Page 112 of The Phantom's Vice

Light.

It burns my retinas, causing my lids to stir.

Strawberry shampoo.

My lungs expand on their own for what feels like the first time in eternity as I breathe in the familiar, intoxicating scent.

Electricity.

It thrums from where a beautiful woman’s hand rests—burns across my nerve endings, breathing life to parts of me I thought had died long ago.

Blue.

Blue like the Salton Sea, like the crying skies over Moriton in the summer. Blue like sadness, like pain, like loss. Blue like Brett’s eyes.

Tears stream down her beautiful soft cheeks,and I want so badly to reach up and wipe them away. To have a taste, like I have so many times before.

And so, I do.

“Brett,” I whisper, lost in the relief swimming in her beautiful eyes. “Why are you crying?” She shakes her head. Her puffy pink lips parted slightly as she tries to form words. I reach up, cupping her cheek and brushing those pesky tears away with the pad of my thumb. “What’s wrong, darling?”

“I thought—'' She takes a shuddering breath, collapsing onto my chest as sobs wrack her body. “I thought I lost you.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” I tut, running my fingers through her silky raven hair.Soft. So, so soft. Just like it’s always been.“Neither heaven nor hell want me. Looks like you’ll be stuck with me for quite some time.”

“That’s not funny,” she murmurs, crawling onto the bed and curling into my side when she realizes I’m not strong enough to haul her by force. “You could have actually died, you know. And you were just going to leave me!”

“I had to,” I murmur, taking a deep breath of her intoxicating scent as electricity thrums across my skin. “Although, I am thankful you were there. Iwould have been tiger food had your vicious attack cat not snuck in Rupert’s pouch.”

“Thatwaspretty legendary,” she giggles, turning those brilliant sapphires onto me. “Hey, Ghost?”

“Yes, darling?” I ask.

She’s silent for a good while, tracing gentle circles along my chest with her fingertip, deep in thought. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about. Something that happened at the Sanctum, after you…”

“Almost died?”

She grins, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I saw a girl. A young girl.”

I pause, my mind reeling at what this means.If she really saw a young girl, that means…“Are you sure?”

She nods. “Kain saw her too. We didn’t know who she was or what she wanted, but… Ghost, she saved your life. She shot this weird silver stuff into your wound, then totally disappeared. Like a fucking…”

“Ghost.”

She nods, nibbling her bottom lip nervously. “Who do you think she was?”

I sigh, running a hand over my face. “She didn’t happen to have any… strange animals with her?”

“Yes…”

“Well, then, that must have been the Madam in Training,” I say, an ironic smile twisting my mouth. “If she helped you, I doubt her interests are aligned with the Sanctum. But it would probably be a good thing to check into, just in case.”

Brett nods, lying her head back on my chest with a relieved sigh. “I thought you would be mad I didn’t tell you.”

“Why in God's name would I be mad about that?”

She shrugs, a sarcastic little smile tugging the corner of her lip. “I don’t know. Because you’re… difficult?”

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