AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Stephanie watched as Kit’s face softened as he studied her.
“That, right there, Miss Stephanie, is exactly what I mean. You’ve been wounded down to your very soul,” Kit murmured, even as Stephanie shook her head in denial.
Chapter Two.
Stephanie.
She fled from the room at a run, even as Kit called her name. Stephanie was in no mood to hear whatever he wanted to say. All she knew was that he’d opened raw wounds. Cole’s call had poked at them, but Kit had sliced them open. A ghost wasn’t meant to be so self-aware. Something was very wrong here. She slammed through the exit with Kit’s voice calling after her.
“Miss Stephanie, please, wait, I mean no harm!” he called.
Stephanie ignored him and continued fleeing. The good thing about her inn was it backed onto woods. She raced down the lawn and into the treeline and kept running. There was some sort of dirt path ahead of her and using it, she left the inn behind until she could no longer walk.
When she finally stopped, she was panting for breath as she gazed around. In her hurry to flee, she’d not paid attention to where she was going, so it was pure luck she’d stuck to the path. A glimmer of blue caught her eyes, and she slowly walked in its direction and gazed at a small lake surrounded by trees.
Peace settled into her bones, and she collapsed into a heap on the ground near the waterline. Even as she drew in deep breaths, Stephanie wondered what the hell she’d fled from. Kit hadn’t been threatening or scary, so why had she run? There was no denying her flight or fight instinct had kicked in, and Stephanie had most definitely fled, but why? The question lingered, begging to be picked apart.
Something inside her had taken offence or sensed something about Kit, and she’d listened. But as she wracked her brain over their meeting, she couldn’t point out anything in particular.
Stephanie leant her head on her drawn-up knees and allowed the peace of the woods to comfort her.
Small animal noises gradually erupted around her, having been silenced by her wild dash towards the lake. But now she was calmer and quiet, they appeared bold enough to return to their song and activities. Her eyes gazed out over the calm lake. The water was clear, almost pure blue, something she’d not seen before. It felt like an oasis in a rioting sea of turbulent emotions, offering tranquillity and stability.
Stephanie knew that Cole’s phone call had unnerved her. Justin’s demise wasn’t something she wanted to contemplate, and she’d tried pushing it from her mind. But maybe that wasn’t the answer. Did she need to allow whatever thoughts of Justin that arose to wash over her and then deal with them? Stephanie wouldn’t say she mourned Justin, but she mourned the waste and his death. Justin, as a living human, possessed great potential but sadly succumbed to evil and vileness. Hate, envy, and selfishness, plus a sense of entitlement, had stolen the decent qualities he might have once had.
And that was what bothered her, Stephanie realised. Justin could have been like Cole, a good, kind, honest, honourable man. Instead, he’d sucked up everything negative he could and spat it back at those closest to him. Justin had been nothingbut disdainful and hateful, and people commented on it. One of Stephanie’s worst memories consisted of Justin screaming in her face that he wasn’t Cole and wished his cousin would die painfully. Her shock at his words had earned her a beating that had taken days to recover from.
Stephanie glanced in the direction of The White Witch, realising that Kit hadn’t followed her. That surprised her as much as it puzzled her. Had his goal been to chase her from the inn? But… he’d seemed so gentle in handling her, almost like she was an injured animal that needed careful soothing. That couldn’t be right. Were the invisible scars Justin had deeply etched so obvious even a ghost could see them?
Stephanie shook her head. Everything was such a mess.
Kit
He paced back and forth in the bar, looking out over the rear windows to spot Stephanie. Kit was sure he’d been tender, but Stephanie had fled as if the hounds of hell were after her. That alone spoke of deep wounds. The White Witch poked at him in concern, and he sent her a reassuring blast.
Two damned awkward females in his life, Kit mused as he gazed at the woods behind the inn. Kit shook his head.
While the goal was to remove Stephanie, he didn’t wish to harm her delicate constitution even more. Which was why he’d decided on the path he’d been taking. No woman deserved to be tragically broken. Stephanie’s flash of backbone had delighted him. So much so Kit hadn’t been able to ignore it. Yet his words, carefully thought out, had caused Stephanie to run, and that irked him. His target would be achieved because he knew her vulnerabilities would certainly release the evil he contained if he failed. But—and it was a huge but—Kit was contrary enough to want to oust her on his own terms.
And that was the damnable conundrum Kit faced.
Stephanie
The sun was dipping low when she finally roused herself from her thoughts. She’d lost an entire day, and nothing she’d planned had been achieved. Tomorrow, she’d do better and ignore Kit as best as she could. For some reason, Kit didn’t want to share his home. The fact it had been empty for so long made that obvious. But Stephanie was ready to battle him for The White Witch.
She’d chosen the pub with great care. There’d been several up for sale that had caught her attention, but The White Witch had won out over all of them. Stephanie adored old buildings and wasn’t keen on gastro pubs or severely modernised ones. She loved the cosy atmosphere of wooden walls and log fires and locals drinking and gossiping. It was the atmosphere that mattered, and while she probably romanticised it, it was something her soul yearned for.
So whatever Kit’s plans were, he could get ready. One man had bossed her around and broken her. Another had helped put her back together. While Stephanie admitted she might seem fragile, she wasn’t, not with her friends and Cole behind her. She would fight Kit, no matter what his aim was.
Stephanie made her way out of the woods at a leisurely pace, grateful for the dirt path. If it hadn’t been there, she’d have been truly lost. Scarily, nobody would call her for a few days, as they were all busy.
As she stepped out of the trees, Stephanie’s spine tingled. It was a sense of peril. Pausing in her approach to the inn, Stephanie glanced around. Something was off. The grounds didn’t seem peaceful anymore. In fact, they felt downright threatening. Stephanie didn’t pause and began hurrying acrossto the front entrance. Unfriendly eyes dug into her back, and Stephanie glanced behind her several times, finding nothing visible.
But danger lurked.
She slammed through the door and locked and bolted it. The inn was dark, with no lights on, and Stephanie aimed towards the stairs that would lead to her apartment. A howl stopped her in the middle of the main room.
What on earth was that?
