Page 119 of The Devil and His Ghost

“What’s not you?”

Her wide eyes filled with tears as they met mine. She whispered in a tiny voice, “I wanted you to save us, to save me. That’s why Master didn’t want us around you the last time you were here. He didn’t want you helping us escape him.”

My heart lurched, but just as I opened my mouth to confirm what I knew to be true, darkness descended like a heavy blanket and knocked me over with an invisible gust of wind. The total loss of sight made me tense, even as I heard tiny feet scamper away to run past me. As the sound faded, a new one took its place.

Distant sniffling and crying.

The muffled sound echoed within the darkness, and a chill sprouted in goosebumps along my body. I unsteadily got back to my feet and listened to the soft yet frightened whimpers.

“Please,” a woman begged, her voice more of a whisper than a true call for help. “Please save me.”

I steeled myself for something unsettling that no doubt waited at the source of that voice. Maybe it would’ve been smarter to stand still or even go away from the weeping. But I’d never ran from the paranormal, and I wasn’t about to start now. I wouldn’t get answers that way, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to help the trapped spirits by fleeing.

Blinded by the total darkness, I put my hands out in front of me and slowly walked toward the sound of the crying woman. I wasn’t sure what direction I faced or if I was even still in the hallway I’d been in before the light was sucked away. The unknown had me on high alert as I trudged carefully onward.

Nothing obstructed my path as the cries and sobs guided my way. The mewling bounced around invisible walls when it suddenly went quiet. I froze, too, and I held my breath, waiting for something.

One inhale.

Silence.

Two inhales.

Silence.

A shrill ding behind me made me jump, and red light cast my shadow in front of me. I looked over my shoulder to see elevator doors sliding open, but no cart waited. The red light glowing from within showed an empty elevator shaft with a drop straight down, and my heels hung right over that bottomless edge.

I gasped as my balance wobbled and whipped around, only to come face-to-face with a pair of black eyes and a smiling, eerie grin. With a snarled laugh, the creature shoved me backward into the long, dark drop. I flailed at the open air and screamed while the distant ground of the elevator shaft rose up to meet me.

Chapter 41

Kendyll

(One Year Ago)

“YOU’RE ABOUT TO GO ON?” I asked Xander, staring at the shut curtains in my hotel room from where I sat on the edge of the bed.

“Yeah,” he answered on the other end of the phone. “The schedule is still on time, so I should get there about twenty minutes before the ceremony like planned. Don’t leave your room until I get there, okay? I’ll be there soon, Qīn’ài de.”

I swallowed the mess of nerves tangling up my throat. A tremble shook my hands and shoulders lightly. Somewhere in this five-star hotel, wedding guests were arriving. Somewhere among them was him. I was in the same building as that man. I was soon to be in the same room.

But I wouldn’t be alone.

The loving reassurance in which Xander spoke ebbed some of the tension lining my muscles. I exhaled slowly.

“Okay,” I finally said. “See you soon, and good luck with the show.”

I hung up with Xander and continued to stare at the closed curtains. With the beige drapes pulled over the view of the outside world, I felt cocooned in my own little box, tucked away from everything else. I was momentarily separated from everyone, momentarily safe from the creature of my nightmares.

But today wasn’t about safety or running away. There were only two things I cared about today—being there for my brother and taking ownership of my life for the first time ever.

If I was going to exist in the same space as him, I would do it with my head held high. I would walk with the confidence and strength of someone he tried but failed to break. I’d make him see that he couldn’t hurt me anymore.

After today, I could move forward instead of back. I could step into the light from where I’d been hiding in the shadows away from my truth. After today, I’d be able to lean into Xander fully and accept that I could be happy. I could embrace him and stop running in the name of guarding, self-preservation, and fear.

Today, I’d be free.

Catsper meowed from where he hovered near my head. I met his one-eyed gaze and took a deep breath. He curled and slinked his ethereal form across my cheek as though to wish me strength.