Its arms went through the wall where my head had just been and a horrible keening erupted. Unfortunately I’d had to dive away from freedom.
The Screamer still stood between me and the windows.
“If you want my blood, you have to be faster than that, big guy.” It spun around. “And you’re not moving too quickly with your two … broken kneecaps.” For the first time I noticed its legs weren’t working properly. Conan must have broken bones when Danny tossed him out the window and they hadn’t had time to heal before the Screamer had possessed him.
Ick.
It came at me again, faster this time.
I rolled twice and brought my legs up in a scissor kick behind its head. But instead of sending it flying, a jolt of high-voltage electricity tossed me backward. “Dammit,” I yelled as I smashed into an antique desk, shattering it. My leg gave out beneath me. “What just happened?” I panted.
“I told you it is made up of pure energy,” said a whisper. “It cannot feel pain.”
“What, is it made up of lightning bolts? That was a gigantic electrical charge. That amount of energy shouldn’t be possible.”
The ghost gave a hollow chuckle.
“Did you just laugh?”
“Jessica!” Rourke yelled. My head whipped to the hole in the wall. His fury was palpable. He had begun to tear through the rest of the armoire trying to get me.
“Rourke,” I called. “We can’t beat this thing in here. I’m going out the window. Meet me outside.”
The Screamer understood my words and roared its displeasure. “You cannot escape,” its garbled voice cawed at me. It sounded nothing like Conan.
“The only way you can devour me is if you can catch me, asshole. And I’m much faster than you are.” I was close enough to the back windows to act. I sprang, the glass shattered easily. I soared out the window in a semi-graceful dive. But it was dark and I couldn’t fly. Get ready for a hard landing, I yelled to my wolf. I was already in my Lycan form, but more power coursed through me courtesy of my wolf.
“You will not die,” the voice sounded in my ear right as I hit the ground feetfirst.
I tucked and rolled and rolled and rolled, finally smashing up against the bushes at the edge of the stone gate that ran around the property.
“I told you,” the ghost whispered.
I groaned. Several bones were broken, including a couple ribs, which made it painful to breathe. They were healing, but I hurt a ridiculous amount while each of them knit back together. They had to heal fast, because I knew the Screamer would be right behind me. I inhaled sharply as my body gave a few jumps as bones shifted. “Who are you anyway?” I asked the ghost through gritted teeth.
“My name is Benjamin.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“I want my property back.”
“So you’re tied to this place? You’re its rightful owner?”
“No.”
“Well, you’re certainly good at answering all my burning questions, Ben.” I lay there for a second, trying not to breathe as my ribs mended. “Please don’t tell me you’re my ghost pal for life. My heart can’t take it—”
Jessica.
My head shot up, the pain forgotten.
I was on my feet in the next moment. “Dad? Dad! Where are you? Are you hurt?” His voice had been shallow. Dad! Tell me where you are!
“Here,” he said weakly.
I ran toward the next hedge and ripped through a screen of branches, breaking them off without thought. We were in a small patch of side yard, away from anything. This is why Alana sent me through the house. I had to exit these windows in order to find him. Now that I was outside, I could hear all the commotion on the other side of the wall, just as Tyler had said.
Once I saw him, my knees gave way and I dropped to the ground.
He was naked, lying on his side. He’d just shifted back from his wolf form, which meant he’d arrived right before Eudoxia set the ward. He must have jumped the wall.
His body was covered in festering angry welts.
Those weren’t normal welts.
“What are these? What’s going on?” My voice was rushed. When he didn’t answer, I panicked. “Dad, you have to tell me! I need to know what’s going on.”
He tried to lift his head, but succeeded only in raising it a few inches. “The rest of my wolves are behind me. I had to pull ahead. But the fracture pack is right behind them, Redman in the lead. He crossed over to their side at the last moment. There were too many wolves to fight. I should’ve brought an army with me. It was a bad decision, and now I’m paying the price.”
“You weren’t going down to fight,” I cried. “You were going down to cement alliances. How would you have known? But I need to help you now. What are these welts?”
His breath was shallow. “I was cursed.”
“Cursed?” I repeated, stunned.
“Not by a witch.” He reached out and grabbed my wrist. A trickle of power tingled up my arm. Whatever was harming him was sucking away his magic.