Page 41 of Falling for Famine
“I love you, Old Man,” I said with feeling, always making sure to tell him every time I called. “And I miss you so much.”
“I love you too, baby girl. And as much as I miss you, I’m glad Limos is treating you to a vacation away. So don’t waste it on me. Go have fun, you stubborn girl.”
I could hear the emotion in his voice he tried to hide. He was so good to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better man in my life after everything with my biological father. I didn’t doubt for a second that Felix was the reason I was alive and happy.
I hung up the phone, emotion biting at my eyes. Ghost turned me so that I was facing him and brought me gently into his chest, lending me his warmth and saying nothing. He never did. He always seemed to know when I needed words and when I didn’t.
I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes, holding onto him like he was my anchor and lifeline. A few tears burned down my face, the ache I’d ignored making itself known. It never got easier to say goodbye to Felix. He’d been my entire worlduntil I met Ghost. Being away from him felt like a piece of me was missing.
After nearly ten minutes of standing there just holding Ghost, I pulled away and smiled. “Thank you again. Really. I’m sure there are cooler ways to say it, but I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for me.”
His eyes sparked with something before he cradled my face and leaned in. Our mouths met. It wasn’t heated or eager. It was slow and gentle and entirely too brief.
“We’ll need to travel to meet the other Horsemen.”
He was worried about my stomach. I didn’t have the greatest experience with instant travel the way he did it. I’d tried to hide it, but apparently, I’d done a piss poor job of it.
“It’s all gravy, Ghost. I’m ready.” I brushed it off with a sly grin.
I was more nervous about meeting the other Horsemen. Ghost hadn’t gone into much detail, but by the sounds of it, none of them wanted the apocalypse. He didn’t explain why he was suddenly going to see them, only that it’d help protect me.
I sensed something hidden in what he said. Ghost was better than most at masking his emotions, but I’d picked up on something bothering him since our last encounter with the angels and demons. But if he was keeping it from me, there had to be a reason.
I trusted him.
I’d wait until he felt comfortable telling me.
“Let’s go,” I told him, keeping tight hold of his body the way he instructed every time. Then the world shifted hard enough to force my eyes closed.
Chapter Seventeen
Nomi
I’d been ready to meet the Horsemen, however they did or didn’t look, but the two women suddenly sandwiching me between their arms like an old friend took me off guard. They’drushed me the moment we appeared and Ghost had gotten out of the way.
My tall Horseman was next to an equally tall man with dark, swept back hair and pale eyes. His presence was unnerving, though I couldn’t explain why.
The dark-haired stranger was propped up against the wall in a leather jacket with an assortment of metal skull rings and a t-shirt with the same skull emblem as the one on his index finger. His arms were crossed and he’d fixed his possessive gaze on the beautiful redhead next to me.
The other guy had bright red hair which fell to one side but was shaved on both sides of his head. His unnaturally colored eyes reminded me of sunflowers, bright and open. He was covered in tattoos and piercings, but his lips were tilted in a sly grin.
He gave all the impression of that sexy, naughty type. Singer of the band front man vibes—the gorgeous playboy who’d break your heart as soon as he was done with you. But his eyes stayed trained to the tiny blonde girl on my other side as if nothing and no one existed outside of her.
Together, the three of them were a damn sight. Easily the most handsome men I’d ever seen in my life. All impossibly tall, all giving off alpha energy, and all unnervingly quiet as I was swarmed by the two women they kept a close eye on.
“I think we’re scaring her, Ems,” the redhead said, pulling away to offer me an apologetic smile. She was a few inches shy of me, gorgeously curvy, and absolutely killer in the black dress she wore. “Sorry, girl. We’re just excited to meet you.”
“Me?” I asked, confused. “Why?”
“Because you’re part of the club now,” the blonde one said before the yellow-eyed guy cleared his throat and shook his head. She stopped, glared, and flipped her middle finger at him.“I know, asshole. Just keep quietly standing there and do us all a damn favor.”
Despite her poisoned words, I got the sense they were together-together. The sexual tension rolling off them when they shared a glance was hard to miss even if I hadn’t been good at reading faces and body language.
It did make me wonder if she was the soul he was meant to collect. Ghost mentioned they each had one. I peered at the blonde, then the redhead, and did the math.
“Are you the other human souls they need to take for the end of the world?” I asked the redhead.
She laughed and patted my shoulder. “Exactly right. Glad you know at least that much. That’ll make this easier.”
