Gone Ghost

by Sara C. Roethle

  I squinted my eyes at her and tried to think of where she might have gotten this new idea from. “Did Chase tell you that . . . about protecting me, I mean?”

  Dorrie looked at me like I was being silly. “Of course not, Pop Tart. That's what your daddy told me before he left that day.”

  My mouth dropped in astonishment. Had my dad known he was in danger? I would have given a lot in that moment to know what my grandmother had told him to trick him into meeting with Sam. He obviously didn't know at the time that my grandmother was the real threat, else he wouldn't have trusted her. So the question was, what was my father trying to protect me from?

  “Did he say anything else?” I asked urgently.

  Dorrie shook her head sadly. “I'm sorry, Bon-Bon. I didn't mean to upset you.”

  I shook my head. “No,” I replied distantly. “You've just given me a few things to think about.”

  Placated, Dorrie moved her first checker piece. I followed suit, not really thinking about what I was doing. I thought back to the file Sam had left on our doorstep, a file of information about our ancestry that my dad had been gathering. I didn't see what it had to do with anything, or why it might make him fear for his life.

  We really needed to find Sam. He might even survive the encounter. Then again, he might not.

  3

  By the time Chase returned from the library, Dorrie had beaten me at Checkers three more times. At the sight of the huge stack of books in his arms, Dorrie hopped up from her seat, leaned down to give me a quick, scratchy hug goodbye, then hurried over to take the books from Chase. With her new prizes in hand, she left the room, presumably to return to my dad's alchemy room.

  “Are you ready to go?” Chase asked as I cleaned up the Checkers board.

  I nodded and stood. “There's something I need to tell you first.”

  He crossed his arms and smiled at me. “What now?” he asked sarcastically.

  I looked down at my sneakers nervously, trying to figure out how to tell him that Jason had been hired by Abel to watch over Emma. If Chase showed up with me when I introduced my new pack members to the old ones, things would likely be highly awkward between him and Jason, and that would make things awkward for me.

  Yet, as I thought about what I should say, it dawned on me that it really wasn't my responsibility to say anything. I wasn't dating either of them. They were adults, and if they wanted to have awkwardness, that was up to them.

  “Xoe?” he questioned, sounding worried after I'd been silent for so long.

  I finally met his gaze with a small smile. “Nothing,” I stated. “Let's go.”

  Chase looked unsure as I held my hand out to him, but finally he took it. We stood there for a moment while I thought about how nice his hand felt in mine, then I closed my eyes and thought of home.

  We were there in an instant, standing in a faint cloud of red smoke. Chase let out a sigh of relief; this new mode of travel was exceptionally more comfortable for my passengers. I hadn't made a portal since I'd discovered how to travel properly, and I didn't miss the dizzying feeling of rushing upward, nor did I miss the destruction my portals caused. At this rate I'd never figure out why my portals had been so wonky, and I was okay with just letting it go if it meant I wouldn't ruin my mom's house again.

  I left the living room where we'd appeared to glance at the clock in the kitchen. I didn't actually go into the kitchen though. I'd never thought to see the day that I'd be afraid of a kitchen sink, but there it was. Big, bad half demon afraid of a little water.

  I retreated and turned back to Chase. “We still have an hour until Lucy and Max are home from school. Shall we make some lunch?”

  Chase nodded. He walked toward the kitchen, then stopped when I didn't follow. “I thought you said you wanted lunch?” he said like it was a question.

  I cringed. “What I really meant was, will you make lunch? I'm still feeling a little kitchen-phobic.”

  Chase sighed in an exaggerated manner. “I suppose, but while I do that, you can call Abel and ask if he knows any trustworthy witches.”

  I glared at him. “I'm pretty sure the term trustworthy witches is an oxymoron.”

  Chase smirked at me. “If you want lunch, you have to call him.”

  “But I already had to see him once today,” I whined.

  “Call him,” Chase stated again as he disappeared into the kitchen.

  “Fine!” I shouted. “But I'm going to need some coffee first!”

  I was answered by the sound of beans being ground in the coffee grinder. I sat down on the couch to wait with absolutely no intention of actually calling Abel. Several minutes later Chase joined me with two turkey sandwiches and two cups of coffee, arranged neatly on my mom's serving tray. He sat on the couch and placed the tray between us, then picked up his sandwich without a word.

  He paused his eating to take a sip of his coffee, then glanced up at me.

  “What?” I asked, fearing that he was going to push me again to call Abel.

  He put down his sandwich and cup, giving me his full attention. “I think I'm going to move out of your father's house,” he stated bluntly.

  I dropped my sandwich back to its plate in surprise. “I don't understand. You don't like living there? I mean, I know it's different now, but-”

  He held up his hands to calm me down. “It's not that I don't like living there. It's just that . . . well, I was living there because I was working for your dad, and it just made things easier. Now that he's . . . gone, I need to find another job.”

  “And another house . . . ” I prompted.

  Chase cringed and shook his head, obviously not thrilled with the way the conversation was going. He reached out across the tray and took both my hands in his. “Look. It's your house now. He left it to you, and you should be able to do with it what you want.”

  “B-but I don't want to do anything with it,” I stammered.

  “And that's fine,” he said soothingly. “It's just that now, after everything, it feels like I'm squatting in my friend's house. There is no purpose to me being there.”

  “Is this some sort of macho thing?” I asked as I pulled my hands from his. “You could live there when my dad owned the house, but not when your younger, female demon friend owns it?”

  Chase rolled his eyes again. “You know that's not why, Xoe.”

  “Then tell me why.”

  Chase picked up his cup of coffee, took a deep breath and let it out, took a sip, then met my eyes. “I told you once that I don't remember my father. I just know he was a Necro-demon, like Sam.”

  I wasn't sure what Chase's father had to do with our conversation, but since I'd been trying to get him to open up about his past since I first met him, I kept quiet and nodded.

  “My mother was a Naga,” he went on, “and I took after her.”

  This was more information that I knew. I'd once seen Chase kill a vampire by biting her. It was kind of ironic really. She had bitten him too, but Chase's bite was poisonous.

  I nodded for Chase to go on, giving him my full attention.

  “My parents were only together in order to procreate,” Chase explained. “They each wanted a child to carry on their lines, and after I was born, they each had that. My mother took me, my father took Sam, and that was the end of it.”

  “That's horrible,” I commented before I could think better of it.

  Chase shrugged and took another sip of his coffee. “It's a common practice amongst demons. My mother was killed by another demon when I was fifteen,” he went on, speaking blandly about the event like it didn't hurt him, though I was sure that it did. “Sam found me shortly after. I didn't even know about him, but his spirits told him about me. He got me into quite a bit of . . . trouble. Then I met your dad. He helped me out, and in return asked me to watch over his daughter who was living in the human world.”

  He shrugged again, brushing off the whole story. “I'd never had much of a purpose, but working for your dad gave me that. Now
I need to find something else.”

  “So you don't want to watch over his half-human daughter anymore?” I asked jokingly, trying to lighten the situation.

  Chase smiled sadly. “I want to watch over her very much, but she is often quite busy, and I don't want looking for Sam to be my only day job.”

  “I understand,” I said hesitantly, “but what about Dorrie?”

  He sighed. “I thought about that. I'm still more than happy to be on Dorrie library duty.”

  I smiled and picked up my sandwich again, but paused to look at him before taking a bite. “Chase,” I began, not sure how to phrase the question I wanted to ask.

  He waited patiently while I figured it out, sipping his coffee and watching me with his calm, gray eyes. “You said that what happened with you and Sam was a common practice amongst demons, but my powers are the same as my dad's. Why did he leave me?”

  I suddenly felt like I was going to cry, and I really, really didn't want to cry. I'd cried enough.

  Chase took my hand again and waited for me to meet his gaze. “He tried to stay and raise you in the human world at first, but when your mom ran away with you, he decided it was for the best. He wanted you to be able to live a normal life for as long as possible. He didn't want your life like it is now to be the only kind of life you'd ever know.”

  I sighed and looked away. “I wish I could have known him all of that time.” Before Chase could reply, I shook myself out of my fugue. “Sorry about your mom,” I said quickly. I looked back up at him. “Thanks for telling me.”

  Chase nodded. “Now eat your sandwich. You need to call Abel so we can figure this haunting thing out.”

  With my focus on Chase's past, and my dad, I had forgotten about calling Abel, and had nearly even forgotten that I was being haunted. The reminder instantly soured my mood. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I fished it out, thinking that Lucy had texted me back, but what I found was a text from an unknown number. It read:

  “Meet at Mountain Heights apartments, #201. You said you would help if you could.”

  I stared at the text in confusion for a moment, then showed it to Chase.

  “Well you're not exactly helpful,” he commented. “There are only so many people that it could be.”

  I glared at him, then typed, “Who is this?”

  I pushed send, then tapped my foot impatiently while I waited for a reply. A moment later my phone buzzed again.

  “Please help.”

  I showed the message to Chase.

  “Well my curiosity is piqued,” he admitted.

  “Aaand our day just got a little longer,” I replied.

  My phone buzzed again, and this time it actually was Lucy, replying that she would gather Max and Lela to meet me and the new pack members at Irvine's in an hour.

  I showed the text to Chase. “Looks like we don't have time to call Abel,” I said with an evil smile.

  “Xoe-” he began to argue, but I ignored him and sent a text to Jason asking him to bring Emma and Siobhan to Irvine's.

  Surely with such a large party as a buffer, Chase, Jason, and I would be fine?

  “Xoe,” Chase stated again. “Your life being in danger needs to take priority here.”

  I shrugged. “My life is always in danger.”

  Chase shook his head. “Not like this.”

  I met his earnest eyes and was forced to answer him seriously. “I think the anonymous text was probably from Rose, Claire's little sister,” I admitted. “If that's the case, we already have a meeting with witches set up. I wouldn't exactly say that they're of the trustworthy variety, but they want my help, and will likely be inclined to help me in return.”

  Chase let out a sigh of relief. “Why didn't you just say that to begin with?”

  I looked down at my lap. “Because I hope that the text wasn't from Rose. It would mean they want help with the demon the witches loosed, the one that killed Claire.”

  “And?” Chase prompted.

  I took a deep breath. “And I'm not sure that I want to help them.”

  Chase looked slightly confused. “You know they had little choice in what they did. Your grandmother was controlling them.”

  “Would you sacrifice an innocent person's life to avoid risking your own?”

  Chase shook his head. “They didn't think of it as risking innocent humans. They thought of it as risking demons. As far as the witches are concerned, demons are evil.”

  I snorted. “So I'm back to asking myself why I should help them. If demons are evil, I should leave the witches to their fate.”

  Chase moved the sandwich tray to the coffee table so he could scoot over and put an arm around me. “You'll help them because you are not evil, Xoe.”

  “What makes you so sure?” I asked seriously, because truth be told, I was a little worried.

  I had only ever tried to harm those who had harmed me, but did I mourn their deaths? Not one bit. I was more inclined to help Rose and her parents, not because it was the right thing to do, but because they could help me in return. I really didn't want anything bad to happen to Rose, but to her parents? They had it coming.

  “What are you thinking?” Chase asked, instead of answering my question.

  “That I hope the demon gets to Ben and Cynthia before I have a chance to stop it,” I answered honestly.

  “They were only trying to help their daughter,” Chase replied.

  “Well they should have thought of their children before they went around summoning demons to begin with,” I countered. “They made a choice. They could have left their coven and moved away from the rogue wolves who were threatening them. They could have reported it all to the coalition. Instead, they made a choice that cost their daughter and my dad their lives. They decided to play with fire, and they deserve to get burned.”

  Chase smiled sadly and pulled me a little closer. “You are very much like your father.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, letting my head fall against his shoulder.

  “You're highly moral, but it's your own form of morality. An eye for an eye, reap what you sow, old-school kind of morality.”

  “I don't think wanting someone to die can really be considered moral,” I argued.

  “You want them to die because to you, they killed your father, and their own daughter.”

  “Did you want Josie to die?” I asked suddenly, referring to his ex-girlfriend whom he'd stabbed to keep me safe.

  “No,” he answered honestly, “but I knew her. She never would have stopped, and if we let her go, she would still be trying to either use you, or kill you if she couldn't.”

  “I think that's the difference,” I stated numbly.

  Chase pulled away slightly so he could look at me. “What is?”

  I shrugged and looked down. “You killed her because it needed to be done, but you would have let her live if there was any other way. You would have let her live even though she tried to kill Jason, and wanted to force me to make portals for the highest bidder.”

  “I'm . . . sorry?” he said like it was a question.

  I shook my head. “That's it exactly. You're sorry. You regret her death. I don't. I don't even regret my grandmother's death, even though it was an accident.”

  “Don't be sorry for being strong, Xoe,” he sighed.

  “I'm not sorry,” I argued, “and that worries me.”

  Chase leaned his face close to mine, and I thought that he might kiss me when he said, “I'm grateful for who you are, and I know your friends are too. You're loyal and you're just, and regrets have never done anyone any good.”

  He did kiss me then. The thoughts bouncing around in my head quieted and I just sank into the kiss, reveling in the fact that though it was a relatively new feeling, it was comfortable. I reached my hands up to run them through his hair, wrapping my fingers around the soft tendrils.

  Then the front door opened.

  My mom stared at us with her jaw agape as we hopped away from each other like
magnets with the same polarity. Her newly cut, short, curly brown hair blew about in the breeze as she stood frozen in the doorway, then a small, knowing smile graced her lips.

  Before she could say anything, I jumped to my feet. “We're late to meet our friends for pizza,” I announced quickly.

  My mom continued to smile as she walked over the threshold, removing her lightweight, beige coat. “Okay Xoe,” she replied, humoring me. She turned her gaze to Chase. “It's nice to see you again, Chase. It's been too long.” Then she winked at him and walked into the kitchen.

  Feeling like my face was on fire, I shoved Chase toward the front door, pausing only to grab the satchel containing my house keys and wallet on the way out.

  Chase turned to face me with a huge grin as I followed him out onto the porch.

  I glared playfully at him. “Leave it to you to turn a deep conversation about death and morality into a debacle.”

  He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Was it at least a good debacle?”

  I continued to glare. “I wouldn't want to inflate your ego with reassurances.”

  He laughed and took the hand I offered him. “So do you just plan on popping up right in the middle of Irvine's?”

  My glare melted away. I had actually been planning on popping into the parking lot without thinking of the consequences. My traveling power was so new to me, I was yet to consider what might happen if anyone saw me using it.

  Chase's expression turned serious. “You weren't really going to pop us into the middle of the restaurant, were you?”

  I cringed. “Parking lot, actually.”

  Chase mimicked my cringe. “Think you could navigate to the back parking lot, or maybe an alleyway?”

  I had never been to the back lot of Irvine's, so I couldn't bring us there, but I had been somewhere else that was relatively private.

  I sighed and mumbled, “I really need a car.” Then, with a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, we poofed away.

  We ended up crammed together in a bathroom stall.