Page 217 of Love at First Fright

A laugh bubbled up—high and borderline hysterical. I bit it back, but my shoulders shook.

“Bat… you need to go back,” Charlie rumbled against my chest. “Your door. You have to go find your door before it’s too late.”

Another laugh burst out. I couldn’t stop it. It sounded delightfully manic.

“Bat?” Charlie pulled back slightly, peering up at me with those beautiful blue eyes, eyes I’d fallen for the very first time I’d frightened him. Confusion clouded his bloodied face. “What—”

“Actually,” I managed between giggles, “I don’t think I will.”

“No, Bat, you need to—”

“There’s no door anymore.” The words tumbled out, giddy and wild. “There’s no door because I’m not dead anymore, Charlie. I’m not a ghost.”

His brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“There’s nothing left in here but me.” I pressed my palm against Brad’s chest—my chest. My fucking chest! “I’m locked in. I’m alive.”

Charlie’s eyes flew impossibly wide. “You’re…”

“Alive. Breathing. Heart beating. The whole package.”

“But I don’t understand!”

“Empty vessel,” I explained, the hysterical edge fading into something softer. Awed. “I guess Brad’s soul was gone? Cornelius ate it. And I just… moved in.”

Charlie’s face transformed. Joy bloomed across it like sunrise breaking through storm clouds.

“You’re… alive,” he breathed.

“Yeah.”

“You’re alive!”

“Charlie—”

He grabbed my face—Brad’s face, this stolen face—and kissed me.

Hard. Desperate. His mouth hot against mine, tasting of blood and smoke and hope and defiance. His fingers dug into my jaw, my cheeks, like he needed to confirm I was solid. Real.

For a moment, I froze. This wasn’t my mouth, my lips, my skin he was kissing. These weren’t my arms holding him up.

But it was me he wanted. Me he was clinging to.

I kissed him back. Wrapped Brad’s stupidly muscular arms tighter around Charlie’s waist and kissed him like the world was ending. Charlie made a sound against my mouth—half sob, half laugh—and curled his fingers into the fabric at my shoulders. Held on. Like if he let go, I’d disappear.

But I wouldn’t. Not this time.

After an eternity of kisses, I set Charlie down gently, grabbing both his hands.

For once, I didn’t worry about flickering out of existence mid-touch. Didn’t brace myself for that awful sensation of scattering into nothing.

I squeezed his hands tightly.

Warm. Lovely. Mine.

Charlie stared up at me, bruised mouth slightly parted.

“What?” I asked.