“Where are you?” he demanded.
“The Italian restaurant across from where we parted,” I replied breathily. “Walking out of here in my current state will probably draw way too much attention, so I'll just meet you guys in the alleyway.”
“We can come and get you,” he offered.
“No,” I answered quickly. “Just meet me in the alley. And Chase?”
“Yeah?” he replied.
“If you see this girl between now and then, do not approach her.”
I could almost sense him nodding on the other end of the line. “If you say so,” he replied just before hanging up.
I groaned again as I looked down at my blood-soaked clothing, then pictured the alleyway. I was feeling tired from blood loss, and nothing happened at first. I almost thought I'd have to call Chase back, but then with a final burst of effort, I managed to poof out.
As soon as I re-formed, I collapsed in the dirty alleyway, clutching my arms against my midsection to slow the bleeding.
“Xoe!” I heard Lucy shout. I felt lightheaded and nauseous as I looked up to see her and Chase running toward me.
Chase arrived first, gathered me into his arms, and lifted me up to cradle me in his arms. My eyes were closed, but I could hear Lucy panting, so she was close by.
“We need to get you to a hospital,” Chase stated.
“No hospital,” I slurred, feeling groggy as I forced my eyes open. “I just need some bandages and rest.” I didn't need to explain to a doctor why my knife wounds were healing faster than normal, or why I had knife wounds to begin with. “I don't think I can take us,” I added.
Way ahead of me on that point, Lucy already had her phone lifted to her ear. “Allison isn't answering,” she stated as she ended the call, then selected another number to dial.
I looked up at Chase woozily as he held me with one arm under my knees and the other under my shoulders. There seemed to be pretty lights dancing around his head, or maybe it was just the sunlight playing tricks on me.
I heard Lucy giving someone directions, then her face appeared above me. “Jason is on his way,” she stated.
Of course he was.
7
The next ten minutes were a blur. I remained in Chase's arms while Lucy kept up a constant stream of conversation to keep me awake. I'd had to shut down several more suggestions that we should go to the hospital, and there had probably been a few more that I didn't quite hear. It was getting difficult to focus on Lucy's words, and I felt like I was floating in Chase's arms.
Suddenly Jason was there. I felt his hand on my face, but felt unable to focus as he looked down into my eyes. My eyes fluttered closed as Chase climbed into the backseat of Jason's car with me still in his arms. The sound of car doors shutting echoed distantly, then the car lurched into movement.
Each turn made me want to vomit, and I kept trying to open my eyes, but couldn't seem to manage it.
Lucy's voice melted into my awareness as she asked, “Where are we going?”
Jason was silent, then I heard Chase whisper, “To the hospital.”
“But she said no hospital,” Lucy replied at full volume.
“There's no other choice,” Chase replied, his voice suddenly closer than before. I felt him kiss my temple, then he whispered, “Just stay with me, Xoe.”
It was only then that I realized I might be dying.
I opened my eyes to a bright light. I'll admit, the thought that I might be dead flashed through my mind, but then I heard the sound of medical equipment in the background, amidst the murmur of muffled voices.
I tried to sit up as the room came into focus, but didn't get far before someone appeared at my side to help me.
“Just relax, sweetie, you're fine.”
The sound of my mom's voice helped calm my panic as the events that had led to me being hospitalized came flooding back. I looked down at my arm to see a fresh white bandage covering the wounds, and I could feel another bandage underneath my hospital gown. In my other arm was an IV filled with clear fluid.
“Where are my friends?” I asked weakly, turning my head to look at my mom.
Her face was lined with worry, but she put on a brave smile. “They're waiting outside. Allison and Max are here too, and a gentlemen that's a little too old to be hanging out with you.”
I cringed. She had to be talking about either Abel or Devin. “Blond-haired GQ model, or tall, dark, and erm, exotic?”
“Blond,” she said levelly, still waiting for an explanation.
“He's part of the werewolf coalition,” I whispered conspiratorially, feeling slightly loopy. They must have had me on some serious pain meds for them to overpower my demon metabolism.
My mom's eyes widened. Though she knew all about my strange little world, I tried to keep her out of it as much as possible.
“Are you in trouble?” she whispered back.
It took me a moment to realize what she meant, then it occurred to me that she probably thought Devin was there to punish me.
I smiled weakly. “He's just here to make sure I'm okay. Abel, the one who's not here, was friends with dad.”
My mom's mouth formed an “o” of understanding, then she asked, “What happened, Xoe?”
I knew the question had been coming, and I had absolutely no answer for it. “I don't remember,” I lied.
My mom raised both her eyebrows in disbelief. “You're in the hospital with eight knife-wounds, and you don't remember what happened?”
I shrugged and felt an uncomfortable tightness in my abdomen. Wondering how many stitches I had, I gave my mom an apologetic look.
“You can tell me, Xoe,” she said evenly.
I bit my lip. I could tell her, but I couldn't expect her to lie to the hospital staff. “Maybe later,” I replied, “but for now, I don't remember.”
My mom looked like she wanted to say something else, but there was a knock on the door. A young woman in scrubs opened the door and leaned the top of her body into the room.
“Her friends are asking to see her,” the woman announced, speaking to my mom instead of me.
My mom nodded, and gestured for the woman to get them.
“Only three allowed at a time,” the woman stated.
My mom sighed in annoyance and stood, then looked down at me. “Who should I send back?”
“The three that brought me here?” I asked hopefully.
She sighed again, then slumped her shoulders in defeat before following the nurse out of the room. A few minutes later the door opened again to reveal Chase, Jason, and Lucy. I was suddenly glad for the light blanket draped over most of my body, since the flimsy hospital gown didn't really offer much cover.
Lucy was the first to reach my side. She gently grabbed my hand as she crouched beside the hospital bed. Words tumbled out of her mouth. “I was so scared, Xoe. By the time we got here you were unconscious. If I wasn't able to hear your heartbeat, I would have thought you were dead.”
I squeezed her hand with what little strength I had, then turned my gaze to the boys. “Thanks,” I said, acknowledging both of them with my eyes.
They both looked at each other, then back at me. I could tell they had a lot to say, but neither spoke.
“I didn't get a chance to ask my mom how long I needed to be in here,” I stated, hoping that one of them had the answer.
“One more night,” Lucy informed me, “and bed rest after that, though with your healing rate, you'll probably be fine by morning.”
It was good news, but it still had me feeling nervous. “I really don't want to stay here overnight.”
“And we don't think you should,” Chase explained as he and Jason each took a few steps closer to hover around me. “The hospital only allows family after 8pm, and with the sink incident, and now this attack, we don't feel like leaving you and your mom alone is a good idea. Plus, like Lucy said, you'll heal much faster than the doctors would expect. You don't need any extra attention.”
“So wha
t do we do?” I asked, agreeing with them whole-heartedly.
“We need to convince your mom to sign you out,” Jason answered, “but she doesn't believe that we don't know what happened, and neither do the cops.”
I gulped. “Cops?”
Jason looked down at me sympathetically. “A teenage girl shows up at the hospital with multiple knife wounds . . . ” he trailed off.
“The cops will want to ask questions,” I finished for him. “I told my mom that I don't remember anything, but she doesn't believe me.”
“You should probably tell that to the cops too,” Lucy whispered.
I smiled and rolled my eyes at her. “I was planning on it,” I whispered back.
My eyes went back to Jason. “Maybe you can talk to my mom. She'll probably listen more to your opinions than she will mine.”
Jason nodded. He knew that my mom trusted him, and had used that fact to talk me out of many sticky situations with her. That he was no longer my boyfriend would probably even add to his credibility, rather than detracting from it.
He looked from Chase to Lucy, then back to me. “Could I talk to you in private first?”
My mouth went a little dry at the suggestion. Most of the time, when people wanted to talk to you in private, it was nothing good.
“S-sure,” I stammered.
Lucy's face held surprise as she looked at me, then stood. Without another word, she hustled over to take Chase's arm, then dragged him out of the room with her.
I looked up at Jason warily, feeling strange that we were yet again alone together after so many weeks of near radio silence.
He approached the bed and took the seat my mom had formerly occupied, then scooted it a little closer so he could take my hand.
“It kills me that I wasn't there to protect you today,” he admitted, not quite meeting my eyes.
I bit my lip, unsure of what to say. “It's not your job to protect me,” I said softly.
He looked up from his lap. “I know, and according to you, it never was my job, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to do it.”
My mouth opened in surprise. “I was never against you protecting me,” I argued, “but you're right, it wasn't your job. I did my best to protect you as well, but it was because I wanted to, not because I was obligated.”
Jason frowned. “That came out wrong. I guess I meant that it wasn't, isn't, my place.”
I huffed in irritation. “It doesn't have to be your place to protect someone. You don't need to ask permission.”
“Well if that's the case, then I should have been there today,” he replied, catching me with my own logic.
I tried to think of something clever to say, but my brain felt numb and I was all out of wit. “I'm not your problem anymore,” I mumbled, feeling like I might cry from frustration.
Jason's eyes widened. “You were never a problem, Xoe.”
I smiled bitterly. “It seems to me I've caused you plenty of problems.”
Jason looked down at my hand in his, then back up to my face. “Just tell me that it's okay for me to watch out for you until this is all over. I would never forgive myself if you died, and I could have stopped it. Once you're safe, we can figure out where my place is, if I even have one at all.”
“I'm not going to die,” I breathed, trying to lighten the mood, but Jason didn't take the bait.
He stared at me until I met his eyes. “We thought you were dead, Xoe. When we got here and they rushed you off on a gurney, it seemed like you'd stopped breathing. We had to sit in that little waiting room for thirty minutes before they came back out and told us you were okay.”
I gulped. With my demon healing I was already feeling better, and death seemed a long way away. I tried to imagine how I would have felt if Chase, Jason, or Lucy were the ones being rushed away on a gurney. The thought made my heart hurt.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered as a few retched tears leaked out of my eyes. “I didn't mean to put you all through that.”
Jason squeezed my hand. “Just promise me you'll let me help. Just for now.”
I nodded, not knowing what else to say. If Jason was in danger, I knew I would do anything I could to keep him safe, boyfriend or no. I couldn't really deny the same opportunity to him.
He nodded in return and stood. “I'll see what's taking your mom so long, not that I'm not grateful for the delay.”
I nodded again. His hand slipped from mine, then I was alone in my little hospital bed, waiting for my mom to come back.
Quite some time passed before she walked back into the room, followed by two uniformed police officers, both women.
The younger of the two officers took a seat next to me and offered a warm smile. Her face was covered in dark freckles and she looked about sixteen, though I knew she had to be older. She had the perfect appearance for disarming a seventeen year-old who, for all they knew, had just suffered a traumatic attack. Unfortunately for them, I didn't feel traumatized. In my world, a few knife-wounds were child's play.
“My name is Molly,” she began, still oozing warmth. “Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”
“Go for it,” I replied, trying to not sound as impatient as I felt.
The other officer, an older woman who stood off to the side with my mom, gave a look of disapproval at my tone.
“What's the last thing you remember before you woke up here?” Molly asked, drawing my gaze back to her.
“I remember being in my friend's car,” I replied evenly, feeling no need to go into detail since they likely already knew that I'd arrived in Jason's car.
“And where were you before that?” she asked just as sweetly.
My thoughts raced. We'd left from the alleyway, but my blood was probably still in the bathroom where Nix had cut me.
“I was in the bathroom of a restaurant,” I stated, since the alleyway was a lot less likely to be discovered.
“Some pedestrians claimed they saw you being carried out of an alleyway,” she said, as if surprised by my answer.
Crap. I hadn't thought to discuss things so thoroughly with my accomplices, and now I had no idea what stories they might have given the cops. Seeing no other way, I tried to stick as close to the truth as possible.
“I woke up in the bathroom with the knife-wounds,” I said evenly, “then I went outside to find my friends. I was pretty delirious, so I must have wandered into the alleyway. I'm lucky they found me.”
“Someone at the restaurant reported a large amount of blood,” the older cop confirmed. “Yet it seems no one saw you leave the bathroom. I'm not even sure how you could have walked at all with your injuries.”
I shrugged, feeling annoyed with my own foolishness. “I don't know what to tell you, officer. I didn't teleport to the alleyway, if that's what you're suggesting.”
“And what do you remember about your attacker?” she asked, obviously dissatisfied with my answer.
I shrugged again. “I don't even remember being attacked. Maybe I hit my head.”
The older cop raised an eyebrow at me. “Does the name Daniel Wilson ring a bell to you?”
“No . . . ” I trailed off, having no idea why the cops would be asking me about someone named Daniel Wilson.
“He's presumed dead. According to several sources, you knew him,” the officer went on. “Your name came up with a red flag.”
Oh crap. They meant Dan, the crazy werewolf I had helped to kill . . . but there was no reason for my name to come up in the system. I had never even been questioned. The officer was lying, but why?
“What about Claire Nelson?” she asked when I didn't answer.
The gears in my brain clicked into place. We lived in a small town. Within a year someone had gone missing, someone had been murdered, and now someone had shown up with mysterious knife-wounds that probably looked similar to those found on Claire.
“I think I went to school with her,” I said, playing dumb.
My mom glared at the cranky officer. “Is there a reason
you're asking my daughter all of these questions? She's the victim of an attack.”
The officer glared right back at my mom, not ruffled in the slightest. “Her wounds match up with those of three murder victims. I think your daughter was almost the fourth.”
My eyes widened. So they knew about Ben and Sasha. Apparently witches weren't as good as werewolves about covering up murders. At least they suspected me as a victim and not as a suspect.
“My daughter needs to rest,” my mom demanded.
The older officer puckered her lips in annoyance. Molly smiled and handed me a business card. “If you remember anything, please give us a call.”
As soon as the door shut behind the two women, I turned worried eyes to my mom. I need to get out of here, I mouthed.
She approached my bed so she could lean close to my ear. “Xoe, what is going on?”
I took a deep breath. “Get me out of here and I'll tell you.”
“Jason said the same thing, but you need to recover,” she replied, her voice cracking with unshed tears.
“Mom,” I said patiently. “I'm a demon. I'll be fine by tomorrow, and I don't need the doctors speculating on how I recovered so quickly.”
My mom's eyes widened. “Oh no. I hadn't even thought about that.”
Unwilling to leave me alone again, my mom pushed the little button to summon a nurse. The nurse was probably going to be pissed that she was getting called to my room when my mom should have gone to the front desk, but I didn't care. My mom was actually doing what I asked, and that was good enough for me.
Two hours and tons of paperwork later, I was being wheeled out into the well-lit parking lot of the hospital. I didn't feel like I needed the wheelchair, but I grudgingly decided to keep up appearances until we were out of the disdainful doctor's sight.
The doctor had argued that someone in my condition should not be going home, and that I needed to remain under observation for at least one more night. If only they knew what that observation might entail, they would have scooted me right out of bed, sans paperwork.
I didn't think Nix would come back to finish the job, but my grandmother sure would. Imagine the nurse's horror when she came back to find her patient drowned in a bowl of green jello. I'd take being filleted by Nix over getting knocked off by my grandmother any day of the week.
Gone Ghost Page 7