Page 20 of Tall, Dark and Haunted

Everyone stares at me with matching expressions of disbelief.

“Look, I don’t mind dying. The only thing I ever wanted in life, I got.” All I ever wanted was to make it as an artist, and I have. Not that I can say so without everyone knowing about my naked beaver. But if my men become ghosts… “I’d rather spend eternity as a ghost getting to know my mates, than be here, alone.”

“You would?” Red’s the one who asks the question. His voice is soft, his eyes warm as he stares at me.

I nod.

“Then it’s decided.” The deputy mayor gives the cops a curt nod.

“No.” Topher shakes his head, his eyes pleading as he looks at me. “If we’re ghosts, we won’t be able to touch. If we’re ghosts, we won’t be able to do this.” He threads his fingers through mine. “And this.” He runs his fingers through my hair, and I feel tingles shoot down my spine. “We’ve barely had any time together. It can’t be over before it’s even begun.”

Red wraps his arms around my waist. I can feel his warmth seeping in through the back of my shirt, his bulging muscles pressing against my sides.

I feel safe in his arms. I know he’ll protect me. And yet, how can he? How can anyone? We can’t fight the deputy mayor and her cops. Soon, I won’t be able to touch my mates… or anyone at all.

My heart nearly stops at the thought. How can I be around my mates when I can’t ever feel them again? Or kiss them? Or touch them? Or have hot, wild sex? Especially when mate sex won’t be anything like the vanilla stuff my ex was into.

It would be one thing if we were all old. If we’d spent years together doing all those things and then died and became ghosts so we could live happily together for eternity. But this? This feels more like torture. Like some cruel twist of fate.

This is worse than finding myself dead and naked in the Venus fountain. A million times worse.

“You can’t do this.” I turn to the deputy mayor. “Please. These guys, they’re my mates. We just met. I literally only died yesterday, and then I met them. And now, I just want a chance to be with them. Can you at least give us some time? A week, maybe two?” Not that it will be enough time, but it’s a start.

The deputy mayor doesn’t reply for several long seconds, and it gives me hope. But then she shakes her head. “If there was anything else we could do, I’d let you stay… but we need to reverse what has happened. We don’t know why the castle is here, or why our town is in Wales, but I’m responsible for Silver Springs and its residents. It’s my duty to fix things.”

“Fix things?” Topher demands. “How is this fixing things?”

“The coven is preparing the ritual. It will be performed at dawn and the castle will be returned to its prior state, as will the town.”

“So you’re just going to kill us?” I cry.

For a split second, the deputy mayor grows pale, but then she shakes her head. “No. We’re not killing anyone. We’re just returning you to where you belong… just like we’re returning this town to where it belongs. We’re doing what’s right. We’re fixing this mess. This isn’t personal.”

“Of course it’s personal.” Davy grabs my hand. I can feel his grip tighten, and his expression is as panicked as I feel.

“Please,” he whispers. “We can’t go back there.”

But the deputy mayor is no longer listening. She’s turning away from us. “Take them in.”

Liam, the troll, looks reluctant as he steps forward. “We’ll take you back to the station and make sure you’re comfortable until the coven is ready to cast.”

The officers don’t handcuff us, but they do place firm hands on our arms and lead us outside. I’m still holding my unicorn hot chocolate, but my grip tightens so much that some of the colorful liquid spills down the side.

“I’m sorry about this,” Liam tells me. “I recently found my mate, and I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I really wish there was some other way. I don’t want to do this, but we really don’t have any other choice.”

“You could let us go.”

“I can’t. The castle and the town shouldn’t be where they are now. We have to fix this.”

“But…”

“I’ll let you and your mates spend time together at the station tonight. And I’ll get you whatever food you like. New clothes, too.”

I know it’s the best I could hope for, but I still stare at my mates with longing. Spending one night with them at a police station won’t be enough. We’ll never get to go on dates. Or have sex. No matter how comfortable the cops make us at the station, I doubt we’ll be doing that. Which means I’ll never get to be with my mates.

“Now!” Red suddenly shouts. He shifts into a bird and takes flight. He’s magnificent, and for a second, I can only stare at him. He has the most beautiful reddish, brown plumage, black-tipped wings, and a forked tail.

He squawks, long and loud, as he circles above us.

“Run, Rhi!” Davy shouts.

He yanks me out of Liam’s grip, grabs my hand, and races down the street. Topher breaks free of the cop holding him and joins us.

“I order you to stop right now!” Liam yells after us.

“Why aren’t you going after them? You’re letting them get away!” the deputy mayor shrieks before shifting into a dragon. Oh my God! There’s an actual dragon chasing after us. Or there would be if she wasn’t more interested in breathing fire up into the sky in a fit of temper.

But just as I start to feel a wave of relief, one of the officers shifts into a pig and gives chase. His partner races after us on foot. And though we have a significant lead, I have a feeling it won’t be for long.