Page 6 of Haunted Nightmares
And I will use those festering wounds to inflict pain and bring death to all who remain, to everyone responsible and still breathing.
Finally, my mate will be honored the way she should have been all along.
Everyone will pay, and the biggest debt owed belongs to my very ownmother.
2
Oh, the Insanity
“That smell is putrid.”
I nearly grin at Declan’s disgusted tone as the four of us walk up the path to my front door, the rather pungent and foul odor greeting us well before we began doing so.
He is shielding his thoughts from me the best he can, my former right hand putting his training to the test in hopes of sparing me his pity or sadness but I don’t need access to know how he’s feeling. Declan and I have spent too many years together and not enough months apart for me to have lost my ability to read him like a book, and the disgust he is exhibiting is not because of the stench.
Well, perhaps it is alittlefrom the stench, but not entirely.
We’ve waded through blood and bones, tortured and killed more living creatures than I can count, and we’ve stored and disposed of enough bodies for the potential bothersome effect of the smell not to phase either of us anymore.
No, his disdain for the scent permeating from my house comes from knowing what lies in wait behind the ornate front door, and the reason it is so strong we can pick it up from the street is only adding to it, I’m sure.
“Why are you missing pieces of your fence and gate?” Declan asks as I take the steps nonchalantly.
“Despite popular belief, I’ve been a busy little bee.” I look back at them and flash a hollow grin. “Zenlothanai expects nothing less.”
“Right…” Orion says slowly as he side-eyes his mate, Aries shooting him thedude is off his rockerlook before clearing his throat and looking past me to the door. “Is…Zenlothanai… inside the house?”
“No,” I huff as I turn away from them, my eyes catching on the enormous stack of envelopes nailed to the doorframe. “Don’t be daft. There’s no one inside the house if I’m out here.”
Ripping the documents I refuse to acknowledge from the wood, I reach out and open the door, completely disregarding the way the scent of death crashes over us as I walk inside.
Only to have my hackles raise immediately.
Someone is here.
Someone is inside my house.
Multiple someones by the sound of it and batshit crazy or not, I don’t like unwelcome visitors.
Ignoring the shocked silence of the males behind me, I drop the envelopes on the ground and immediately head for the stairs.
I move quickly and quietly, crouching down as I clear the landing, scanning the second floor for any sign of the intruders.
All the doors are still closed, what was once my bedroom sealed and boarded shut but as I creep down the hall toward the end, a thump followed by a gasp and quiet laughter comes from the guest room on the right.
Teenagers.
Barely post pubescent idiots, two of them, are behind the cracked door and despite this not being the first timeI’ve discovered such a thing upon my return, it angers me nonetheless.
Which is why I allow the shadows to take me, shrouding me as they roll from my body, consuming me until I’m but an apparition like the ones these two wish to find.
Even in my madness, I’ve heard the rumors.
My house ishaunted,full ofghosts and demons, amonsterlurking amongst them who kills at will and while they’ve stemmed from ridiculous lore and the overly spiritual and superstitious population of New Orleans, the rumors are not entirely wrong.
And I’m just enough of an arse that I play into it when the mood hits.
Like now.
