30. Orion
30
ORION
“A GHOST RETURNS”
My chest hums with satisfaction as I close the bedroom door behind me, a sick little smile carved on my face at the memory of Seraphina’s expression.
Of course, all that joy dies at the sight of a grumpy Ghost creasing the cushions of my couch. He’s spread out like he owns the damn place, dirty boots on the coffee table and a lit cigarette between his fingers.
My cigarette.
“You know, just once, it would be nice if you knocked.”
Ghost takes a long drag, a smirk tipping the edge of his mouth. “I did knock.”
“Oh.” I rub the back of my neck, looking anywhere but at the man who raised me. If he looks me in the eye, he’ll know for sure I’m hiding something. “Well, it’s nice of you to stop by, I guess. You didn’t happen to bring your hellion with, did you?” I look around hopefully for the spunky eight-year-old.
Ghost chuckles. “She’s at school, Orion—but it’s endearing that you miss her.”
I cross my arms. “I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.” Ghost clears his throat, every ounce of mirth racing from his face. “As much as I’d like to talk about Sloane, there’s a reason I came today…”
I raise my brow when he doesn’t continue. “Well? Spit it out. Unless you’ve already forgotten?—”
“If you tell one more ageist joke, I will string you up by your ankles and carve the flesh from your bones.”
I search his face but can find no trace of a joke. “I’m listening…”
Ghost sighs, pulling his feet from the coffee table and standing from the couch. “I wanted to talk to you about Seraphina. There’s been some disturbing developments that I wanted to make you aware o?—”
Thump!
Ghost’s eyes go wide. “What the fuck was that?”
I shrug, fighting to keep my face neutral. “I didn’t hear anything. Maybe it’s time to get those hearing aids check?—”
Thump! Thump!
Ghost raises a brow, his violet eyes piercing. “Really? You’re going to stand there and tell me you don’t hear that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I shrug, looking anywhere but my bedroom door. “Have you considered early onset Alzheimer’s?”
THUMPTHUMPTHUMP!
Ghost looks toward the bedroom door. At me. At the door.
He lunges for it.
I somehow manage to throw my body in front of his, and we both fall to a heap on the floor. Ghost lets out an irritated growl, using all his strength to shove me off before reaching for the handle once more. His fingertips are inches from the brass handle when I jump on his back, wrapping my arms and legs around him like a deranged koala.
“Let me in,” Ghost chokes, his face reddening from my grip around his neck. His gloved hands claw at my forearms, and when that doesn’t work, he sends his elbow back into the side of my ribs.
A distinct crack fills the air, but I don’t let go—not even when the pain steals my air.
“You don’t want to go in there.” I blink away the dots swarming my vision. “There’s nothing in there for you.”
“Orion…”
“What?” I gasp. “Don’t you trust me?”
“No.”
Ghost twists so his back is against the wall, and using his momentum, he slams me against the surface to try to dislodge me.
“Strong for…an old geezer… aren’t you?” I choke out between each body slam. Ghost lets out a furious growl, ripping his dagger from its sheath before shoving it—rather unceremoniously—into my thigh.
Ah. That’ll do it.
Searing pain branches out to all my nerve endings, and my reflexes take over, forcing me to loosen my death grip on Ghost. And that’s all he needs.
With one last, final shake, Ghost dislodges me. My body thumps to the floor, and I don’t have time to blink before Ghost is through the bedroom door.
I fight the pain in my leg as I straighten, a furious snarl leaving my mouth as I limp after him. By the time I get there, Ghost is staring wide-eyed at a bound and naked Seraphina. He turns his head to the side, blindly grabbing a sheet from the floor and tossing it over her.
Face red as a tomato, Seraphina sputters at the sight of Ghost. “Sir, you have to help me. That maniac—he took me and he?—”
“I don’t appreciate being called a maniac,” I interrupt, a pout forming.
“I’m not talking to you .” She bares her teeth at me, fighting to calm her expression before looking back at Ghost. Something like recognition crosses her face as she takes him in, but it’s gone in the next moment. “Please, please help me.”
Ghost freezes, looking between the golden-eyed girl and me several times before shaking his head. “I can’t.”
“What the fuck? Why not?”
Ghost regards her. “I know what you are, girl. I know what you stand for and who is looking for you.”
Seraphina’s mouth parts in shock, but before she has a chance to ask, Ghost turns to me, fire in his violet eyes. “Did you think what you did at the Neon Flamingo would have no consequences? Did you stop for one minute to think about the identities or the ties of the people you massacred? Do you not realize what danger you’ve put this young woman in? What danger you’ve put yourself in?”
I open my eyes wide, showing him every ounce of my sincerity as I say, “Say ‘Neon Flamingo’ again. That shit was priceless.”
Ghost snarls, but the sound of a throat clearing draws our attention back to Seraphina.
“Yeah, so I’m still here. Who is looking for me?”
Ghost ignores her. “Honestly, Orion, I raised you to be smarter than this.”
I roll my eyes. “You didn’t raise me . You just gave me a space to crash while you were out murdering people for the Sanctum.”
At my last word, Seraphina gasps. When I look at her, that recognition is back in full force, and it’s aimed directly at Ghost. “I know you… you were at the Sanctum that night—the night I…” A frown pinches her brow as her voice fades, confusion replacing the clarity she held in her gaze moments before. “I don’t remember…”
Ghost’s lips thin, something akin to sympathy crossing his expression. “I remember you, too. You saved my life that night. Almost ten years to the day.”
Seraphina nods, her eyes glazing over as she’s lost to some memory. “Did I…?”
Ghost sighs, turning to me with an unspoken order in his gaze. With one last look toward Seraphina, I follow him out of the bedroom, my gut twisting with unease.
As soon as the door clicks, I grab Ghost’s arm. “She was with you that night at the Sanctum? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?” I can still remember that night ten years ago like it was yesterday. The bodies. The blood. The sight of Ghost dying on the ground.
Ghost looks off to the side, his throat bobbing. “Honestly, I’m not sure why I didn’t tell you. Maybe I was so naive at the time, so grateful to be alive and free, I decided Seraphina wouldn’t be a problem.” His gaze hardens. “I should have known better.”
“She’s not a problem. ” Red crowds the edges of my vision at the implication that Seraphina is anything other than perfect. “She’s had a shit past—neither of us can hold that one against her. I’ve gotten to know her, Ghost—I don’t think she even remembers much about the Sanctum. And if she does, she sure as shit doesn’t want to be a part of them anymore.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose, refusing to look at me. “That’s not the problem, Orion. You didn’t grow up in the Sanctum, so you don’t realize what they’re like.” At this, he raises his head, but the emotion in his eyes strangles my heart. “It doesn’t matter what she wants. She belongs to them, and they will not stop hunting for her until she agrees to be theirs, or she is dead.”
My fist clenches at my side. “Then I’ll protect her. I’ll take out every last rat bastard crawling through this city until the Sanctum is gone, once and for all. I’ll keep her safe?—”
“She’s not some wounded crow you found in the woods, Orion—she’s the next Madam of the Sanctum! You’re hurting her by keeping her caged against her will.”
“I’m helping her?—”
“You’re not helping her! You’re just deluding yourself!” His chest rises and falls rapidly, a pink flush creeping up his neck. “This is not like Brett and me, Orion. As much as you want it to be, it cannot.”
“Why? Because I’m not special like you?” I sneer.
He shakes his head sadly. “No, Orion. It’s because she’s dangerous .”
At that, I balk. My little dove, dangerous? Sure, she knows how to defend herself, but I wouldn’t class her as a danger to my life. If she was such a terror, she could have killed me any of the dozens of times I turned my back to her last night. Restraints or not.
Ghost looks at my murderous expression, then turns and heads for the door. Before he leaves, he gives me one last piece of advice.
“Stay away, Orion. It’s for your own good.”
He exits, leaving nothing behind but the faint smell of cigarette smoke. I stare at the door for several minutes, running over the warning he gave me.
If only staying away was an option.