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“Are you telling me we all bought a damn haunted inn, and they happen to be inhabited by siblings?” Cole said in absolute disbelief.
“That seems fated,” Stephanie murmured. Cole turned an incredulous look on her.
“Everyone here has been fighting their ghost, but not you. What’s going on between you two?” Cole demanded.
Stephanie blushed but held Cole’s gaze.
“That’s none of your business!” Stephanie retorted, and Cole’s eyes grew wide.
“Woah! Did Stephanie just snap at Cole?” Tilly whispered.
“She’s pretty damn protective of her ghost. I want to kill mine!” Mariah growled.
“Good for you. Lucian’s decided he’s going to marry me!” Maggie said and began laughing. “Can you believe the situation we’re all in?”
“Hold on, go back to marrying you,” Callie demanded, swapping shocked gazes with everyone. “Ghosts can’t marry the living!”
“Oh, let me tell you about the Rakehell Six. Because ladies and gent, keep your naughty bits locked up because a ghost can impregnate a living woman!” Maggie chortled as five wide stares gaped at her.
An hour later, everybody sat around wondering what their next step was. All six said their spirit was protecting the inn and surrounding villages from a great evil, but only Maggie knew what her evilness was.
“Do we tell them we know where their siblings are?” Cole finally asked. “It might make Cecilia sweeter if she knew.”
“No, somehow I feel that’s a bad thing. Suppose they realise their family is trapped, especially Cecilia. In that case, they will be distracted and focus their attention on escaping their prisons,” Maggie said.
“I don’t like that word,” Callie replied.
“But they are imprisoned. What if the evil escapes because they’re worried about their siblings? And then it destroys innocent lives. What happens if the evil kills one of them properly and they disappear? No, there’s a greater plan at play. Listening to the Rakehell Six, whoever gets free first will find one of their family. We must allow events to take place naturally,” Maggie commented.
“I agree. As much as I wish to throttle Benedict, I don’t want whatever he is guarding to escape. I feel that would be terrible indeed,” Mariah agreed.
“We should take an oath, together the six of us, we will not tell them until they return to life and vanquish their evil,” Maggie suggested.
“Big words,” Tilly teased.
“A blood oath,” Cole responded. He ensured no one was watching before cutting shallowly into his palm and handing the knife to Maggie. She winced but cut into it and grasped Cole’s hand. One by one, they all repeated the actions until they all had clasped hands and exchanged blood.
“We swear to hold the locations of the siblings a secret until they are brought back to life, and we’ll allow fate to lead the way,” Maggie said. They placed their cut hands on top of one another and swore the oath.
???
From a dark recess, a figure watched them silently and nodded in approval. Everything was in place. It was time to free God’s Scourge and put them back on the path meant for them. The figure turned and smiled at Maggie; she was the glue that held her friends together. She’d make a fine bride indeed!
Chapter Eight.
Lucian
“Maggie, do you mind me asking, where are your parents? You never mention them,” Lucian asked gently.
“My mum was an orphan, Lucian, who was adopted by good people. She decided when she grew up that she’d do the same. She adopted me when I was three months old. I’d been abandoned in a skip in London, and a tramp found me and took me to the police station. They tried to find my birth mum but to no avail. And along came my mother, and somehow, she forced them to let her adopt me.
“She died a year ago. Mum was very ill with breast cancer; she fought it for years before it returned in vengeance. She was so brave at the end. And she forced me to promise to keep living. Mum told me to find a whole life, doing what made me happy and something I would love to do,” Maggie replied with a small smile.
“And that’s why you’ve battled me so hard over the Inn,” Lucian said, sudden awareness dawning. Damnation, that was the reason Maggie had fought. She was keeping a promise to her dead mother. And Lucian, the cad he was, had attempted to steal that from her. If he’d known about her desire for a home, would he have done anything differently? Lucian ruefully admitted, probably not.
“Possibly. I had to sell her house to pay off medical bills, and debts ran up through her illness. There was nothing left. Then I came into a large amount of cash, which allowed me to pay for the storage of her stuff. It arrived just in time. I’d been paying for a container, but money was so tight I was going to have to auction or give away all mum’s belongings. Now they’re waiting for me to bring them here,” Maggie said with a sweet smile.
