Protecting His Windflower (A Spirit Hunters Series Novel Book 1) by Temperance Dawn (best black authors .txt) 📕

few hours. Nothing showed up on thermal. The motion detectors remained silent. And no disembodied voices had been picked up.

Frustration crept up on Liam. After everything they had experienced recently, it was discouraging to be three hours into an investigation and not have any evidence.

Because there hadn’t been any strange activity in Liam’s flat on the top level, the team decided to focus their energy in Emily’s flat and the basement. With the lack of evidence, Trey suggested that they try splitting up, each of them taking a different area of the building. Trey was now in Liam’s flat, and Luke was in Emily’s.

“Okay, now it’s pitch black down here,” Liam said to Emily as they descended the stairs to the basement. “I have the night vision camera so we can use that to see where we are going. Stay close and hang on to me.”

“Don’t worry,” Emily responded. “I’m not letting go.”

It wasn’t only the shaky tone in Emily’s voice that gave her nervousness away. She had a death grip on Liam’s waist, her fingers digging into his sides. The heat from her hands seared through his shirt and imprinted on his skin. Sparks of electricity traveled through her hands and into his body. Her grasp was so tight, he was sure she would leave marks on him.

Liam commended her for sticking around and assisting them a few times already. Most people couldn’t handle being in pitch blackness knowing a location was haunted. He was damn proud of her courage and determination.

Liam guided Emily down the wooden stairs, into the bowels of the building. The stale scent of the concrete foundation and walls hit him. His eyes watered at an unfamiliar dank odor that he’d never smelled before. His senses screamed at him that something was off. Years of experience told him to stay alert. If he blinked, he might be taken off guard.

Liam kept his eyes trained on the screen of his night vision camera as he asked, “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. I just hate it down here, and with the lights off, it’s even worse.”

He felt Emily step to his side. Her hand remained on his waist. “If it gets to be too much, let me know,” he whispered to her. “We’ll stop and take a break.”

Emily squeezed his waist a bit harder when she replied, “I will.”

Liam normally never paused in the middle of an investigation, but this was Emily’s first time doing any kind of paranormal work. He’d only sprung the idea of her joining them earlier that day, and he wasn’t about to push her, especially after everything that had happened to her recently.

As they rounded the bottom of the stairs, Liam felt Emily stop abruptly, halting his forward movement. “What is it?” As soon as the words escaped Liam’s lips, he felt it. An intense instinct to run washed over him, and it took everything he had to tamp down his fear so as not to alarm Emily. Even with all of the years of investigating under his belt, he couldn’t help his body’s natural reaction to tense.

“Something is here with us. We’re being watched.”

“I feel it too.” Eyes were watching them. Liam couldn’t see where they were, but he felt them. Piercing glares bared down on them. A fuzziness came over him. A hazy fog clouded his mind, and he couldn’t think clearly. Each thought increased his exhaustion level.

Liam knew it was the entity’s way of trying to control his emotions, and he pushed the fear down and asked Emily to begin another EVP session.

Emily held up the recorder and spoke.

“Is anyone here with us?”

Silence.

“What is your name?”

Silence.

“Where are you from?”

While Emily asked questions, Liam continued to scan their surroundings through the night vision camera’s viewfinder and guided Emily through the basement's darkness.

“It’s cold,” Emily said. Her voice shook with a shiver.

“Yes, it is. It wasn’t this cold a minute ago.” Liam moved the camera around some more and froze at the image on the viewing screen. He reached for his walkie talkie, held it up to his mouth, and spoke to both Trey and Luke. “Guys, can you read me?”

Luke responded first. “Yep. Whad’ya got?”

“Do we have anything to break this lock on the apartment door? I also need an EMF detector. Somethings down here with me and Emily. I swore I just saw a mist go through the locked door.”

“Copy that,” Luke replied. “I’ll grab one and bring it to you. As for the lock, we weren’t able to get anything to break through it today. I don’t know if we have anything in the van. But I’ll take a look.”

“Copy that.” Liam placed the walkie talkie back in his pocket and looked over at Emily. The air was cooling rapidly, and she was shivering.

“Hey, sweetheart. Let’s take a break. We’ll go help Luke out in the van.”

“Okay.” Emily turned slightly toward the stairs, anxious to leave the dark subterranean room. “I could use some fresh air.”

“Okay. Let’s—” A loud bang cut Liam off. Both he and Emily jumped, and he hugged her to his side. Emily’s breathing sped, and his own heart threatened to break through his chest. “It’s okay,” he whispered to her. “I’ve got you. Let’s get out of here. I’ll figure out what that was later.”

Liam guided Emily toward the stairs, and they walked up together. Halfway up, a blast of cold wind rushed through them, nearly knocking both of them backward. Emily dropped to her knees, and Liam managed to swing himself around and crouch on the step behind her, making sure she didn’t fall any further. A frigid tunnel of icy wind swirled around them. The bitter chill making it difficult to take a breath. Liam grabbed Emily by the arm and hauled her upstairs as fast as he could.

When they reached the top landing, he yelled, “Trey!”

A moment later, Trey was running down the stairs from Liam’s flat. “What the fuck happened?” Trey asked when he made it to Liam’s side.

Liam stood