Page 15 of Haunted Nightmares
It takes too much energy to be anything other than angry and miserable, and I can’t spare an ounce over my cute little plan. “Now then. Since Deveroux wants to meet, I think…”
“Yes. Meet with him. Scare him, make him fear us. Feed on his fear, feed on him.”
Shaking my head, I clear my throat and try again. “I think we should…”
“Kill him. Drain him. Let him make us strong.”
“Should…”
“Wraith?” Declan says as he carefully crouches beside me. “What?—”
“I think we should…” My eyes start to go fuzzy around the edges, the world going a shade darker. I can feel my stomach twist, feel the hunger slither through my veins like poison. Ishake my head again, trying to clear it before I start to slip too far. “We…”
“We should start right now. Start with these five. There is no fear but the blood will be good, make us strong. We’re so hungry. So hungry, my lord. Feed us. Let us?—”
“No,” I groan as I pinch my eyes shut tight. “No this is?—”
“Wraith.” A strong hand lands on my shoulder, giving it a solid squeeze but instead of grounding me, I hear the pulse thrumming steadily through it louder than before.
My fangs elongate and I start to growl, my fist closing around the wrist next to my head and when I open my eyes my vision is black as my rotting heart, five different silhouettes highlighted by their body temperature the only things registering within my sight.
Zenlothanai chants in my head, egging me on, telling me to feed, that doing so will make the hunger go away. Over and over again they whisper their words, hissing and cackling in my brain, their voices bouncing off the inside of my skull. And I start to squeeze the joint in my hand, tightening my hold until the thick, strong bones begin to bend, obeying them no matter how much I hate it and when I’m seconds from tearing into the flesh of my oldest friend, a demanding squawk breaks the spell.
Vision still black, my head swings toward the doorway of the laundry room to see a vibrant red outline in the midst of the gray and almost immediately, everything else fades.
That glowing red shape bleeds into the darkness, pushes it to the edge of my being and brings with it a strange level of warmth I haven’t felt in ages. A warmth I never thought I’d feel again and now only comes in the form of a blasted creature I can’t get a fucking handle on.
I drop Declan’s wrist and quickly get to my feet, straightening my spine and trying to adjust the too-small sweat pants I’m wearing the best I can. I even attempt to fix my hair as I takea step toward the raven perched on the sconce across the hall, trying like hell to look presentable for a bloody bird and not giving a shite who’s here to witness it.
“You’re back,” I say as I clear my throat and smooth a hand over my naked chest. “I didn’t think you’d return so soon.”
Extending my arm, I close the gap between us and hold my breath as the bird watches me with empty eyes. It squawks again before dipping its head to peck at me and an emotion I can’t quite place swells within me as the rather large omen of death steps up onto my hand and side steps its way up my arm until it’s sitting on my shoulder.
“It’s good you came when you did,” I whisper as I mindlessly walk down the hall toward the dining room. “It seems I was about to do something even I couldn’t justify thanks to the ones living up top.” My feathered companion turns its head to look behind us as many footsteps follow our path. “They’re ok, you don’t have to worry about them.”
“Yeah right,” Orion scoffs. “Worry aboutus?You’re the crazed shut-in living with corpses and talking to yourself.”
“Don’t forget trying to eat his best friend,” Edith adds as Aries asks, “Why does he have a fuckingbird?”
“I miss the good old days,” Declan huffs. “The ones where the only thoughts we had to worry about him having were his own, and he at least told you before he was going to take a bite out of you.”
I smirk as the raven begins preening my hair.
This is going to be such an interesting chapter in my life, the one just before it ends.
5
Distastefully Dressed
“Ok. What’s with the raven?”
Smirking, I open the top two buttons of my shirt and adjust the collar before smoothing out my suit coat. “It’sa raven.”
“That’s not what I’m asking.” Declan leans against the doorway of his spare bedroom—inhishome, which I’ve never set foot in prior to now—and sighs as he folds his arms against his chest. “Where did it come from? Andwhydo you have it?”
“I imagine it comes from where most ravens do. An?—”
“If you say egg, so help me I will smack you around again.”
