Page 35 of Hateful Prince
The darkness was unnatural. Not even my own hand was visible when I waved it in front of my face. The only senses I had to help me were touch and hearing. It was disorienting, to say the least, and I wasn’t the only one struggling. Noises from around the room ranged from hushed conversations to people clearly not listening to Joffrey as they stumbled into each other and ran into chairs.
“I’ve got you, Kærasta.” Tor held me in place.
“I can’t see shit,” Oz said, panic lacing his voice.
“Neither can I, and I’m a vampire,” Sorcha said. “This must be some kind of spell.”
“So this isn’t part of the presentation, then?” I asked.
“What gave it away?” Sorcha deadpanned.
Tor snarled at her. “Keep talking to my mate like that, and I’ll rip out your tongue.”
“Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, bloody blah. Scarier men than you have threatened me with death and dismemberment. Take a freaking number, beast-boy.”
Having Tor’s hands on me helped with the uneasy feeling prickling across my skin.
“It’s your ghost, baby doll,” Cain whispered, his lips brushing my ear from behind.
“Yeah, I got that.”
“We need to get everyone out. She’s spitting mad.”
“And how do you suggest we do that in the dark?”
“Carefully.”
“Look who went and got a sense of humor along with those memories,” I snapped.
The shadow on my leg tightened as though in warning. Right. We weren’t supposed to talk about that. Oopsie daisy.
My head throbbed as the pressure from the spirit increased, her anger and the knowledge she could be anywhere in the room making my heart race. Cain and I were the only ones who could see her either way, but I had a sneaking suspicion she could hurt more than just me.
“I need to know where she is,” I said.
Without another word, Cain snapped his fingers, and a blue flame illuminated the space around us. I wish he hadn’t. A scream tore from my throat as a ghostly face appeared a hairsbreadth in front of my eyes. The details were muddied, but she was more human-looking than she’d ever been with sunken eyes—two burning black pits filled with hatred—a gaping maw of a mouth, and the suggestion of a nose.
I didn’t think so much as react. I didn’t want this thing anywhere near me, and I sure as shit didn’t want it to touch me. Just like before, I had the inescapable sense that if she got her hands on me, I wouldn’t make it out alive. On instinct, I lifted my hand to shield myself, but this time it was she who backed away. Except she didn’t get very far. I had her in my metaphorical hold, her energy running down my arm, the sensation like needles under my skin.
“Good girl, baby doll. Keep her there,” Cain crooned in my ear.
“I can’t. It hurts.”
“If you can hold her still for us, we can try to get the others out,” Tor said.
“I... there’s no way,” I said, shaking my head. Every second I held the malevolent soul in place felt like an eternity. Her energy battered me, zinging through my body like a thousand volts of electricity.
“Hold on a little longer. I’ll banish her like last time, but I’ll have to extinguish the light.”
If I couldn’t see her, there was no way I’d be able to keep hold of her. The ghost screamed, her rage flooding me and bringing tears to my eyes as agony rippled across my arm.
“No!” I shouted, flinching and losing my hold. It was the sneeze all over again, but worse because the stakes were so much higher. I had no business playing around with power I didn’t understand. Masterson’s lesson was finally sinking in. I needed to practice so the next time something like this happened, I wouldn’t accidentally possess another inanimate object.
Instantly, the lights came on, and the temperature in the room returned to normal. I could breathe again.
“She’s gone,” I said through harsh pants.
“Are you sure?” Tor asked.