Page 86 of Revenant

Not just any ghost, but crystal.

The darkness doesn’t seem to touch her. Before I have a chance to wonder why she is with the guys, my men creep ever closer…only to halt when the guard pulls back the hammer of his gun with an audible click. Now that he’s not allowed to torture us, the creep looks like he would rather be anywhere else.

Or maybe he’s finally realizing the danger.

When some people are confronted with the unknown, something more powerful than them, they react irrationally at being at the bottom of the food chain. The first response for many is to exterminate the threat.

Before I can react, Hershamn latches on to my wrist with a grip so brutal that my bones grind together, and I can’t seem to shake the leech off. The instant he touches me, his ghostly form shimmers into view.

“Release me.” I infuse my order with power, and his fingers slowly peel off me one by one.

What are you doing?He glances around the room, curious about the inky darkness, seemingly unperturbed by the change in situation. Instead of radiating fear, like a rational human being, the asshole is fascinated.Where am I?

I scowl at him in annoyance, an unsettling sensation twisting my stomach at his eagerness to learn more about my abilities, the fucker already scheming how he can use me.

“You’re hovering between life and death, asshole.” Jaceson stalks forward, ignoring the doctor to cup my face. “Rue?”

His hand is so warm that my skin tingles at the contact. Needing more, I rest my palm against his chest, awed when his heart skips a beat under my touch. While I would never curse anyone with my gift, I’m beyond grateful he shares my abilities.

I no longer feel so alone.

Fascinating, Hershamn mutters, then he reaches out to touch my arm again…only his hand passes right through me this time.

I shudder at the contact, his slimy touch making my soul feel dirty. When he reaches for Jaceson, fury surges through me, and I slap away his hand. No fucking way is he allowed anywhere near my men.

Anxious at what might have happened to my guys after I was taken, I glance at them with worry heavy in my heart. Unsurprisingly, Hicks is tracking the guard like a predator about to pounce, waiting for the gun pointed at my head to waver for even a second. Jameson and Gunner are unobtrusively unhooking cords from my body, and I wince at the plucking sensation against my skin.

I glance around the room, and my eyes widen when I spot Sue and her gang. Behind her is Mabel, and I sigh in relief that she survived. I scan the area, relaxing when I locate Ellis hunched over a computer in the corner, the man using the commotion to fade into the background.

I’m distracted from my guys when Crystal waltzes closer, anger darkening her expression as she stalks Hershamn. The doctor purses his lips at her approach, a furrow between his brows as he studies her curiously. As soon as Crystal steps within reach, she draws back her arm and wallops him across the face. Instead of her fist passing through him, it connects.

The doctor grunts in surprise and stumbles back, flying right through the bed behind him. The body of the mysterious woman jolts at the contact like she was shocked with a defibrillator. Crystal’s eyes widen at being able to touch him, a malicious grin taking over her expression, and she advances on him again.Oh, I’m going to enjoy this.

I catch her arm before she can chase after him, and her ghostly shape turns solid at the contact. Before she can shrug me off, I shake my head. “Wait. Watch.”

Darkness creeps toward the other bed, pooling under the woman’s body before it’s slowly absorbed into her skin. I instinctively retreat, clutching Jaceson’s arm and drawing him away. My eyes widen in alarm when the woman on the bed sits upright. Her movements are so stiff, they look unnatural, like she forgot which body part moves in what way.

Wires tug free from her skin, cords ripping from her flesh, and blood trickles from the wounds. And through it all, she doesn’t flinch.

Ruthie?the doctor whispers, his voice hoarse with disbelief. His washed-out green eyes shimmer behind his glasses, and he blinks rapidly.You came back to me. After all these years, I finally managed to save you, just like I promised.

When the doctor shuffles closer, I slip off the bed and step back. Whatever is in that body is no longer human. A sense of unnaturalness pours off her, a wrongness that makes me cringe.

“Save me?”Ruthie’s voice is a dry rasp, and she tilts her head to the side, looking like a porcelain doll moving in a way that it shouldn’t. “You didn’t save me.”

Oily black motes gather around her feet like her body can’t contain them, the substance oozing from her pores. Tiny tendrils spill across the floor, and I instinctively cringe away from the insidious darkness.

Oblivious to the danger, Hershamn nods like a child, a genuine smile lighting up his expression.After a decade of research, I finally managed to reverse what Father did to you. You’re going to be fine.

Jace grabs my hand and drags me farther away, only stopping when we bump into the bed behind us. Pain jolts through my nerve endings at being forced to move, my bodystumbling when my muscles tremble and feel too heavy, and I realize I’m not healed as much as I thought.

As the darkness spreads, spirits begin flickering into existence like it called to them. Soon, the walls shimmer ominously, and shapes push through the surface.

Ghosts.

A whole army of them.

They resemble a shambling horde of fucking zombies, each one more horrific than the last. Each body reveals the different tortures they endured, their wounds reminiscent of the injuries they obtained while alive.

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