Created Darkly by Gena D. Lutz Page B

the phantom snarled back.
    That broke the camel’s back. I pulled back the hammer of my gun and flipped off the safety. “I was raised to shoot anything I point my gun at, so threaten my sister one more time, and I’ll do it. I swear to all that’s holy, I’ll shoot. I know the score. And you can bet your ass I will cooperate with any demand Wolf throws at me. But understand this—my friends and family are off limits. Got it?”
    The phantom transferred his gaze from Rush, the full force of his ice-cold stare landing on me, instead. I forced myself not to shiver under the weight of it. Whatever creature was squatting in that human had an evil soul. One that made me feel like worms would crawl out of his orifices any second, to plop sickeningly to the ground. The malevolent phantom was an infestation of the worst kind. I shook off the disgusting visual and returned his threatening look with one of my own. He must’ve believed I was capable of acting on my warning, because a moment later, he released Rush, who fell sideways against the wall, but I didn’t move to help him. I shot the phantom one last look before lowering my weapon.
    “You’re too brave for your own good,” the phantom said, raising a brow.
    “Probably.” I leaned over to help Rush to his feet. I held my arm out to him, but he shrugged it off.
    “I can handle myself,” he said in a tone with which he made sure I knew he was upset that I’d stepped in to save him from the phantom. He pushed up off the ground, steadying himself on his feet.
    I didn’t give a crap about his bruised ego. My interfering had worked, and in my opinion, that’s all that mattered. I eyed the big, bad monster in the room. If it was a body he wanted, then a body, he would get.
    “Be right back,” I said to the phantom.
    He looked in my direction, and then he continued arranging more things on the shelf. I turned and started for the door. Rush reached over to stop me. I smiled and said, “I’ll be fine. Just starting to feel a bit buried under all the testosterone flying around.”
    Rush flinched. I frowned and glanced over at Jude. I’d almost forgotten about him, he’d been so quiet. He stood several feet away from us with a candlestick gripped tightly in his fist, something he grabbed to use as a weapon. No matter his silence, he’d been ready to kick some ass, if needed.
    “You okay?” I asked.
    He nodded and tossed the candlestick to the ground.
    ***
    The wide corridor, which was built from the blackest of stone, echoed the dim voices of the dead off its shiny walls. The same persistent voices I had tuned out, the ability learned from years of practice, the first time I was in that area of the building. Unless they had a pressing need for attention, ghosts tended to leave well enough alone.
    I ran my fingertips across the wall’s surface. It felt cool and smooth. I’d guess the stone used in the construction of those walls was either black obsidian or hematite. Both stones were spiritual in nature and were probably placed there for the grounding and protective aspects they held.
    I took in all the different voices, letting them soak into me as I made my way towards the tombs. Being in a room full of corpses would drive any other necromancer bat shit crazy, but ghosts and their nonsensical chatter were things I was used to dealing with on a regular basis. I enjoyed the interaction with them; it was like a ‘welcome home’ greeting of sorts.
    “I like your hair,” a feminine voice fluttered in my ear before floating off.
    “Thank you,” I said, keeping my pace.
    “Once I’m a vampire, you should let me take you out. I’m very rich and I will treat you right, beautiful,” a husky male voice said.
    “You stand a better chance with me as a ghost.” 
    Ugh…I almost forgot that all of these lovely ghosts, my friends, would soon be turned into vampires. The thought soured my gut, so I switched gears and began to ignore them. Thinking about the ghosts