All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1) Jamie Campbell (best life changing books .TXT) 📖

any less in front of her. “I need to see Jet. Please take me to him.”

She eyed every inch of me, never once breaking her gaze. I wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but I hoped she didn’t find it. I didn’t want to give Perry any reason to attack me again.

One of the other guys stepped closer. He was tall, even taller than Oliver. He had to be one of the older ones, eighteen if I had to guess. “She’s trespassing. Let me deal with her.”

Perry stood back, addressing him. “I’d like to see you deal with her.”

The man took another step closer, his hands already flexing and getting ready to do some serious harm to me. I stood as still as a statue, sure I had made a mistake in returning here. I shouldn’t have pushed my luck, it was stupid of me. And I had put Oliver in the firing line, making my mistake even worse.

The guy raised his fist, ready to strike. I clenched my jaw, waiting for the impact and pain to shoot through me. I’d survived their beating once before, maybe I could do it again.

Oliver moved to get between us just as the guy was about to swing.

He didn’t get a chance.

Perry’s arm shot out to stop him. Her hand landed on his wrist, holding him there. “Wait, you can’t. She’s Jet’s property. We can’t harm her.”

Her resigned voice was full of regret. She didn’t like stopping him. She didn’t want me to come to no harm. But she had orders. Jet’s orders.

She’s Jet’s property.

I had never been happier belonging to someone. The indignation would sting later on when I thought about it. For now, I was just happy not wearing the guy’s fist as an accessory.

“Come on, just let me play with her,” the guy whined, smirking. His eyes were alight with bloodlust. “Jet won’t mind.”

Perry let go of his arm and all my muscles tensed with the anticipation. But she stood in front of me instead of letting him go. “I said she is Jet’s. Now go get him so we can get back to what we’re supposed to be doing. This is a waste of time and she’s not worth it.”

She didn’t get any more of an argument. The guy clenched his fists, relaxed his shoulders, and stormed off. A slightly built woman trailed after him.

The group collectively relaxed, no longer paying Oliver and me as much attention. Unlike Perry who was glaring at me. The silence was painful and awkward. I wasn’t sure if I should start a conversation with her or if she was best left alone. I wasn’t here to make friends, and I was pretty sure Perry hated me, so I just remained quiet while I waited.

Aurelia was nowhere in amongst the crowd. If she had come up, she was hiding. I got the feeling she did that a lot. I would too if Perry was my sister.

The tension radiating from Perry was palpable. If I put my hand anywhere near her, I was certain she would zap me with electricity. She didn’t like something being out of her control. If Jet was the only one she’d listen to, she would hate the fact I was considered his property. I didn’t need to get inside her head to know that.

At the back of the grounds, I saw some spirits. They were curious about what was going on. The moment I noticed them, I averted my eyes.

But it was too late.

They rushed at me, chattering amongst themselves. I worked on my walls, desperately trying to tune them out. I needed to concentrate on the mole people, I couldn’t afford to have such a formidable distraction.

I didn’t hear Jet come up. I didn’t even notice him until he stood right in front of me, blocking out the spirits who were trying so hard to be heard.

“What do you want, princess?” Jet asked tersely. He didn’t appreciate the interruption to his morning. “Spit it out, I don’t have all day.”

“I need to talk to you,” I said as confidently as I could. Inside, I was crumbling. I could barely see the others for all the spirits crowding around us.

There were too many.

They were going to swallow me up.

“Fine. But alone. I’m not talking to you out here.”

The last thing I wanted to do was leave Oliver behind. I needed him here, I needed him to help me escape if I had to find my own way out.

If only I could think clearly. The spirits were so loud, shattering my eardrums with their constant pleas.

“Come on, princess,” Jet said. “What’s it going to be?”

He looked around pointedly as I stood frozen in place. There were so many faces around me, staring at me, torturing me. The quiet of the underground would be a beautiful relief. Like an oasis in the desert.

But I couldn’t leave Oliver. “I can’t go alone.”

“Well I’m not talking otherwise.” Jet started walking toward the tunnel entrance – not the secret one but the exposed entrance down the steps.

I quickly turned to Oliver. He gave me a rueful shrug. “I’ll wait here for you. I’ll come down if you are too long.”

“Thank you,” I managed to get out before hurrying after Jet. It wasn’t a perfect situation, but even knowing Oliver was there was enough to give me the strength I needed.

Jet kept up the fast pace relentlessly, not caring if I was keeping up or not. It quickly grew too dark to see anything in the tunnel. Still, he walked with purpose, annoyed I had demanded to speak with him.

The spirits didn’t follow me down and I was beginning to think they might not be able to. The relief felt wonderful, the quiet was the blessing I needed.

It