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Caleb and I needed to talk about what me marrying him meant for the rest of my life. Surely he knew my heart was shared between all of them. Marrying him wouldn’t change my connection to Kingston, Noah, and Alek. If anything, it meant I’d be marrying each of them because there was no way any of my mates would let Caleb have something they didn’t.
Well, I’d be marrying them if I didn’t currently hate them.
A wave of crushing sadness swept through me, reminding me I didn’t hate them. Not at all. I missed them. So fiercely that with each passing day it was harder to push them from my thoughts. I heard them talking to me, commenting on what I was doing as if they were right there in the room. I knew it wasn’t healthy, but it was the only way I could have them in my life right now, and I’d take anything I could get. Any piece of the men who held me so tenderly and promised me the world.
But the truth was, nothing had changed. They still wanted to hurt us. I palmed my belly, a stab of agony accompanying that thought. It was why I was trying to leave them before Caleb took me. I couldn’t help but wonder now if that had been the right choice. I’d managed to change Caleb’s mind. Who’s to say I wouldn’t have been able to do the same with them? I hadn’t even given them a chance. I’d just acted on pure protective instinct. Look where that got me.
“Are you well, miss? Come inside, please? Let me see to you.”
The man reached for me, but every fiber of my being recoiled. I shook my head. “I’m fine. I’ll just head home. Get there before the storm hits.”
He looked troubled, his eyes hazy with some unnamed emotion. “Right. Well. Hurry then, miss.”
I lumbered to my feet and lifted my hand in a wave. “See you around, I guess.”
He waved before turning and heading inside. As I hustled as fast as I could up the hill to Caleb’s house, unease prickled the back of my neck. Shadows loomed in the windows of every dwelling I passed. Why were these people watching me so intently?
The sky was nearly fully dark by the time I started up the hill that would lead me back to Caleb’s land. I hadn’t planned to be gone so long. The first fat raindrops fell from the clouds, landing on my exposed neck and sending a shiver rippling through me. My gaze traversed the path, a jolt of elation striking me at the sight of Caleb in the distance.
He met me halfway, his eyes blazing with concern. “What are you doing down here? It’s dangerous.”
“How is it dangerous? It’s just a village. They’re just people.”
The man was looking at me like I was insane. “People? What are you on about? The island’s deserted. There are no people.”
“Caleb, there are people here. I just talked to two of them. I’ve seen Kelly on the beach twice now.”
His eyes widened. “Kelly?”
“Yes, and the old fisherman.”
He shook his head, palms clutching my shoulders, eyes locked on mine. “No, Sunday. You didn’t. There’s nothing but ghosts here.”
ChapterTwenty-Four
CALEB
“Stop being so dramatic, Caleb.” The way she laughed at my statement sent a chill up my spine.
“I’m not. There is no one on this island but the two of us. If you’ve seen anyone, they were most certainly not alive.”
She laughed again, but it fizzled out when I didn’t so much as crack a smile. “Caleb, I’ve seen my fair share of spirits, remember? Hell, I had a whole damn girl’s night with Noah’s Aunt Callie. I know the difference between a human and a fucking restless spirit.”
“Do you?” I cocked a brow. “There are all sorts of ghosts, Miss Fallon. How can you be sure of what you saw?”
“I...” Her brow furrowed. “How do you know there’s no one on this island?”
“Because I killed every last man, woman, and child the night I was turned. And I spent the last century ensuring no one set foot on this cursed land.”
Her mouth fell open, all the color draining from her cheeks. “Wh–what? But, Kelly... she... and the fisherman...”
“Don’t believe me? Here, I’ll prove it to you.” I grasped her wrist and yanked her harder than I probably should have, considering her condition, but my heart was racing, my confession sending me spiraling into a kind of self-loathing I hadn’t experienced since I drained my flock dry.
She stumbled after me, the storm gathering strength as the drops fell faster from the sky. Thunder rumbled overhead as the wind picked up and whipped my too-long hair into my eyes. When we reached the edge of the village, I threw out my arm, gesturing to the row of darkened buildings. “Do these look like the kind of dwellings a mortal would reside in? Where’s the light? The fire? The fecking noise?”
“But I... I saw him walking into that house.” She pointed a trembling finger at a small stone cottage to our left.
“Aye, that belonged to Finnegan Killgariff, fisherman by trade, skirt chaser every other moment of his pathetic life, whether welcomed or not. I did the world a favor when I tore that drunkard’s throat out.”
