by Kady Cross
Kevin didn’t look up from the first-aid kit he’d pulled from the trunk. “Not yet,” he replied. “I think he did this just to let us know he can.”
Ben glanced down at the plastic bag in his hand. The inside was smeared with blood. His fingers tightened around it. “I’ll keep the razor.”
Kevin’s head snapped up as he closed the trunk. “It’s not safe.”
“I’m the only one Bent hasn’t come after. I can hide this—at least until we get Lark and Mace back and figure out what to do.”
“Gage needs help!” Roxi reminded them, sharply. “Now!”
Roxi climbed in with Gage, cradling his head. Kevin gave her a bottle of saline solution. “Pour this on his arms.”
I slipped into the front seat. I’d go see Lark after. Roxi didn’t question Kevin. She simply opened the bottle and squeezed the liquid onto Gage’s bare skin. I watched as the infection sizzled and blood ran pink. Salt had purification properties, and while I didn’t like the idea that there might be something impure about me, I respected the mineral’s power. I moved back to avoid being splattered.
Kevin drove fast to the hospital. It was the same one Mace had brought Lark to that day, her blood soaking into his clothes. I relived some of that fear as we pulled up in front of the emergency doors.
As we entered the hospital, Kevin glanced in my direction. “Wren, how bad is it?”
I wished I could lie to him and tell him I’d seen worse, but I hadn’t. “Bad,” I said. “Really bad.”
LARK
“You two can just wait in here,” Olgilvie said—rather gleefully, I thought—as he closed the door of the tiny room. Mace and I were sitting at a battered table on chairs with uneven legs. I waited until the door had shut before I raised my middle finger at it.
“There’s a camera,” Mace told me.
“I know,” I replied, slowly lowering my finger. I turned to him. “What happens now?
He shrugged. “My father will show up eventually, and either decide to make examples of us or let us go.”
“What are the chances of just letting us go?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t been too impressed with me lately.”
“And then there’s the fact that you’re with that crazy girl who tried to kill herself and dragged you into it.”
“There’s that.” He slumped in his chair, stretching his long legs out beneath the table. “What did you do to me back there?”
I pushed my chair back, put my feet up on the table. “I’m not sure. It worked on Sarah earlier, so I figured it was worth a shot. How do you feel?”
“Better, so it must be good, right?”
“Unless my touch triggered something ghostly, and made it worse, yeah. I guess.” God, what if I’d made it easier somehow for Bent to do his thing? “Still new to this stuff, remember? Figuring it out as I go.” Now I sounded guilty.
He held up his hands. “Hey, I didn’t say anything. Thanks, though. I thought it was going to kill me.”
“I think that was the intention.” God, I was so tired I could go to sleep right there in that really uncomfortable chair. After Haven Crest, being arrested wasn’t really all that scary. Though I wasn’t looking forward to seeing the disappointment on my grandmother’s face. Maybe she’d understand after I explained.
“So, I guess we’re even now. You and me.”
I stifled a yawn. “I guess so.”
Silence. Was this the same guy I had blathered away to on the lake? Who had blathered away to me like we were actually friends?
“Are you okay?” he asked after a few seconds had passed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Did it hurt you?”
“Nah, I’m good. Wren’s going to be pissed at me for whacking her with that iron bar, though.” Olgilvie had taken that from me, along with my bag.
“Yeah, why’d you do that to her?”
“Bent was coming for her—calling for her. I had to get her out of there.”
He looked at me for a moment, a slight twist to his lips. “You’ve got a real hero complex, you know that?”
I made a face. “That’s hysterical coming from you.” Then I saw a flicker out of the corner of my eye. “Oh, crap.”
“What?”
I jerked my head to my right. I knew he couldn’t see what was there, but maybe he’d figure it out.
Ghost? he mouthed. I nodded. This was not a good time.
“I know you can see me,” the ghost said. He was a younger guy—maybe in his twenties—with long hair and a leather jacket. He looked like he should have been on tour with Bon Jovi in the ’80s.
I rolled my eyes. “I know that you know. So what?”
“Hey, we’ve met before, yeah? Like, last night. Wait, that wasn’t you, was it? I mean, it was you, but someone else was drivin’.”
“Hardly makes us BFFs, does it?”
He held up his hands, palms out. “Touchy. Just relax, JB. I won’t bite.”
I raised a brow. “JB?”
He grinned—he had good teeth. He would have been kind of hot if not for all that hair. “Jail Bait.”
And his personality. That definitely ruined his hotness more than the hair.
“You call me JB, so how about I call you DD?”
“Damn Dangerous?”
I smiled sweetly. “Dead Douche.”
He winced. “You’re cruel and heartless. If I was still alive we’d already be in the back of my van.”
“If you were still alive you’d be pushing fifty, and we wouldn’t even be breathing the same air.”
“Who the hell are you talking to?” Mace demanded.
I shot the ghost a questioning look. “Care to introduce yourself? Or should I just tell my friend to call you DD?”
“Really? You don’t know who I am?”
“Should I?”
The ghost came over and sat down across from Mace. He waved his hand in front of his face. “He can’t see or hear me, can he?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Is he your boyfriend? Did you get picked up having sex at the graveyard? Man, I nailed a lot of chicks near the grave of some girl that died of a broken heart.”
If stares could be iron he’d have been dusted right then. I knew that grave—it was sad.
He sighed. “Fine. I’m Joe Hard.”
I laughed. “Joe Hard? You’re freaking kidding.”
Mace sat up. “Joe Hard? That’s who you’re talking to?”
Suddenly the ghost snapped to attention, too. “Nice to know not everyone’s forgotten me.”
“Skinny guy with big hair and eye liner?” I asked.
Mace nodded. “Tattoo of angel wings on his left arm.”
Joe lowered the sleeve of his jacket. Beneath it he was wearing an electric-pink tank top. He did have angel wings on his biceps. “That’s the one.”
A huge grin took over Mace’s face. He looked both goofy and gorgeous at the same time. “Dude, my mother had such a thing for you.”
“Is your mother hot?” Joe asked, leaning on the table.
I opened my mouth to tell him off, but as luck would have it, that was the moment Wren arrived. She materialized right beside Joe, who turned and looked at her—then me—then her again. I swung my feet off the table and sat up.
“Twins.” He said it with a sigh before giving Mace a dirty look. “You lucky bastard.”
Wren looked at him. “I know you. And...bastard? I don’t think it matters these days if Mace’s parents are married.”
Joe grinned. “You are so strange. Sit down, darlin’. You’re way more my type than your sister.”
Wren did sit down. “Oh, don’t let the fact that she’s alive stop you. We’re tangible to her. See?” To prove her point she pinch
ed me.
“Ow!” I rubbed my arm.
“You okay?” Mace asked with a frown.
I nodded.
Wren smiled the same smile I’d given Dead Douche. “That’s for the iron.”
“Tangible, huh?” Joe grinned. “Why don’t the three of us get out of here, then? Come back for your boy later.”
This was quickly spiraling into sitcom territory. To be honest, I was almost relieved when the door opened and Olgilvie walked in. What was interesting, though, was the way Joe’s expression changed when he saw the cop. That was real hate on his face. Interesting. Finally, things were looking up.
“You’ve been chatting a lot in here, Miss Noble,” Olgilvie remarked. “Who are you talking to?”
I pointed at Mace. “Uh, him?”
Mace nodded. “It’s true. We talk.”
Olgilvie wasn’t fat, but he was big—burly. Nan would call him “solid.” God, she was going to be so embarrassed that I got picked up by the cops. Reminding myself of that sucked some of the bitch out of me. I did not want to hurt her.
He pulled out the chair across from me—the one right beside Joe—and sat down. He set the can of salt and my iron rod on the table between us.
“Could I talk you into bashing his head in?” Joe asked. “Just a little?”
I didn’t smile, but I wanted to.
“We found these things in your bag, Miss Noble.”
“I had some tampons in there, too. Did you find them?”
Under the table, Mace nudged my foot with his.
Olgilvie didn’t look impressed. “Please explain to me what these are for.”
“Have you notified Lark’s grandmother that she’s here?” Mace asked. “She should have a guardian present.”
I leaned my forearms on the table. I pointed at the can of salt. “That’s where I hide my drugs. Open it up and take a snort.”
“And this?” Olgilvie picked up the rod, and for a second, I saw that he wanted to hit me with it. Wow.
“Back scratcher.” That was possibly the lamest thing to ever come out of my mouth, but it was all I could think of.
“Why were you trespassing at Haven Crest?”
“You don’t have to answer him,” Mace said. He kept his gaze on the older man. I had to hand it to him, Mace didn’t intimidate easily. Then again, when your daddy was chief, you could be a little arrogant.
I shrugged. “Trespassing. Isn’t that against the law?” I certainly wasn’t going to admit to it. “Why were you there?”
“Security thought they heard screams. Did you see a ghost?” He grinned mockingly. Jerk.
The door to the room opened and an older man stuck his head in. I could tell from one look that he was Mace’s father. They really looked alike. “Get your ass out here,” he said to his son.
Mace got up. He glanced at me. “I’ll take care of this.”
I didn’t need him taking “care” of anything for me. I’d just made things “even” between us, I didn’t need to owe him another favor so freaking soon.
He and Olgilvie traded glares, but the cop looked more amused than anything else. He liked that Mace was in trouble—and he loved that Mace was in trouble along with me, which made me think that the chief didn’t have much liking for me at all.
“Can I ask you a question?” I said to Olgilvie when Mace was gone.
He looked amused. “What?”
“How come you’re being haunted by Joe Hard?”
The iron bar clattered to the table hard enough to leave a mark. Olgilvie’s face went completely white. When he looked at me, his expression was a mix of fear and...hatred.
“Lark,” my sister said. “What did you just do?”
I couldn’t answer that, because I had no freaking idea. I regretted doing it, though—sort of. Olgilvie was afraid of me, and that was kind of cool, but I had a feeling that I’d just poked him about a secret he’d kill to keep. A secret that I didn’t really know and wasn’t worth me dying over.
“What do you know about Joe?” the officer rasped.
I looked at Joe, who was grinning at Olgilvie like a shark about to take a bite. “I’ll do you a solid, JB. Tell him if he doesn’t let you go I’m going to tell you where Laura is.”
Oh, this was all kinds of stupid. “Joe says if you don’t let me go he’ll tell me where Laura is.”
For a second, I thought Olgilvie was going to have a stroke. He went from white to crimson in seconds, and a vein on his forehead bulged. If looks could kill, there’d be nothing left of me but a pile of smoldering bone.
“You idiot,” my sister said. Then to Joe, “If he tries to hurt her, I’m going to come for you.”
For a second, Joe didn’t look all that impressed, but then Wren...changed. She felt and looked ominous—like a thundercloud ready to spit lightning, only one hundred times more dangerous. Her eyes turned into mirrors, reflecting the darkness I’d only glimpsed once before and never wanted to see again, but I couldn’t look away. She was my sister, and I refused to be scared of her.
Joe swallowed, his eyes wide. “Riiiiiight.”
I looked at Olgilvie. He was still flushed. He stank of desperation. “I don’t know who Laura is,” I told him. “And I don’t really care. I just want to go home. Can I go home, sir?” I thought the “sir” was a nice touch—might make him feel a little more in control.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice shaking. “Get the hell out of here.”
I grabbed the iron rod and salt from the table and jumped up. Wren followed after me in silence. She was angry at me. I was angry at me, too. I’d blackmailed my way into going free, but I’d just made a huge enemy that I knew I was going to regret making.
“Be seeing you, JB!” Joe shouted.
I didn’t acknowledge him. Our paths would cross again; I knew it. He’d better hope I wasn’t dead when that happened.
LARK
It took me a few minutes to get my bag back. By the time Wren and I left the police department, she had filled me in on what had happened to Gage. It was hard to listen and not respond, but there were too many people around for me to even acknowledge her. I didn’t say anything until we got out into the parking lot.
“I should have been there,” I said as we walked. It was late—really late—and there wasn’t anyone around to overhear.
“There was no way you could have known Bent would go after Gage like that.”
“No,” I agreed mockingly, “because what he did to Sarah wasn’t a hint or anything.”
Wren sighed—a long-suffering sound she’d used with me a lot. “You couldn’t help Mace and help Gage, too. Suck it up.”
I stopped and turned to look at her. “Suck it up?”
She shrugged and frowned at me. “Or get over it—whatever.”
I shook my head. Slang and my sister just didn’t mix.
“Mace seems to be all right,” Wren commented as we started walking again. “What happened?”
I looked around to make sure no one was about—again. “Can you think of any reason why my touch would heal wraith wounds?”
She pretended to think about it. “We’re not normal?”
Sarcasm and my sister, on the other hand, they mixed pretty damn well. “I touched him, Wren. Somehow I stopped the wound from hurting. It happened earlier with Sarah, too.”
“I don’t know. Lark, when you died and came back, everything got mixed up. We were odd before that, but now...”
“It’s like all the rules got messed up,” I finished.
She nodded. Her fingers brushed my hair. “How about, just this once, you just be glad you’re weird instead of trying to figure out how and why?”
I was too tired to argue. “Sure.”
“Wonderful. Now that that’s
settled—I can’t believe you threatened that deputy. God, Lark! What if he decides you’re his enemy? He’s the law!”
“You’re not saying anything I haven’t thought of, Wren.”
“Maybe you should have thought harder before opening your mouth.”
“I said it because it got us out of there. I’m not going to think beyond that.”
“Sometimes I think you don’t think at all. If you hadn’t ironed me I might have been able to scare him at the asylum and you wouldn’t have been taken.”
“How would that have been any better? He still would have blamed me.” I glanced at her. “Maybe you don’t think as well as you think you do.”
“You always have to be right. Well, if I’d scared him at the asylum we wouldn’t be here right now.”
So, she had a point. So did I. “But then I wouldn’t have leverage against Officer Olgilvie, would I?” I checked my watch. It was well after midnight. “Think they’d let us into the hospital now?” It was just down the street. Maybe Ben would still be there and could give me a ride home.
“Let you in,” Wren corrected. “I could just drift through the walls.”
She could also just zap herself home if she wanted and leave my sorry ass to get back on its own. I didn’t want to call Nan, but cabs were scarce around here, and I didn’t have anyone else, damn it.
Screw it. I was going to walk.
“Want a ride?” came a voice from behind me. Mace.
I turned. “Thought you’d be long gone by now.”
Hands in his pockets, he walked beneath the bright station lights toward us. “My father had some things he wanted to say to me first.”
“I bet.”
He pulled keys from his pocket. “But he had one of the guys go get my car, so I can drive you home if you want. Or you can come to the hospital with me to see Gage. I got a call from Kev. I assume Wren brought you up to speed?”
I nodded. “I figured they wouldn’t let us in?”
“Nah, Kevin’s aunt is on the ER desk tonight. You coming?”
“Yeah.” I wanted to see Gage.
We turned and walked through the parking lot. Mace seemed to know where he was going, so I followed after him. Sure enough he led us right to his Jag. He opened the passenger door for me and I climbed in.