The Space Between (The Book of Phoenix)

by Kristie Cook

  I surely would have noticed them when I first received the gift and fanned through the pages. The “appendix” couldn’t have been missed, written on a blank page facing the inside cover. But the book had been at the bottom of my backpack for nearly two years. At least . . . I thought it had. The notion of someone taking it out to add these little notes then somehow stuffing it all the way back to the bottom was silly. Who would do such a thing? Why?

  “I don’t get it, Sammy,” I mumbled. He nuzzled his head against my arm, making me drop the book.

  I tried to think harder on the dictionary and the mysterious definitions, but my body shut down, overwhelmed by the day’s insanity. When I woke up in the middle of the night, my first thought was the pull had disappeared. I crawled over to the French doors and peeked out the window. Micah’s truck sat outside in the parking lot, no lights or engine on, and from what I could see through the windshield, his body was splayed out uncomfortably in the seat.

  I fought the urge to go down and tell him to go home, that I didn’t need a babysitter, but based on the little flip my heart made when I saw him down there, I didn’t trust myself. I’d probably ask him to come upstairs instead, which could be disastrous, regardless of his answer. I didn’t want him to leave again, but I also didn’t want to do anything I’d regret in the morning. So I pretended I didn’t know he’d come back and returned to my crappy bed on the floor. Knowing he was nearby allowed me to relax completely, and I slept soundly until the noises of construction were right outside my door.

  This morning was one of those times I was glad Sammy couldn’t talk. Nobody needed to know about the celebratory dance I may or may not have done while still in bed when I knew Micah hadn’t bailed on me. I was ridiculously stoked to feel him right outside, and if Bex were here, I’d never hear the end of it. She’d never seen me even slightly interested in a guy—boy-crazy was her thing, not mine—and what I felt had to be beyond anything she’d ever experienced in her life. After all, I don’t think it’s every day someone goes through what we had.

  The weight of this thought slowly settled within me, and my excitement turned dark. What had we gone through? What did it all mean? Was it even real? The flame on my wrist and the feeling in my gut, in my very core—the feeling of Micah—meant something had definitely happened. I was tied to him in some inexplicable way, which terrified me. Would I always have these weird feelings now? My chest heaved and tightened, and the air clawed at my lungs and throat as the thought of losing control over myself sent me into a panic attack.

  A persistent pounding on the door jerked my thoughts out of the downward spiral. “Jacey! Let me in!”

  Oh, my god. I can’t let him see me like this. I drew in deep breaths and exhaled slowly—in, out, in, out—trying to quell the pounding in my chest that echoed the one on the door.

  “Now, Jacey!”

  In, out, in, out. My lungs and heart finally settled into a more natural rhythm when the wood jamb cracked and the door flew open. Micah was on his knees in front of me in a heartbeat.

  “Are you okay?” he panted, his hands hovering over my shoulders as if he wanted to embrace me but feared the touch. His overwhelming concern flooded over me, nearly suffocating me again. Why did he care so much? Too much. Way too much. And I knew why, but I didn’t want to admit it. Rather than panicking again, I became angry.

  “I’m fine,” I snapped, tugging the blankets to my chest. “My stairs yesterday and my door today? How do you plan on waking me up tomorrow?”

  His hands fell to his thighs, and the worry left his eyes, leaving them hard as stones. “Of course you’re fine. I’ll fix the door.”

  He rose to his feet and walked out the door, trying to close it behind him but he’d broken the latch, so it sort of just hung there. I growled to myself, then rose to begin my day. Sammy bounced around, and I swore under my breath. After that brief altercation, I didn’t want to bother Micah, but Sammy had needs. As soon as I opened the door—well, opened it further—Micah was already there, taking Sammy without a word to me, but talking to my dog all the way down the ladder and even as Sammy ran to the bushes and peed. I watched them play for a few minutes until my own needs became urgent.

  “He loves my dog,” I muttered on the way to the bathroom. “And Sammy loves him. He can’t be the worst person to be bonded to.”

  But still . . . the idea of being tied so closely to another person was too much. Surely that’s not what Twin Flames meant. Maybe all of the gibberish in the dictionary was just that—bullshit. After all, it had been handwritten, not officially defined by the experts. I needed to find a library.

  After a scalding hot shower that didn’t wash away the freaky vibes running through me no matter how hard I scrubbed, I gathered my things to head out for some research. I was pleased at the progress outside my door, although I still had to use the ladder. Without a word to Micah, I headed for my Jeep, Sammy on my heels.

  “Where are you going?” Micah called out. I stopped in my tracks but didn’t turn around.

  “To find a library. I don’t assume you know where one is?”

  He snorted. “Of course I do. But I’m not telling you.”

  I spun on my heel. “Excuse me? Why not?”

  He strode across the yard closer to me, spiking my heart rate. His voice came out lower. “There are a couple of guys who are apparently stalking you, remember? I don’t like you running around by yourself.”

  My jaw dropped. Part of me thrilled at his protectiveness, but another balked at it, raising my hackles. “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”

  “Probably, but I still don’t like it. I can’t, in good conscience, let you go. I’ll be done by lunch time, and then I’ll be happy to take you myself.”

  I opened my Jeep door and threw my bag inside. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “More like a bodyguard.”

  “I don’t need that either,” I said petulantly.

  He cocked his head. “Are you sure about that? The same Ford Taurus from yesterday has driven by here at least half-a-dozen times this morning. It’s the main drag, so a couple times is expected. Not six, though.”

  My gaze drifted over to the road, where several cars drove by. Were those guys waiting for me to be alone? Was I going to let that possibility keep me prisoner?

  “Surely they wouldn’t attack in a public place in broad daylight,” I scoffed as I moved to get in the Jeep. “Can you watch Sammy for me?”

  “No.”

  I turned to look at him. He was serious.

  “I can’t let you go,” he added, pushing the Jeep’s door closed in front of me.

  That set me off. “How dare you! You can’t order me around like this. Who do you think you are? What do you even care? Last night you bolted, said you couldn’t handle this, and now you’re treating me like a helpless little girl?”

  “I feel . . . this need to protect you. I always have, since that night in the alley in Virginia.” His hand lifted toward me, but it stopped in mid-air and went to the back of his head instead. His gaze traveled over my face and when his eyes came to mine, I tried to look away but I wasn’t fast enough. Our eyes locked and that intense rush swirled through my veins. “Look, I want to know more, too. Just wait for me to finish here so I can go with you.”

  Did he have any idea what he was doing to me? Did he do it on purpose? I couldn’t deny him when I was like this. I wanted him to come with me, too. I wanted nothing more than for him to be my side. Constantly. Forever. I shook myself out of it and forced my eyes from his.

  “Fine,” I muttered. “As long as you don’t bail again when shit gets freaky.”

  “Jacey,” Micah murmured, and I couldn’t help but look up at him, into those dark, mysterious eyes. His hand moved toward me again, but he didn’t pull back this time. He cupped my chin and ra
n his thumb over my bottom lip. My whole body vibrated like a tuning fork. “I don’t think I can bail on you.”

  He dropped his hand and walked away. He’d probably felt the heat pouring out of my body, licking at his skin. I drew in a deep breath to slow my stuttering heart. When I was calm again, I reached into my Jeep and grabbed my change purse, then headed across the yard.

  “Hey,” Micah called out. “Where do you think—”

  “I’m just going across the street to the pay phone. Right there.” I pointed at it. “I’ll still be in your eyesight, warden.”

  His eyes narrowed for a moment, then he nodded. Whew. I thought he was going to insist on standing right next to me while I made my call, which wouldn’t be cool because I needed to talk to Bex. About him. I no longer cared about the harassment she would give me. I only hoped she’d be home this time or her mother would at least remember me and give me a phone number.

  “Hello?” Bex answered on the second ring.

  “Bex! You’re there,” I nearly squealed.

  “Who’s this?” She sounded genuinely perplexed.

  “Duh. It’s me. Jacey.” The words poured out of me. “Dude, I’m so stoked you answered. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you, but your mom was like whacked out, I should have taken you up on your offer to come with me because I could totally use a friend right now, you’ll never believe what’s happening down here—”

  “Whoa! Take a breath there, chicky. Now who is this again?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Bex, this is long distance. I don’t have a ton of quarters on me, but I do have plenty to tell you. Please don’t play games.”

  “Dude, seriously. If you don’t tell me who you are, I’m hanging up.”

  “Um . . . Jacey?” Why did it sound like a question?

  She chuckled, and I let out a relieved breath. “I guess you have the wrong number. I don’t know a Jacey.”

  “Very funny. I know it’s been too long since we talked, but not that long.”

  “I’m serious. I don’t know a Jacey.”

  I huffed into the phone, tired of her game. “Your roomie. Your best friend at college. I miss you horribly, and I’m really, really sorry I didn’t let you come with me. I would kiss your feet or whatever else you’d like me to kiss if I was there. Now please cut the bullshit.”

  “Fuck you, weirdo! Don’t ever call here again!” She hung up with that. I stood there in shock, staring at the pay phone for several moments. Then I waited a little longer for her to call back. Her parents had a fancy service called Call Return or something, which let them dial the last number to call them.

  “And that’s how it begins, young Guardian,” said a vaguely familiar voice behind me. The voice of the Billy Idol dude. “It starts with the people you know and love, and before long, your whole existence will be completely forgotten by this world.”

  I spun around, but there was no one there. Only a bush between me and the bar’s door and nothing in or behind it. Except . . . I peered closer. What is that? A large, dark shadow suddenly rose from the branches.

  My mind silently screamed for Micah, but I had no time to actually call for him as the dark shape flew at me. I ducked and threw my hands up to protect my face and head. A heavy weight collided into my hands, but as soon as it made contact, the shadow shattered into a thousand pieces. A swarm of black birds rose into the sky in a whir of flapping wings and a cacophony of angry screeches.

  “You okay?” Micah asked from right next to me.

  I jerked upright and blinked at him.

  “How did you get here so fast?” I breathed as my mind tried to wrap around what had happened. He’d been at least fifty yards away, on the other side of a busy street, but had appeared in a heartbeat. “And how did you know?”

  He frowned. “I felt your fear, and then I was here.”

  He looked away as if embarrassed by this admission.

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” I said in an attempt to ignore what his admission may mean. “I think.”

  “Didn’t expect you to be so afraid of birds,” he scoffed in his own attempt to skirt the issue.

  “They, uh, surprised me, I guess. That was weird.” I didn’t want to tell him about how the birds had been a black shadow with the creepy guy’s voice. Too much for me to handle, let alone him. Besides, he’d probably want to accompany me everywhere, even to the bathroom, if he knew the guy had come so close. Which he probably hadn’t. I’d probably imagined the whole thing in my shock. “Actually, it’s not the birds. The phone call . . . it, um . . . never mind.”

  Micah peered at me with concern. “What about it?”

  I shook my head and forced a smile. “Nothing. Not important. Just a little tiff with my best friend.”

  This seemed to be enough to satisfy Micah’s unusual curiosity and concern. After waiting for a couple of cars to pass, we crossed the street to my place, and he went back to work. Sammy ran over to me, knocked me to my knees and licked my face as though he hadn’t seen me in months. You’d think he’d been as worried as Micah.

  Chapter 13

  Too much. It was all too much, and I couldn’t read another word. I needed to get out of here, away from this freak show my life had become. My feet carried me away in a brisk run, down the road that looped the small lake. Campsites lined the shore on my left and hills rose to my right with houses overlooking the water. The light of the full moon filtered through the pine trees lining both sides, smattering the gray of the asphalt road with patches of silver.

  What was happening to me? Who was this Leni chick? No, not Leni. She couldn’t have been doing this. Her body had been trembling when I left her on the picnic table in front of the Airstream. She was as disturbed by all of this as I was. So who was this Jacey chick? And this Micah? Was this really her journal? Was she even real? Or was someone dicking with Leni and me?

  The vague familiarity of the whole thing as we read, as if I’d been told this story before, made me think it was all true. Then again, maybe the similarities fed this belief—the flame tattoos, the feeling of knowing Leni before I’d ever met her, the word dyad, which I’d already Googled and knew what it meant, echoing in my mind the first few times Leni and I touched.

  How could this be happening?

  I should have run far away, escaped while I could, leaving this fucked-up shit behind and never thinking about it again. But I wasn’t a runner. I was a fighter. And Leni was involved in this, too, and I couldn’t abandon her. Not anymore. Everything had changed.

  The entrance to the state park came up, which meant I had nearly completed the circle around the entire lake. Granted it was dark, but I remembered little about the landscape around me. How far had I run in such a short time? Not far enough. I slowed to a walk and found a log by the water, where I sat and leaned my elbows on my knees. I pushed my hands through my short hair, trying to calm my temper before returning to Leni. She had to be freaking out, too.

  A bright light shone over me. A vehicle turning into the area.

  I watched as a light-colored cargo van shut its headlights off, even as it continued down Lake Road. A little suspicious, but maybe the driver was being courteous, not wanting to shine lights into any of the campsites this late at night, despite the fact the sites were mostly empty. About a hundred yards down the road, the van’s brake lights shone, then it turned right into one of the driveways that climbed its way up the hill. Yep, a courteous neighbor.

  I unfolded myself from the log and stretched, rolled my neck and shoulders and headed for a tree to take a leak. I’d just pulled my zipper down when two figures, dressed darkly to look like nothing more than shadows, darted out of the same driveway the van had entered, and ran down the road away from me. Now that’s definitely suspicious.

  I couldn’t piss fast enough. After a couple of hurried shakes, I began jogging
through the trees while still zipping and buttoning up. Chasing after these guys who were obviously up to no good might not have been my brightest idea, but I couldn’t help myself. All I could think about was Leni in her camper alone. The pull in my gut was greater than it’d ever been.

  Since I couldn’t hear if my steps snapped twigs as I ran, I stayed on the sand near the water’s edge, but as close to the cover of the trees as possible. They passed an old RV that was closed up and battened down, apparently vacant tonight. That wasn’t their target. Somehow, I knew what was. Another half-a-mile down, they cut off the road and into the trees. They slowed their pace, and I slowed as well, keeping my eyes trained on the moving shadows in the darkness. As expected, they stopped on the edge of Leni’s lot, with its camper aglow from the inside and the Christmas lights twinkling from the awning. They paused only for a moment.

  They split off, sticking to the shadows as they crept around her trailer in opposite directions. While they were on the far side, I seized the opportunity to plant myself behind her truck, hoping to God they hadn’t heard my footfalls. Sweat rolled down my back as I crouched down and peered around the bumper. They both returned to the front and stood at the door. I was at the perfect angle. When one raised some kind of tool to jimmy the lock, I bolted from my hiding spot and sprang at them.

  The element of surprise allowed me to bowl both of them over at once, all of us crashing onto one of the folding chairs Leni had set out earlier. We jumped to our feet at the same time. Hoods made of a thin, black material hid their faces. One of them held a small knife out at me while the other simply held up fists. My heart pounded against my ribs, pumping adrenaline through my veins. Except for the occasional bar fight, I hadn’t seriously fought in a few years—a black eye or a swollen lip could have breached my modeling contract—but the cage-fighting instincts immediately rushed back to me and took over.

  With a sidekick, I knocked the knife out of the guy’s hand, my first priority. The other guy’s fist flew through the air at my head, but I jerked away in time so it only grazed my temple. I shot my own fist at his gut, and he doubled over. As I kneed him in the chin, the first dude’s foot came toward my ribs. I grabbed it from the air and twisted, flipping him over. He fell hard against the ground. While he was down, I focused on the other guy. Blood dripped from under his hood, but he wasn’t deterred. With one swift motion, his fist smashed into my cheek and his foot swept into my calf, knocking me to my knees. With a hard shove, my face planted into the ground, my arms pinned underneath my torso.