Free Demonically Tempted (Frostbite) by Stacey Kennedy Page A

not to bother you again.”
    My jaw tightened at the indifference he portrayed. I understood why he made that point, but I wasn’t sure I liked it. As much as ghosts had gotten to me over the years, I’d accepted my path now and if they were in danger or needed help, I’d chosen to assist them. “Ignore him.”
    “What?” Dane shot back.
    “It’s my choice how I do things. Sure, I don’t want them in my house—at inappropriate times—but if they need my help, I’ll never turn them away.”
    “It’s one thing to help. It’s another to let them control you. You let them have the power. And that’s not their right.”
    I narrowed my eyes on him. “I’d prefer if you would stop talking like that. Either find something nice to say, or shut the hell up.”
    Kipp laughed.
    Dane sucked in a deep breath and focused on me so intently, searching for something. “You’re going to get yourself into trouble.”
    I waved away his remark. “Yeah, what else is new?” Done with him, this conversation, and his anger, I said to Holly, “Tell us where this ghost is?”
    Holly looked around frantically, seemingly stunned by the conversation with Dane. “At an abandoned house on Chelsea Avenue.” Her attention came fully onto me. “Trust me, you’ll know the house the second you walk down the street. I suspect you’ll sense his presence, just as we have, but he tends to come out of the house. So we all avoid that area as much as possible now.”
    “What do you mean he comes out ? Like to take a stroll around the neighborhood?”
    “I’m not sure what he does when he leaves the house. No one sticks around to find out.”
    I pondered all this, but had trouble imagining what she offered and said, “How do you know that he’s a bad ghost or man, I should say?” Seriously, had anything ever been so ridiculous? “What sort of feelings do you get off him?”
    “Just wrongness. He hasn’t hurt any of us, yet.” She didn’t fail to add that. “But I wouldn’t put it past him.” That same fear sped across her face. “I had the feeling when I first encountered him that he would destroy me if I got in his way.”
    “Sounds like someone I definitely want to meet.” I snorted softly.
    Kipp grinned. “Ask numb-nuts if ghosts have the ability to hurt you?”
    I smiled at my ghost, adoring that his concern was first and foremost for my safety. I glanced at Dane who appeared frustrated that he wasn’t hearing all of the conversation, but I could hardly care about him . “You said before that I could be in danger. What does that mean?”
    “Exactly what you think it means.”
    I gulped. “Could a ghost kill me?”
    “Not in the way you’re thinking,” he said, as if he choose his words carefully. “But you’re more threatening to a ghost than you would be if you didn’t hold these gifts. They will know you have the knowledge to get rid of them—or suspect you do—and if they didn’t want that then you could imagine their reaction.”
    Did he just answer my question or avoid it? “Yes, well, that’s shitty and all, but what would a ghost do to me in that situation?”
    “They could trap your soul.”
    I laughed, even if it did sound nervous. “Yeah, right.”
    No hesitation crossed his features. “It’s why I said it’s important I come with you. Not only to see what you’re up against, but I need to teach you how to close yourself off. You complain they’re always intruding on you, but the truth is, you allow it.”
    “I allow nothing of the sort,” I retorted.
    “You do. You just don’t know it.” There was his knowing look again. “By allowing them to have so much control, you leave yourself defenseless. Meaning, a ghost could do whatever they wanted to if you let them—because you don’t realize the power you hold—and that includes stealing your soul. Trust me when I tell you, this would be far worse than death. Any dark spirit that entered your body would seek to destroy you as painfully