Ghost unleashed, p.1
Ghost Unleashed, page 1
Ghost Unleashed
Demon Cursed Book One
Charmaine Ross
© 2022 by Charmaine Ross
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published in Australia
First Published as Ghost 2018
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Line edits: Ray Collet, Doing It Write
Proof reading: Author Bunnies
Cover design: Charmaine Ross
EXCERPT
He trembled. “I’ve been aching to touch you, Cassie. You don’t know how I’ve longed...”
His gaze roamed my face, heated and raw.
I breathed in. Then out. The words he’d said lodged into meaning.
I pushed the question from my mouth: “Longed?”
His fingertips pressed into my skin. “Yes. Longed. Ached. Desired. I’ve wanted you in my arms like this so much, so fiercely it hurt, Cassie. There was an ache in my soul that couldn’t be soothed. Not until I touched you. I knew I never could, but this …this is a miracle. Something I thought would never happen.”
“Neither did I. I’ve dreamed about this, Elliot. And now…now you’re here…and I’m here…wondering if this can be real. And if it’s not real, then where are we and what are we doing and how are we doing it…?”
“I don’t know, but I know this is real and right…I didn’t think we would…could have a way…to do this.” His mouth firmed and regret tensed the lines around his eyes. “That’s why I went away, Cassie. I couldn’t give in to what I really wanted. Needed. It wouldn’t have been fair to you. I wasn’t any good for you...not like that. Not a half man. Not of one world or the next. You deserve so much more. You have a life and…and I’ve had mine.”
“Don’t ever think that way. If I could never touch you, I could still talk to you. That would have been enough and I’m through with other people deciding what I need or don’t need. I need you, Elliot. I want you,” I said. How could I not want this glorious man who would give his life up for me. Not just his life, but his very existence.
He smiled and the tension left his face. If I thought he had been handsome before, he was totally devastating now. My heart lurched and I needed so much more than being held. “I want you to kiss me, Elliot. I want to feel your mouth on mine. I want to taste you. I want to touch you. Would you…do you...?”
Heat constricted my throat and closed off the words.
Elliot’s eyes darkened, “I didn’t think I’d ever hear you say those words, but now that you have, I can’t resist. I want to kiss you too, Cassie. I can’t describe it. The need…as though it was…fate, but I thought it would ever happen. Could ever happen. The pain of not being able to was too much for me, but here…now…there’s a way and I’m not going to waste it.”
That full mouth that I only saw and imagined, was real, and solid, and firm. My gaze rose to meet his. Deep pools of emerald washed through me, along with flaring desire. He’d been so good at disguising his feelings, it was surprising to see him as unhinged as I felt. His desire touched and mingled and fed between us, until there was only Elliot and me and this overwhelming, intriguing, unexplainable connection.
“Is this what you want, Cassie?”
His hand rose, cupping my nape. Goosebumps prickled my skin at his touch. This was what I ached for. Everything I dreamed about. Everything I wanted. I rested my lips on his, not believing that this could possibly be happening, but fate couldn’t be that horrible, could it? I leaned forward, just to prove I could touch him because if it didn’t…if this wasn’t real…
With a throaty groan, his fingers splayed on my back, holding me against him. His mouth opened and I willingly followed. The heat of his lips fuelled my need. My tongue entered his mouth, sweeping, dancing in an intoxicating stroke.
My mind stopped floundering as pure physical sensation took over. Heat pooled in my stomach, making my insides melt and puddle. A languid heaviness filled me, pressing within my abdomen, reaching my breasts, making my skin extra sensitive. This was what I wanted. This was what I needed. This was the precious gift that had been denied me.
My heart wept with relief and with release, as though a dam had broken and the river once again flowed, filling a pathway that had been dry for too long. I locked my thighs at either side of his waist, baring the most private part of my body to him. One of his arms encircled my waist, caging me against the broad planes of his chest. His erection pressed against my abdomen, long and thick. A flurry of tingles sparked when he moved, making me more needy, more alive.
“God, how I’ve wanted to do this to you, Cassie. I can’t believe you’re here, in my arms.” He placed his palms either side of my face. “You’re beautiful. Brave. Mine.”
BLURB
When my family curse awakens, the dead come calling. They want to be heard, but they drove my mother insane and I fear that same will happen to me.
I became a surgeon to save people from death, not their afterlife. My sister, Laura, should have inherited the gift, but instead it went to me. When I’m framed for the murder of my patient, an amnesiac detective who died over 80 years ago comes to my aid.
I have to help Elliot too. Without his memories he can’t pass to his afterlife, but the more I come to know him, the more I want him to stay. My mother warned me, but my stupid, selfish heart didn’t listen. I’ve fallen in love with a ghost. There can be no future.
But there’s more to the dead than ghosts, angels and demons. An unknown entity has unleashed creatures on Earth who steal souls from living bodies and Elliot is the key.
To protect the world, I’ll lose my heart, my life and my soul. But whatever the cost, I’ll never lose Elliot.
Fans of Laura Thalassa’s ‘Four Horsemen’, I.T. Lucas ‘Children of the Gods’, and K. F. Breene ‘Demigods’ will devour this paranormal romance filledwith angels, demons and impossible odds.
Ghost Unleashed is the first in the Demon Cursed series. If you like strong heroines that fight for the truth, lost souls that sacrifice all and the answer to the afterlife itself, dive into this exciting series today!
Contents
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty-One
22. Chapter Twenty-Two
23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter one
My chair toppled backwards with a thud onto the carpet on my office floor as I surged to my feet. I hardly noticed.
“Henry can’t be dead!”
A wave of heat left a sticky residue on my skin as I planted my palms on my desk and stared at my desktop screen, hoping against hope the words in the email would change, but they remained obstinately the same.
Henry Davis. Aged eighty-two. Time of death 2am. Cardiac arrest. George Campbell, the doctor in charge last night had signed Henry’s time of death.
Henry was officially my patient. He had heart problems, but nothing that had hinted at anything life threatening. He’d been healthy. Well, as healthy as an elderly gentleman could be. So much so, that I’d signed his release papers yesterday afternoon before I’d left for home.
There was no reason to keep him here. Indigestion was not a heart condition, but I’d admitted him in for observation two nights ago because he said he liked hospital food. Things must have been pretty grim for him at home for him to say something like that. He was a widower and probably didn’t do much in the way of cooking for himself, so I’d let him stay.
I’d popped my head into his room to tell him there was no good reason for me to keep him here before I left. He’d waved goodbye to me after thanking me for his treatment, and the food.
The last thing I’d expected to see was his death certificate topping my morning emails. As his treating doctor, I should have been notified right away, not at eight the next morning. George Campbell knew the procedure. Henry was my patient and until he left the hospital, I was officially responsible for him. Anger built behind my breastbone, swirling with angry sparks. I would give that doctor a piece of my mind. Good looks could only take you so far, and George was a man who relied on them. He knew better than to leave a non-urgent email as notification for something of this magnitude.
Unless I’d missed something. My stomach churned with sick dread. Surely I would have found something if there was an issue. To keep Henry here, I’d subjected him to multiple tests. All were within reasonable limits for a man his age; yet my doubt lingered. The morgue. I had to get to the morgue to see the body. To see Henry. I couldn’t have got it this wrong, could I?
I rounded a corner, b
“Doctor Hunter? Cassie?”
I forced my eyelids open to see people crouching over my prone form on the floor.
“Are you all right? You looked like you hit that trolley pretty hard.” Julie Cartwright, one of the ward nurses frowned down at me.
I brushed a warm trickle from my hairline, my fingers coming away red and bloodied. My forehead pulsed as pain radiated down my face and through my skull. My vision wavered as I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the people milling around me. I pushed away strands f hair that had come loose from my bun. If this wasn’t embarrassing enough, I was now bleeding out on my hospital floor. Great.
“I’ll take you to a room. George Campbell is still on duty. He can take a look at you,” Julie said. I ignored the dreamy look in her eyes when she mentioned George’s name.
“No!” I reared back. The last thing I wanted was Campbell touching me. I took a steeling breath, willing my double vision to clear. Shock and concern washed across Julie’s face, so I continued, “I can see to it myself. Thanks Julie.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
Blood dripped down the side of my face and I wiped it away with my sleeve, hiding it from her view. Legally, I would need to go off duty with an open wound like this. Working at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne meant that rules were strict, and being a cardiac surgeon meant I needed to be pedantic about them. Cross contamination being the first and foremost priority. I wouldn’t be able to step foot anywhere near a patient, let alone the morgue, but I had to see Henry’s body. The urge to get to the morgue rode me hard.
“Yeah. Head wounds. They look worse than they really are. Thanks, Julie. I’ll get someone to help me now,” I said, brushing past her without waiting for her reply.
My head throbbed with each heartbeat but no amount of willing it away would make it stop. Thankfully, I made it around the corner and stumbled to the lifts. I slammed a finger on the lift button and put a hand to my stomach, resisting the urge to throw up. I should have let Julie help me. Walking away with an open wound was not only against regulations, but it also wasn’t a great idea. It horrified the doctor in me that I was doing this, while another, less-rational side wasn’t listening at all. A less-rational side I never knew I had.
The doors opened and I stepped inside, sinking against the wall. I sucked in air through my nose, trying to clear my head. I must have hit my head pretty hard, but I’d get myself checked out. I wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t risk myself like this with patients.
After I’d seen Henry. Even my deep-seated dread of setting foot down here wasn’t enough to stop me.
I wiped the blood as best I could, keeping a steady pressure on the wound as I stepped out of the lifts. Cool air swirled about my ankles, the relative coldness leaching through my white coat and clothing. Luckily no one was about as I walked unhindered towards the morgue. I usually took consolation that there were warm, conscious bodies here with me when I visited. I took more comfort from them being here than I should. Each step I took was a forced one, yet I still took them and one by one, my feet led me to the morgue doors.
A shudder crept up my spine and I forced it not to take over my body. A bead of sweat tickled down my spine as my breathing came in short, sharp bursts that I tried and failed to even out.
I hated the morgue.
It drew the dead to it.
Some in shock. Some in denial. Some in grief. Or so my mother always said. She would know.
I thanked God I didn’t.
A thousand ants scratched under my skin as I forced myself to push the button that would open the doors. They swung back silently revealing a covered body laid out on the table in the middle of the room covered by a white sheet, striking me as a sacrificial offering. An invisible band tightened about my chest and my vision swam.
I wasn’t sure if the body would be Henry. He could be in any of the drawers lining the far wall, but there was only one way to find out. I formed a fist, but it did nothing to alleviate my shaking hand. Come on. You’re a doctor. Just do it. I’d seen bodies before. It was part of my training. I pulled up my big girl panties, ignored the fact I was alone in a morgue and gently pulled the sheet from the face.
My breath hissed out between my teeth and my vision wavered again. I wasn’t sure if it was because the body was in fact Henry, or because my head wound kicked up a notch. My heart lurched as my gut tumbled. My belly cramped and I clamped a hand over my mouth. I spun on the balls of my feet, looking for a place to hurl when I came face to face with Henry.
His face lit up, “Doctor Hunter. Thank goodness you’ve come. It’s my will, you see. I need help with my will.”
My knees buckled. I hit the floor and a wave of darkness swept me away.
Chapter two
Consciousness came back in unwilling stages. I wanted to stay in the dark and ignore the light, because the light would bring things I didn’t want. Things I’d run from my entire life. Things I thought I’d been lucky enough to avoid.
The chill of the tiles seeped through my cheek where it pressed to the floor, making my bones ache as cold slid through my skin. I cracked my eyes open, looking for Henry’s feet between my lashes.
The morgue remained silent.
I barely drew breath, waiting for the scuff of a foot or rustle of cloth, but nothing came to me. There was nothing here, except for Henry’s body on the table and my crumpled one on the floor.
The urge to giggle erupted from the pit of my stomach. A strange sort of sound came from my lips, brought forth by a force of air. Seeing Henry and thinking I’d seen a... well, stupid really. It was all in my mind. Nerves and a head injury could produce hallucinations that seemed real. The mind under stress was an unknown factor, throwing up fantasies from the subconscious. That was it.
It had to be.
I simply wanted Henry to be alive, and after seeing proof of his death on the table above me, my mind conjured him up. It was a logical reaction brought on by a logical need. No doctor liked to think they’d missed complications, no matter how hard they might be to spot and to accept.
I flopped onto my back, my gut churning with the unfulfilled need to purge as reality set in. Henry, my patient, had died and there hadn’t been a damn thing I could do about it. Guilt pressed into me, as solid and heavy as any boulder with the unwavering knowledge that I hadn’t been good enough to save him. I scrunched my eyes closed, but hot tears still leaked down the sides of my face.
I’d lost patients before, but usually because their ailments were beyond my control. I’d never been blindsided like this. All of my experience, my knowledge and my training hadn’t been enough. It hurt that Henry had died because I’d missed something and I damn well had no idea what had caused it.
“Miss?”
My eyes jerked open to a pair of serious green ones staring down at me. Eyes that had seen too much of the wrong side of life. Intense and serious, they took hold of me and didn’t let go.
“Who are you?” My voice, weak and thready, echoed off the cold tiles of the morgue. The shadowy silhouette of a man crouching over me was a blur to my watery eyes. “Why are you even here?”
“You called for help and I came.” His voice, soothing, deep and rumbly made me pause.
“I did?” I put my fingers to my forehead, wincing when I accidentally brushed my head wound. I didn’t know what had caused Henry’s death let alone what I called out before I’d collapsed, but I was sure I’d been alone in here not two seconds ago.
A furrow appeared between his brows and his eyes narrowed as they studied me. He seemed as confused as I was. “I heard you and then I saw you. Do you need assistance?”
I was vulnerable lying on the floor of the morgue, so slowly sat up, dragging my behind under me and positioning myself away from him. “I fainted. I thought I saw a g...”
