Shameful by May Dawson
26
Legacy
I yankedmy panties back up my thighs as I chased West out of Rhett’s room. “Where have you been allday?”
“Really?” West turned on me. “There are ghosts and that’s your big question? Do you have pants?”
“Is that your big question?” I shotback.
West stared at my legs for a second, then grunted, dragging his eyes to my face. There was something that made me feel powerful about the way West looked atme.
“If you want to fight ghosts in your undies, rock on,” West said. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him down the hall. Although his grip was firm, it was gentle, and it was strange to have a man tug me possessively with him the way that West was doingnow.
I glanced over my shoulder and found Rhett smiling. He shrugged his shoulders at me. He had a sword canted over one shoulder, lazily as if it were a golf club; it shimmered in the dim light.
“Why do we have to fight the ghosts?” I asked. “Have you even figured out what theywant?”
“What they want,” West repeated, his tone amused. “Well, I can tell you one thing theywant.”
He passed me the sword he was carrying, and I realized he had another one slung over his broad shoulders.
“Swords?” I demanded. “What are we, knights of the round table?”
“Guns don’t work on ghosts, sweetheart,” Westsaid.
He threw open the door at the end of thehall.
“This seems to be what ghostswant.”
The bedroom seemed empty. Quiet. I stepped in, the sword gripped awkwardly in my fingers.
The next moment, I heard a gasp from above. I whirled, raising the sword defensively, to find dark strands of smoke weaving back and forth across the ceiling. It seemed to be concentrated in a billowing mass at the center of theroom.
Then the mass cleared.
Killian was choking in the middle ofit.
“How do we help him?” I screamed at West and Rhett.
“Do we want to help?” Rhett asked skeptically, tapping one finger against his pouty lowerlip.
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, we want to help, you psycho.”
I didn’t even see how to reach Killian. His face was turning purple, as if the smoke was squeezing him to death.
Rhett heaved asigh.
Then he ran at the wall, jumped up onto it, and soared through the air, his sword slashing through the ghost’s smoke. I let out a scream, afraid he would cut Killian, but the ghost broke into a dozen pieces that seemed to flail through the air, each of them alive. One of them made a beeline for me, and I threw up my sword, cutting it inhalf.
“Well, your instincts don’t suck,” Rhett said cheerfully, landing on his feet. “Unlike your taste inmen.”
He and West went to work trying to cut the pieces of smoke up with their blades. Each time they cut one, the smoky tendrils holding Killian in place seemed to dissipate a littlemore.
I joined them. Suddenly, Killian plummeted to the ground. He slammed into the elaborate rug and rolled over onto his back, drawing in a desperate breath. Then he lay there groaning as West, Rhett and I cut the rest of the ghost piecesdown.
Suddenly, the smoke slammed into the ceiling, coalesced into one single black stain, then disappeared.
“You’re welcome,” Rhett told Killian, who was still holding his throat and looking as if he couldn’ttalk.
I dropped the sword and fell to my knees beside Killian. “Are you okay? What do youneed?”
Behind me, I could hear Rhett snicker.
Why did these guys hate each other? The three of them were yet another mystery I needed to decipher.
“I’m okay,” Killian wheezed, his voice a rasp. “Just…need a minute.”
“Are there more ghosts?” I asked Rhett.
“Don’t know,” he said. “We dispatched a ghost right before we came to get you. Hopefully this guy should be out for a few days, gathering its strength again.”
“Why would it attack Killian?” I demanded, brow wrinkled.
“It’s attacked all of us at one point or another,” Rhett assured me. “Killian’s not special.”
Even though Killian was trying to catch his breath, he still shot Rhett a darklook.
“Then why do you sleep all spread out through this giant house?” I demanded. “Why not stay close together where you can take care of each other?”
West’s lips twitched.
“Sleepover every night,” Rhett said, nodding. “That doesn’t really sound like us, Legs.”
“I guess being murdered in your sleep by a ghost is more your style.”
“We’ve been here for four years,” Rhett reminded me. “Hasn’t killed us sofar.”
“You’ve been here four years and you haven’t figured out how to deal with the ghost situation,” I said flatly.
Four years. The words hit me hard. They’d spent so long here, wasted years of their lives that could’ve been spent fruitfully. Why?
“Why does it sound like she’s yelling at us?” Rhett askedWest.
West didn’t bother to answer him. He just turned and walked out of theroom.
“I’ll stay with Killian and make sure he’s okay,” I told Rhett.
Rhett mock-saluted me, then nodded to the sword. “I’ll leave that with you. In case you need to defend Killian again.”
There was a second sword abandoned by the fireplace and I realized that Killian must have dropped it in his fight with the ghost. Rhett left, closing the door quietly behindhim.
“It’s a good thing West came,” I said to Killian.
Killian coughed and curled to sit up, his abs rippling. He was naked except for his boxers. “I’ll try to summon some gratitude for West’s existence.”
I stared at him, wrapping my arms around my legs. “Why do you guys hate each other somuch?”
He shrugged. “They don’t like that I’m welcome on the main island, that I get to come andgo.”
That didn’t answer my question of why hehatedthem.
“If you can go to the main island, why can’t you go home?” The guards must have decided he wasn’t a threat.
He hesitated, then said, “I was sent here to watch over the island. To watch over West and Rhett. Cyrus said it would be a year-long assignment.”
“But it’s been four years.”
He nodded. “And no sign of ending.”
“Is that why you hatethem?”
His eyes widened. “I don’t hatethem.”
“You guys don’t seem like friends.”
“Well, no. They definitely despiseme.”
Despiseseemed like a stronger word than hate, somehow. I wanted to press more, but Killian’s voice was still a rasp and he didn’t seem interested in openingup.
“So you didn’t do anything wrong to get sent here,” I said. “You weregood.”
Like I used to be. Before my spectacular fall from grace, in just a few bloody, desperate moments.
“Do you know what I did?” I asked, propping my chin on my knees.
He hesitated, which was answer enough. Everyone knew. The thought heated me with shame.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said gruffly. “You’re here now. We just have to make the best ofit.”
“Do you think I’ll ever get to leave?” I asked in a whisper.
Killian’s eyes metmine.
“Sure,” he said. “Of course you’ll leave.”
He was lying.