Page 48 of Grave Possession

My fingers trail up her back, over her shoulder, then down her arm. “Hey, we match,” I chuff. What are the odds our shoulder injuries are both on the left?

She tenses in my hold, every muscle in her body seizing tight and rigid against me.

“What did you say?” she whispers. Raising her head, Mallory’s eyes bore into mine, glazed over and terrified.

“Are you okay?” What the fuck did I say? A shiver racks her body, and I know she’s about to have another panic attack.

“What d-did you say, Nox?”

“I don’t want to say it again.” Not with how quickly she just flipped and started to spiral.

“Is this real?” she whispers, pulling away from me and sitting cross-legged. Her eyes are darting all over the place, searching for a threat that isn’t there. Hands patting around, frantically looking for something to grip onto, something to prove this isn’t a facade.

It’s me. She needs me.

Scrambling up and moving to stand in front of her, I infiltrate her vision, blocking out everything that isn’t me. She’s gone, lost in her mind. Mallory’s looking through me like I don’t even exist. This is what it was like before I came into her life.

I can help.

I can bring her back.

Clasping her shaking hands in mine, I find them ice cold. I move my palms up her arms and back down, trying to force the warmth of my body into hers.

My hands move across her skin gently to cup her face. I lean in slowly, kissing her cheek, the tip of her nose, her other cheek, the centre of her forehead. “Come back to me, little siren,” I whisper pleadingly. Resting my forehead against hers, I watch her lashes flutter. My voice breaking through the dissociation.

“Ghost?” she croaks.

The way she sees him as her protector and not me irks its way beneath my skin. I know I did this to myself, but why can’t she search for me when she’s lost?

“I’m here, baby. I’m real.”

“You’re here?” The sorrow-laced relief in her voicestabs me right in the gut. Guilt burrowing like a corkscrew in my chest.

I nod. She’s trying so hard not to cry, not to splinter apart to unfixable pieces before my very eyes.

I’m safe, you can let go, Mallory.

She launches herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and embracing me tighter than she ever has.

“I’m sorry for whatever I said that sent you back there.”

“It’s okay, there’s no way you could’ve known.” Her frigid body presses harder against mine and I feel the chill sinking into me.

“Want me to run you a hot shower?” Again, she tenses.

Okay, what the actual fuck did he do to my woman?

“Bath. I meant bath,” I quickly correct myself. “Want me to run you a bath? Maybe make you a snack?” The tension slowly erodes from her body as it feels like she melts against me. Bath it is.

“That sounds great, thank you.” Mallory pulls away from me, looking so desolate. I don’t know what else to do.

“I’ll do anything for you, Mallory. Running you a bath is a pleasure.” Her cheeks flush, and she averts her gaze. “Look at me,” I say, and she tentatively raises her gaze back to mine. “If you hadn’t killed Johnson, I would’ve taken him back to that cabin and skinned him alive for you. I would have let you gut him, strangle him slowly, or torture him in whatever way you saw fit for all he did to you and the others.”

“Lennox…” her voice cracks.

“I don’t need you to say anything, just listen. I may be a cop, but that won’t stop me from doing whatever I can to protect you. I’ve killed for you before, don’t think for one moment I won’t do it again because I’m now the captain.” Her mouth opens like she’s about to speak, but I silence her thoughts with another breath-stealing kiss. “And I definitely don’t look at you any differently for killing…and enjoying it.” I murmur against her lips and she gasps. Yes, she was traumatized and hysterical in that moment, most likely in the middle of a breakdown from thinking Ted took both Victoria and I from her. But I saw the way she was entranced by the blood on her hands, and the drip of it off the tip of my knife.

“I-I didn’t like it…”

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