Page 17 of Falling for Famine
The sadness that tainted the words leaving his mouth, it was the exact same thing I felt when I thought about Felix beingin danger. He might be quiet and a little odd, but Ghost had someone he cared about that he wanted to make happy and protect. I’d been under the impression he preferred to be alone, so the fact that he was going to such lengths for her meant she was important to him.
I could understand that more than anyone.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
His eyes shot over to me, and the confusion he felt beamed inside them. “What can a mortal like you do?”
“Wow, ouch.” I scowled at him. “But we mere mortals aren’t totally helpless,” I mumbled under my breath.
I said it aloud while also acknowledging I’d basically admitted to myself I was fucked if he left. But I focused on something Felix always said.
“Sometimes when we’re close to something, it’s harder to see the entire picture. It takes an outside perspective to help us get a better understanding of it. I could be that for you. I might see something you don’t, and you’re doing me a favor while you’re here.” I ignored the burn in my throat. “You’re giving me extra time with Felix and even protecting him so I can have it.”
He was quiet for a moment, then he nodded. “Ares has often said something similar, that others help us see what we would otherwise miss.”
“Ares?” It was nice to hear his deep baritone more. He hadn’t talked much during the day, and I hadn’t realized I’d been desperate to hear him.
Ghost stared at the TV, lost in thought. “Yes. That’s her name. War.”
“That’s a pretty name.” I bit my lower lip and ignored how much I really enjoyed his body pressed against mine. “So, you’re protecting me while you try to find her?”
He didn’t talk for nearly a minute before he glanced at me again, his hand reaching up. I startled as he brushed a spotnear my mouth. It was an unexpected touch that went straight between my legs.
“To start the apocalypse, we only need one soul. There are four.” His eyes searched mine before slipping down my body. “Once I find her, I’ll help her protect the soul she cares so deeply about.”
I swallowed, reality setting in. He only intended to protect me as long as it took to find his family to help Ares with hers. I wasn’t sure why he needed to protect me at all. It seemed like there was more to it than that, but I imagined it had something to do with finding her.
And it was a blow.
I was no one to him.
But I couldn’t be angry about it. If I’d been made to choose between Ghost and Felix, I’d choose Felix every time. We were strangers. He didn’t owe me anything. But it hurt to think one day, probably soon, I’d be on my own and forced to face my mortality.
I closed my eyes, taking a few deep, powerful breaths. If not for my father dying, if not for Felix, I might’ve not survived my childhood. I’d gotten more than I ever thought I would. A loving home. A happy life for the last sixteen years. If it was my time to go, then that was all there was to it.
Getting up, I nodded. “Then you definitely need to find her. Whatever it takes. I’ll help you if I can.”
I’d make the most of my time with Felix while I had Ghost around. I couldn’t be selfish and ask him to keep protecting me when his family needed him. Supernatural or not, chosen family mattered.
His eyes lifted to mine, an emotion inside that I couldn’t depict. Or maybe I didn’t want to. It still hurt to think that my time was short. I wouldn’t have forever with Felix, and it was frustrating that he’d only just started to find happiness againafter Mary died. I didn’t want to think about what my death would do to him.
I left Ghost to play his games. I was afraid I’d cry if I stayed any longer, or worse, beg him to let me have more time with Felix to make sure it didn’t destroy him when I was gone. But I couldn’t ask that of a stranger I just met.
Instead, I’d make a plan. I’d write just for him. I’d make these moments count the most. Maybe if I wrote Felix a letter a day to read for a year, it’d help him grieve. Mary gave me a whole stationary set years ago that I never found use for. It seemed fitting that would be what I used to say goodbye.
I didn’t have any hope of fighting angels and demons, but I could make sure Felix got every bit of my love before I was gone. I had a bit in savings, so I could use it to send him and Maude on a romantic vacation when Ghost had to leave. Then I’d make sure to plant these letters somewhere to find and leave instructions.
I’dP.S. I Love Youmy Old Man.
Hopefully it’d be enough when the time came.
Chapter Eight
Limos
Icouldn’t stop my hand from brushing her soft, freckled face as she slept. The sadness that had stolen my attention earlierhad faded, but it was burned into my memory, and the pain in my chest hadn’t gone away.
Her smile had been so full of heartbreak, it’d silenced me and made it impossible to seek her out after she left.
