Ghost Hunted (Ghost Duet #2)

Prologue

Logan

“She’s dead.”

“No. Impossible. That’s not true. She can’t be.”

“I’m sorry, Logan. I’m so sorry. It’s just as hard for me, you know. Poor Lia. Poor little baby.”

He lets out a shuddering sigh, then sags into a chair, resting his head in his hands.

Liar. It can’t be just as hard for him. He’s a dirty, filthy liar.

But that’s not fair. He’s her father, after all. He might have been ashamed of what happened to her in high school, he might have forced her into a marriage with the don’s son, but still, he loved her, didn’t he? That’s what fathers do. They love their children.

So maybe he is suffering. But he’s not suffering as much as I am. He can’t be. No one can possibly be suffering as much as me.

I squeeze my eyes shut, pressing my fist to my forehead hard enough to leave an imprint on my skin. It’s just not possible.

I never for one second thought the night would finish in any other way than with me lying dead on the ground. I was supposed to die. And Lia was supposed to live.

It’s all wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

“What about…” I swallow painfully. “What about Aurora?”

He looks up at me, seeming to hesitate.

“Aurora. She’s still alive, isn’t she? She must be.”

The only other reason I have for living. The child whose existence I once despised. She’s come to mean as much to me as Lia does.

“Logan… she’s still breathing.”

My heart clings to his words. My one little morsel of hope in the bleakness of my new world.

“I need to see them both. Lia… Aurora…” I struggle into a sitting position.

“Hold on.” He puts an arm on my shoulder. “Take it easy. You’re not out of the woods yet yourself. You’re going to pass out if you get up. You haven’t been up in a week. Just take it easy, man.”

“A... a week?” I stare at him in utter bewilderment.

“Yes, you’ve been out cold. A bad concussion or something. All three of you—dead to the world. Lia’s already buried, Logan. We didn’t have a choice. The funeral was yesterday.”

Each word rings out in my ears like a shot. The mind fog is slowly clearing, replaced by a cold, sterile sense of loss. My skin feels clammy, and I’m exhausted.

“Lia… buried.”

“She has a tombstone.” His voice shakes, and I stare at him, suspicion momentarily taking the place of the exhaustion. His voice isn’t shaking right. The way he’s talking, the way his voice is thick and trembling… it all feels off.

I’m insane, I must be. I’m so incapable of accepting what he’s telling me that my mind is jumping through hoops, hunting for anything that could prove to me that he’s a liar.

Dead. Buried. It just can’t be.

I would know, wouldn’t I? I’d feel it. My body would ache. My skin would burn. There’s no way I could lose the love of my life and just… not realize it, is there?

I can only shake my head helplessly as he continues.

“I wish we could have waited for you. But we didn’t know when you’d wake up, or even if you’d wake up, and I needed closure. We buried her, Logan. I buried my little girl.”

He sits down on the bed beside me, letting his hand fall on my arm. I whip it back like I’ve been shocked.

“I’m sorry, Logan. But the better news,” he adds in a somewhat more cheerful voice, “is that your friends are going to be alright. Damien and Everest. They were all knocked out cold from the explosion, but they’re going to be okay.

I think Damien’s already awake, and Everest is still under, but the doctors say he’ll be fine. No lasting brain damage.”

I shake my head again. “No. Everest didn’t lose consciousness. He’s the one who said…”

They’re dead. They’re all dead!

I close my eyes as the painful memories crowd back in.

“Oh.” He pauses. “Well, he must have lost consciousness after. Maybe it was the adrenaline that… well, anyway, you’ve all been unconscious. But you’ll make it. Thankfully.”

Thankfully. The word falls like lead in my stomach. She didn’t make it. I don’t think I’ll ever be thankful again.

“And… Aurora.” I wince, still trying to get into a sitting position. I feel so helpless. So horribly helpless. “Where is she?”

“Back with family. The family.”

I groan loudly. “No… no. She’s mine. I need to…”

“What do you mean, she’s yours?” Emilio Cabello narrows his eyes at me. “She doesn’t have an ounce of blood in her that belongs to you. She’s the daughter of Carmelo Moretti. It’s only right that she…”

“No,” I insist, this time managing to sit up despite feeling lightheaded.

Like I’ve been drugged—which I guess I have been, so they could fix my body.

“No. Lia was raped. Aurora does not belong to the family whose son forced himself on her mother. Aurora is mine. She’s all I have. You have to help me. Please.”

I sound far too much like I’m begging, like I’m back in high school, worshipping at my Lia’s feet. Only now, it’s not her but her father who can save me. Who can make things, if not right, then… better.

But he shakes his head. “They’re still the closest thing she has to family. She’s in the hospital, recovering. They’ll be here in an hour. There’s nothing you can do about it. I’m sorry.”

His apology sounds even more fake than before. He turns on his heel and leaves the room.

I force my dizziness aside and stand up with difficulty.

I’m all tangled up in wires, but I unplug them, one by one, and it makes the dizziness worse.

But I don’t care. I stumble toward the door.

Somehow, I manage to make it, grabbing onto the handle and whipping the door open.

I reach the hallway, gasping from the way the stale air of the hospital seems to be pushing down on my chest.

Aurora. Aurora. Aurora.

I can’t lose her. Not on top of Lia. I just can’t let the family take her. I’ll never allow her to grow up in their midst. Anything would be better than that.

“Logan.”

“Fuck!”

I stagger back, nearly falling from the surprise of crashing into Damien. He’s just turned a corner and was making a beeline for my room, looking just as pale as I feel.

“Logan, are you okay?”

“Doesn’t matter if I am,” I groan. “I’d rather be dead. My life is over.”

For once, he doesn’t fall back into his usual sarcasm. He just looks at me seriously. “The Morettis will be here in twenty minutes…”

“Twenty minutes!” I’m beside myself with panic. “Cabello said an hour…”

“Cabello is a real bastard. I’m going to kill him.”

“Damien, stop. Stop with the jokes. I have to get to her… To Aurora…”

He puts an arm on my forearm. “I know, Logan. We have exactly nineteen minutes to make things right. It’s going to be okay. Vale and Igor are coming. Vale has an automatic, and Igor a machete.”

“The fuck… a machete…” I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to wrap my head around those words. “What’s he going to do with a machete?”

“What do you think? Igor’s not a fan of guns. He prefers to gut people. Watch the blade sink into the bone, you know.”

“Damien.” I push him off me. “Damien, I don’t fucking care. You’re talking to me about machetes, but the Morettis will be here in nineteen minutes—”

“Eighteen minutes now. And Coltello is also on his way.”

“What the…”

“You know that gun you fired into him? Blanks. The fucker knew you were going to shoot him. He emptied out your gun while you were skipping along in the forest.”

“Damien!” I nearly sink to my knees, overcome by anguish and panic. “I need to get to Aurora. Just shut the fuck up.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” He props me up, staring into my eyes. “There’s going to be bloodshed. A full-out war. And they’ve drugged us. Emilio Cabello has been fucking drugging us. Keeping us unconscious.”

“What? Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know. Probably hoping we’d be out cold when the Morettis and Coltello came to finish their work. Fucking cowards. They’re coming for Aurora, Logan.”

“Oh, fuck…”

“And they’re coming to kill us too. You know the probability of the three of us drugged-up idiots surviving the next thirty minutes? It should be zero.”

I shake my head helplessly. I don’t care about dying, but if I’m dead, who will protect Aurora? She’s suddenly become my sole reason for living. My only glimmer of light in the darkness I’ve been plunged in.

“But it’s ten percent,” continues Damien, “because it’s us they’re fighting against, and we’re fucking rabid dogs, aren’t we, man? But that still gives them 90% odds. We’re fucked, Logan. But we’re not gonna go down without a fight.”

“Damien, I’ve got to get to Aurora. I’ve got to save her.”

His arms reach around me, locking me to him. I can’t remember the last time I hugged him. But fuck, it feels good. Grounding. The panic, the pain, ebb just a bit, and I can think.

“You’re gonna need to give her up, man.”

“No! Never, Damien. I’ll never let them take her.”

“I know.” He squeezes my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to them, Logan. You’re gonna need to give her up to someone who’s not about to die in a gang war. She deserves a happy life. Hand her to someone who can look after her. Who can love her. Who can bring her up normally. That’s what Lia would want.”

I turn away, a lump in my throat. I can’t even wrap my head around the thought of giving Aurora up, but I know it’s the only thing that makes sense. I’m about to die, and even if by some miracle I survive, I’ll never be safe. And Aurora can never be safe with me.

A ninety percent chance of dying… how can I possibly take that gamble and keep her with me?

Still, it’s the hardest thing in the world to whisper, “Okay.”

“Okay?” He looks at me, his eyes studying me carefully. “You’re gonna do it?”

I nod. “Yes. I’m going to… I’m going to find a loving family for her. She deserves it. It’s what Lia would want.”

Every word that leaves my mouth kills me.

“Okay, Logan. It’s the right decision.” Damien looks down at his watch. “You have… fifteen minutes.”