Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
I take a few steps away from him.
“Don’t be scared of me. Please,” Grey begs. “Not you.”
“I don’t know who you are,” I murmur. “I don’t know any of you.”
“Yes, you do!” the one who threw the knife shouts.
He tries to lunge at Grey, but the other one intervenes and locks his arms behind his back. “Calm the fuck down.”
“Let me go,” he growls back.
“Keep him away from me,” I say, and Grey helps the other one to pin the rowdy one down.
“Aspen. It’s me,” he says, knocking me off-balance.
“Well then, it’s me too,” the third one says, holding him tight.
All of them are wearing the same thing, and it’s confusing the fuck out of me.
“Don’t listen to them,” Grey says.
“Well, it can’t be every one of you,” I say.
“They’re lying,” the one being held down says.
“Which one of you is the real Ghost?” I ask. “Just tell me, goddammit!”
I snatch the knife out of Grey’s hand and point it at the two still wearing the mask. They’re staring at me, and slowly but surely, the one who’s holding down the other finally takes off the mask. The deadly smirk, along with the short, black hair as he lowers his hoodie, is enough to tell me.
“Apollo,” I grit.
“Freckles, you know I’m always up for a game of catch.”
I point my knife at him. “Was it you all along?”
He smirks, but it slowly turns into a devilish laugh. “I don’t need a mask to take what I want.”
“It’s not him,” Grey growls, his eyes like thunder in the sky.
“How would you know?” I say, still pointing my knife at all of them.
“Because I told you I’ve been trying to protect you from him,” Grey says, fishing his phone from his pocket. “And I’m going to show you why.”
“Don’t you dare,” the guy in the middle says, but I put my knife between him and Grey before he even has a chance to lunge at him again.
Their rage is palpable, and not even the slow-building rain from the clouds above can temper the fire heating the air.
But I’m no longer afraid of the burn.
I welcome the singe deep inside my heart.
The remaining masked man glances at Grey and hisses, “You ruined everything …”
So I push my knife underneath his mask and lift it higher and higher until it finally drops to the muddy ground, along with Levi’s dignity.
He swallows, his Adam’s apple moving up and down against that scorpion tattoo embedded into his skin as he glares at me with disdain.
I should’ve known the boy who tried so hard to make me hate him would eagerly take the invitation I sent. But I only brought him here to trap the others and trick them into revealing who the real Ghost is.
So I direct my attention toward Grey and say, “Go on then. Prove to me you’re not my stalker.”
“I can’t,” he responds.
“Yes, you can! It has to be one of you two,” I say, pointing at both Apollo and Grey. “I only invited him here to bait you both.”
“Nice, but you got the wrong one, Freckles. I love toying with you, but I said it from the beginning, you’re looking for the wrong guy.”
“You’re lying.”
“How do you know?” he asks.
My teeth grind together as I lock eyes with Levi, pointing my knife right at his face. “Because my Ghost promised me he’d kill him.”
They all stare at me in silence like I’ve lost my mind, but I swear it’s the truth.
“He was supposed to die.” Tears well up in my eyes. “He killed Mavis, and I needed him to pay.”
“So all of your pain would stop,” Grey murmurs.
“You’re not going to like the real answer, Freckles,” Apollo says.
“Shut up,” Levi growls at him.
“What do you mean?” I mutter. “Stop playing games.”
“Don’t you understand?” Apollo snorts. “It’s been right in front of you all this time.”
I take a step back, feeling disheveled. Unhinged from the earth beneath my feet. But Levi hasn’t said a single word since I took off his mask.
I suck in a breath. “Impossible.”
“Is it?” Grey says. “I have never ever wanted to hurt you. But he did.”
I swallow back the rage, my gaze fixated on Levi because I can’t believe it, not even the words I’m hearing with my own damn ears.
It’s not him.
It couldn’t be him.
He can’t be my Ghost because I made a deal.
And my Ghost …
I choke up at the words floating through my head.
Because those dark, soulless eyes could haunt me for all of infinity.
And suddenly, those red contacts, the whispering, and the hidden identity make all the sense in the fucking world.
Levi. Torres.
Was my ghost?
CHAPTER 49
Aspen
“It’s you, tell me it’s you,” I beg Grey. “Please. Tell me it was you.”
“It’s not him,” Levi finally says, his voice as low as I remember from back in the auditorium and the goose bumps scatter on my skin.