Page 28 of Ghouls and Girth
I take a breath to refute him, but my core contracts, so I nod again.
Their hands caress me as they slip away into the darkness.
A band tightens around my chest at their departure.Even though I asked them to bring me to my friends, every part of me aches for their nearness.
I straighten my spine and roll my shoulders back before shuffling down the hill toward my friends.
“Here.I’m here,” I respond to their calls before stepping around the tombstone several yards away from Bianca.
She screams and jumps back before recognition sparks in her eyes.
My friends’ cries warm my heart and ease the angst in my soul.
They crowd around me, exclaiming in excitement and alarm.I understand their concern.I probably look like I came straight from a horror movie.
“Don’t touch me!I’m fine,” I say as I evade their reach.
“You’re not okay.Let me call nine—”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I snarl and swat Trista’s phone out of her hand.
All three fall silent and stare at me with wide, startled eyes.I belatedly realize I’ve never raised my voice to them.Slapping Bryce was the first time they’ve seen my violent side.
“Sorry, I just… I’m fine.No cops.Go back to the dorm.I’ll be there before class starts again,” I manage through the emotions clogged in my throat.
I don’t know why I feel like crying, but the tears form anyway.
“You don’t look fine.What happened?”Bianca asks.
I bite back a sob and clear my throat instead.
“Lots happened.I don’t have time to explain, but I really am okay.I need you to—”
“There you are!What the hell did you do to my dad, you fucking bitch?”
Bryce emerges from between the trees and reaches for my shoulder.
My alphas converge.
My stepbrother is fucking disgusting.I hate him.He deserves to feel the wrath of my men.
No, he deserves worse.
I grab a tendril of his black smoke and yank his soul from his body.A transparent version of him pops free of his living flesh, leaving his eyes vacant and expression lax.I snarl and jerk his ghostly face toward me.Disgust curdles my stomach at his nearness, but the terror in his eyes fills me with vicious satisfaction.
“You’re done, asshole.Go to hell,” I snarl.
I take him there myself.I don’t know how or why, but with my alphas’ support and a surge of power, I open a portal and fling Bryce onto the burning ground at the feet of a giant monster with goat horns and flames for eyes.
“He’s all yours,” I say with a mock salute and a flounce back through the portal.
My alphas’ stunned silence as I rejoin them in the graveyard jangles my nerves.Bianca, Trista, and Gabby stare at me as though I grew a second head.I look behind me, but all that’s left of the portal is a spark and sizzle of air.No giant goat man followed me through.
“What?”I ask.
No one responds.
Bryce’s empty body clutches his chest and crumples to the ground.His heels tap against the lawn.He dies without another word.
