The Guest House Hauntings Boxset by Hazel Holmes (novel books to read txt) 📕

and a cold sweat broke out all over his body. That little itch in the heel of his foot had ignited into a searing pain that seemed to be on fire and freezing at the same time.

The woman wore a tight red dress. Her face was done up with minimal makeup, her jet-black hair flowing down in curls, her hair the same color as the dark shade of lipstick she wore. She giggled and wrinkled her nose, and Brent couldn’t shake the primal urges aching in his loins in a swirling combination of fear and lust.

The woman smiled coyly and then inched closer toward Brent, who remained glued to the car door. “Relax, sweetheart.” A hint of mockery riddled her tone, and she walked her hand over the seats, her nails digging into the cushions until they pressed into the stiff fabric of his jeans. “I’m only here to help.”

“How did you—” Brent licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry, and shook his head again in disbelief. “What the hell are you?”

Gentle laughter rolled off the woman’s tongue as she reclined against the passenger-side door, lifting her legs and poking the pegs of her stiletto heels into the seat cushions, her legs spread open and inviting. “I’m your salvation. I’m the girl who’s going to get you out of this car before backup arrives. How does that sound?”

Brent couldn’t keep his eyes from staring between the woman’s legs, and while his cheeks glowered red with shame, he couldn’t shift his gaze. “Like it’s too good to be true.”

“Clever boy,” she said, her tongue rolling in pleasure in her mouth. “I only want the tiniest little favor from you in exchange for your freedom.” She placed her hands on her knees and tugged at her dress, pulling it up her knees slowly, exposing the pale, toned, and supple skin along her inner thighs.

Brent’s mouth hung open, his mind as slack as his jaw. “What?”

“That girl,” she said, still hiking the skirt up. “The one you’ve been looking for. I want you to find her, and I want you to bring her to me.” The hem of her skirt reached her waist, and she leaned forward, digging her nail beneath Brent’s chin and lifting his gaze to meet her own. “Think you can do that for me, big boy?”

Brent blinked a few times, a dull ache forming beneath his chin and in his groin. “Why… Why can’t you go and get her yourself? Why do you need me?”

The woman showed her first signs of anger and displayed her displeasure by digging her fingernail deeper into Brent’s skin, hard enough to draw blood that trickled down her finger. “Because she’s being protected by something that I can’t get through.” She flashed a hint of doubt. “Something I can’t see.” Then she turned her attention back to him. “But you can get her, which is something I know you want.” She closed her eyes, sniffing the air around him. “You’re like a dog in heat.” When she opened her eyes again, the smile returned to her face. “So, what do you say, sweetheart?”

“And what do I get out of this deal?” Brent asked.

“Your freedom,” the woman answered. “All of these problems with the girl and the cops will go away.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.”

And while Brent wanted to answer, he found his tongue tied. But after rolling it around in his mouth a few times, he nodded. “All right.”

“Good.” The woman gestured behind her, flinging her head toward the mansion. “I’ll be in the house.” She leaned forward and then kissed his lips. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

Brent closed his eyes at the touch of her lips on his, and when he opened them again, he found the woman gone, and he was alone in the car. But just when he thought he’d been swindled, he lifted his hands to run his fingers through his hair.

The cuffs were gone. He rubbed his wrists, the flesh tender where the zip ties had been, and he stared at the imprints with a certain level of wonder and awe. “What in the hell did I just get myself into?”

The radio crackled, that woman, Faye, coming through the radio waves. “Sarah? Are you there? The troopers are turning off the highway now. Sarah?”

And before the hint of red and blue lights could appear down the road, bathing the small town in color, Brent opened the car door and stepped out into the frigid night air. He discovered two surprising elements. The first was that his heel no longer itched. The second was that, despite knowing how cold it was and how he’d been shivering for the past hour in the back of that car, he wasn’t cold anymore. And he knew that he had the lady in the red dress to thank for that, though he figured both would come back to bite him in the ass.

But the only thing that concerned him for the moment was the fact that Sarah was still out there, and it was his job to bring her back. He was glad the woman had not specified whether she preferred her dead or alive.

78

Darkness washed over Dell quickly. Blind and disoriented, he lost all sense of time. He floated aimlessly, unable to determine for how long. Eventually his feet scraped a hard surface, and the sensation of gravity returned. But when the world around him finally came into view, he wished for that darkness to return.

The foreign landscape that stretched to the horizon was a far cry from the Bell house he had just been inside. Walls, ceilings, floors, and furniture had been replaced with rock and ash and floating embers. No water, no grass, or trees, nothing but red and black, jagged rocks. It was like standing on the inside of a volcano.

The air was thick with smoke, and an unforgiving heat baked his skin. Every breath was a struggle, but each inhale provided enough oxygen to wheeze