Page 114 of The Devil and His Ghost

Her dark brows rose, but she slowly accepted the beverage. “You’re a strange demon sometimes.”

“Get used to it, because you’re stuck with me. From now on. Forever. Kendyll Grace Ruan.”

The smile that lit up her face upon hearing me use her new full name shook away any worries or doubts I had. “You sure do use that name a lot now, Ruan Yitang.”

My cock thickened instantly upon hearing my real name roll past her lips. I snaked my arms around her to pull her flush against me, and I rolled my hips into her so that she felt just what she did to me.

“Say my name again, and I’ll have you screaming it instead.”

She placed her free hand on my chest and rubbed my pec teasingly. “I wouldn’t mind that. After I finish packing.”

I wanted to grumble as she pulled out of my arms. She returned the boba drink to the fridge and resumed her task of gathering her belongings for tomorrow. The minute she stood over her things again, that heavy cloud fell back over her. But how could it not? She had to breathe the same fucking air as the man who’d abused her and locked her away to cover it up.

I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms again. I dug my fingers into my arms, fighting the urge to shift into my true form in a fit of rage. I’d save that venom for tomorrow. I’d save that emotion for him.

Tomorrow, everything would change. He’d never be able to hurt Kendyll again, and she could finally take hold of her own life. She was still under contract with Bethelma, but I could easily get her out of that or help her pass the time if she wouldn’t let me use some demon magic to tweak the longevity of her contract. The two of us would finally be able to be together without anything to make Kendyll hesitate.

“Everything will work out,” I announced firmly from where I watched her. “You’ll see. Tomorrow will have its hard moments, but I’m going to be right there with you. Nothing will happen to you.”

Her half-hearted smile nearly broke me as she held out her pinky to me. “Pinky promise?”

I closed the distance between us and knelt on the floor. I wrapped my pinky around hers. “I pinky promise, Ghost. After tomorrow, this life is yours.”

She looked at our locked hands. Her lips pressed together, a sign that she wanted to speak but needed to figure out the words or the courage to release them. I waited with our pinkies still perfectly intertwined and let her take as much time as she needed.

When her eyes found mine, sadness swam in them. “I … don’t think my story has a happy ending, Xander. At least, that’s what I’ve always thought.”

“Then we’ll make it a happy one. You and me. We’ll write a new story after tomorrow, and it’ll have a happy ending. I promise.”

She nodded slowly and blew out a tired, anxious breath. “I hope you’re right.”

Chapter 39

Kendyll

(Present Day)

THE FILES FROM THE SECRET area beneath the hospital made me want to puke and scream all at once. It was an area for sick pricks to get off on torture. I didn’t care how they’d tried to spin it as experiments or necessary tests in the name of medical and scientific advancement. The things they’d done to these poor patients down in that bunker beneath the hospital was abuse of the most inhumane kind.

The only bright side to what I’d read so far from the charts were the dates and the doctors’ names. The people involved were all prior to any staff I knew from my time as a patient here. That didn’t mean Mountview wasn’t full of sick bastards while I’d been there. They just weren’t these sick fucks.

I stared at the pile of charts I’d already gone through, recalling the gruesome tales.

The injection of harsh chemicals directly into a seven year old boy’s body.

Cutting off a woman’s tongue in small pieces at a time to see how much she could lose before it became fatal.

Forced sexual encounters between a doctor and young girls to see how early they could get pregnant and deliver a viable baby.

Smashing up certain parts of the brain to see if it fixed the patient’s mental disorders.

The thousands of pages were detailed reports and notes on nothing but heinous acts and experiments conducted on people who were already defenseless and struggling. After three days of reading over the horrific details, I wasn’t sure how much more I could stomach. But I knew I had to keep going. These people—because they were people, despite how the outside world viewed them—deserved to have their truths told and known. I’d expose what happened and make sure that these people and their spirits, wherever they might be, would finally get justice to rest easy.

I blew out a breath and grabbed the next chart from the stack I’d made at the nurse’s station in my make-shift room at Mountview. Reading more while stuck inside this empty building didn’t sound great, so I opted to take the file up to the rooftop where I could read in the afternoon sun with fresh air. Maybe that would make whatever happened to this person a little easier to get through.

Xander sat in the window with Catsper in his lap. He wore dark pants and a band t-shirt, and the longer hair on top of his head fell into his black eyes. He petted the ghostly feline with an unreadable mask in place. The view reminded me so much of my first day back here when I’d rounded the corner to find that I wasn’t doing this investigation alone because he’d shown up, just like he always had.

Except for the day I needed you most.