Page 57 of Monsters of Desire and Nightmares of Passion

I want to promise her something, anything to make her smile. “Ivy, I will gladly give my life to protect you, so don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not. When I’m with you guys, I feel safe.”

Cupping her face in my hands, I gaze deep into her eyes. “I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you. You are ours.”

Ivy nods and I kiss her. I love the way her lips taste, and that she’s not afraid of us anymore. I hate the idea that she feared us for so long. It absorbed our energy. Now that we have our anchor, now that we have Ivy back, I’m ready to set everything on fire to make sure she’ll survive and be safe.

Ivy

I dress the way the guys suggest for our journey, in black clothes and boots from my old closet. Before leaving, though, I need to refresh. At the moment, I lean against the kitchen counter, swirl around inside my cup the fresh tea with two spoons of sugar and some milk I had just poured, and try to comprehend how my life has become so incredibly crazy over the last few days.

Lisa floats around the kitchen, watching me drink my tea and eat my toast. She smiles. “You look like a ninja.”

“I look like a silly ninja.”

“You’re badass, Ivy. I’d be so scared.” When I told Lisa about going into the monster realm, she instantly became my cheerleader.

“What’s the worst that can happen, other than I could die?”

“Death isn’t that bad, Ivy. I’d hug you if I could, but I haven’t managed touch yet.”

“Hugs, Lisa. Will you take care of Powder if I don’t return?”

“Don’t talk shit. You’ll return. I have a good feeling about it.”

“Thanks, Lisa Nut what I need is for you to agree to look after my little asshole.”

“I will.”

I take another sip from my tea and nibble on my toast. Draw is highly elusive when he talks about where we’re going. No, not a place, more like a dimension.

“Are you sure you’re okay with everything, Lisa?”

“Yes. What else can I do as a ghost? I don’t see lights and don’t hear a calling. For whatever reason, something brought me to you and the guys, so I’ll stick around for a bit. And you do look cool. Look what I taught myself.”

Lisa closes her eyes and makes a serious face. She elevates a can of cat food and places it on the counter. She flicks her wrist. The lid comes off, the can lifts, then flips its content onto a small plate.

“See, I can feed Powder. I don’t know if I can clean the kitty litter, though.”

“Wow, that was like watchingGhost.”

“What’sGhost?”

“That movie with Patrick what’s his name. It’s so damn epic. I think it’s up on Netflix. You should watch it while we’re gone.”

She nods.

Draw walks into the kitchen. “Ivy, I hate to ask, but do you remember some of your training?”

“I recall bits and pieces. It’s like a puzzle. I get a new piece each day. But no. Most of my past is still blurry. I can’t recall training, but I do recall Emily and her Shadows and some of the others.”

My voice shakes under the weight of the guilt I feel. I’ve studied survivors guilt and knew about it clinically. Now I’m experiencing it first-hand. It punches me like a mule in the gut.

“How is it possible that I survived and they didn’t?”

“You fought incredibly well. When the Church hit us all with a numbing spell, me and the guys had to make a call. We knew The Church of Light was about to kill us all, so we had to protect you, make sure you’d be safe. Do you understand? I pulled you into the Shadow realm where they couldn’t follow us. That’s what damaged your memory.”

“Draw, I had no idea.”

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