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“We’ve got to keep going,” Mel insisted, a mixture of anger and betrayal raging in his chest.
“I’m already over the cloak and dagger game. I want to go home, and you can tell me what the hell is going on along the way.”
“Your place isn’t safe right now.” Mel frowned and looked up at the street signs.
“Why not?”
“Because he knows where you live.”
“I don’t think Curtis is coming anywhere near me for a while, Mel.”
“I wasn’t talking about Curtis.” He tilted his head in the opposite direction from her apartment.
“Where are we going?” she huffed, clearing her throat again.
“A place to keep you safe,” Mel answered, slowing his pace when she struggled to keep up. He fell into step beside her and gestured to have her turn at the next street. “We’re heading to the Garden District.”
“Got a friend there?” she teased.
A smirk almost reached his lips. She was trying to ease the tension he’d created. “No, but I have a hideout.”
“And then you’ll tell me what’s going on?”
“Then I will tell you everything. I promise.”
They walked around city blocks trying to stay out of sight, Mel checking over his shoulder every few steps. Whenever a police vehicle rolled by, he dimmed the light nearest to Anastacia, fear fueling his control. It took longer than he expected, or maybe it felt like it. Either way, she was slowing down, her steps becoming a shuffle. She was strong, but she needed more time to heal.
His head swiveled as they walked. Apart from the spirits out on the street, some were trying to follow her from the hospital. Whatever she had done must have garnered her some fans. None of them had the dark ooze on them, but they looked to be just as desperate to reach her. With her as weak as she was, he wasn’t taking any chances. They would have to wait.
A sharp, pricking sensation shimmied up the back of his neck. His eyes roamed the roads around them. Just beyond the human spirits, something shifted in the shadows. It crawled along walls and ducked around corners. It wasn’t a Gatekeeper, but something just as powerful if the other spirits’ quick retreat from its movements were any indication. It jumped over the wall at their side and disappeared. An echoing laugh permeated from the other side of the wall.
Anastacia waved her hand to grab Mel’s attention. “I need to stop.”
The souls tested the line Mel created by pacing back and forth. Then they froze, staring over his head. Mel looked behind him to the shadow looming over Anastacia while she caught her breath.
“Will you let me in now, dear one? I will make you whole again.” A dual-toned, sickly-sweet voice floated down to Anastacia.
She froze in her spot, like the souls around them. Her eyes grew large and purposefully pointed away from the thing above her.
“No, she doesn’t make deals.” Mel placed himself between Anastacia and the looming entity. There was a twist inside his soul warning him, but the urge to protect her overcame any fear the thing tried to inspire. “You’re not getting any closer than this.”
“If it isn’t the mortal,” it tisked and pulled back from them both. “You won’t be around forever. I can bide my time.”
The shadow fell back behind the wall and the laughter faded.
“How did you do that?” Anastacia whimpered; her breath staggered as she tried to catch it.
“Told you I’d protect you. Come on. We’re almost there.”
They walked slower along the last block. He led them through an open gate leading to a grand manor.
“Where are we?” Anastacia’s voice was barely a whisper as her eyes drank in the building.
“An old Garden District manor people were not willing to update or save. Dad’s business bought it along with a few other properties. We converted this one to an apartment.” He pointed to the door and a small panel at the handle. “The code is twelve-twenty-four-eleven.”
Anastacia punched in the numbers and the door made a series of beeps before granting her entry. Mel glanced around the street to make sure no one living had followed before entering behind her. The door locked automatically behind them. They were greeted by a nicely furnished living area just inside the door, with a kitchen beyond. Off of the living room was a small hallway lined with two closed doors, with an open door revealing a bathroom between. Mel sighed, content it hadn’t changed since the last time he visited.
Anastacia went straight for the kitchen.
