Page 625 of Flirting with Darkness

He remembered his mother.

He remembered what it was to be loved.

Now, he would remember Natalie.

But that was too much, too raw, even now, even with the short time he’d had her with him. Those blue eyes gazing up at him lived only behind his eyes for now, the knowing smile that curved her lips.

Seeing all of that now, seeing her so clearly, he thought the pain of it might really kill him.

But that wasn’t rational.

He and her… they had only just met.

But then, that felt like a lie, too.

When he finally landed in the new place, it was her face he saw.

He still gripped the sword and clock, and the old man stood in front of him now. Triumph filled Ghost’s mind, a relief that nearly made him grin like a fool.

He had removed him.

He had removed him from that other Ghost’s time.

He had taken him far, far away from that other Ghost’s wife.

Ghost had removed this rotten, evil old bastard from any physical nearness to Natalie, and she would be safe from him now, despite what he’d done.

Again, it was the only thing that mattered.

It was the only thing he cared about.

Ghost didn’t bother to look around at where he was now. He lunged for his father, still brandishing the sword in his left hand, the mage clock gripped in his right. The old man was panting, eyes glassed, his expression contorted in a mask of such rage, he almost didn’t look human. He raised his hand, clearly about to hit Ghost with another bolt of light.

Ghost didn’t wait.

He sliced downward with the sword.

He removed the pale, ring-adorned hand and arm just below the elbow.

As he did, his father’s magick vibrated through the metal of the sword, into Ghost’s fingers and arm, into his whole body.

Before Ghost could think about what that meant…

…he vanished again.

His mind and body winked out the instant his father’s magick reached the clock still gripped in the fingers of his right hand.

Just before he left that new place, Ghost realized he had seen a few things.

He had seen a jungle there.

He had seen plants.

He had seen a mosquito the size of a small dog.

Remembering that, remembering the leathery wings he’d seen in the distance, Ghost couldn’t help but laugh aloud, even as he tumbled through space.

Wherever he had taken his father, Ghost had little doubt his father would not forgive him for it easily.

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