Hadley House by Olivia Lewin

Author:Olivia Lewin [Lewin, Olivia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reber Media Company
Published: 2022-10-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

My relaxation was short-lived, because all the trauma hit me at once. I’d almost died. And yes, I’d died plenty of times since coming here. We were in the thirties, by this point. This was different.

I’d almost died in a scenario eerily similar to the one that had made me a terrified, broken woman to begin with.

I made it into Felix’s bedroom and to his bed before my legs gave out, body collapsing onto the covers. Looking at the spirit box wouldn’t help me calm down, nor would being in the space where everything had happened. This room was better. A sanctuary.

Pulling my legs to my chest, I sobbed and tried to remember what my therapist had told me to do to deal with these episodes. Talk to myself. Take deep breaths. Make myself feel something with a little bite or pinch. OK, she had expressly told me not to do the last one, but I couldn’t stop myself. Sometimes it was the only thing that worked.

My teeth sank into my arm and the discomfort helped me zone out, giving me a chance to implement the deep breathing. “Why are you harming yourself?”

I jolted at Abraxas’ voice, scrambling back to the head of the bed. I wasn’t quick enough to hide the bite mark on my arm, and he stared at it with his eyebrows drawn together.

“What are you doing here?”

“Zan said you were traumatized. He was correct. According to him, I’m the best cuddler.”

If I were to award that honour, I would have given it to Bennett. He was big and soft and furry, but then again, he would want to talk. No, he would insist on taking, especially if he’d walked in on the minor self-harm. Abraxas was the silent type, and his scales were surprisingly smooth and comfy.

Without waiting for me to ask, he hoisted himself up onto the bed and pulled me to him. I didn’t resist, body limp as a rag doll. He placed my hand against his chest and curled his tail up onto the king mattress, creating a bed that lifted me and held me and cocooned me in a blanket of safety. He wasn’t warm, and his scales cooled my heated flesh.

“Do not harm yourself again, or I’ll do it for you. I have much sharper teeth.”

I glanced up at his pointy incisors, watching his forked tongue flick out. He would follow through. He’d lapped up Kirin’s blood like it was his favourite flavour of ice cream.

“I won’t.”

He grunted.

We lapsed into silence, every second without stress letting my body calm. With him beside me I could focus on my deep breathing, matching my breaths to his. Sometimes, when I was alone, I forgot how slowly I was supposed to breathe, and even my attempt at slow and deep ended up borderline hyperventilating.

“I’m terrified of ghosts,” I said after a while, noting the tremble in my voice.

“I’ve been told humans are terrified of many things. Why are you scared of ghosts but

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