Possession by C. J. Archer

meant beyond
the Waiting Area. All ghosts ended up there after death. Some remained until
they'd resolved any issues they'd left behind. Others moved on quickly. Where
they went depended on how they'd behaved in life. Jim Mortlock probably wasn't
going to a peaceful resting place.
    I swallowed my
fear and forged on. "Why did they want you?" I asked. "What's
your purpose here?"
    "Talkative
little bitch, eh?" He snorted in my ear. "He wants those toffs to
suffer like he did."
    "Which
toffs?" But I knew. I knew.
    "That lord
and lady and their girl. He wanted to humiliate them, make their boy watch as his
sister did some awful bad things because of me."
    Oh God, oh God. Someone
had done that to Adelaide deliberately? But who? Why?
    I didn't have to
think hard for an answer. Whoever had killed Jacob out of revenge was now
taking it further by putting his family through further misery. The one who'd
released the shape-shifting demon had also summoned Mortlock into Adelaide's
body.
    "Too bad I
didn't want to stay in the girl." I could hear him grin in my ear. "Oh,
I liked what I saw in the mirror. Had a nice time that night alone in her
room." His hand gripped one of my breasts and squeezed. He grunted,
perhaps in disappointment that he didn't get a handful, and let go. His fingers
trailed down my ribcage to my waist.
    "But you
didn't want to be in a woman's body?" I asked quickly. A moment or two
more and I would call Jacob, but first I wanted to learn all I could from
Mortlock.
    His hand stilled
and his palm flattened against my stomach. "Nope. Didn't want no footman's
body neither. No better than scum, they are. I wanted to be the master. This body
was the best on offer so I took it."
    "Do they
know? The people who summoned you here? Do they know you transferred to Mr.
Arbuthnot's body?"
    "They do
now. Must have worked it out."
    "Did they
ask you to do their bidding, whatever that is?"
    He snorted. "I
do no man's bidding. No girl's neither." His hand dipped to my skirt and
he pressed himself into my side. I kept my gaze fixed on the opposite wall. "I
eat pretty girls for breakfast."
    Just one more
question. One more. "What does he look like? The man who summoned you with
the little girl?"
    "No more
talking," he growled. "We're nearly at the station and I want my
entertainment." Faster than a blink, he flipped up my skirt and pinched my
thigh through my stocking.
    I gasped and
tried to shove him away, but he was too big, too strong, and he held the knife
against my thigh. He sneered and a chill seeped into my bones. He was going to
cut me, or have his way with me, or both.
    And when he'd
finished, he'd kill me.

 
    CHAPTER 6
    "Jacob!"
His name was barely out of my mouth when he came. Cold fury deadened his eyes
as he took in the scene. He looked around for a weapon since he couldn't use
his fists on a live body. If we could draw Mortlock out of Arbuthnot, that
would be a different matter. Spirits could interact with other spirits.
    "Knife,"
I said to Jacob, but he'd already seen it.
    "You want
it, eh?" Mortlock grinned, but it was wiped off his face when Jacob grabbed
the blade. Confused, Mortlock glanced up and around, but he held onto the weapon
so they performed a tug-of-war over it. The knife would have sliced mortal
flesh to pieces, but Jacob could not feel pain or bleed anymore. "What are
you doing, witch? Stop it, or I'll gut you."
    With Mortlock occupied
and off-balance, I did what Jacob couldn't do. I pushed the big body of Wallace
Arbuthnot off me. But in an attempt to steady himself, Mortlock pushed hard on
the knife. Jacob couldn't hold onto it. The knife cut my thigh.
    I screamed as my
flesh tore open. The coach came to a hard stop. I rocked and Mortlock fell
forward. Jacob snatched the knife off him.
    "Emily!"
He was at my side in a heartbeat.
    The door opened
a mere inch and the wild-eyed driver peeped cautiously inside. With a grunt,
Mortlock pushed the door open all the way and the driver tumbled back to the
road.