Page 56 of Haunted Nightmares
“You find this funny?” Orion growls as he crosses his arms against his chest. “This enormous responsibility, all the bullshit you told us as well as whatever else you haven’t. It’s all funny to you?”
I shake my head as I snort into the back of my hand. “No, not really.”
“Then why the hell are you laughing?”
“Because technically I didn’t survive Atticus and that asshole would be so angry if he knew I was standing here right now.”
My giggles grow by the second and before I realize it, Declan has joined me, his deep and brassy chuckle making me laugh even harder but as soon as Lydia and Aries get on board, everything comes to a screeching halt.
“The king is gone,” Lorna blurts as she rushes out of her tent. “I turned away from him briefly, long enough to set something on the table and by the time I was done and facing him, he was gone.”
Well, shit.
14
Beware, the Contrarian
ZEPHYR
Standing on the sidewalk, I take a deep breath while I look up, my eyes moving slowly over the second house I’ve ever lived in, and the terrible state it’s currently in.
Missing pieces of the fence and gate.
Various plants have overgrown to the point of turning the front yard into a jungle. The balcony on our bedroom is completely engulfed in ivy, spiraling the railing before climbing up to hide the doors and the majority of the outer wall.
The windows are all boarded up, the doors seemingly nailed shut except for the ornate one on the front of the house. It’s in rough shape, don’t get me wrong, but it’s still functional and looks mostly like it did when I showed up here a few nights ago. The only difference is the way it’s sitting slightly ajar right now, an awful smell slipping through the crack and acting as a stronger deterrent than the crosshatch boards and crumbling decay.
When Wraith boarded up Ian’s house there was almost a sense of relief, a finality to that chapter of my life that even hisdeath didn’t provide. It was a more powerful act of closure than I thought it would be and I think that’s why I couldn’t let my mate burn it down or demolish it.
I needed the reminder.
The reminder of where I came from, of my parents and the happiness we once had. I needed to see that house and know that I survived it, that Ian tried and failed to break me no matter what I thought or felt at the time. And I needed to see it and know that even while it was still standing, that wasn’t my life anymore and it never would be again.
It’s almost funny, to be standing outside this place now thinking oddly similar things while taking in the oddly similar state to that rundown shack across the city.
It’s so much the same.
This is the second house I’ve lived in, the only other one, and both have turned into empty shells full of ghosts and memories.
This is different, though.
It’s different because this place was actually my home.
These brick walls protected a love that almost never was, and they watched as it grew into something so consuming that it really did become the death of us.
Ghosts, memories, death and destruction. This place holds as much good as it does bad, and right now it’s turned into a sick and dangerous hideout for the vampire king who never used to hide from anyone or anything. I don’t think the word was ever in his vocabulary. This house is hurting Wraith beyond what we shared here and the longer he uses it to shut the world out, the worse things will get.
For everyone.
Steeling myself, I try not to wring my hands as I cautiously head to the front steps, taking each one with more hesitation than I thought I’d have.
It isn’t lost on me that we mated under similar circumstances.
Wraith was angry at himself, pissed off really and trying to push me away. He disappeared and came here to hide, thinking his words and actions ended us before we began. And I was just as stubborn and angry as I am now, but kicking in the door and losing my shit isn’t going to work this time.
My dark king has lost his goddamn mind and for the first time since I met him, I’m not entirely sure what he’s going to do because of it.
“Close that.”
