Free All the Pretty Ghosts (The Never Alone Series Book 1) by Jamie Campbell Page A

to suck in air again. It only made him smile.
    His fist came toward my head, impacting with my temple in a sickening blow. Everything faded until it went black. The last thing I remembered thinking about was the sweet relief from all the pain in my body.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
     
     
    P eople were arguing. Not just any people, but two in particular. I hadn’t known them very long but I could already tell who they were.
    Jet and Taz.
    My entire body ached. Even just the smallest movement caused a ripple of pain to shoot through me. My headache was the least of my concerns. I straightened up, testing my ribs.
    Yep, pretty sure a few were broken.
    Great.
    I blinked a few times. It was still dark in the room but that was nothing unusual. One of my eyes was swollen, it barely parted for me to see through. At least I still had my vision, that was more than what Taz could have left me with.
    I wasn’t sure how much time had passed but apparently the boys were back from their raid. Those still around were talking amongst themselves, some were eating. It must have been a successful outing for them.
    “I told you not to hurt her.” Jet’s voice filtered through my pain. He sounded angry. Like steam-popping-from-the-ears angry. “And I come back and find her like this? You’re lucky you didn’t kill her.”
    “She bit me. You’re lucky I didn’t kill her,” Taz said defensively, like there actually was a good reason to beat me to a pulp.
    “I gave you specific orders and you didn’t follow them. How can I trust you with anything now?”
    “Don’t leave me on babysitting duty next time.”
    “I thought I could trust you.”
    “What’s so special about her anyway? You never freak out like this, Jet.”
    They had a stare down, Taz crossed his arms petulantly. Either Jet didn’t want to answer the question or he didn’t want to be accountable to him. I silently urged Jet to throw Taz out of the group, evict him or ban him from their family. Every time I had to see Taz’s face I remembered the way he touched me.
    He had touched me.
    My head shot down, the pain in my temples instantly making me regret the sudden movement. My jeans were zipped up again, my blouse back down. How far had Taz gone while I was unconscious? How much time did he have with me? My stomach burned with bile from the unanswered questions.
    Perhaps I didn’t want to know the answers.
    “You are not to go near her again,” Jet continued. “Am I making myself clear?”
    Taz waited just long enough to make it clear he wasn’t happy before he replied. “Sure.”
    “I mean it, Taz. If I see you anywhere near her, I will throw you out on your sorry ass.”
    “Clear, got it,” he replied a bit more convincingly.
    “Good. Now come help us sort out this mess of stuff.” Jet led him over to their haul. It didn’t seem to be any more than a few trash bags of things but any small piece of food was precious these days.
    They made themselves busy by taking out each item in turn. My stomach grumbled when I saw the jar of peanut butter. I could practically taste it – on warm toast and cut into fingers, the way my mom used to make it for me.
    Movement in the corner of my eye distracted me. I glanced over, trying to focus both eyes on the shape. It was even darker in the corner but I would recognize that figure anywhere.
    Oliver.
    I wanted to cry.
    He placed a finger on his lips in a ‘Shh’ motion. Considering I was choking back tears with a lump in my throat, that wasn’t going to be a problem.
    My eyes shot back to the group, making sure nobody else had seen him. They were all still intent on whatever they were doing. We were good for now.
    Oliver crept closer, sticking with the shadows. He moved stealthily until he was so close I would have been able to touch him if I wasn’t bound.
    “How?” I managed to stammer out. It almost sounded more like a cough.
    “Someone told me you were here. You need to slip out of the