversation. He was now walking confidently toward us—a smirk on his face. “Maybe she doesn’t feel safe around you.”
Damen’s head snapped in his direction, but before he could say a word the man was in front of us. He held out his hand toward me, the blood on his face only serving to make him look more dangerous. “That’s too bad, because as an officer of the law, I can’t let that stand. Come here, pixie.”
I’d rather not. I wanted to leave. The room felt dangerous. As if predators were present and I was the singular prey.
Then Damen was in front of me, blocking me from view. “Jamie…” his voice was tight, an underlying threat to the word.
It was terrible timing, but something about that tone caused a strange heat to pool in my stomach. And when he reached back to hold onto my hand, the feeling exploded. It felt as though I was on fire.
“Conner,whatdo you think you are doing?” Jamie sounded aghast. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? Stand down at once.”
I ignored the odd feelings racing through me as I attempted to peek around Damen. However, instead of responding, Damen stepped backwards. His hand moved to my elbow and jerked me closer to him.
Damen was sometimes serious, but I had mostly seen him as flirtatious. But now he was wary, evident by his posture. And that was what scared me the most.
“I don’t want to have to do this. Where is he…” he chanted the words under his breath.
“Why do you need Titus?” I asked once again. Still not seeing how Titus was relevant to any of this.
Damen heard me, his head inclined slightly toward me. But he didn’t even so much as glance away from the scene in front of him.
“These rules are bullshit,” Conner growled, continuing to argue with the head officer. Then, suddenly, words turned to the sounds of gnashing teeth. And there was a flurry of movements that I could barely see from my vantage point.
“Great Mother of Abe!” Kasai exclaimed, appearing beside me in a blink.
I jumped, having had completely forgotten about him. But he was still there, and unlike everyone else in the room, seemed to be thrilled with current events. Though, it was difficult to tell, considering his lack of human expression.
But his next words confirmed my analysis. “This is the most fun that I’ve had in years. It’s been a long time, my master. Permission to eat them?”
“No!” Damen snapped, remaining focused on the scene in front of us. “Not today, at least. As much as I hate them, they aren’t evil. Their thought processes are compromised.”
“Her?” Kasai asked, referring to me—I assumed.
“It shouldn’t have gotten this bad, but now that it has, we need to get Bianca out of here,” Damen responded. “Jamie will have a harder time keeping control if the others are completely lacking their resources.”
I wasn’t sure how we’d leave, considering we were backed into a corner. Damen’s tension was contagious, and I found myself terrified.
I was shaking, and Damen was suddenly facing me, his hands on my shoulders. He lowered his face toward mine, and all I could see was the burning regret in his eyes. “Baby, listen, there’s a lot more to the paranormal world than we’ve had time to go over. But it isn’t the time. Right now, you need to listen to me. I’ll distract them. When there’s an opening, you need to get out of here. Don’t stop, no matter what you see.”
Despite the haze in my mind, I still managed to give him an incredulous look. I wasn’t sure which surprised me more: the return of my upgraded nickname, or his odd request.
“What?” Where was I supposed to run to, exactly?
Damen groaned. “Please listen to me. Run—”
I was certain he had more to say, but Kasai made a sound of alarm—cutting his words off. An instant later, the both of us slammed into the wall. I hadn’t been expecting the move, so I had no time to prepare before I was crushed under Damen’s weight.
The impact knocked my breath away, leaving me with barely the ability to gasp in pain. Damen cursed, and Kasai vanished from view. Within a second, Damen was up again, hovering over me on all fours. He briefly met my eyes—concern heavy in his expression—before his attention turned back to the room.
Two rabid dogs were snarling at Kasai, who teasingly swerved around them. They seemed to be torn between chasing the demon—which, apparently, they could see—and trying to focus on the two of us.
Meanwhile the two officers who had been drawing on Seth were now watching us. Their faces masks of deranged happiness as they laughed eerily.
I could only stare.
I had never considered myself to be someone who jumped to conclusions. But only an idiot would believe that in the span of seconds, two men left the room and were replaced by animals. And I wasn’t an idiot.
