“Tris filled me in.” He glanced toward the window seat where Tris was sitting still in stone form. It wasn’t quite sunset yet. “You could have been killed, and I failed you.”
What? “Henri, none of what happened was your fault.”
“It’s my job to be vigilant and sense danger when your senses are dulled. That’s my whole purpose. My only purpose.”
There was an edge to his voice as he pulled away from me. My chest ached.
“Is that what you think? That protecting me is your only purpose?”
He climbed off the bed and stood with his powerful back to me. The urge to stand up and wrap my arms around his waist, to offer him comfort, gripped my mind, but I shook it off. That wasn’t how our relationship worked. What was happening to me?
“You should get a new golem.” He said the words stiffly. “I’ve been compromised. The shimmer man knows the word to deactivate me. I’m no good for you.”
Why did that sentence have such a double meaning right now? “Well, it’s just as well that the head weaver is a friend of mine. I’ll speak to her and figure something out.”
Heck, I hadn’t even thought of the fact that the shimmer man could deactivate Henri whenever he liked. All I’d wanted was to get him back, and now he was here, and God, I wanted to hug him.
I sighed. “All that matters is that you’re safe.”
He turned to me, his expression incredulous. “I’m safe? I don’t give a fuck about my own safety. It’s your safety that matters to me.”
“Fucking hell, Henri, just shut up, okay? You’re back. I’m okay. Let’s just focus on that, on the fact that we both made it.” I climbed off the bed and stood in front of him, head tipped back to look up into his face. “You’re more to me than a fucking bodyguard, okay. You’re my friend, my family, you’re my pain in the ass.” God, my throat was doing that closing-up shit, and my eyes were stinging with the need to cry. Urgh. “So, just stop. Stop pulling away and trying to be something you’re not. You’re not just a golem. You’re more than that. You’re Henri. My Henri.”
The last two words came out soft and whispery, and his body rippled with tension. His mouth parted slightly, and his gaze tracked my features as his hand came up to hover by my cheek. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted him to touch me so bad it was almost painful.
“Kat, I—”
“Ooh, my poor back,” Tris complained.
Henri dropped his hand, and his expression shuttered. My breath exploded from my lips in a sharp exhalation. Rein it in, Kat. Shit, what had that been?
“Sleep well?” Tris said cheekily.
I turned on her, hands on hips. “You’re a sneaky cow, you know that?”
“I do, yes, yes. I do. But you love me anyway.” She hopped off the windowpane. “Your friend, the head weaver, asked you to call her when you woke.”
“She left?”
“Yes. She woke Henri then left. Lark is fine, all uncompromised, but she put him in a healing sleep. He should be up later tonight. She’s going to make a talisman to connect you to me while you’re in Demonica, seeing as I can’t come with.” She sniffed in derision, but then her gaze fell on Henri. She looked him up and down. “Did you stay here all day?”
Henri dropped his gaze to the rug.
And then it hit me. He’d been woken by Karishma last night, but he’d stayed in the bed, holding me all day while I slept. Something inside me twisted in acknowledgment of an emotion that couldn’t be possible.
I cleared my throat. “I need to shower and change and call Karishma.”
“And go crossroads daemon hunting,” Tris reminded me.
“Yes, yes, that too.”
“I’m coming with you.” Henri’s tone brooked no argument.
I nodded curtly. “Fine.”
“Can you drop me off at Luther’s bookstore?” Tris asked. “I want to do some more research.”
“On the shimmer man?” Henri asked.
She pressed her lips together and nodded. “On him and a few other things.”
“No problem. Be ready to go in an hour.”
* * *
The water beat against my skin in a pleasant staccato rhythm. God, it was amazing what a good day’s sleep could do. A good day’s sleep in Henri’s arms. My stomach did a little flip. Traitorous body part.
Henri was a golem. A golem that dreamed and looked at me as if he could see into my soul, but still, he was a golem. I was being insane.
Ha, insane. That would explain everything because, in the eyes of my world, he wasn’t real. He was a construct created to serve a purpose, so then why were my insides in a knot right now? I spent too much time with him, that was the problem. He was the only male regularly in my vicinity. Of course, emotions would get confused and tangled. We just needed some time apart, that was all. Shouldn’t have agreed to him tagging along with Kris and me. Shit, it was too late to do anything now, not without explaining why, and hell, I had no valid excuse.
Plus, you want him with you.
Shut up, annoying voice.
A chill ran up my spine, and gooseflesh pebbled my skin as awareness bloomed in the back of my mind.
Someone was watching me.
Motherfucker. I snapped off the faucet and grabbed a towel, holding it to my wet body before stepping out of the frosted cubicle. Sure enough, the ghostly figure of a young man sat perched on the radiator. His hair was a darkish color, his eyes pale, and his slender figure was draped in clothes that looked modernish. I’d have put him at early twenties. And from the style of clothing, he’d probably died around a decade ago.
This kind of shit happened all the time at Ravensheart, but in Ravensheart, I’d have ignored it. Things were different in Scorchwood. The ghosts knew I knew about them and vice versa. No point playing dumb.
He raised a hand in greeting. “Hi.”
I glared at him. “Being dead doesn’t give you permission to turn into a peeping Tom.”
He rolled his eyes. “Puh-lease, it’s one of the only upsides of the incorporeal condition. But”—he held up a finger—“I didn’t come here to check out your goods or lack thereof.”
Lack thereof? “Excuse me?”
“You’re excused.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t take it personally. You’re just not my type. Now the dude down the hall … Ooh.” He fanned himself. “I could lick him up and down all day long.”
“Kris?”
“Is that his name? Mmmmm, Krisss.”
“Okay, now you’re just being creepy.”
“I’m a ghost, duh.”
I tucked the towel around myself and under my arms. “What do you want?”
“It’s more about what you might want. I came to offer my services.”
“Your services?”
“Uh-huh? You did good work taking down the shadow man. The whole ghostly community is talking about it. We’ve been waiting for you to come back to Good Spirits so we can throw a shindig to celebrate properly. You know, the fact that we’re no longer being fed off by some evil, otherworldly entity hell-bent on stepping into the mortal plane.”
“Oh, one of those shindigs?” I nodded sagely.
“Trust me, you’ll love it. The place has got a whole new look and a new owner since Vera got …” He ran an index finger across his throat. “So, I’m here to tell you, on behalf of everyone, thank you, and I am at your disposal. We all are, but me more than most because you know, I got time.”
“And you couldn’t wait till I got out of the shower?”
“What can I say, I’m not the most patient man.”
A ghost was offering me services. Well, that was a first, but then who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth? Ghosts were everywhere in this town. They probably saw a lot of shit.
I locked gazes with him. “In that case, thank you. If I need anything, I’ll be in touch.”
He grinned up at me and gave me a two-finger mock salute. “You know where to find me. I’ll be at the bar or somewhere in its vici
nity.” He stood and headed through the door.
“You’re going back to watch Kris shower, aren’t you?”
“Undoubtedly.”
The chill dissipated. He was gone. I tugged off the towel and stepped back into the shower. I still had to wash my hair.
It was only when I was lathering up that I realized he hadn’t told me his name.
* * *
My hair was still wet from the shower, and I’d left it open to air dry while I dressed in my worn-in jeans, a long-sleeved, navy-blue top, and my comfy boots. I gathered my almost-dry hair into a ponytail at the nape of my neck and snapped a tie around it.
Ready.
My fingers grazed the mobile phone on my dresser just as it rang shrilly. “Shit.” I answered, “Hey.”
“Kat, I have a solution to your golem problem,” Karishma said bluntly.
How could she know? My heart was pounding way too fast, and the words spilled from my lips. “It was a one-time snuggle. I mean, it wasn’t even a snuggle. He was just being polite. Probably didn’t want to risk waking me, you know.”
“What are you talking about?”
Wait … “What are you talking about?”
“About the activation word for your golem?”
Shit. I pressed my fingers to my forehead in a deep wince. “Yeah, that.” I cleared my throat. “I was about to call you about that.” Why was my voice suddenly deeper? “Ahem. Can you change it?”
She sighed. “I’m afraid not. But I can make you another golem. I can have him to you by—”
“No!”
There was silence on the line accompanied by the rush of blood in my ears. “No one touches Henri.”
“Kat … He’s a construct, not a person,” she said carefully, as if talking to a child about to throw a tantrum.
I swallowed the anger that her statement elicited. “With all due respect, you have no idea what you’re talking about. He’s saved my life more than once. He has thoughts and feelings, and he’s my fucking friend.”
There was deep silence at the end of the line. “He’s a remarkable-looking golem.”
My neck heated. “What are you implying?”
She sighed. “You’re not the first Nightwatch agent to develop an attachment to her golem.”
My cheeks heated. I knew what she was referring to. I’d heard the rumors about Nightbloods using their golems for sex. Golems were created to serve and protect, and some Nightbloods extended that service to the bedroom. It made me sick to think they’d use their golems in such a way. It wasn’t as if the golem could say no.
“Oh, I’m attached all right, but not in that way. Henri’s my partner. He knows me. We work perfectly together, and if you try and take him from me, then there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Kat—”
“No. You don’t understand. He’s not like other golems, okay.”
“In what way.”
Shit, she had the power to recall Henri. She had the power to take him away, and panic was a gnawing thing in my chest. I needed her to understand how different he was from the others. There was no other choice but to tell her the truth.
“He makes his own decisions.”
“But he can’t ignore your commands, can he?”
“No, but—”
“Because he’s a golem, and he was created to serve your will. To protect you and—”
“He sleeps, and he dreams.”
There was nothing but the sound of our breathing, and then, “That’s impossible, Kat. Golems don’t sleep, and they certainly don’t dream.”
“I know that’s how it’s supposed to be. But Henri is different. There has to be something else you can do to protect him.”
There was an ominous silence.
“Karishma, please. You know me. You know I’m not some delusional, flighty female.”
But I also had the mutated fomorian gene. I was also supposed to go insane. The knowledge hung between us like a tainted fog.
She had to believe me. I needed her. “Please, trust me.”
She cleared her throat. “Of course, Kat. I’ll see what I can do. I’ll take a look into his heritage, find out what he was made of. I’ll do some research. In the meantime, I’m couriering a talisman to you. You’ll have it by tomorrow. Get Tris to wear it for forty-eight hours, and then it’ll be charged for forty-eight hours. It will link you to her, so if you do have to sleep in Demonica, you’ll be protected from this shimmer man. I’m sorry, it’s the best I could do.”
“No. no. It’s fantastic. Thank you.”
“Be careful, Kat. Be safe.”
The line died.
She’d hung up.
Henri was safe … for now.
* * *
I knocked on Kris’s door, and he answered dressed only in a towel hanging low off his slender hips. Droplets of water skated down his torso and licked at his abs. I tore my gaze upward to meet humor-filled mercury eyes and an inquisitively arched brow. His dark hair was dry and pulled up in his go-to hairstyle.
“Just give me a minute to get dressed, and we can go.” He left the door open and padded back into his room, leaving wet prints on the wooden floor.
I stood frozen as he whipped off the towel and began to dry himself. Thank God he had his back to me, but damn, that was some view. Rippling muscle and taut butt cheeks.
I turned away sharply. “Shit, Kris, exhibitionist much?”
He shot me a wicked look over his shoulder. “Is my body having an effect on you, Justice?” He wiggled his brows. “Do you want to touch me?”
“Oh, God, is he naked again?” Mai drawled from behind me. She canted her head and stared at his ass. “You know what, it never gets old.”
What the fuck was going on?
I stepped back, taking Mai with me, and shut the door. “He has no shame.”
“And why should he? Did you not see that body?”
“Him and Killion both.”
“It’s a Demonica thing,” Mai said. “They don’t have the same cultural aversions to naked flesh as the mortal realm does. In fact, it’s considered rude not to appreciate someone’s naked body.”
The door opened, and this time a fully dressed Kris emerged. “It could almost be deemed a slight,” he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “We’ll have to get you used to looking and touching.”
“Touching?” My voice had gone up an octave. “As in touching you?”
Kris leaned toward me, his hands braced on the door jamb. “Are you scared?”
Mai cleared her throat. “Oh, man, this is going to be interesting.”
“Wait, do I have to be naked?”
His eyes darkened. “Only if you want to.” He held up a hand. “No, wait. Let me amend that to yes, yes, you most certainly do.”
Mai snort-laughed. “You’re incorrigible, you know that?”
“Unquestionably.” Kris dropped her wink then turned his attention to me. The pinprick pupils of his eyes flared dark and liquid as they drew me in. “You’ll need to get used to it, Kat. To my being close to you.” His tone had dropped to something seductive and compelling.
And now the treacherous pulse at the apex of my thighs was throbbing wildly.
Mai backed up. “Yeah, I’ll just leave you two to it. I’m going to check on Lark before patrol. Is it all right if I borrow Henri?”
“Huh? What?” I broke eye contact with Kris.
“Henri? Can I borrow him?”
My instinct was to say no. But we were a team, and right now, I needed Kris to help me catch a crossroads daemon, and even though I wanted Henri with me, there was no compelling reason he had to tag along, and hadn’t I just had this conversation with myself in the shower? Time apart was good.
“Sure, tell him I said it was cool. I think he was planning on hitching with Kris and me.”
She nodded. “Will do. I’ll catch you later.”
I turned back to Kris and flinched because his face was too close.
“Tut, tut. None o
f that,” he warned. “Relax.” The corner of his mouth curved up.
I tried to unknot my muscles but his face was too close, his breath warm and tingly where it touched my face.
“We could start the etiquette training now if you like.” His low, husky voice was doing all kinds of unwanted things to my pulse. “If you’re going to play my lover on the other side, then you need to be comfortable with my naked form. You need to be comfortable with me touching you.”
“Lover?” There was a definite squeak to my tone.
His mouth was hovering over mine now, so close that all I needed to do was lift my head slightly to bridge the slip of a distance between us.
“I get ahead of myself. There are things you’ll need to know about me before we enter Demonica. Important, vital things.”
He was touching me without touching me. It was in his eyes, in the breath that skimmed my lips, and then his hand was on the nape of my neck.
I flinched again.
“Shhhh, I’m not going to hurt you.” His voice was thick with a desire that echoed mine.
The pressure inside me was building in a need for release. “No. But I might hurt you?”
I slammed the palm of my hand into his chest and shoved him back.
He stumbled into his room with a chuckle. “Damn, Kat, that was hot.” His expression sobered. “But I wasn’t joking about the etiquette. It’s something we’ll need to work on before we leave.”
“Fine. And you can fill me in on your vital information while we hunt for this crossroads daemon, but keep your hands to yourself unless you’re prepared to get burned.”
He had that intrigued look on his face again but didn’t push. Instead, he gave me a mock salute and followed me out of the room.
We were halfway down the staircase when Jay appeared in the entranceway, blocking off the exit.
“We have a problem,” he said. “Male found ripped to shreds in Greendon forest. Kiran just called. The police are investigating, but it looks like an animal attack. A big animal.” Jay’s honey eyes flashed. “As in a moonkissed-shaped animal.”
Kris shook his head. “Rich and his pack wouldn’t kill a human.”
Give Up the Ghost: The Nightwatch Series Book 2 Page 4