Ghost Fire by G.G. Andrew

Author:G.G. Andrew [Andrew, G.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Worlds
Published: 2017-10-09T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Lucas

He stomped up the stairs, too angry to feel the fear he’d imagined when he ascended into the darkness that pooled at the curve in the staircase. There were lights on the second floor, but the inn had curves and small spaces where shadows seemed to congregate.

He should’ve left, but he knew he wasn’t going to. He’d had an inkling even as he’d sat down to dinner with Laney Stonewater that she’d be a hard woman to leave. It wasn’t just her attractiveness, it was that he felt like he could be himself in her presence more than with anyone he’d ever met. She had a natural skepticism and a devil-may-care way, and he took everything, especially himself, too seriously. It was what happened when you saw something that aged you far older than your years.

He gritted his teeth and kept climbing toward the light. The dark red rug cushioned his steps and framed pictures of the inn guided his way. They showed the building before and after the fire, as if to remind him of how much time had passed. Then his foot hit the landing of the second floor.

It was different than he remembered—the hardwood floors were new and polished, the paint fresh, the artwork more modern. Yet there was familiarity in the narrowness of the straight hall, the closed doors on either side lined up like soldiers. And beyond, the staircase to the third floor at the opposite end. However they’d updated the inn after the fire, they hadn’t fixed all its quirks. The staircases weren’t together but on different sides of the building; you had to climb to the second floor, then walk down the hall to a staircase to reach the third. He remembered liking that as a kid. But it was a damn fire hazard, and it was shocking it’d been approved. The Dixons must have connections that allowed them to skirt the law.

He fished his key out of his pocket. 202. Not his old room; Laney or that boy had had the consideration not to do that to him at least. If only they’d considered that maybe this wasn’t the best time or place for a party with pot and cookies.

He couldn’t believe that he was here, couldn’t believe that there was an old lady and teenage boy and that young woman who’d made the hairs on his arms stand on end here too. It wasn’t right, but he was in it now. He was always rushing in to save people, and he wouldn’t abandon this post, even as his unease grew.

After looking around the empty hallway, which seemed to echo with every step, he walked the few feet to his room door and slid the key in the lock.

The door opened with a conclusive pop.

Inside the dim room, he fumbled for a light. When it came on, it was so bright he had to shield his eyes. He dropped his duffel and let the door fall shut behind him.

When his eyes adjusted, he let out a breath.

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