Page 31 of Kindred Spirits

So I walked out to the lake, snacks in hand, and glanced around. There was no sign of Ghost, of course. He could be anywhere, even miles away. Apparently, all the local lakes were connected by some sort of underground river. I didn’t remember a lot from half drowning when he kidnapped me a few days ago, but I remembered that.

Did that technically qualify as kidnapping? I didn’t know. I didn’t want to think too hard about it.

I put the snacks down on the ground and cupped my hands around my mouth. “Ghost! Ghost, it’s me, Axel. Where are you?”

Only the echo of my own voice against the trees answered.

A terrible fear gripped my heart like icy fingers. What if henevercame back?

I hugged my body tight and scanned the water for ripples, desperate to see him. Even before he revealed himself to me,Ghost had been a part of my life. Sure, it’d been mildly annoying that he shut off the generator every night, and that he stole food from my fridge, but his presence more than made up for it. There was just something about knowing I wasn’t alone out there that made getting through the hard days easier. If he was gone for good…

I shook the thought from my head because my throat was getting tight thinking about it. What did it matter if he left? I should’ve been relieved. After all, wasn’t I saying just that morning I wasn’t sure about being his mate?

But then I thought of his big face and the adorable little flashing bulb of light that hung from his forehead, how easy it was to talk to him about anything and everything. Even if he couldn’t always talk back, he’d alwayslistened.

“Why does everyone I care about leave me?” I sank down on the edge of the lake and pitched two pizza rolls into the water.

They landed with a loudplop-plop. They floated on the surface for a minute before something grabbed them, sending ripples through the lake.

I jumped to my feet. “Ghost?” I squinted into the dark, but there was no need. A moment later, a bobbing pale blue light appeared just over the surface of the water, illuminating Ghost’s big teeth and wide, white eyes. Relief flooded my body, and I had to fight not to sink to my knees. “Ghost!”

He snorted and came up out of the lake, shaking water off like a wet dog.

I couldn’t stop myself from running forward to throw my arms around him, not caring that it got my jacket wet. “I thought you left me.”

“Ghost stay,” he said, putting his arms around me. “Axel friend.”

Maybe it was the stressful day I’d had, but that made me tear up for some reason. I buried my face against his wet, leatherychest so he wouldn’t see me break down. “You asshole. Don’t you ever leave me alone like that again.”

“Do not grieve,” he said in Optimus Prime’s voice and tipped my chin up with a claw.

Even though I felt like shit, I had to smile at that, but my smile quickly faded as I remembered where that line had come from in the movie. Shit, I totally forgot Optimus Prime bought the farm in that film.

“Ghost,” I said, gently stroking along his jaw. “Did the movie upset you?”

He shook his head. “Memory. The base. Fighting. I did…bad things.” He pulled away, looking down at his claws. “Ghost is bad.”

“No, Ghost,” I insisted, reaching for him. “You’re not.”

“Axel doesn’t understand,” he said, mixing voices, and gripping his head. “Bad Ghosthurts. Kills.AngryGhost.”

I gripped his lower jaw with both hands, holding onto him as tight as I could. “Whatever you did, you did it to survive. It’s over now, okay? I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

He leaned into me with a heavy sigh, the breath tickling the top of my head. “Ghost hurts inside. Can’t protect inside.”

My heart clenched, and I pulled him into another hug, this one tighter. “I know. I’m sorry. I wish I could protect you from the bad memories.” I took a step back and looked up at him. “I can’t take away the memories, Ghost, but I can listen. And I brought pizza rolls.” I held up the bag. “Or, if you don’t want to talk about it, I can talk to you. I’ve had a shitty day, too.”

He perked at that second suggestion and nodded eagerly.

I smiled and sank into the grass. It was cold and damp, but he was here, and he was happy. That was enough to make my suffering seem small.

The lake was coldand dark, just the way I liked it. My mate sat on the shore, tossing pizza rolls out over the open water while I tried to leap up to catch them in my mouth. Each time I did, he smiled and laughed, a sound that filled my belly with warmth.

“Damn, it’s good to laugh after everything that happened today,” he said and finished eating the sweet pastry he’d been working on. Axel leaned forward, hugging his shoulders. “I don’t know what to do, Ghost. I have a feeling those guys aren’t going to give up.”

He’d been telling me about the strangers who appeared where he worked, men in sunglasses and suits. Men in Black, he called them. I wasn’t too worried about humans in black suits. If they came to hurt my mate, we could just leave. Find another lake. Make a new nest. We didn’t have to fight.

I swam to the shore and reached out to put a hand on Axel’s ankle. “Run away?”

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