Page 69 of The Ghost and the Graveyard (Knight Games 1)
Ugg. I wished more than anything that I could just pass out, that the fear would kill me before this creature or its offspring ripped me apart. But before I could process what was happening, it dropped me on the grass in front of Rick's cottage and landed on the road a few feet away.
When I realized sharp teeth weren't impaling me, I stopped screaming and pushed myself up in the grass. Dots of black blood speckled my arms and the front of my dress, but I was otherwise unharmed.
The monster sniffed me from the road. Close up, the face was more like a dog's than a dragon's, with glossy black eyes, a leathery snout, and tufts of black hair sprouting from the tops of its ears. More hair grew between its scales, which ran from the jowls all the way back to the tip of the beast's barbed tail. It plopped down on the pavement. I scrambled backward toward Rick's porch.
With a flap of its leather wings, the beast's skin started to bubble, its blood boiling under the surface. The thing folded in on itself, the head tucking into the middle and the tail wrapping around the body. Under the skin, bones cracked and organs rearranged. To my amazement, when this process was done, what was left looked exactly like a naked man bent at the waist.
When the man stood up, everything I knew about the world crumbled to dust. From his black, wavy hair to the sickle-shaped scar on his chest, there was no denying who it was.
"Rick, oh my God! Oh my God," I yelled. "What the hell are you?" I struggled to my feet, limping on my broken heel.
"I told you, Grateful. I am your caretaker. If you would step inside, I will explain further. I realize this may come as somewhat of a shock." He positioned himself between my house and me.
"You kissed me. You touched me. We did...things together! You're not human, are you?" I was near panic again. My heart was threatening to explode out of my chest.
"No. I am immortal and you, mi cielo, are eternal."
Rick tried to take a step toward me. I jumped in the opposite direction. "Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me."
He halted his pursuit, but I could see the hurt in his eyes, the absolute pain. I didn't care. He'd led me to believe he was human. Why hadn't he told me this on day one? Why the long talk at my place? The picnic? I thought about his hands on me, his lips, the feel of him in my mouth. I'd done those things with a shape-shifter, a monster.
I limped across the bridge toward my house, moving around him in a wide arc. I wished I could wake up from all of this, to open my eyes and know that I lived in a world without ghosts or zombies. My head hurt. My brain couldn't process everything I'd just learned. One thought kept irking me above all the others; Michelle was right.
Like every other man in my life, Rick had turned out to be a total nightmare.
Than I Wanted To Know
When he'd recovered, Rick retrieved a towel from his bedroom and cleaned me up. The connection faded gradually, and my logical mind brought me back to the reality of what just happened.
"I...I've never done anything like that before," I said. Heat crawled up my neck and settled in my cheeks.
His eyes widened and he blew a puff of air out his nose, tipping his head to the side. "You are very good at it, mi cielo."
"That was, I mean, it wasn't... You were in my head! What was that?"
"I think dinner is ready. Let me make you a plate."
He walked into the kitchen, but the more time I had to think about it, the louder every alarm in my head blared. "Rick, did you drug me?"
"No! I would never do such a thing," he snapped.
"Then tell me what that was!" I yelled. Something in me knew this wasn't normal. I had wanted it to happen. I'd enjoyed it. I didn't regret it. But something had lowered my inhibitions. What happened was almost beyond my control.
"I was hoping this conversation could wait a little longer," he said.
"So, you do have something to tell me! A secret."
"You know?"
"Logan told me."
"Who is Logan?"
"Never mind. Say it. What is it that you are supposed to tell me?"
"It is about you, Grateful. About who you are and where you come from."
"What?" I narrowed my eyes, feeling my entire face tense.
