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the wooden
doorframe. “I already told you what I want.” His voice lowered.
“And I don’t think your friends want to hear all the details of our
relationship.”
    I snorted.
“ Our relationship? What planet are you on? You’ve been gone for
two years and because you feel like it, you think you can just waltz back
into my life and
take control? Over your dead body!”
    His gaze bore into mine.
“Okay,” he said with a smile that held a thousand
secrets.
    I was leaning too close to
the screen. “Wait, what?” I glanced in the living room and saw my
girls armed with frying pans and cooking utensils as they used the
couch as a shield.
    When I turned around, he
was looking past me. I followed his gaze and saw the same scene in
the mirror.
    He sighed. “If you intend
to run from me, you should invest in better bodyguards,
cher.”
    I crossed my arms. “We
could defend ourselves better if we knew what you were.”
    Troy smirked as he
caressed the wooden frame. “What I am? I am the same man I was—only
better.” He pulled his hand away, revealing a splinter.
    I cringed
“Better…how?”
    His expression turned
earnest. “I’m older, wiser; I’m certain you are the only woman I
will ever want.”
    “ Well, it’s too late, I
don’t want you anymore. And you’re not the same.”
    ¤¤¤¤
     
    … Troy…
    “ I’m not the
same?”
    Wild curls swayed as she
shook her head.
    “ I am the same, Jade. When you wound me, do I not
bleed?”
    A drop of blood formed as
I plucked the wooden shard from my index finger.
    Jade stared at it for a
moment and then fainted.
    It was the perfect
opportunity.
    The screen door almost
came off in my hand, but that would’ve raised more questions. Our
eyes locked as Faith slipped a pillow under her head. She had the
most compassion, next to Jade.
    Rocking on the balls of my
feet, I fought to control my tone. “I can help her.”
    Amelia and Mariah glared,
but remained silent.
    I took a deep breath and
tried to gain Faith’s attention. “She hit her head pretty hard, let
me do something. She might have a concussion.”
    Amelia groaned. “This is
your fault to begin with! And unless you learned medical training
while you were dead, we don’t need you.”
    “ She’ll always need
me.”
    Faith moved toward the
door, but Amelia grabbed her arm.
    “ Earth to Faith! What are
you doing?”
    She paused. “I think we
should let him help her.”
    Amelia’s jaw fell. “Why
the heck would we trust him?”
    “ You’re right.” Faith
shook her head. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
    I punched the doorframe.
This was going to be more difficult than I expected.
    ¤¤¤¤
    Jade
    Even in the darkness, I
could sense his presence. I should have known Troy was more than a
ghost all along. The temperature always spiked, as if his very soul
was on fire.
    When I opened my eyes, my
spirit was hovering in the corner as my friends surrounded my body.
My gaze went to Troy. He was in a crimson haze.
    I was thirteen when my
Aunt Cinda taught me about auras, but I didn’t think they were
real. I had never seen one; I just wanted to learn something
cool.
    The swirl of red suited
him. He was strong-willed, powerful, passionate, and full of barely
controlled rage. He was desperate to get to me, and in a way, I was
grateful for this unexpected moment of clarity. It gave me the
upper hand—for once.
    He was a beautiful
specimen: all male, but there was danger and darkness in him. My
breath caught as I realized how much my heart still ached for
him.
    A few months ago, I would
have traded anything to see him again, but now I couldn’t erase his
fiery aura from my mind. If his essence looked like that when he
was kept from what he wanted… what would it look like, and what
would he do when he found out he could never have me?
    As I pondered my new
thoughts, he paced back and forth, his patience lessening by the
second.
    How dangerous was
he?
    As if someone flipped a
switch, his anger melted