Page 81 of The Eleventh Hour
“What?”
“Jax, that thing isn’t what you think it is. You have to move away from it.”
Her head whips back to the thing, and I can see the torment written on her expression.
“You…you can see him?” Her voice is stark, and it tears at my chest. I want so badly to undo the last few minutes.
“Yes, I’ve always been able to see them,” I speak calmly.
“But they’re my hallucinations, Dane. Mine. How can you see my hallucinations?” Her voice rises to a shriek.
“They aren’t hallucinations, Jax. They are spirits. Move away from him now, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”
She takes a breath. It’s deep and raspy. It doesn’t sound right. She sways, and the arms tighten around her.
I’ve never seen one so strong before. He has shape and form; he is so clearly on this plane of existence. I’m intrigued and terrified of it.
I take another few steps closer, and the head snaps towards me. I can feel the hostility rolling off it. It seems to grow in height.
“Who are you?” Jax whispers through increasingly short, sharp inhales.
He turns his head back to her and lowers his head to her ear.
“Mine.”
My body turns to ice. It spoke, it actually spoke. This is impossible. I pull out my phone and shine the torch in its direction and watch it vanish back into the dark.
She starts to fall backwards, but I’m already there, catching her under her arms and carefully guiding her to the ground.
“Jax? It’s okay, breathe. Slowly now, in and out, breathe.”
“They said,” she gasps, and her fingers tighten in my shirt, holding on like she’s fighting death, “he was in my head.”
“He’s real. I can see him, and so can Rafe. I promise, I will explain everything, but you have to calm down and slow your breathing.”
“I can see spots.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet you can.”
“I need him,” she screams suddenly in a voice so painfully full of torment that it threatens to undo me.
Rafe skids to his knees beside us and reaches for my phone. Our eyes meet, and I reluctantly nod my head. He switches off the torch, and instantly, the dark swirls around her, drawing her out of my arms and into his.
Rage fills me, but I fight it back. We did this to her. We need to help her. I repeat the words in my head as I sit back on my heels and watch the familiar way he holds her. The way his hands follow the curves of her body is so fucking unnatural. What power does this creature have over her, and how were we going to tear the two of them apart?
“You shouldn’t be here,” I say to it in a low voice. I can’t contain my fury and disgust.
The head lifts slowly, and I swear the thing is mocking me. But she’s breathing easier. Rafe reaches out and takes one of her hands.
I half expect the thing to attack him, but it just seems to ignore Rafael completely.
“We need to go,” I snap.
The thing ignores me and continues stroking from her shoulder, down her side, all the way to her knee and up again.
“We need to get her somewhere warm,” Rafael says respectfully; I only just manage to hide the scoff. “Her friend, Cherise, died tonight as well as,” Rafe looks at me. “She’s probably in shock.”
It unfolds its body, standing to its height, and brings her up with him. He handles her so carefully and holds for a moment longer before, to my complete shock, it passes her to Rafael and steps back.