Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon Investigations Book 5) (21 page)

He held her protectively to his body. “Why are you trying to hurt her?” he asked, trying to fight something he couldn’t see. “Leave her alone!”

The doors in the room began slamming and then opening only to slam again. The drawers opened and closed, until items fell out all over the floor.

It appeared that something, or someone, was incredibly angry.

As he held Mattie against his body, an invisible force tried to drag her away from him. It pulled, and she was slipping from his fingers.

“Mattie, baby, hold on,” he said, until the force became angry and hit him hard in the chest. It knocked her free from his grasp.

As he hit the wall with incredible force, and it stole the breath from his chest. Still, he fought to stay awake. He could hear Mattie screaming as she was pulled toward the bathroom door. She violently clawed at the rug, trying to get to him.

Only, she wasn’t strong enough.

“Trey! Get help,” he muttered, before the room went gray around him, and he passed out.

It was out of his hands.

Whatever this was, he couldn’t fight it. He had to trust the people he called family with the one person he couldn’t bear to lose.

Mattie.

In the kitchen, Julian and Tori were having coffee. All of a sudden, the radio sprung to life.

Julian was about to make a pithy comment, but the tone of the message shut him up.

“Mattie. Danger. Hurry. Now!”

All four of them took off running toward the room. They could hear the slamming doors and the screaming woman, and they knew that couldn’t be good.

Inside, they found Roman out cold. Across his chest was a red handprint burned into his skin.

Somehow, they didn’t think it was human. What had taken him down wasn’t going to be alive.

Mattie continued screaming as Julian and Beau tried to kick in the door.

It didn’t budge. It was as if a ton of bricks were inside, sealing Mattie away from them.

Still, they fought to get to her.

“Stop!” shouted Nyx. “It’s an angry spirit. Let me try.” She knew their attempts to get in were only angering the entity, and she was worried about the woman behind the door.

Really worried.

It looked like they didn’t have a choice. Mattie’s screams were horrible. It sounded like she was being tortured.

“Come to me. I’ll be your voice,” Nyx offered, opening herself up to what was around them.

She could feel Trey in her head, screaming for her not to do it. He was trying to fight off the more powerful spirit the best he could. As always, he was trying to protect his family too.

Still…

Nyx had no choice.

Suddenly, the doors stopped slamming. The room went icy cold.

“Who are you?” she asked, luring the entity to her. She could feel her swirling around her body. It was definitely a woman. “Why are you trying to hurt her?”

As half the team dealt with the spirit, Tori knelt beside Roman, trying to wake him up. His pulse was getting stronger, and he was on his way back to consciousness.

Tori hoped he got there, and fast.

This was bad.

“She destroyed my life!” Nyx said, channeling the spirit. As she did, she was glaring at the bathroom door. When she turned around, Nyx’s eyes were glazed over, and there was no doubt who was in control.

It wasn’t her.

So much for planning a séance. They had to have an emergency intervention.

“What did she do?” Julian asked, trying to get as much information from the spirit as possible. It might give them a clue as to what the hell was going on there.

“Devora is evil. She has to die.”

They all looked around. Apparently, this ghost was a little bit confused.

“Who are you?”

The woman now using Nyx laughed, and there was a sick sound to her voice. She wasn’t right, and she was pissed off.

It was clear.

Well, then again, she was dead.

“Who are you?” Beau asked, moving closer to Nyx. He hated when she channeled. There was always the chance that the spirit would cause her to harm herself.

“I rule this roost. She took what was mine. She has to pay. She has to bleed.”

They all glanced over at Roman on the floor. He was out cold. He must have hit his head.

“I want her to feel what she stole from me. I want her to know she can’t have him too.”

Nyx dropped to her knees, trying to fight the voice in her head. As soon as she pushed the angry spirit out, she glanced up. “Kick the door in now! She’s not in control.”

Julian booted it, and crouched on the floor was Mattie, and she had blood on her arms and shirt.

She was sobbing hysterically, and when Julian came in, she tried to slide further back into the corner to protect herself like a wounded animal.

“Hey! It’s okay. We’re here. Roman needs you. He hit his head.”

The distraction seemed to do the trick.

Mattie didn’t hesitate as she crawled across the floor to head right for him.

“Roman?” she whispered, her voice hoarse from screaming.

He still didn’t answer.

“What happened?” Tori asked as the spirits around them were zipping around the room.

They were all stirred up.

“He was holding me, and it hit him. It hit him really hard,” she said, pulling his head into her lap. Gently, her fingers moved across his cheek and hair. “Please wake up. I really need you right now. I’m so scared and you promised to stay with me.”

Tori glanced over at Nyx. “What the hell are we dealing with? That’s one powerful ghost to physically strike someone,” she stated.

Yeah, Tori wasn’t kidding.

This was something they’d never dealt with before.

“When they’re angry, they’re generally out of control,” Nyx stated.

“Where is she now?” Julian asked. “How did you get her out of your head?”

“Trey,” she said, as Beau picked her up and held her in his arms.

He knew she’d suffer for letting such an angry spirit in, but that was how she rolled.

Nyx just wanted to help.

“He distracted her enough and their energies cancelled out for the time being,” Nyx offered. “He’ll be back, and unfortunately, so will she.”

Roman moaned.

It got everyone’s attention.

When he opened his eyes, he must have realized what had happened. He sat up, and saw the blood all over Mattie.

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry. God! I’m so sorry!”

He pulled her into his body and rocked her as she buried her face in his neck and sobbed.

“What happened?” Tori asked.

Roman told her everything from the slice across the mattress that would have been Mattie’s throat, to when he hit the wall.

“After that, you’ll have to tell me. I don’t remember anything other than going out.”

Tori checked out his chest as Mattie clung to him.

Julian told him what had happened.

His whole body went tense.

“We need to get her arms cleaned up. She looks like she’s scratched up pretty badly,” Tori stated.

“I want her sent away from here! I want Mattie to be safe, and this hellhole isn’t going to do anything but damage her. Please, send her away!” Roman begged.

Well, now they had another level to the problem.

If she left, the angry spirit would definitely follow. If it was focused on her, now it could track her. They’d given the evil the key to the kingdom, so to speak.

Plus, the angry spirit said she had to die. This was somehow connected to Matilda, and they had to figure out how.

And soon.

They filled him in on what the spirit had said.

“I rule this roost?” he asked, repeating what Tori had just told him. “Were those the exact words? Are you sure?”

They nodded.

Julian exited the bathroom with a first aid kit. When Mattie wouldn’t let anyone touch her, Roman took over. As he tended her wounds, it was clear he was thinking about what the ghost had relayed through Nyx.

“Yes, they were her exact words, why?”

“My mother used to say that. She called this her roost, and if we tried to break her rules, she would tell us she ruled here.”

They looked around.

Could this be her?

It fit.

“Why would my mother want to hurt Mattie?” he asked. “Why would she do this?” He didn’t get it.

They broke the news to him.

“She called her Devora.”

He was sickened by that single sentence. She was at risk because he’d been an idiot as a teenager.

Mattie gasped.

“My mother is trying to hurt her because of me? I can’t believe this. She’s suffering because of my past. I’ve hurt her again!”

Mattie held onto him, praying he’d be safe. She could see her second chance at happiness slipping away. The horrified look on his face said it all.

She was losing ground, and fast.

“I’m okay,” she whispered as his fingers gently touched her arms. As he soothed her injuries, and left little kisses across them, Roman knew what he had to do.

This was going to be so hard, but this was all his fault.

Lifting her chin, he stared into her gorgeous eyes. “I have to stay away from you, Mattie, baby,” he said, ignoring everyone in the room.

Her lower lip quivered.

“I can’t see this happen to you. I care too much, and I’ve endangered you. I have to set you free.”

She sobbed.

Getting up, he grabbed his shirt from the floor. “I need to take a walk,” he said, to no one in particular. “Just take care of her.”

She watched him walk away.

Her heart shattered into a million pieces. As she sat there, alone, the tears finally came. The ghost she could fight, because he was by her side.

Now, she had no one.

Tori pulled her against her body in a hug. “It’s going to be okay,” she promised, hoping she was right.

“It’s fine. He and I weren’t meant to be together. We never were. I was stupid to…I shouldn’t have thought…forget it.”

Tori glanced up. When her eyes met Julian’s, he got the message. The men needed to go fix this for Roman.

He was struggling.

Beau placed his fiancée on the bed. “Be safe. We’ll be back.”

As soon as he was gone, Nyx moved toward the two women. The radio went on, and Trey chattered on with his own reassuring words.

They had a bodyguard, and that was okay with them.

“It’s okay,” Mattie said, over and over again. “I’m fine.”

No one in that room bought that for a second. They’d all been there at one time.

Mattie was far from fine.

She was broken.

It wasn’t easy to find him.

When they did, he was in the least expected place. He stood in the domed citadel where his father took his life.

Roman stood there, his face showing how much he was suffering.

It was killing him.

He’d finally found a way to be happy. He’d finally found a woman he could love with all his heart, and he was losing her. His mother was tearing him apart.

He didn’t understand why.

What did he do to deserve this?

As the anger built, he didn’t know they were there. He was too mired in his rage to realize they were watching him.

Instead, he picked up one of the urns, which stood there for the last fifty years, and he threw it against the wall.

Neither Julian nor Beau stopped him.

They got it.

Love sucked when it went wrong, and sometimes, you just had to get it all off your chest. They’d both kicked the shit out of inanimate objects in the name of love.

It was a guy thing, and it was a way of venting.

Roman was the least likely violent person in the world. He just oozed compassion and patience.

This was proof of how far gone he was. At least they were there if he needed them.

When he smashed three more urns, he howled in rage. “Leave her alone! Do you hear me? Any sins that happened here are my fault! She didn’t cause this. She’s a victim to this family, to my past, and to my nightmares!”

There was no reply.

No howling of wind.

Nothing.

When he dropped down, his head in his hands, the men knew it was time. They each took a seat beside him on the tile floor.