Page 59 of Seducing Jenny
“What do you think is happening to Credo?” Mal asked Abyss.
“I’ve never seen it before, but I’ve read about it,” she said, her voice unsteady and her expression filled with concern. “The curse is called The Long Death. It can take decades to kill thebody, and when it does, the ghost is still tethered to it. Even if the body is down to ash, the ghost is still stuck, incapable of moving onto the ether.” She looked ill. “It’s a fate far worse than death. Whoever did this is a cruel bastard, and they deserve the worst.”
Anger twisted Mal’s features. “Can a magician tell who cursed him?”
“Some have that ability, but not all.”
“Whoever did this, I want them to pay for this cruelty,” Mal said with conviction, his hands curling into tight fists.
I was startled by the fact that the ire in his voice excited me, deeply.Strange.I did my best to shake off the unnerving sensation, but the feeling lingered.
“If I can help you with that, I will,” Abyss swore.
Suddenly, my head started to spin, making me dizzy. Combined with the piercing pain in my temples, I felt as though I was going to throw up. “Yeah, uh, everyone, I need to go lay down.”
“Headache is back?” Tiger asked, worry in his eyes.
“I think so,” I muttered, standing and trying to maintain my equilibrium. “Or it’s a migraine. I don’t know. Just get us back to Sorellamore, so Abyss can go home, and we can, too. We’re going to need Surge for Credo, and there’s no time to waste.”
I stumbled to my captain’s quarters and laid down on the bed, praying the room would stop whirling.
“You look like you know how to party.”
My head popped up at the sound of a woman’s smooth voice and it took a moment before I could focus. A Ladrian ghost with long blue hair and big brown eyes walked toward me from the corner of the room. She smiled a lover’s smile, seductive and pleased.
My heart slammed in my chest and I scrambled to my feet.What the fuck?“What are you doing in my room?”
“I came to see you,” she said, her voice a low, sultry purr.
I was instantly on guard. “Why?”
She kept walking toward me, each step closer, raising my hackles. “Because we’re going to have some fun together.”
“No, we’re not.” I bolted for my door, but she beat me there.
“Yes, we are.”
She grabbed my wrist, shocking me with the fact that she was actually able to physically touch me, and my hand went ice cold. I couldn’t pull away as her fingers penetrated my bones. First my wrist, then my forearm. I tried so hard to yank myself from her grip, but I couldn’t even move. The cold made my bones ache from the chill. I screamed inside my head, trying to scream for real, but unable to make a sound.
As her transparent form entered my body, she murmured, “Just let it happen. You’ll be more fun than that old caretaker Petal was, I can tell. Your heart is heavy with worries, but that’s not you. You’re young and you just want to be free, right? No more responsibilities, no more worries for you.”
Her hand slipped through me, and I realized with horror she was putting me on like a jacket, invading every part of me, a costume for her to wear. When she was finally lined up with my body, she took over completely. I even felt her in my head, like I had four eyes to see the world through.
She walked us to the mirror to look me in the eye as she said with a sinister smile, “Jenny…that’s your name, right? Don’t worry. I’ll show you how to party.”
CHAPTER 17
Mal
“It’ll be good to get back to your estate,” Tiger said as he guidedCheesecakeback toward Sorellamore, with Abyss and myself in the cockpit with him.
I tipped my head to the side, surprised to hear him say that. “What makes you so anxious to return tomyestate?”
He grinned impishly. “Don’t tell her I said it, but I miss Discord.”
I laughed hard. “I swear I won’t mention it.”
“She’s smart, fierce,” Tiger mused. “She reminds me of some of the elder women of my clan.”
