The Ghost Files 4: Part 1

by Apryl Baker

When you told me about your father, I knew I had to tell you the truth. You needed to know why your mother was scared enough to send you away with Amanda. All I want is to protect you, Mattie. I swear to all that’s holy, it’s the only intention I’ve ever had.”

my own eyes have gone black. They seem to be doing that a lot since Dan almost died. Something snapped in me during those three days I sat by his hospital bed, begging him not to leave me. I can’t seem to stomp down my need to cause others pain anymore.

don’t even think her name was Melissa Roux.” A thought struck me and I gasped. “Wait. In the dream, she said her name was Georgina…Georgina Dubois, and her son’s name was Jacob.”

“I’d like to see someone try to hurt you around my mother. I was with her when I got the call they may have found you. It’s the first time I’ve seen my mother cry since my sister died when I was just a boy.

Mattie Louise Hathaway. The girl turned my world upside down in more ways than one. I want to hate her, to be able to walk away and not look back. I want my old life back, my family intact. I just want everything to go back to the way it was. I wish I could walk away from her, but I can’t. God knows I’ve tried, but something keeps drawing me back to her. Some force of nature won’t let me say goodbye.

Ann Richards had kidnapped my birth mother and killed her after I was born. She staged an accident with the help of her sister, who we found out kidnapped Mattie from her parents.

can admit, at least to myself, that I have feelings for Mattie. Feelings that go beyond friendship or family. Because of her age, I ignored them. I don’t know what to do about them, though. I don’t really even understand them.

what did you mean when you said Silas got what he wanted?” “Just because you aren’t a demon, doesn’t mean you can’t have inherited some traits. Perhaps he’s interested in you because he knows of a specific trait your mother’s family possesses. Maybe he’s been trying to get you to find that part of yourself and open up to it. Perhaps Daniel put you in the right frame of mind to access whatever that is.” “But it still means…” “No, it doesn’t make you a demon.” He leans closer, his eyes bright. “And even if you were half demon, you’re still my daughter, and I love you. That will never change, Emma Rose. I swear it.”

it’s a fallen angel, Deleriel, one of the first demons that fell with Lucifer. It rises once every one hundred and fifty years to feed off the souls of children.”

“That’s why I love you, Officer Dan. You always do what’s right, even when it hurts.” I wish I could be more like him sometimes. “I love you too, Mathilda Louise Hathaway.” Something in his voice brings my eyes up to his. They are brimming with emotions I have no words for. They speak the words he can’t say out loud. He loves me. I mean love loves me. A gasp falls through my lips at this realization. He loves me. The way I wanted him to. The knowledge curls up in my heart, pulling together all the broken, ragged ends of it. Plugging in the holes that have been open, bleeding wounds since I was five. He loves me.

“You are part demon, part reaper, and something else. Something that’s hidden even from me. That is the part that scares the head honchos upstairs. You’re unpredictable. You’re loyal. What you did to save Dan…what he did to stay with you? That scares them, Mattie, but they need you. It’s why you’re still alive. They need you.”

You’re a perfect storm, the perfect trifecta. Part demon, part reaper, part something undefinable. Figure out what that last part is, and you’ll be able to protect yourself from all of them.”

“So you’re telling me not only do we have to worry about demons, but angels want you dead too?” He laughs. He laughs? I’m panicking, and he’s laughing? “What gives? This is not funny, Officer Dan.” “Yeah, it kinda is.” He doubles over, he’s laughing so hard. “Only you could piss off Heaven and Hell.”

Chapter Sixteen

Super important chapter!!!

When he opens those brown eyes of his, they aren’t full of anger like I’d expected. Instead they burn with an intent, and I’m not prepared when I find myself pinned against the wall and his lips crashing down onto mine. It’s not like with Eli; there isn’t this explosive fire. It’s a slow burn that starts where his lips are on mine and then travels down every nerve ending I have. Engulfed. That’s what it feels like. I’m engulfed in a fire that burns hot enough to chase away the cold in my bones, hot enough to scorch away the bitter pain of every bad thing that’s ever happened to me. But beneath all that heat, is this feeling of contentment, of safety and peace that fills every jagged hole in my heart. I’d thought Eli felt like home, but I didn’t really understand what home was. Not until now. I stop fighting the sensation and relax, my lips moving with his in our own little dance. Heat, desire, love. All those things wrap around me when he deepens the kiss, pushing against me until there isn’t even the barest of millimeters separating our bodies. Who needs butterflies when there is this? I can’t even define what it feels like, all I know is I want more and reach up, twining my fingers in his hair. This kiss is the kind of kiss I’ve only ever read about. This kiss is the stuff of legends.

Jamison’s voice. Zeke’s butler

In previous books his name is Montgomery

“I’m not making any deals, Silas, with you or anyone else.” “I know your father told you about your maternal lineage. You’re a demon, Emma Rose. You need to start learning how to be a good little demon. Now that Deleriel is here and has his sights set on Mary, you really need to learn how to harness your demon side.” He picks up my hair and starts to braid it. Mary? I remember Eli telling me something about this earlier, but with Dan and then Eric, I hadn’t paid much attention. “What do you mean he has his sights set on Mary?” “Didn’t she tell you? Well, she may not have had time with everything going on. The child she went and cared for across the street was one of Deleriel’s chosen. He only feeds upon souls that are a little broken, but still hold an edge of goodness and purity to them. That child had been passed from home to home, never really able to bond with a parent. His soul was broken. Mary stood up to Deleriel and his demonic children. He took a shine to the girl and has decided to take her with him when he goes back to his lair.” “He can’t have her!”

“He’s an upper level demon, Emma Rose. One of the first demons created when the angels fell from heaven. He’s the right hand of the Morning Star. Who are we to stop him?” “You’re afraid of him!” Silas’ fingers stop braiding and I can feel them flex in my hair. I’m right. He’s afraid of Deleriel. If this thing scares Silas, then I’m doomed. “Afraid is a strong word. Cautious would be a more accurate word. And he’s also my employer.” “What?” He works for the super scary demon? “Unfortunate, but true.” He tisks at a wayward strand of hair. “He owns me.”

“Look closer, Emma Rose. Tell me what else you see.” I stare at myself for a long moment before a shocked gasp fills the room. My eyes aren’t just black. I can see a sheen of yellow in them. The same yellow in that kid’s eyes from my dream, the same yellow in the morgue kid’s eyes. Why are my eyes yellow? “Your mother’s father wasn’t the man who raised her.” Silas yanks on my hair, pulling the braid tighter. “He was a demon who surfaced when he was summoned to help create a child who would hold immense power. Only she couldn’t do what had been promised. She couldn’t bring images to life.” Fudgepops. “It required more than the Dubois had to offer. Delieriel was furious. He almost killed Georgina, but she was a smart one, your mother. She made a deal.” “A deal?” I don’t like where this is going. Not one bit. “She promised him a child who could do what he wanted, a child who could bring images to life with her blood. She was to give him the girl upon her second birthday. By then she’d know if the child was capable of doing the thing she could not.” “And he accepted the deal?” Silas nods, a black scrunchie appearing in his hands. “She called me and wanted to know if I could help her get the recipe just right.” “And of course you could.” He smiled, the danger in his expression unmistakable. “I’d been making plans for two centuries, my darling girl. I set the wheels into motion a long time ago. The first piece of the puzzle came together in New Orleans with a woman named Elizabe...

Silas inspects my braid. “A child cannot consent to giving up its soul. Only a parent can do that. Your mother agreed, but in order for Deleriel to obtain your gifts, you had to suffer, your soul bruised and bloody. Tortured. Your mother happily agreed to do that. She didn’t love you, Mattie. She never did. To her, you were a means to an end. She made sure you were happy and felt loved because you had to be that bright bubbly soul for their plans to work. You feared your father’s intentions, when it was your mother’s you should have been concerned with.” “But Zeke said after I went missing, she fell into a depression.” “A punishment. Deleriel was furious she’d let you out of her sight. He imprisoned her in her mind where he delights in torturing her. If she ever wakes up and sees you, run, Emma Rose. Run fast and far. She’ll kill you for all the suffering that’s been inflicted upon her because of you.”