Chapter Nine
Nomi
Several days had passed since Ghost kissed me and every nerve in my body seemed to center around my mouth and tongue. I tried to ignore the disappointment weighing down my stomach when he kept his distance like I’d asked.
It was my own fault. I’d rejected him so strongly, it’d be weirder if he hadn’t. I was afraid, though. I didn’t want to fall for someone who was going to leave. I’d barely come to terms with the fact that the minute he did, I’d be dead where I stood.
Instead, I focused on Felix’s letters. I’d written nearly a hundred, all numbered, all ready to be read in order. The first one came with instructions, and it’d be left on top of the box when…
I dashed away another tear and scribbled another story about us onto the paper.
I reminded Felix how important it was to live, how I wanted him to be happy, and how much I wished I could be there to see those joyful years with him.
Every letter ended with me reminding Felix to be happy and live or he wouldn’t be honoring my memory.
Rubbing my eyes to keep the tears at bay, I gently tucked the newest letter into the box. It was already full, so I’d move onto the next. I also needed more supplies. I didn’t have enough for tomorrow’s letters, so I couldn’t put it off anymore.
I never once thought I’d get this much time, but I was grateful. I’d spent every day with Felix, bickering over treats, taunting him about his relationship with Maude, hugging him, and telling him how much I loved him even when it made him get that worried look on his face.
I checked my phone. I’d come home a bit early since I needed to go to the store, so I’d have time to get there before they closed. Grabbing my purse, I left the room and headed for the door. Suddenly, Ghost was there.
He canted his head, his way of questioning me, and I smiled. “I need to go to the store for some things. It won’t take too long.”
I moved around him and headed down. I didn’t have a car. I couldn’t afford one. But it wasn’t a long walk to the nearby superstore. I had to be grateful I lived somewhere I could walk everywhere.
I always kept a knife on me because walking at night as a woman meant I needed at least some protection. With Ghost, probably not necessary, but it made me feel better to have a hold on it.
We walked in silence.
He hadn’t mentioned the kiss, and I hadn’t brought it up because I’d already told him it wasn’t a good idea. But I thought about it every day and dreamed about it every night.
It’d been the best kiss of my damn life, and it’d come from a guy I couldn’t even be sure was into me, and more importantly, one who had a foot out the door. Oh, and he was a supernatural harbinger of the apocalypse. What craziness two weeks could change, right?
Unable to stand the silence anymore, I asked, “Did you find Ares yet?”
His face didn’t show his surprise, but I picked up on it. “I have not.”
“But you’re looking?” I pried shamelessly.
He nodded and strolled beside me, invisible to the world. Another pang of disappointment hit my gut, so I forced my eyes ahead.
“I hope you find her soon,” I said in all honesty—not because I wanted to die and leave Felix, but because I knew what it was like not to be around someone you cared about. He was probably worried out of his mind, and it hurt to think I’d been selfishly keeping him here.
I turned, stopping. When he noticed I had, he paused too. “Give me a day. I don’t have as many letters as I’d like, but I have enough. You’ve been…” My throat locked up. “You’ve been so kind to stay, but you need to be out there looking for your family, Ghost.”
I closed my eyes, fending off tears. “You told me no one can use my soul for the apocalypse but you, so the world is safe even if you leave me. Ares needs you, and there’s nothing else you can do for me here. So, give me one more day and then you can go find her.”
Those beautiful red eyes stared at me as if he couldn’t believe what I was saying. But as someone who’d found a person I cared so deeply about that I couldn’t imagine leaving him, I understood better than most what he was sacrificing to be here with me.
He might be quiet and a little weird—okay, a lot weird—but Ghost didn’t seem like a bad guy. If anything, I’d say he was nice. I wasn’t sure what brought him to me when he never intended to take my soul, but it didn’t seem like he planned to stay. I didn’t want him to be staying for me.
I started to walk again, but a hand stopped me. I startled when I felt him tug and drag me back.
“You want me to leave you to die, Nomi?” His gravelly voice washed over me like a caress.
“That’s…I…” I struggled to respond. And to think, I used to scoff at the women who got all tongue-tied with the hero.
He pulled me until I was pressed against him, and words were a little difficult to remember.
“Of course I don’t want to die,” I finally managed to mumble.
“Then why suggest I go?” he asked, head slanted, peering down into my eyes as if he’d find his answer in them. “Why give up now? Why not ask me to stay?”
It was the most he’d spoken in days, and I was having trouble formulating a response. Because the feeling of him, the closeness of his mouth, it woke up a hunger I’d buried nearly two weeks ago. Attraction I’d barely smothered. Fantasies I pretended I didn’t have.
“This is me fighting,” I growled, angry at his implication.
“I didn’t give up, Ghost. I accepted my situation and made the most of it.
I don’t have cool Horseman powers to fight off angels and demons.
Best I’ve got is a joke that might distract them from killing me for a second, but yeah, no epic martial arts skills or hand-to-hand combat training against supernatural foes. ”
It was a damn shame I preferred eating over exercise, but those moments shared with Felix in the kitchen were worth any fight I might’ve been able to put up when the time came.
I stared at his face in determination, noticing the subtle lines that appeared. “I know what my situation is, and I’m going to do what I can to fight back, but I don’t want to be the reason you sacrifice the people you care about to stay.”
“Nomi,” his voice was a whisper, and a shiver raced down my spine.
I was uncomfortable with how soft and beautiful he made my name sound when he said it. It always made me breathless and shaky. But right now, I needed to stay strong. I needed him to see I meant it.
“Ghost,” I answered, voice steady.
“Limos,” he corrected, the briefest of smiles lifting his mouth.
My jaw hung open in surprise. “Did you—”
His head snapped up and the violence in his stare cut me off. His eyes were beaming a terrifying red. His gaze whisked from left to right, and the cuties multiplied around us.
Suddenly, the area was covered in ice, everything except the place under my feet. Shadows I could’ve sworn were more human-shaped than shadow circled around us. Their red-orange eyes were the only thing that set them apart from the darkness around them.
My head turned just as something hit the ground. White-feathered wings spread and the woman they were attached to was suddenly joined by two others, each one with a long sword in their hand.
“He’s here,” one said, but none of them seemed to look directly at him. They searched the area around me as if he wasn’t visible to them.
“Get the girl before he has a chance to fight back,” the woman said to the others. “But don’t underestimate Limos.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered, staring at the glowing trio and the shadows coming closer. Were angels and demons working together? What sort of terrible apocalypse was this?
Ghost wrapped an arm around me, forcing my face into his chest and keeping my eyes from the scene unfolding around us. His voice was next to my ear. “Close your eyes and put your arms around me. And whatever happens, don’t pull away, little wisp.”
I wanted to ask why, but I didn’t. It felt important to listen to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and his hold on me tightened, his thundering heartbeat in my ear.
Sweltering heat like we’d stepped out into the Sahara Desert took hold of everything around us, closely followed by a terrible chill only found in the coldest places on Earth.
His arms kept me locked to his body, held close like he was worried I’d try to get away, and the cuties left wet paths over me as if to protect me from the extreme temperatures radiating like the sun around me. Then the fluctuating extremes faded.
I hadn’t realized I was shivering until he pulled away just enough to peer down at me. His hand was on my face, brushing away a tear I hadn’t been aware I cried, and the bright red in his eyes grounded me to the spot.
“They’re gone,” his voice rumbled.
“Who?” I asked, but I knew the answer.
“The angels and demons,” he confirmed.
I swallowed, suddenly faced with the reality of my situation. I’d believed him, of course. I’d met liars, but Ghost wasn’t one of them. Still, seeing them circle around us had terrified me. They’d appeared out of nowhere. Wings and shadows. Swords and red-orange eyes.
Ghost hadn’t been lying. They were after me.
When I noticed his arms were still around me, I took a step back and grieved as his touch fell away.
I closed my eyes and sucked in a soul-fortifying breath.
After I opened them again, Ghost was staring at me, his head tilted again as if to ask if I was alright.
I tried to find my smile, but it lacked the usual feeling.
He wanted an answer about what I’d said earlier. It might not show in his expression, but I felt it in my soul. Somehow, we were connected in ways I’d never been with anyone else.
“One day,” I told him, emphasizing it with a finger. After his eyes went to it, I turned and walked away again, legs a bit wobbly under me. “Then you can go.”