Page 117 of The Ghost of Ellwood
“Help will be here soon,” Carter said, falling on the other side of me. “Fuck. What happened?”
“I d-don’t know. The manor just caught fire. I hate myself for not realizing it sooner. By the time I got to Ben, he’d already inhaled so much smoke.” Theo smoothed the hair from my forehead and pressed his lips there. Tears fell to my cheeks. “Don’t leave me, darling.”
The sirens grew louder, followed by doors slamming and men shouting to each other.
“There’s a body over here!” one shouted from a short distance.
Did he mean me?
Everything was chaos. I willed my eyes to open, but they refused to obey me. A cold kiss touched my lips before fading away.
No. Come back, I tried to tell Theo.
But then the paramedics were around me.
I faded in and out of consciousness, but before I blacked out completely, I could’ve sworn I heard a whispered, “I love you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The smoke inhalation was so bad they had to administer oxygen through a breathing tube. I’d also been given Bronchodilators to help relax my lung muscles and widen the airways. Thankfully, there wasn’t any infection or chemical poisoning.
The doctor wanted to keep me for at least a day to make sure no other symptoms developed, but she said I should be able to go home soon.
Home.
The beautiful home I shared with Theo hadn’t caught fire by accident. The paramedics had found another body on the property, right beside the greenhouse. Wayne Henderson had started the fire and had had a heart attack directly afterward. Or so they speculated.
The reason for why he did it baffled nearly everyone. But I had my suspicions. He had shown up nosing around my property after I moved in and had shown his contempt for not only men like me but for thedemonhe believed to dwell in the house. My theory was the news about Theo’s journal being discovered, and the reveal that he was gay, had probably pushed Wayne off the deep end.
And he’d used fire to represent the flames he said I’d burn in one day.
Carter didn’t leave my side. Dark circles were under his eyes, and he looked like he’d fall over any moment, but he’d stayed awake and watched over me.
When I was finally released from the hospital, I squinted my eyes against the blinding sun. They were still a bit sensitive but didn’t hurt nearly as bad as my chest. I dreaded seeing the manor.
Most of all, I worried about Theo. House or not, he was stuck on the property. Forever.
“You okay?” Carter asked from the driver’s seat.
“Not really.” I pressed my head against the window. “I’m probably homeless now, and my boyfriend is trapped there.”
“Haven’t heard you call him your boyfriend before. That’s sweet.”
“He’s more than likely freaking out,” I said, my heart constricting.
“I tried messaging him to say you’re alive, but I never heard back.” Carter slid the steering wheel between his hands as he turned onto the main road.
“He couldn’t use his laptop if there’s no house or electricity. I doubt he got the message.”
“Sorry for bringing this up, but it’s been on my mind ever since the fire,” Carter said. “This was because of her, right? Lady Death? When we went to Redwood, you saw her and coughed like you were surrounded by smoke. You screamed that you were on fire and started trying to take off your clothes in the fucking winter. It seems like some kind of premonition.”
I’d deliberated it too. I should’ve died in the fire.
“Theo saved my life.” Emotion clogged my chest, and I placed a hand over my sternum. “If not for him, I wouldn’t have made it out of the house.”
“You cheated death, Ben.”
As horrible as it was to think about, a part of me kind of wished the fire would’ve taken me. I would’ve died and been able to live forever with Theo. But then reason slammed into me, and I knew I wasn’t ready to die yet.
