“Yeah, there’s no such thing as ghosts.”
“You sound very sure of that,” Mum said.
“At school, Milly Walters wrote in her journal that she’d seen a ghost, and Mrs Knight said that ghosts don’t exist, so there must have been another explanation.”
“And what do you think?”
“I don’t think they exist.I think they’re just in films and books, like unicorns and dragons.”I’d been convinced Mrs Knight wouldn’t lie to us, truly believing teachers weren’t allowed to lie to the kids or else they’d lose their jobs.
“Then it doesn’t matter what I think,” Mum said, smoothing my hair from my face.
“Can we go to the house on holiday?”I wanted to look at the photo again, but she’d hidden it in her pocket.
Mum shivered before shaking her head.“No.I’ll never set foot in that house again.”
Now, scanning the room, I still can’t quite believe I’m here—inside Belial House.I have no fucking idea what shit happened here, why the staff all think this place is cursed, and why my mum visited once and will never come back.
But I guess, seeing as how we’ve been dumped here for God knows how long, we’re about to find out.
TWELVE
HAYAMI
ONE MONTH AGO
A fairground has cometo one of the large parks on the outskirts of Rothkor, and I’ve insisted on going as part of my campaign to ruin my father’s plans for me.After the visit to the bar, I nearly abandoned the idea of fighting back.It was going to be too difficult, considering I had the Beast breathing down my neck.
I won’t lie.I’d been intrigued by the bar I convinced Willa to let me go to, turned on in a way that I’d never imagined and only read about in the romance novels I devour.I’d felt drunk on lust watching the couple in the booth, surprised that it was Willa, not the Beast, who seemed more eager to steer me away.He’d stood behind me, watching, waiting, but not dragging me away by my hair or punching anyone in the face.
And there’d been a moment—when the woman invited me to join her—that I thought maybe the Beast was going to be okay with it.But something held me back.Nerves?Fear of the unknown?I don’t know.Then Willa rocked up, and the moment was lost.
Since then, I’ve had to rethink my plans—until I saw the poster for the fair.
Bingo.
Strangely, my father has agreed to let me go, but only if I take two bodyguards with me.So, the Beast and Bastian have been given the delightful task of ensuring my safety for the evening.
What my father doesn’t know is that I’ve arranged to meet up with someone—Cole Kilner, a new guy from university who arrived in Rothkor a month ago.He’s nice.Cute.And, as far as I can tell, he either doesn’t know who my father is or hasn’t put two and two together and realised I’m Barrett Devall’s daughter.
The fairground is noisy and littered with people of all ages.The smells of fried food and candy floss mingle with the garish clash of music genres and sound effects from the rides, as well as the riders’ shouts and screams.
I imagine it’s a bodyguard’s nightmare.So much going on, so busy, too many things to pay attention to.The perfect place to get lost.
When we meet up with Cole, the Beast is furious.
“This wasn’t part of the plan,” he tells me, his scowl accentuating his scars.
I glare at him.“Sometimes life doesn’t fit into a plan.”
“We haven’t done any background checks on this guy,” he points out, not lowering his voice.
Cole just looks confused, his sandy hair flopping into his eyes.
Bastian comes to the rescue, his gruff voice highlighting how much he doesn’t want to be here this evening.“He’s fine.He goes to uni with her.We’ve done checks on all the students she has classes with.He checks out.”
The Beast huffs as I smile at him.One–nil to me.
The pair stalk behind us, checking for signs of danger, hidden weapons, and whatever else they keep a look out for whilst Cole asks why I have two bodyguards tailing me.I try to convince him that they’re overprotective family members, which doesn’t wash.But I laugh it off and hope he doesn’t ask any more questions.
