Page 49 of Haunted Nightmares
My mate accentuates his last word with a flex of his hand and on the extension, two razor sharp claws extend from his index and middle fingers.
Holy shit.“I didn’t know you could do that,” I blurt as my eyes widen to saucers before narrowing on his face. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you had retractable claws like a cat?”
“Lycan,” Wraith corrects with a glare. “And had you and your boy toy been less oblivious the other night you would have seen my full transformation as well as what… oh bloody fucking hell I have no need to explain anything to a goddamn witch!” He darts forward and holds his claws to my throat. “One strike left, so make it good.”
The tips press into my skin slowly as more of the inky flames start to wrap around my body, pushing the air out of my lungs on a rough exhale.
My mind goes blank as Wraith leans in, his stare locked with mine as he pushes his claws deeper into my flesh. “Time is almost up. Tick tock, soul eater.”
“Wraith, honey, you’re hurting me,” I cry out as they sink into my neck mere inches from my jugular, which is when I know for sure I screwed up.
“Strike three!” He roars as he yanks his hand free before motioning both out toward the walls and up toward the ceiling.
My limbs shoot out toward the four corners of the tent, my arms stretched above my head and in the shape of a Y, my legs the same as my toes point at the dirt floor. His smoky shadows billow around me, pulling so hard my joints pop and threaten to dislocate but what really sends me reeling is what happens next.
The table Ana had been sitting on flips vertically, the contents flying as it whips through the air and slams into my back, my head connecting with the heavy wood so hard I see white spots in my vision. The edges of the table line up with my elbows and ankles and with a quick flick of his wrist, Wraith is pulling it forward against them while my body stays put, forcing the bones to bend in ways they weren’t meant to.
It all happens so fast, so much quicker than I can really comprehend and when I’m sure he’s going to start breaking bones, my mate throws fuel into his fire.
The table crashes back to the ground on its legs, my position still painfully the same but Wraith pounces on me when it lands, his big body crushing mine, and his hands wrapped firmly around my throat.
“That was a low blow, witch. Calling me that while using my mate as your vessel of destruction.” My eyes flutter as he presses on my windpipe, very little air making its way into my lungs.“Her face, her voice, her name for me. I will enjoy killing you more than I originally thought, and watching the life leave your fake amber eyes will be the highlight of my fucking day.”
Snapping open wide, my eyes land on his face as panic sets in, a single black tear rolling down his cheek, and that is the exact moment I know what to do.
“Ian!” I gasp on what could be my last breath. “Ian! Death!”
Wraith immediately lets go of my throat but doesn’t get off me or loosen his shadows. “What about Ian’s death?”
I cough a few times then choke out, “I killed him. Burned him.”
“That became general knowledge during that corrupted trial.”
“I burned him to a crisp after he stabbed me.”
“Same can be said for that,” Wraith sighs like he’s bored. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
I swallow hard and try to nod. “It was the sun. I’ve always loved the sun because I’ve had its power inside me, I just didn’t know. My exposure to you was limited at that point but it was enough that when Ian stabbed me I reached out and grabbed his throat then pumped him full of its power, and he basically combusted. Same when I died, that’s why there wasn’t anything left but your ring. All of that has been living inside of me since I was a little girl and you were the one to wake it up.”
“Bollocks,” Wraith says skeptically. “You could have found out any of that just by asking around town. That scumbag human, what he did to her, Zephyr’s… her death. All of it could be found out then twisted to fabricate some sort of lie here and now.”
Gods, my beautiful mate is so broken but I can see him cracking. I just need something else from that night… “I saw you.” He scowls down at me but I shake my head. “When I woke up at your house and Orion was there, I touched him becausehe wouldn’t tell me what happened and I saw you. I knew how much you loved me by the way you were affected when you found me in the cellar.”
“Stop it.”
“You were panicked, frantic. You held me.”
“Stop.”
Wraith starts breathing heavily and shaking his head but I keep going. “I saw you pull the sword out, give me your blood. I didn’t see it then, not clearly but after I died the fog lifted. I felt your love when I looked through Orion’s eyes but I saw it play out when I died?—“
“Shut up!” My mate screams as he buries his fingers in his hair, tugging it by the roots. “Shut up, you evil witch!”
His shadows loosen before they quickly start rolling back into his body, Wraith shouting as he cradles his head.
“I saw everything, honey. Every second we spent together, only I was on the outside looking in and it’s been like that since I died. I missed you so much I couldn’t stay away anymore.”
“Stop it,” Wraith whispers, his voice full of desperation as it cracks. “Please, I’m begging you. You’ve won, I can’t kill you and the madness is… it’s growing with each word you speak.”
