Page 11 of Kat Bethel

Fuck.

Nothing like having hundreds of souls looking at you like you might eat their baby. I swallowed harshly.

So much for not bringing attention to myself.

Men clutched their female companions to them protectively. Children hid behind their mother’s skirts. Women covered their mouths much like I had a moment before.

Why were they all looking at me like I was a monster?

A bad feeling rolled through me and made my hands shake.Why did I suddenly feel like I wouldn’t survive this hunt?

A breath blew across my neck, making the truth snap with a click inside me. They weren’t looking at me at all.

They were looking over my shoulder.

My stomach shrank as the realization threatened to drown me. I took a deep breath to steel my nerves, before I slowly turned on my heel.

Did I even want to know what terrified the dead?

A shapeless black shadow radiated behind me. A space where light ceased to exist, even though it was only a few feet away from the fire pit. I squinted to get a better look at the thing before me, as if that would help me make sense of what I was seeing.

The shadow moved like vibrating bugs, until I blinked and the shadow tucked itself into the outline of a man with bulkingmuscles and was just as tall as I suspected. The edges of his silhouette blurred in a way that told me he’d chosen to present himself to me in this form.

His face didn’t have eyes, a nose, or lips, but there was some underlying bone structure that made him appear more human than he was.

He slowly lifted his hand as if he was hesitating. I didn’t dare run or do anything that would make him respond violently. My breath shook as he moved so slowly I wasn’t sure what his intentions were. His fingers hovered inches away from my chin like he was hesitant.

My heart pounded against my chest as the whispering started up again. Horrified gasps and whimpers filled the space. They were terrified.

What is he doing?

After a long moment, he took a step forward, making the foundation crack as he did. That was him.

The shadow finally cupped my cheek, caressing my lips with his thumb, like he expected me to shatter to pieces as soon as he touched me. His cold breath washed over me like he’d been holding it. Like the need to touch me had plagued him so much it hurt.

Women sobbed and one man muttered, “That poor girl.”

Their fear was for me.

But nothing happened despite their pleas.

His body froze, but the edges of his form blurred and crawled as if he was struggling to hold his shape. Despite not having eyes, his gaze locked onto me, searing my skin deep to my core. The heat of his intensity rolled around my stomach uncomfortably. A flutter of something I immediately hated tried to take hold, but I rejected the desire.

His grip on my face tightened hard enough, I was sure I’d bruise. It was like he was testing if I was real.

Think, Sasha!

Burning rosemary a day keeps the ghosts away.All my training finally grabbed me by the scruff. I reached into my pocket and lit a bundle of rosemary with my lighter.

One by one, the audience of ghosts faded away as the herb soothed their souls into temporary peace.

But he remained before me.

The shadow man tilted his head to the side as if I’d done something curious. His fingers slid up my cheek, until his huge hand expanded up to my temple.

He stepped forward until his chest was an inch in front of my nose. Too close. Even my husband hadn’t been that close in a year.

I couldn’t hold back the urge this time. I pushed him to create space, but my hands went right through him as if he was one of the spirits. My hands crackled with static electricity, but I couldn’t grab anything solid on him.