Page 76 of Haunted Nightmares
WRAITH
Scrubbing a hand over my hair, I slowly turn in a circle, taking in the peeling wallpaper, chipping paint, and windows so dirty you’d need a knife to clean them off.
“I was thinking this could be our room.”
I nod absently as I look up at the ceiling. There aren’t any obvious cracks, which is good. No water damage. The light fixtures all appear to be original and while they’re rather lovely in aretrosort of way, that means the electrical could be as well.
“We’ll need someone to come out and have a look at the wiring,” I say as I shift focus to the windows again. “Probably the plumbing. The foundation is solid, structure seems to be secure, but I’d also like to see about waterproofing the outside before the security system goes in.”
“You hate it.”
Frowning, I stop my inspection and give Zephyr my full attention. “I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to.” She fluffs the new pillows one by one, organizing them neatly before she begins pulling the sheet intoplace. “Your tone is less than thrilled; your body language is tense. Not to mention I could hear your checklist growing with each room you walked through. This house made sense for multiple reasons but if you don’t like it?— “
“Doyoulike it?”
My mate looks up at me, her amber eyes shimmering in the firelight. “Yes.”
“Then so do I.” She begins to protest but I lift my hand. “You forget, my love, I have lived in the same house for ages, it’s the one I had built after the war.House huntinghas never been high on my radar and in case you’ve forgotten, despite my devastating good looks and godlike body, I’m a rather old bastard so moments of beingcrotchetyare well within my rights.”
I smile as she giggles but I don’t miss the way her body relaxes the slightest bit.
When planning for the Purist meeting nearly a week ago now, I was adamant on making sure Zephyr would remain a secret and be safely tucked away somewhere, far enough no one would even catch a hint of her scent. Keeping her hidden, making sure no one knows she has returned has been incredibly important to me and not just because her safety outranks everything else going on.
If Deveroux and Drusilla, any of my enemies still believe me to be the unstable, grieving male on a one-way track to imminent death, that works in our favor. People get sloppy when they think they have the upper hand—I, unfortunately, know—and assuming I am insane and weak could make for quite the mess.
While her safety is by far the most important thing to me moving forward, I have an inkling that it’s going to be much harder to convince my precious mate to stay out of things this time around, even if she’s allowing me to fuss over her in my way before that comes to fruition.
So, we searched the property surrounding the bayou, the swamp, and the marshland until we came across an abandoned double gallery home nestled in the middle ofBFE,according to Orion. He and Zephyr shared a laugh over that, and I still have no idea why but the seclusion the house provided was very ideal.
I’m not even entirely sure how we found it, the house was so well hidden and looked to be abandoned for at least sixty or more years but I was rather drawn to the area and when we came upon the gate out front, it was almost as if… I don’t know. A sense of deja vu, perhaps? Possibly knowing that this place is heavy withmyjakand since I’ve actually been using mine for the first time in a few centuries I’m more in tune? The only thing in my entire life that I’ve been drawn to in any way at all wasn’t actually athingbecause it was Zephyr, and outside of her my guts aren’t in tune with shite.
When my gentle breeze saw it, I knew she felt the same pull I did. The only difference is, I brushed it off easily and ignored anything that lingered while I know Zephyr has been wandering around this house and property trying to amplify her intuition.
“You can tell me if you don’t like the house. I’m not going to be mad if you decide you’d rather not live in something that looks like it’s out of a horror movie.”
“A horror movie, you say?” Pushing my lycan claws through my fingers, I crook the index at her. “The Wolfman?” I hook them over the belt of her robe, snapping my teeth as I tug her to me.
Zephyr shakes her head as she slides her hands up my chest until she’s wrapping her arms around my neck.
“I suppose, ironically, we could be compared to the Frankenstein monster and his bride. Brought back from the dead, hunted by those who would see them burn.”
“Who would be the mad doctor?”
Slipping my claw-tipped fingers into the satin covering her silky skin, I palm her arse while I think. “Possibly Orion. He and Aries found me then forced me to do the right thing when I was content to rot.” I use my free hand to push her robe over her shoulders, my eyes tracking the way my gentle breeze allows the material to slide down to the floor. “No, I think Lorna. That female has mad doctor written all over her, especially after the shite she had me hooked up to and lathered in before you returned to me.”
“I could see that,” Zephyr says breathily as I run the razor tips up her spine. “But I wasn’t exactly thinking of those horror movies.”
Stopping short of what is going to be foreplay, I scowl and look my gentle breeze dead in the eye as I grunt, “If you say Dracula I’m going to be pissed.”
Zephyr blinks at me once before her face breaks out into the most beautiful smile, one accompanied by her melodic laugh I love so much. Hugging my neck tighter, she pushes up on her toes, kissing me with a grin when my other hand lands on her other arsecheek. “I was thinking something more along the lines of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The house fits the part.”
“I’ve never seen it but sincemassacreis in the title, I’ll add that to my list of films to watch after I murder my mother.”
I lean in to kiss her again but stop when I feel the immediate change in my mate. A change that isn’t standoffish per se, not putting up a wall or anything like that to keep me out but there is a block of some sort.
“Are you really ok with all of this?”
