Haunted Destiny by Ellie James

Author:Ellie James [James, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Visionary & Metaphysical, Love & Romance, Girls & Women
ISBN: 9781466803428
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2011-11-23T00:20:08+00:00

Sometimes I really regretted my smart mouth. Now was definitely one of those times. Jessica led us through the shadows of the kitchen to a closed door. She pulled it open to a blast of stale air, revealing a hidden staircase.

“This is what the servants used,” she said, taking the first step.

“You mean slaves,” Amber corrected, lingering at the bottom as the rest of us started up.

Her friend huff ed. “Whatever.”

“The blood is theirs,” Amber just had to say. “Some weird voodoo—”

Her terrified scream stopped me cold.

“Amber!” Jessica cried as we all swung our flashlights behind us. We saw them immediately, Pitre pressing Amber against the graffiti-polluted wall, his hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide—furious.

“Jerk,” Jessica muttered.

But Pitre only laughed. “Sike!”

“Let her go.” That was not Chase, as I expected, but Drew. Three words strung together.

There’s a first for everything.

Pitre’s lip curled as he stepped back from Amber. She recoiled from him, slinking up several stairs while barely seeming to move. All the while she looked at him like he was one of those disgusting cockroaches Louisiana specialized in.

Apparently she was a lot more over the night they hooked up than he was.

“I think it’s time for you to go,” Jessica hissed, shining her flashlight into his face. “No one wanted you here to begin with.”

His mouth curled. “Now who’s scared?”

Her eyes got narrow. “Chase. Make. Him. Go.”

Chase moved between them like a referee, and in that moment I felt so bad for him. I mean, putting him in that position, making him choose between his girlfriend and his All-State receiver.

“I wanted him here.” Chase’s words surprised me as much as they surprised everyone else. I stepped back, but couldn’t stop staring at the way his blue eyes glittered. “If he goes, I go.”

The walls pushed closer. Jessica didn’t move, though. No one did. I’m not sure anyone even breathed.

It was Jessica who moved first, after a long hot second, glancing beyond Drew to her best friend. Their eyes met. Understanding flared.

“It’s cool,” Amber said, even though it was obvious she was lying.

The awful drone grew louder, and the walls wouldn’t stop watching. If someone got locked in here—

I needed to move. “Then come on,” I said. Standing in place made me feel like a sitting duck.

“Need me to lead?” Pitre asked, obviously needling Jessica. “Because I’d be happy to show you where to go—”

“Oh, shut up.” With the words she took off.

Flashlights in front of us, we all followed, Chase and Bethany behind Jessica, Amber and Drew behind them, me with Pitre. He said nothing, but I would have sworn I saw a flicker of respect in his quick glance. Or maybe that was gratitude.

Upstairs, doorways lined each side of an ultra-long hallway, all closed, like in a hotel. Except this had been a house. Actually, was still a house. Just empty.

Except for the presence that hummed like invisible blood through invisible veins…

Oblivious, Jessica swung open the second door to the left, and vanished inside.

Again we all followed.

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