Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (15 page)

She finally persuaded Will to leave while she took a shower and changed clothes. He stood guard outside her door with her room key in hand in case she needed him. The others had already finished eating and were packing equipment. They’d leave for Tampa after Aidan had a chance to rest. Ryan handled making the excuses and changing the production schedule without Will or Aidan getting involved.

Will ate alone with Kal and didn’t try to break their uneasy silence.

Kal wasn’t particularly hungry after viewing the footage of her overnight personality transformation, but knew she had to eat. She felt drained, beyond exhaustion, more like her energy reserves had been used. Of course they had, the wraith spent hours struggling and thrashing in the bed, and the resulting bruises around her wrists wouldn’t go away in the next day or two.

And the horrible things she’d said to sweet Aidan…

She closed her eyes and tried not to think about that. “Can I ride back with Aidan?” she asked.

Will watched her, then nodded. “If it’s okay with him.”

Maybe it wouldn’t be. “I need to talk to him, I think.”

“He knows it wasn’t you. He doesn’t take it personally. The wraith was in control.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.
I
take it personally. I need to talk to him.” She finally had all she could stomach and pushed her plate away. “He’s my friend.”

Another long silence settled between them. Will eventually broke it. “I don’t hate you,” he softly said. “I never meant to make you feel like that. I’m sorry. You’re good at your job, and I didn’t want to get involved with you. I just wanted to keep my distance.”

She nodded but didn’t respond.

“I had my reasons…” He stopped, his voice momentarily sounding choked. “Maybe at some point it won’t hurt so bad to talk about it. I can’t right now. But it wasn’t you, I swear.”

“Thank you.” Normally, she would have thrown back her head and thanked God for the revelation. She sensed he was telling the truth, and combined with his reaction when she fainted, she felt vindicated.

All the other events, however, tempered her relief. Especially her anguish at how she’d treated Aidan while under the wraith’s control.

They finished breakfast. Kal gathered her things and quietly helped sort and pack equipment. When Aidan emerged from his room two hours later, he wore his dark sunglasses and wouldn’t meet her gaze. They were the last to load up. On the far side of the van, out of eyeshot of the others, Kal grabbed Aidan’s arm and waited until he looked at her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, fighting the tears. “I know it wasn’t me saying that stuff, but I feel awful about it. Can you forgive me? I didn’t mean any of it. I love you like a brother.” She hadn’t meant to say it, but as soon as she did, she knew it was the truth. He did feel like a brother to her.

He shook his head and wrapped his arms tightly around her, sniffling. “Sweet cheeks, you don’t have anything to apologize for. If I’d known what Ryan was up to… This is my fault. I’m so sorry, babe. I never knew anything like this was going to happen. I’m so sorry.”

They blubbered on each other’s shoulders for a good five minutes. She wondered why Ryan didn’t use Aidan instead of Will for this purpose. He was obviously willing to be friends with her.

Then again, she didn’t feel the aching, visceral attraction for Aidan that she did for Will, and sensed that lack of sexual attraction was mutual. He slipped his sunglasses on top of his head, then cupped her face in his hands and wiped her tears with his thumbs.

“You’re a good woman, Kal. Really. Hey, if we’re going to be family, does this mean I get to kiss the bride?” His red eyes were still filled with tears.

She smiled. “Sure.”

He gently kissed her forehead and hugged her again. “He’s a good man, Kal. Will, I mean. And he doesn’t hate you, trust me. I thought Ryan just wanted the two of you to get close. I didn’t know he was going to pull some shit like this and play dirty. If I’d known that, I would have stopped it, I swear.”

“I don’t think you could have stopped Ryan. Not if my impression of him is correct.”

He released her with a final pat on the back. “You may be right about that, girlfriend.” He studied her face. “Are we really okay? Seriously? You don’t hate me?”

“We’re okay, and I definitely don’t hate you. Are you going to sit up with me tonight?”

“If you want me to.”

“Maybe wear headphones so you don’t hear what I say.”

He grinned. “Sweet cheeks, I don’t think you’d say ‘shit’ if you had a mouth full of it. I knew damn well that was the wraith talking trash, not you. If you really wanted to hurt me, you’d have picked on my socks or something.”

Today he wore emerald green sport socks—
where the heck did he find those?
—with his yellow sneakers. He really did have atrocious fashion sense.

Bless his heart.

“One of these days you have to let me take you shopping. It’s no wonder you’re still single. When I’m done with you, I’ll have the girls panting after you.”

An odd look crossed his face before he laughed. “Let’s just worry about getting you back to whatever passes for normal around this loony bin before we get down and dirty about my duds.”

* * * *

In Tampa, Aidan and Kal pulled into the production office parking lot forty-five minutes after everyone else. They’d stopped for lunch, just the two of them laughing and talking. For a little while she forgot the time. Will’s anxious face when they walked into the office brought the situation crashing home again.

“Are you okay?” Will asked her.

Will’s concern practically washed off of him. Something about that touched her at her deepest levels. He no longer avoided her gaze, no longer tried to avoid looking at her.

Her heart pleasantly thumped in response.

Aidan tossed the company van keys on Will’s desk. “She’s fine. Chill, dude. We took a break on the way home. It’s been a stressful few days, okay?”

The men exchanged a look she couldn’t interpret before Will turned to her. “We need to discuss the arrangements for tonight.”

Aidan spoke before she could. “I’ll take her to my place. She’ll be okay. She can scream her head off.” He winked at her. “Neighbors will just think we’re into kinky sex.”

Aidan could make her laugh. She gave him credit for that. He was so different than Will in that way, so playful and gentle.

Will frowned. “This isn’t fun and games. The wraith is dangerous.”

Aidan’s face hardened. “Dude, I’m not a kid. I can handle her.” To Kal he said, “Unless you want to make alternate arrangements, honey?”

Wordlessly, she shook her head. She still had a couple of days to make up her mind, to get used to the idea. If she had them, she would take them. She also didn’t want anyone but Aidan taking care of her and hearing her say those horrible things.

Will capitulated. “Fine. If anything happens to her, I’ll hold you responsible.”

Aidan’s serious tone startled her. “Dude, it’s already my fault, isn’t it? Trust me, I’ll keep her safe.”

To have these two men so worried about her, focused on her well-being, nearly overwhelmed her. She followed Aidan to his house after they stopped by her apartment so she could pick up a few things. She’d been to his place many times before, both for work and fun, and felt at ease there.

He cooked them a light dinner, and they watched TV on the couch for a while before she felt the rumblings start in earnest about thirty minutes before dark. Apparently sensing her discomfort, Aidan looked at her with concern.

“You okay, sweet cheeks?”

She shook her head, trying to fight her tears and failing.

He held her. “It’s okay, sweetie,” he murmured. “Go ahead and cry.”

Cry? She sobbed. As comforting as Aidan was, part of her wished he was Will. She couldn’t quite force herself to make the decision yet. She’d rewatched the video from the first night, when Purs and Gery guarded her. There were ways to trick the mind, but between what she felt, what she saw, and from the unaltered time stamp on the film, she knew this was real.

And the scrapes and cuts on her swollen knuckles were still healing. She didn’t imagine those.

Part of her wanted to eagerly throw herself in bed with Will Hellenboek. Admittedly from the moment they first met. Maybe that scared her and contributed to her reluctance. There was also the little matter of wanting to save herself. Yeah, she admitted it was old fashioned, but it was one of the few beliefs she didn’t mind having in common with her parents. Waiting for true love felt right to her. She’d dreamed plenty of nights of her handsome new husband carrying her over the threshold on their wedding night and making love with him until dawn. So what if he’d always had hauntingly familiar green eyes in her dreams?

Apparently this was a type of wedding, but certainly not the one she’d planned.

The wraith churned. Evil, stronger. “We need to get me hooked up, Aidan,” she whispered.

He kissed the top of her head. His gentle, sweet gesture made her want to cry again. “Okay, babe. You go do what you need to do and I’ll meet you in my bedroom. Hey, just think, you’re the first girl I’ve ever tied up in bed.”

The laughter was unexpected, but welcomed. She hugged him long and hard. “Thanks, Aidan. I’ll cherish the memory. Just promise not to listen to the darn thing when it starts running its mouth, okay?”

“Hey, like I said, you start insulting my wardrobe tonight, you might wake up with a shaved head or something in revenge.” He grinned.

“You’re not taping it tonight?”

“No, sweet cheeks. Not tonight. You know the truth now. I think you know I’m not after your hidden assets. I mean,” he quickly added, “I’m sure they’re nice and all, but it’d be like wanting to do my little sister, you know? Ick.”

She knew. That’s exactly how she felt. “I trust you, Aid.” Kal got ready and met him in his bedroom. He’d hooked the handcuffs to his wrought iron headboard and moved an overstuffed chair beside the bed.

“You won’t be very comfortable tonight,” she said, feeling guilty as she lay down.

He shrugged as he hooked up her right arm. “I’ll get some sleep before we go in to the office. How about I take you out for breakfast?”

“That would be—” Kal clenched her teeth as the wraith struggled for freedom, wanting her to sink her teeth into her friend’s throat. “Aidan,” she hissed, “hurry! Do it now!”

His jaw tightened while he quickly finished securing her. As he backed away from the bed, she had just enough time to look at him and say, “I’m sorry…”

* * * *

Kal opened her eyes as dawn broke a little after six Monday morning. She spotted Aidan slumped in his chair, a sheet over him, his head propped on his arm. She was about to call to him when he opened his eyes and stretched.

“Hey, kiddo. You back with me?”

She nodded. “How bad?” she asked. His wan smile told her more than she knew he ever willingly would.

“No fashion insults. Everything’s copacetic, baby doll.” He freed her. She returned from the bathroom to find him lying in bed and already drifting to sleep.

He patted the mattress. “Mind catching a few zzz’s with me?” he sleepily asked.

She slid under the sheet and cuddled with him. While it didn’t feel romantic, it felt right. He curled around her, his arm protectively encircling her waist. He kissed the back of her neck, but it didn’t feel the least bit amorous.

He felt like a protective big brother.

“Go back to sleep, kiddo,” he murmured. “It’ll be okay.”

Kal quickly fell asleep without the dark dreams of the wraith pulling at her.

* * * *

Will tried not to worry about Kal. Until the wraith was out of her and she was safe, he wouldn’t stop worrying.

He couldn’t sleep, tried watching TV, and even thought about calling Aidan to check up on Kal, but that would only piss Aidan off.

Aidan would protect her. Hell, Aidan was older than him, and far more experienced in battle.

Was it worth an eternity in pain to be with Kal? She wasn’t Abby anymore, even if it was her soul. Kal was a different person, mind and body, without any of the memories or experiences Abby had.

Will tried not to think about Ryan. What was his game? A normal person would assume this was all, on the face of it, merely a plan to get him back to The Firm.

Will knew Ryan too well to accept that explanation. For sure, Ryan did want Will back at work with The Firm. But it couldn’t be that cut and dried.

Ryan was smarter than that, smart enough to know Will would question Ryan’s motives from the start. Will knew damn well he was not the only archdemon capable of saving Kal.

So what was Ryan’s true angle?

He wrenched his thoughts back to Kal. It was unfair to her. No matter who she used to be, she was a different person now and deserved better than The Firm in her life. She was beautiful, could have easily found a nice guy, had kids and a normal life, soccer mom bullshit boring and not trying to save the world every time she turned around.

He wouldn’t deny he wanted her. He wouldn’t deny there were worse choices for a soul mate.

He didn’t know when—if—he’d be able to tell her he loved her despite knowing he could take her as his soul mate. And that wasn’t fair to her. Would the pain in his soul ever fade enough to allow him to love again?

She deserved better than this.

She deserved better than him.

* * * *

Aidan dreamed of Chloe. It surprised him how, in recent weeks, dreams of her plagued him at night. He’d sometimes go years without dreaming about her. It was as if some part of his mind had recently exploded, releasing memories and playing them over and over again. Teasing her the way big brothers tease beloved baby sisters, singing her lullabies to soothe her to sleep, carefully screening the guys who wanted to court her—all of it. It was a bittersweet experience.

Even a half-assed shrink would probably tell him they’d been triggered by his new relationship with Kal. Chloe was the only sibling he’d really known or been close to, the others much older than himself. Even though Chloe and Aidan were half siblings, sharing the same father and separated by centuries of age, they acted like twins in many ways.