Page 40 of Bewitched By the Phantom
Raoul shifts. “He’s not. I figured it out.”
Erik laughs. “Do tell.”
“I saw the way your throat glowed,” Raoul points out. “There’s only one creature that feeds like that.”
Erik stills and I lift up to look at him in the face before glancing over at Raoul. “This is getting out of hand, Raoul,” I say. “Why can’t you just leave well enough alone?”
“He’s a fucking ghoul, Chris!” Roul spits. “Excuse me for worrying that he’s going to fucking drain you.”
I blink. “A ghoul?” When I look at Erik, he doesn’t deny it. “What does that mean?”
“It means he’s feeding on you,” Raoul spits. “He’ll kill you?—”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Erik growls. “I would never hurt her.”
“And yet you feed from her,” Raoul spits. “I know what you are. I’ve seen it. You can’t hide it from her any longer, you fucking monster!”
Erik narrows his eyes and stands from the bed, careful not to reveal any of my nudity, but not bothering to cover himself. He’s on full display, dick and all, and Raoul’s eyes bug out of his head when he realizes. “You dare question her safety around me when you literally abandoned her when you were children?”
“I went off to school,” Raoul spits.
“And you’ll regret that decision for the rest of your life,” Erik grunts. “I won’t ever abandon her and she knows that.”
“She belongs with someone human like her!”
“Someone like you?” Erik goads.
“Yes!” Roaul sneers. “She does!”
“Enough!” I snarl, climbing from the bed with the sheets wrapped around me. Both men snap their attention to me. “I’m not gonna sit here while you two have a pissing contest. Neither one of you are behaving like gentlemen right now. I’m gonna go and you two can continue whatever bullshit argument this is.”
“I just revealed he’s a ghoul and you’re gonna walk away without so much as a blink of an eye?” Raoul asks, surprised.
“I don’t care if he’s a fucking werewolf, Raoul.” I shake my head. “Fucking hell. I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions.”
“But he’s a fucking monster?—”
“And he treats me like I’m a fucking goddess,” I interrupt, my eyes narrowed. “Contrary to what you think, I’m fully capable of making my own decisions.”
“Chris, please?—”
“No. I’m done. You two measure your dicks. I’m going back to my room.”
Erik grins. “I’ll come find you later, angel.”
“The hell you will!” Raoul snarls.
Erik’s eyes flash dangerously at Raoul. “You going to stop me, golden boy?”
I roll my eyes and slip past them, leaving them to argue over whether I can decide my own fate or not. Raoul’s words filter into my mind while I storm back to the apartment. The word “ghoul” repeats over and over again.
The moment I’m back in my room with the door closed is the moment I pull out my ancient laptop and start to search what that means. I lose myself in that for the next hour, and by the end of it, nothing has changed.
Erik is still my Phantom. Raoul is still my friend. And while I’m blown away by the thought of something like that existing, my mind can’t quite think of anything except what Erik’s face might look like beneath his mask. That’s all I think about. That’s the only thing I don’t know.
And I really, really want to know.
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