Page 30 of Monster Mansion

“Youhave to wear sunscreen, Mrs. Ghostly White,” Blair snapped back. “I can generally get away with not wearing it after I get a base tan.”

“And look how well it turned out for you.” I laughed as I flopped back down in bed on top of the blankets.

“Shut up,” Blair said with a mildly embarrassed smile. “Anyway, you’re clearly still alive and well. How’d things go with your… ritual? Magic trick? I’m sorry, I just really don’t know what to call it.”

I hadn’t even considered what I would have told Blair when she would inevitably have asked about it. As much as I wanted to be completely honest with her and be able to use her as a sounding board to bounce my ideas off of, I wasn’t entirely sure she would believe me, let alone be willing to hear about how I was going to try to free the creatures that were trapped here. But still, I knew I was not a great liar, and if I tried to hide anything from her, I knew she would be able to sniff it out almost immediately.

“It actually went way better than I expected,” I said, as my mouth decided before my brain to go ahead and let her know what happened—at least some of it. I could be honest without going into all the gory and intimate details of their story. “If I’m correct, I think there are three different beings in this house with me, but I don’t feel like any of them are going to cause me any grief.”

“You don’t feel they’re going to cause yougrief?” Blair asked skeptically. “These three ‘beings’? Wait, am I still drunk? Ugh, Logan, how do you know any of this stuff?”

“I can’t explain it, Blair,” I said sternly as I rolled over onto my stomach and propped myself up on my elbows. She was allowed to be skeptical, but I really didn’t like her overtly disbelieving tone, like I was just making things up. “I justknow,” I finished, my voice snapping more than usual.

My friend seemed to catch the hint and nodded in response rather than cutting me off with a million questions in an attempt to prove that perhaps Ididn’tknow what I was talking about.

“Anyway, I think there’s a way for me to help them leave this place so they can move on in whatever else they want to do,” I continued.

As I spoke, I could feel the familiar light pressure of Nox’s tendrils creeping up my leg. He swore he would not cause me harm, and he knew he wasn’t going to frighten me, but I didn’t want to give away that something was happening out of Blair’s limited sight through my camera, so I did my best to keep a straight face.

“Is that wise, though?” Blair asked. “If they leave the mansion, couldn’t they just go on to torment others?”

“Sure,” I responded, still trying to stifle my expression. Nox’s touch was so light as he drew his shadows up closer to the insides of my legs. It was delicate and sensual, and I didn’t know what his intentions were, so I just remained stiff until I could rush off the phone with Blair. “But I don’t think they would? Anyway, Blair, my dad’s calling. I’ll call you back super soon. Love you bye!” I quickly ended the video call on that lie and rolled over to my back to see Nox only inches away from me.

It was my first time seeing him this close in the light. If it weren’t for his dark red eyes and smoky ribbons emerging from his spine, he would appear at home in high-end clothing advertisements. His expression was soft, and his mouth hung open just wide enough for his pillowy lips to look like they were near pouting.

“Um, hi,” I said, unsure what else to say as I sat up in bed. Nox just looked at me as his tendrils continued to graze my legs and now also my arms since there was no camera to hide from.

“I don’t like how she speaks to you,” the shadow man said with a vague sneer as if he smelled something unpleasant.

“Oh, she doesn’t mean anything by it,” I said with confidence. It was a little strange to have him appear out of nowhere and immediately go on my defensive, but I knew I couldn’t expect him to be well practiced and aware of human manners. “She’s my best friend, so we don’t always have to be ultra polite… to one another… what are you doing?”

As I was explaining Blair’s tone, Nox’s tendrils began to help themselves to me. They pulled gently at my shirt, flicked my ears, and picked up and dropped lengths of my hair like children climbing all over their mother.

“Apologies,” Nox said, reeling in his appendages. “There’s just something about you that fuels a part of me that I didn’t know existed. It’s like I’m hungry for you, and I’ve been hungry before, but not like this. It’s not my appetite. It’s something else.”

I couldn’t hide a subtle smile from appearing across my face. “I think I know what it is.” I leaned back onto my hands, leaving enough space for him to sit next to me if he so chose. I even patted the bed beside me so he knew that there was an open invitation.

My mind screamed in protest. I knew I had to be crazy to be acting this way. I was literally flirting with a creature of darkness and shadow from an entirely different world. There was no way to be certain he was sincere in the deal he’d made with me yesterday, and there was always the possibility that this was all an elaborate trap for me to fall into. I couldn’t comprehend why I was being so open and trusting when I had every reason not to be.

I did mention how handsome he was, right?

“I know what it is too,” Nox insisted. “I’d seen it in others. I’d watched it make them crazy with lust. It happens to all creatures, except me. Or so I thought.”

He didn’t choose to sit next to me, but he did position his extremely tall frame at the end of my bed. I couldn’t pull my gaze away from his piercing red eyes and perfect alabaster skin. I wanted to remove his formal clothing and feast my eyes on whatever he had underneath. My mouth started to water as the filthy thoughts coursed through my mind on a loop.

“I can feel you wanting me,” Nox hissed as he dipped his head in a devilish expression. “I can smell your desire.”

He gripped the corners of the footboard so hard I swore he indented the wood, and his eyes fluttered as they rolled back slightly.

“I promised I wouldn’t cause you harm,” he said through gritted teeth as I moved myself from sitting on the edge of the bed to laying down on my back on top of the blankets.

I was a woman possessed, unable to control myself in the presence of this shadow creature. I tilted my pajama-clad legs open just enough to tease him.

“You really think you would hurt me?” I asked in an innocent tone.

I knew I was playing with fire, and there was a chance I wouldn’t live long enough to regret it, but all I could think of was my first night here as the sensation of Nox’s shadowy appendages gently slid up and down my body. I wondered if he knew what he had done to me that night. I wondered if he knew how much his attempt at scaring me had actually titillated me in a different way. He said he could smell my desire now—could he then? Was I so transparent to this otherworldly handsome creature who towered over me?

“Yes,” he answered as he leaned over me. “Yes, you are so transparent. Yes, I knew you enjoyed my touches in the night. And I am unsure if I would hurt you, Logan.”

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