by Lyla Oweds
But outside of the ghastly picture, there was something else here too. Something I couldn’t see, yet sensed hovering on the edges of my awareness. I couldn’t tell what it was, but there was no denying the presence was not of this world.
I never should have come here. But if I left now, I would run into Titus again. And I didn’t want that either.
This had to be a mistake. Why would any kind of secret club-like thing meet here? Perhaps they were on a job tonight and they were ghost hunting?
That made sense. From the looks of this place, I could see why the owners would call paranormal investigators.
There was only one way to find out if Damen was here, unfortunately. So I forced myself up the cobblestone walkway and across the porch until I stood before a massive door. I felt like an intruder here. But I had been invited…
All I had to do was knock.
I had less choice now than I had in front of Dr. Stephens’s office. Before I even had a chance to lower my raised fist, the door swung open. Another man stood there, furiously writing on a clipboard. How he’d known that I was here, I had no idea.
This man, too, was insanely attractive. There must have been something in the water in this part of town. This much handsomeness didn’t exist back on campus.
He looked to be a few years older than me. He had a square face and high forehead, and his copper-tinted hair appeared to be sprayed into submission in a tidy wave. Despite the single black hoop hanging from his left earlobe, he seemed professional and stylish. He wore designer jeans and a black dress shirt with sleeves casually rolled up over his massive forearms. And I glimpsed the start of a dark tattoo above his elbow.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this—he was almost as large as that Titus guy.
He still hadn’t looked up. “You’re late again. This is the third time this month. You know that the equipment is still encrypted. I understand your job is important to you, but you can’t…”
He glanced up mid-speech, and his voice trailed off. The expression on my face must have been comical, because I hadn’t looked away or closed my mouth. Plus, my hand was still posed in the air—having been interrupted pre-knock.
The man’s full mouth dipped downward, and he lowered his brown square-framed glasses to study me. “What’s this?” He cocked his head to the side as a slow grin appeared on his lips.
I gasped! He had the same exact eyes as Finn. There was no denying their relation. “Damen Abernathy!” I pointed at him triumphantly.
I couldn’t believe my excellent turn of luck. After everything that I had gone through to try to find him, I’d finally succeeded.
Now I just needed to figure out everything else.
Damen smirked and all but tossed the clipboard over his shoulder before he leaned against the open door frame. “That would be me.” He crossed his arms, biceps bulging against the strain of his shirt. “But I’m not sure I know who you are, or why you are here at my home. However, I am tempted to compromise my morals and find out.”
He watched me with an intense look in his eyes, despite his playful words. I had a feeling he was sizing me up. “Very tempted,” he repeated. “But as cute as you are, I don’t take bribes for grades and—”
“I’m not one of your students,” I interrupted him. I didn’t need him to get the wrong idea. Plus, really, his home? I would have to reserve judgment; maybe it looked nicer inside. I couldn’t say anything rude. We were practically family, after all. Considering that I one day might be this man’s sister-in-law.
“Oh, really?” Damen perked up, and he leaned toward me, closing some of the distance between us. “Then how can I help you, baby girl?” His voice deepened, coming out a seductive purr.
Baby girl? The nickname was terrible, but I still found it hard to breathe under the weight of his attention.
Was it possible that he was flirting with me? I wasn’t sure. Something about his presence—his intense demeanor—made it hard to think. Lost in his eyes, my anxiety vanished.
Although I wanted to melt into his smoldering gaze, I held my ground. The semi-prepared speech I had mentally repeated to myself spilled from my lips. “Hello Damen, my name is Bianca Brosnan. I’m Finn’s friend. I went to Dr. Stephens’s office earlier to look for you because I need your help with…”
“Just a moment.” Damen straightened and held up his hand as he stopped me mid-sentence. He was gazing at me with confusion and something else that left me slightly offended.
“What?” I couldn’t imagine what could be wrong.
His lips thinned. “Finn has a friend?”
Why were people shocked by this? Finn wasn’t all that mean. Everyone had their moments.
I leveled my deadliest glare at him, ready to defend Finn’s honor. “Of course Finn has friends! In fact, I’m his best friend. I’ll have you know that I’ve been his best friend for over ten years.”
If anything, my admission seemed to confound Damen even more. But before he had a chance to respond, another man joined us in the doorway.
This new, also unworldly attractive man, was slightly shorter than Damen. However, he was also broader and appeared to be made of pure muscle. I hadn’t thought it was possible for any more attractive men to exist in this town. However, that was before this rugged male popped out from behind the previous specimen.
He had an angular face and dark chocolate hair curled away from his eyes. The style accentuated the pure goodness that seemed to pour from his features. His skin was paler than my own light tan, and his expressive brown eyes held an amused but curious glint to them as he looked at me.
“Who’s this?” he asked, his slightly-accented voice soothed away the edges of my nerves.
Damen was more subdued than he had been previously as he continued to gaze at me in an unsettling manner. He didn’t pause in his inspection as he answered the other man. “This is Bianca. Apparently, she is Finn’s best friend.”
The other man actually had the nerve to step backward as he put a hand to his heart in shock. “Finn has a friend?”
“I know,” Damen replied dryly.
“Stop it!” I frowned at them. If they were going to make fun of Finn, I’d leave. “Don’t make fun of him.”
No wonder Finn didn’t talk to his brother. Haunting or no haunting, I was darn loyal. If the ghost killed me as a result of this, it was a necessary price to pay. Clearly, there would be no help from these two.
The newcomer seemed to know what I was thinking. Before I had a chance to move, he had leapt fully onto the porch and grabbed my hand. “I’m sorry.”
I tensed—startled by his unexpected touch. This was almost worse than being stalked on the street by Titus. Than even my fear of the unknown.
“It’s not every day Finn…befriends a person,” he continued in his deep, rough voice. Despite myself, I felt the tension melt away. “We didn’t mean to make fun of him—or you. Please, forgive us.”
Damen made a scoff-like sound and raised his eyebrow at me.
“That being established, let’s get better acquainted.” He smiled slightly, and Damen shot him a curious look. But the new hottie ignored him. “We can pretend that none of this happened. I am Miles Montrone. And you are…” He paused, expecting an answer.
There was something odd about this whole situation. Outside of my initial reaction, something instinctual—almost peaceful—inside of me began to uncurl. Perhaps I could trust this Miles person. He seemed sincere.
“Bianca Brosnan,” I responded after a moment. There was no going back, was there?
Miles’s smile grew bolder, and I felt as though something significant had just happened. But I had no idea what. “Damen seems to have forgotten his manners. Cultured people shouldn’t hold meaningful conversations in doorways. Won’t you come in?”
He tugged me gently after him into the house, and I could only silently follow. My stomach clenched—expecting panic at the movement. Normally, I would be fighting the urge to flee if a stranger grabbed
my hand. But, surprisingly, nothing happened.
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was both confused and entranced. Perhaps it had something to do with the comforting tone of his voice. It was odd I’d feel at ease around these two strangers. But they both seemed normal enough.
And, surely, talking to them would be better than letting the ghost haunt me.
Chapter Three
Impeccable
I wasn’t sure how I ended up in this situation, but the entire thing was extremely bizarre.
The house did, indeed, look much nicer on the inside. In fact, I found myself sitting on a plush chaise in the middle of a grand parlor. Damen was alone with me now, as Miles left to get refreshments from the kitchen.
My host had paused his flirting with me since hearing of my friendship with Finn. Instead, he retrieved his clipboard and used his crossed leg as a table while he wrote furiously. Miles had mentioned that there was one other person in the home, but he was busy in the library.
Because that was exactly what this place needed.
I wasn’t sure what I’d expected Damen Abernathy’s private residence to be like, but this was not it. First, there had been the shocking decay of the exterior, but the interior was decked in modern Victorian style. The room was lit by the crystal chandelier and the roaring fire burning in the marble fireplace.
The atmosphere soothed my fear of being chopped into pieces and buried in the woods. Or worse—eaten.
Perhaps Dr. Stephens really was a kindly professor trying to help. All in all, I was beginning to feel more at ease than I had in a long, long time. Well, except for one thing.
Every so often, Damen Abernathy would glance at me in the most peculiar way. It was starting to get on my nerves.
When he did it again—the third time in less than three minutes—I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m sorry, but have I offended you somehow?” My voice broke through the silence.
Damen almost jumped out of his chair in surprise. It would have been comical if not for the fact that he had somehow managed to make the ungraceful movement look sexy. I was almost jealous—I’d never be able to practically fall on my face in such a manner.
After a moment, he regained his composure. “I beg your pardon?”
So, he was going to pretend that there was nothing wrong? I didn’t like that. I couldn’t let our relationship start out this way. I had to make an effort. “I said, I’m sorry. I know it was rude of me to just show up, but Dr. Stephens said that…”
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Damen waved off my concerns as he removed his glasses and leaned back in the chair. “I’m wondering why Finn, of all people, would keep you secret. He’s plotting something.”
So it wasn’t me?
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, turning away. Perhaps this was a bad idea. Finn hadn’t even told his family about me—there must have been a reason. Maybe he was ashamed? I wasn’t exactly the most normal person around.
Even so, it hurt. Besides my parents, Finn had been my whole life. I hadn’t realized how little of an impact I’d had in his. He’d gone out of his way to not mention me. Being here was even worse than I’d imagined; he would be beyond furious.
He could never know.
“Finn would never do anything bad,” I told Damen, forcing cheerfulness into my voice. “I wouldn’t worry.”
Finn had told me I was a terrible liar, but I had to try. All I had to do was to control my nerves—once shot, the filter between my mouth and brain tended to fade. “But speaking of that, he doesn’t know I’m here. I don’t want to bother him. It might make him angry—”
“What do you mean, angry?” Damen’s gaze narrowed and his voice had turned hard. “Who is he to dictate where you can and cannot go? As far as I am aware, Finn doesn’t own you or anyone else.”
Curse my mouth.
I panicked, waving my hands in front of me in an effort to calm this disaster. “That’s not what I meant,” I said. The last thing I wanted to do was to cause more conflict between the two of them. “I know that you don’t talk. Finn is just protective. I have issues. Finn cares—he looks out for me.”
There. Now he’d see what a good guy Finn was.
Damen was silent but didn’t appear to be convinced. However, as our eyes met, his cynicism returned to intrigue. I never looked at people this intensely. It seemed invasive. But something about his gaze wouldn’t allow me to look away.
I should have been nervous, but it wasn’t like that. Instead, a sense of familiarity swelled inside of me—blossoming the longer our gazes locked. My cheeks burned under his scrutiny. There was no way to deny that I was attracted to him.
He stared at me in the same manner. I had no idea what might be going through his mind. Whatever it was, though, seemed to make him frown even more.
I was a crappy future sister-in-law.
The moment between us shattered as Miles popped open the double doors and entered the room, pushing a silver cart. Another man followed him in—probably the person who had been hiding in the library.
The stranger spotted me and his sensual lips quirked up. Something about his expression had me mentally groaning as I realized that I was faced with yet another fantastically attractive man. My heart couldn’t take this. My brain couldn’t take this. What were the odds of there being so many good-looking men in one place?
Where should I look? When you had your soulmate, you were supposed to forsake all others. To avoid temptation, I might need to gouge out my eyes. Nowhere here was safe.
A moment later—when the new guy spoke—I realized the flaw with my plan. His voice was as beautiful as his face. Heaven help me.
“Bianca.” He elegantly strode toward me and kissed my knuckles. “It is wonderful to meet someone new. And if Dr. Stephens sent you to us, then you must be quite special. My name is Julian Kohler. I’m sorry that it took so long for me to join you. I hope Damen behaved himself, as he tends to be a flirt.”
Damen made a strange noise, and Miles smirked as he set out a fragile-looking tea set. I hardly had the capacity to feel self-conscious at their reactions, because most of my attention was now focused on Julian.
He was taller than Damen, and leaner, with striking blue eyes. His dark complexion was offset by his baby blue polo shirt, and his exposed arms showcased lean muscle. But Julian’s most defining characteristic was his long legs—which seemed to go on forever.
He was easily the most beautiful man that I had ever seen in my life. Where the others were rugged or seductive, this man was pure grace.
But he claimed Damen was a flirt? Because I was sure that they all were.
My eyes began to water, and I realized that I had been staring. And I hadn’t even responded to his introduction. Not that he had said anything about that, though. Julian just held my hand as if being stared at wordlessly was a normal experience for him.
“I’m sorry,” I squeaked out in horror. My cheeks heated at how rude I was being. “It’s nice to meet you. And I’m sorry about intruding on your meeting tonight.”
“Hush.” He pet my hand in a reassuring manner before he sat beside me on the chaise. “It’s quite all right. Generally, these meetings are boring, so you are bringing some excitement into an otherwise tedious evening.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. But thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he made himself comfortable while Miles hovered about, offering me cookies and tea.
Damen, who had regained his composure, rested his chin on his hand and leaned forward. “Dr. Stephens isn’t the type to match-make. So, why don’t you explain why Dr. Stephens sent you to this meeting, and we’ll take it from there?”
Chapter Four
Evaluation
I should have been able to launch right into my confession—it was what I’d come here to do, after all. But I hadn’t planned past getting here. I’d been too worried about being sacrificed.
However, now I was in a pickle. I couldn’t tell
them everything. I had learned that lesson a long time ago. I had to tell them enough so they’d agree there was a problem and they could help me.
Besides, who wanted to admit to cute guys that your ankle had been grabbed while you were bathing the night before? I didn’t need anyone to imagine me naked and barf on my account. That would be horrifying.
“It’s embarrassing,” I stalled, trying to find the words. I had to make this sound as normal as possible—or normal enough for a group of ghost hunters to believe. “And it sounds stupid…”
Julian’s mouth dipped at my hesitation, but it was Miles who spoke as he reached across the table and put a warm hand on my knee.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “You appear to be a shy person. It probably took a lot of courage for you to come here, seeking help from strangers. It was brave of you to come. Please don’t worry. We won’t judge you. Just talk to us.”
His gaze was too distracting. I folded my shaky hands in my lap and focused on my tea so I could think. “I know it sounds unreal, but hear me out. There’s a ghost at the home that I’m watching for my professor. Strange things have been happening. They started haunting me the first night that I was there, but I can’t leave. I told my professor that I’d take care of things.”
“Why look for me?” Damen asked when I paused. I glanced up to notice he was watching me. As our gazes met, he grinned. “I mean, you are welcome to do so—for any reason, really. I’m not one to argue when a beautiful girl seeks me out. But what made you look for me when faced with a paranormal situation?”
Of course he’d ask that. “Finn mentioned that you were interested in paranormal research.”
“That’s odd.” Damen frowned pensively. “You said he’d be angry that you came to see me. Then why—”
“He didn’t tell me to come. He mentioned it in passing a while back,” I responded. “Finn and I meet every evening. Yesterday, I mentioned asking for your help, and he said it was unnecessary.”