Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Kellan

What have I gotten myself into?

Josie lay lifeless in my arms, her limbs swinging as I raced her through the Dark Woods in an attempt to escape Deidamia.

Then there was her spirit following behind us like a freaking walking nightmare. I'd been shocked to see her in Deidamia's castle, but she didn't look surprised to see me. I intended to find out why.

Her presence had my spine stiff as I led us to cover in the woods. I needed to get out of sight before Deidamia sent out whatever she had planned to kill us. I couldn"t even fathom what someone like Deidamia had up her sleeve.

The dark shadows of the forest fell over us as I laid Josie down on a bed of dead leaves and stood up.

I nearly jumped when I saw her spirit standing beside me.

I felt the need to reach out and touch her, but I didn't dare. There were too many emotions rushing through me at the sight of her. The urgent need to get us the hell out of dodge needed to be my first conquest.

Stepping forward, I attempted to open a portal back to our realm.

The portal closed quicker than it opened.

"That doesn't look good," she said from behind me.

I glanced back at her dirty face and big blue eyes.

"I need to concentrate."

She pressed her mouth into a thin line.

I tried again as rain began to pound down on top of us. Had she blocked the portals somehow?

Sliding my tongue over my teeth, I opened a portal to the hotel I'd stayed several nights before. Oddly enough, it let me through.

Gathering Josephine's body into my arms, I stepped forward, looking over my shoulder. "You coming?"

She bit her bottom lip in a way that cemented me to my spot. It annoyed me how everything she did slid along my skin.

"Last time, it was ..."

"Listen," I said, feeling my irritation rise. "You don't what I say—"

"...what you say. I know," she said, rolling her eyes.

I lifted both brows, feeling a mixture of shock and warmth settle in my stomach. Did we know each other, and I"d forgotten? There was no way in Hell I"d forget her. "Come on. Now."

She slipped beside me, her scent heavy in the air, suffocating what sanity I had out of my body. I watched as she took a deep breath, stepped forward, and was sucked through the portal.

A wolf's howl echoed through the Dark Woods around me. This time it seemed like a warning. Deidamia was coming. What she brought with her I didn"t care to imagine.

The portal sucked me through as I clung tight to Josephine's body, and we were whipped around. Being I'd done this tons of times, I landed on my feet in front of the hotel.

My gaze traveled over the Aztec stone to Josephine sitting on the sidewalk, cradling a bloody leg.

The jagged rocks below were stained with her blood.

I hadn't thought about this spirit person being able to bleed. Her too-blue eyes looked up at me, nearly knocking me off my feet. "Weird, isn't it?"

I stared.

"That I'm bleeding. I'm in a dream, right? This is a dream?"

I sighed, adjusting her lifeless body in my arms, I walked her over to a wooden bench and placed her down. "No," I answered. "Is that how you know who I am?"

"I've been dreaming of you," she said nonchalantly.

Curling my fingers into fists, I cleared the uncomfortable lump down my throat. The invisible string that attached me to this person felt ridiculous, which was ironic since I'd just fought a talking wolf to save this sleeping beauty from a wicked witch.

I stopped beside her. Looking down at the top of her head, I sighed. "There is a stream behind this building. Let's wash you off."

She stood and immediately went down with weak legs.

She chuckled humorlessly as I caught her inches from the jagged rocks. "Wow, what a load for you. A passed-out lug to carry around with her spirit-dream-ish-self following you around. Priceless. I hope my father pays you well."

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I lifted her to my side and then glanced down at her bare feet. "You need shoes. Come on."

I swung her legs upward and into an infant's cradle. She gasped softly, her arms swinging around my deltoids.

The touch of her skin against mine sent my body into a raging fit of unwanted hormones. It'd been many moons since I had to fight off urges toward a woman.

My wife being the last.

This wasn't right. Maybe it was the realm. Deidamia could have put something on me, couldn't she? Something to deter my rationality? That had to be this madness swarming me. She is attempting to throw me off.

Josephine's gaze lifted toward mine. Against my better judgment, I looked down at her. The moonlight brightened her eyes and sent shadows over her high-cheek bones and mouth.

Dear God. Stop.

"What?" I asked, not being able to keep the hostility out of my voice. This wasn't her fault, but the fact I felt connected to her irked me. I came to save her and nothing else.

I came to save her, return her, and go back to my normal life.

It was a never-ending cycle—literally.

"Nothing," she said, turning her gaze.

The small river looked more like a brook than I expected, but I knelt down and placed her on the ground.

Cupping water into my hands, I splashed it on the cut along her leg. The droplets washed away the gravel stuck to the blood but only did so much for the grime hanging on.

Reaching behind my back, I tore my T-shirt over my head and wrapped the fabric around her leg, applying pressure and wiping away the dirt, so it didn"t get infected.

We didn't need any more problems than we already had.

Feeling her gaze on me, I glanced up to find her staring at my chest. A feverish heat rushed me. The hand that supported me curled into the sand of the brook. A tornado of lust circled my blood.

This was not good.

"Stop it," I hissed unable to stop myself.

She looked up lazily, as if unbothered by my outburst, and smiled. "Stop what?"

A temptress. Standing up, I reluctantly helped her to her feet, and she gave me a shameless sweep from head to toe.

Reaching forward, I lifted her chin so that she looked at me. "Listen to me, Josephine. This is life or death now. You will do what I say when I say it, and know that I am just here to take you back to your father. Do I make myself clear?"

The corner of her mouth tugged into the slightest of smirks. As if the touch didn't have me wanting to bend down and kiss that smart mouth, the smile was pushing me over the edge.

"I don't know what you mean, Kellan. However," she said, stepping out of my grasp, "I'll do whatever you say. Now, shouldn't we go back and make sure that my body hasn't been snatched by ogres or something?"

We held a silent stare-off for several seconds before I picked her up and ushered us back to the hotel.

The hotel's manager stood over Josephine's body when I made it back, picking up her hair and smelling it.

"Ew," Josephine hissed. "Get away from me!"

He jerked around in a tight circle and looked at us. "I'm so sorry, sir. I saw this lady—"

I sat Josephine down beside her, seeing that the man could see her as well. "It's fine. We need a room for tonight."

The man looked interested in the dynamic of the three of us. "Is this your twin?" he asked.

She smiled. "You can say that, yes."

He took the money I offered him and unlocked the same room as before. Picking her up, I carried her into the room, and Josephine shut the door behind us.

"Do you think staying here while Deidamia is potentially plotting our demise is a good idea?"

I sat her down on the bed and turned to look at Josephine leaned against the door. She was in the same clothes as her human self on the bed, but they were dirty and torn.

Everything about this situation screamed run.

Sliding my palm down my face, I put both hands on my hips, catching her staring at my obliques.

"No, it's not a smart idea, but it's the only one I have. I can't take us through a portal to Earth right now. She's blocked it. So, we're stuck here in this hellish realm while I try to defeat this ancient immortal and get you back to your father."

She blinked at me. "You're awfully negative."

Is she serious?

"Do you not understand the situation? Do I need to spell it out for you—"

"Hold up. Wait a minute," she said, putting her index finger up at me. "I'm going to forgive your lapse in judgment on how to speak to me. I may be young and in this nifty spirit form, but you will not speak to me like I'm beneath you. Sorry," she said, putting both palms up and shaking them, "that I don't know about Deidamia and this wretched realm. Sue me."

The urge to make her eat her words surfaced, but I ignored it. I sat on the edge of the bed and gestured for her to do so on the other side. "I'll take the floor."

She eyed me up and down before waddling over toward the toilet. "No shower?"

I didn't answer. It sounded like a rhetorical question to me.

Sighing, she walked over and looked down at herself.

I watched the exchange, curious to know what she saw while looking down at herself. How surreal.

She caught me staring and turned away, so she could slip onto the bed.

Several minutes of silence enveloped us before she cleared her throat. "You seemed to know Deidamia. How do you know her?"

My fingertips pressed into my thighs so hard that my flesh ached. I didn't want to relive that tonight. It'd been so heavy on my mind lately, and I didn"t want to replay it for her.

"Don't worry about it. Go to sleep."

She huffed, but shortly after, I heard her soft sighs.

Taking the spare pillow out from her comatose body, I sat against the wall and propped it behind me.

The seconds turned into minutes before I finally shut my eyes.

I didn't know what waited for me when I opened them again, but at this point, I was ready for whatever she tossed at us.

Bring on the giants for all I care. It"s all or nothing now.