Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
9
HANNA
Hanna sat up in bed, staring at the wall the mysterious warrior with the mismatched eyes had disappeared through. Was he a ghost? A spirit of some kind?
It was the only explanation she could think of for the way he seemed able to move through solid objects. But the strange thing was, he didn’t look like a ghost.
Almost all of the shades and spirits she’d ever seen had a kind of faded, gray, almost see-through appearance. And most of them seemed to be stuck in the moment of their death—or else repeating an endless cycle of some kind. Like Abuelita back at her apartment, endlessly cooking and baking, which was something she must have loved to do during her life.
That was a nice cycle, at least—much better than the ghost of the nasty, abusive husband who paced outside his old apartment and cursed his wife in an angry, hoarse voice only Hanna could hear. But neither one of them could carry on a conversation with her, even if she tried.
Anytime she’d ever attempted to talk with a ghost, Hanna had never been able to get sense out of them. Her older sister, Sam, was a kind of Ghost Whisperer—she was good and leading lost spirits into the afterlife. But all the ones that Hanna had spoken to just mumbled and murmured to themselves. None of them had ever called her by name or talked directly to her in a way that made any sense.
And there was another thing—the strange warrior had touched her. Not to pinch or poke like the cruel Imps did, though—his touch had been kind and firm and strangest of all warm. Every other ghost she’d ever touched had felt as cold as ice—but not the strange warrior. Heat seemed to radiate from his hand to her skin. Also, he smelled good. He had a warm, spicy, masculine scent that lingered in the air long after he was gone. Hanna had never smelled any ghost before—for which she was profoundly grateful, considering the circumstances of some of their deaths.
She frowned to herself as she considered the situation. Could it be he wasn’t a ghost? Maybe he was new kind of Kindred she’d never heard of? Like an elemental Kindred or something? But if that was true, why had she been the only one who could see him in the Docking Bay?
No, he must be a ghost, Hanna decided. The question was, what should she do about his nocturnal visit?
Her heart had stopped pounding by now and she felt considerably calmer. She looked down at the golden wire circlet of the Think-me uncertainly and then slowly put it back down on the bedside table. There was no point in waking up Aunt Luna for a ghost that only Hanna could see. He must not have any evil intent towards her, or he couldn’t have gotten through the wards. And he had even apologized for frightening her. So he was a polite ghost—that was something.
At last, she decided the only thing she could do was try to get back to sleep. Hopefully the warrior with the mismatched eyes would leave her alone for the rest of the night. If he wanted to talk, Hanna wouldn’t mind if he approached her during the daytime, when she was awake. She would certainly tell him, though, not to bother her in the middle of the night again!
She got up to use the bathroom and take a drink of water and then settled in the unfamiliar bed once more. Another person might have lain there, freaking out for hours. But Hanna had been seeing spirits and shades all her life and she’d had much worse encounters with ghosts before. So in a relatively small amount of time, she was able to drift off again…
Only to wake an hour later with a cold weight pressing her down into the mattress and a malevolent voice hissing in her ear.
10
HANNA
“So here you are, my sweet little Hanna,” the voice of the Dark Entity hissed in her ear. “It took me some time to find you, but here you are at last.”
Hanna stiffened and tried to reach for the Think-me on the nightstand beside her. But she found that her entire body was paralyzed and she was completely unable to move her hand and arm.
“I took the liberty of immobilizing you.” Burning red eyes blazed down into hers. “Now that I have placed my mark on you, your body is mine to do with as I please…”
As he spoke, Hanna felt a cold, claw-tipped hand stroke her breast through the white silk of her nightdress. Her nipple hardened at once, but not in lust—she could only feel fear and loathing of the monstrous creature that was covering her body with its own.
The Dark Entity seemed to read her mind.