Page 72 of Ghost Hunted

He shrugs. “No need to look all that hard. Just keep the TV on, and the very first time you hear about a bazooka attack, you’ll know it’s her.”

“Yeah, well, I’d like to find her before that happens,” I growl.

“Why?”

“Why?”

“I mean, what’s a few dead bodies?” He shrugs. “Let her have some fun, you know? A little bit of freedom before…”

He lets his sentence hang in the air, and I decide to finish it for him, to prevent him from speaking the threat I know is on his mind.

“Before I lock her up. Right.”

His lips twist into another smirk as Seraphina gasps. “What do you mean, lock her up?”

“Well, I’m not going to let her pose a risk to you,” I tell her. “I don’t care about Damien, but I don’t want Lia to hurt you. I’m going to lock her up.”

“What? In… in jail?”

I crack my knuckles. “I guess I could lock her behind bars. Damien, know of any good cage-makers?”

He chuckles, but Seraphina grows pale. “You can’t possibly mean that. Damien, you can’t…”

“Didn’t Damien lock you in an apartment for months?” I ask her. “Do you really think he’d intervene?”

“He didn’t keep me in a cage.”

“He locked you in the cell.” I pause, thinking of how Lia was so terrified of the cell back on Moretti’s property. The first thing we did when we built Devil Tower was to install one just like it. It’s always been the perfect deterrent for our enemies, but I hadn’t expected Damien to lock up a girl there. Especially one he was so obsessed over.

He’s always been a sadistic bastard, though. Like me, I guess.

“Yes.” Seraphina sighs, pain flickering in her features, but Damien merely kisses the top of her head with a satisfied smirk. “I guess so. It was very hard, even though it was only a few days. How long are you going to keep Lia in the cage?”

“If you find her,” adds Damien, though he looks like he regrets his words the moment he speaks them.

“I am going to find her, and I’ll keep her in it until she’s fixed.”

“Logan…”

“And if I can’t fix her, I’ll just keep her in there forever. Maybe I will even if she is fixed. She deserves it.” I allow my anger to rise, directing it at the girl I know doesn’t deserve it. “I’m going to make it a nice cage. I’ll paint the bars gold. I’ll put some pillows on the floor. But I’ll make damn sure she remembers it’s a cage. I’m gonna have it built right now.” I grab my phone, my sudden resolution easing the feeling of helplessness that throbs in my chest. “I’m sure Igor knows a guy, the sadist.”

“Yeah, if anyone knows a cage-maker for nutty women, it’s him,” chuckles Damien.

“This is a joke, Damien, right?” asks Seraphina.

“Sure.” Damien pats her on the butt this time, and I avert my eyes.

“It doesn’t sound like a joke,” she insists. “But you’re not that much of an asshole, are you?”

The pat turns into a loud smack. “Careful, pet, or I’ll have them make a second cage.”

I can’t help the laugh that leaves my lips when I take in Seraphina’s shocked expression.

Then the doorbell rings, and Damien stands up. “Alright, kids. Let’s continue the cage talk later. Pizza’s here.”

20

Logan