Page 88 of The Devil and His Ghost

I studied her back, which faced me and propped up on my elbow. “I’m back.”

“Why?”

“Because this is where you are.”

Catsper appeared between us then. He meowed happily when he saw me with his one eye and bounced straight onto my shoulder. Laughing, I stretched out on my back and pet the ghost feline, giving him some energy to help with his transparency and solidification.

“Hey, Catsper,” I greeted, scratching under his phantom jaw. “You been taking care of our girl?”

Kendyll twitched beside me, but after a tense moment, she just shimmied deeper into the blankets. Her silence in place of an argument felt like a small victory, which made me smile. Releasing the cat, I rolled back onto my side to drop a kiss to her temple.

“Good night, Ghost.”

She was quiet as I settled in myself. Just as I got comfortable and still, her small voice broke through the night.

“Good night, Xander.”

It had been a long ass time since I’d fallen asleep so quickly or settled into sleep so easily. Having her right next to me after a year of wondering, worrying, and wanting made my tense body finally let go to truly rest.

Until the gasping started.

My eyes shot open just as Kendyll crawled over the side of the bed and fell into the floor. Her breathing was erratic and choppy as she grabbed the closet door and slid it open before disappearing inside. The sounds of her panicked whimpers echoed from within.

Everything inside of me was being shredded. Wordlessly, I merged with shadows and reappeared within the closet where I sat on the floor right beside her. Her eyes were shut, and tears streamed down her cheeks. Her whole frame trembled. I glanced down at her left hand, which rested by her bent legs. Slowly, I wrapped my pinky around hers. Her next inhale and exhale came easier.

Swallowing the suffocating grip around my tongue, I whispered, “Nightmare again?”

She didn’t open her eyes but nodded and continued to take deeper and smoother breaths.

“You still get them often?”

“Yeah,” she answered roughly, her voice hoarse from crying. “But it’s not your problem.”

Even as she gritted out the biting words, her little finger squeezed mine harder.

“No,” I acknowledged quietly. “No, I guess it’s not.” I squeezed her pinky back.

I RUBBED AT THE CRICK in my neck. The ache should’ve irritated me, but I welcomed the tight throbbing. If pinched muscles were the price I had to pay for sleeping in a closet with Kendyll’s head on my shoulder and mine on top of hers, so be it. I’d gladly do it again.

Ever since we’d woken up that morning, she’d moved about wordlessly. She didn’t give voice to what plagued her, not that I’d expected anything different. But she also didn’t push me away. She just shuffled about her hotel room and got showered and ready for her day of filming at Brookdale Manor.

I still couldn’t help but grin at the memory of her answering me when I’d asked what today’s shooting location was. I’d fully expected her to ignore my query, but with only a slight hesitation, she’d revealed it was Brookdale Manor. I took that to mean the invitation to join her was open.

When she headed to work, I also left to prepare and perform tonight’s concert with the rest of Sinners Do It Better. After the show was over, I quickly changed into casual black pants and a t-shirt before shadow-walking to Brookdale Manor. The gothic estate was dark inside, save for the control room they always set up at each filming location. That was where I appeared right behind Kendyll, who sipped on a coffee while watching the computer monitors.

Bethelma and Alex were in what appeared to be a library, and the old woman was currently talking to a ghost of an older gentleman. Or at least, she was pretending to. She wouldn’t actually acknowledge him when he spoke, or she’d cut him off midsentence because she couldn’t actually hear or see him. Not only did it appear she was uninterested in what he had to say, she kept asking him to make objects move or make the ghost hunting devices around her go off. Eventually, he huffed irritably and disappeared from the room.

“I see it’s going well,” I teased.

Kendyll glanced back at me. “She’s an inpatient old bat.”

“I’d say! What does she take me for? A circus monkey?”

I turned at the sound of the male ghost, who now floated near Kendyll’s chair. His heightened annoyance made him buoyant. His ghostly eyes spotted me then, and the shock had him settling onto his feet.

“Oh my,” he gasped. “You’re a d-d—”

“Demon,” I finished with a wide smirk, which flashed my sharp canine teeth at him.