Page 132 of Ghost Hunted

“And I lost Lia again. I keep losing her. Piper won’t speak to me anymore. And I’m pretty sure Jane was trying to drown herself, and I left her…” I have to cut myself off. It’s just too hard.

“Everest is with her,” Damien tells me in his calm voice. “You’re going to save Lia, and then you’ll go back to Jane and help her. I’m sure Piper wants both you and Lia in her life. But Quill is a controlling asshole. Honestly, I don’t get why she would fall in love with such a domineering, possessive jerk. I mean, clearly you’ve been a good role model…”

I can’t prevent the laugh that leaves my mouth. And it gives me the energy I need to focus. “Yeah, no clue where she gets that from. Okay. Go over what Vincent told you again.”

“Right.”

I do my best to listen as he launches into an explanation of the set-up of the place. A large white house that looks perfectly at home in a suburban street of large white houses. But this one has been taken over temporarily by the Puicin Gang.

“We’re going to get them,” Damien reassures me. “They’re on Devil ground here. Maybe the state answers to them, now, but Astley is still loyal to us. They can’t get away with this.”

“Okay.” I nod, trying to let his words reassure me, but despair is closing in on me. “Maybe it’s too late, though.”

“Yeah,” he admits, “but maybe it isn’t.”

At last, I reach the house and pull up right in front. I don’t care about being seen; it’s too late to care. I just need to get to Lia. I slam the car door shut behind me and bound up the steps leading to the front door.

“Now, remember,” begins Damien. “Don’t rush. That’s how you make mistakes. Just go through one room at a time and…”

Before he can finish his sentence, a massive explosion cuts through the night, blowing me backward onto the cold concrete ground.

The last thing I hear is Damien’s panicked cry from the phone. “Logan? Logan!”

Then darkness falls upon me.

44

Logan

Twenty-seven broken bones… twenty-seven broken bones…

“Logan? Logan? Can you hear me?”

“Fuck… ow…”

“Logan, I’m bringing you to safety. I’ll… I’ll wait until I know you’re okay. Then I have to leave, Logan. I’m sorry, I have to leave.”

“Lia, wait… stop… Lia…”

I reach out, trying to touch the beautiful vision that I can feel pulling me toward the car.

“I’m going to call Damien, and then I’ll leave.”

“Please, Lia!”

I try to hold onto her wrist, but she’s far too fast for me. She lifts it just out of reach, opening the car door. The metallic sound wakes me up fully, and I take in the sight of her, still in her tight red dress, only now it’s covered in dust, and a bazooka is strapped to her back.

“What the fuck…”

“You’re okay, Logan.” She pulls me up into the car, wincing with effort as she lies me down on the backseat and rests my head against something soft. I moan when I realize it’s her sweater and it smells like her.

“Please, Lia…”

“Hold on.” She takes my phone, which must have been blown with me onto the ground, but which miraculously still works.

She puts it to her ear, and I realize Damien is still at the other end of the line. “Logan? Are you okay? Logan!”

“This is Lia,” she says.