How to Kill a Ghost (10 page)

After some moments when I fought against telling her about the Mark of Death, she had changed the subject. “We’re going to need to concentrate with the spell, so we can talk about men later.”

I had forced a smile and agreed, but all the while I kept thinking I needed to tell Isabelle the truth so she could prepare for her brother’s loss whenever it came. In the end, I vowed I would tell her, either after I regained my body or when I had to leave if I didn’t get it. I knew my timing was selfish, but it was the most I could force myself to do, and I accepted it.

I came to myself realizing I had let time slip by, but I maintained my position inside the circle. I glanced around. Everything remained the same except the candles were burning very low. I wanted so much to ask Isabelle if I had messed up everything, but on the off chance I hadn’t, I stayed still and quiet. I considered how odd it was that I hadn’t ended up somewhere else, which often happened when I lost track of time. Did Isabelle’s spell bind me here? Before I could examine this line of thought a commotion outside caught my attention.

Isabelle opened her eyes and stood. I thought she couldn’t leave the circle, but apparently she could. She made no sound as she tiptoed to the front window and peered out. I followed and looked too. I had managed to solidify myself with ease now that I had rested. Looking out the window, I told myself I was ready to see anything. I steeled my resolve to keep quiet, but instead of our quarry, Ian and Tevin burst through the trees at the edge of the property. Ian managed to get ahead of his brother and stand between him and the house. Tevin bared his teeth in a hiss and sent Ian flying into a tree. Leaves rained down around Ian, and the bark behind him crunched from the impact. I shoved a fist into my mouth to keep from crying out. Movement next to me made me turn to look at Isabelle. She pointed behind us at something. I looked and spotted my amulet curled in a neat pile in the midst of the circle. I darted over and scooped it up to jerk over my head. Then I returned to the spot near the window to keep track of what happened.

Tevin hissed at me like a cat. He’d known we were there. While Ian shook himself from the pain his brother inflicted, Tevin approached the house. Isabelle and I both backed up despite a wall separating us from the vampire.

The door flew open and banged the wall. Isabelle clutched her amulet in a tight fist and held it out toward Ian. He flinched and sneered. “Look what we have here?”

I squeezed my amulet tighter.
He can’t come in. He can’t come in.
I chanted to myself, but it did nothing to calm me down. All I could do was hold my concentration to keep my secret.

Tevin grinned. He could probably guess what I thought, and it amused him. He raised a foot in a dramatic gesture. I thought I heard Isabelle catch her breath. If I had one to hold, I’d be unconscious on the floor right then. Vampires couldn’t enter a human’s home without their permission. We were safe. Tevin just wanted to frighten us. He did a bang up job because I trembled, and Isabelle appeared so pale she seemed about to collapse. I imagined while she had learned a lot, she had never faced someone like Tevin before. Not like Ian, who just wanted a peaceful, quiet life. Tevin enjoyed making us squirm.

He stepped past the doorjamb into the house, and the last of my hope shredded.
Impossible!
Tevin burst out laughing at our faces. “Did you think I couldn’t enter? Stupid humans. I got permission from Nessa. She was foolish enough to think she could outsmart me. She should live so long. Oops, I guess it’s too late for that, huh?”

His voice so like Ian’s in tone and quality, rubbed my nerves raw. I heard the differences this time and wondered that I could mistake this person for my Ian. They were nothing alike even if Tevin was just as handsome.

Tevin scanned the living room as if he were in the market to buy real estate. “I suppose when the police release this place back to its owner, the right to enter will fade. It’s a good thing you were reckless enough to come here tonight, Libby.”

An explosion of sound drew our attention to the doorway. Ian reared back and slammed a fist into the opening, but his hand impacted with an invisible barrier. He drove a shoulder into it, but it didn’t waiver for an instant. He couldn’t get in. Isabelle sagged against me, and I clutched her arm.

Tevin chuckled. “Having trouble, brother? Good. You can watch while I take her.” He turned back to me. “What is it about you? I admit you’re beautiful if one likes that sort of mousy, plain Jane look.”

I drew myself straighter and glared at him. “You’re nothing to give a woman sweet dreams either!”

Crap, crap, crap!
I had spoken. I broke the spell. Now the person involved with my body would never come. I glanced at Isabelle, but she seemed not to have noticed. Her entire focus was on Tevin, and I recalled she’d been chanting during the spell and concentrating her energy. Maybe we had ruined everything from the first moment we heard Ian and Tevin fighting. Of course, that didn’t free me of guilt over allowing vanity to goad me into speech. Worse, what I’d said in retaliation was a lie. Tevin was as delicious a specimen as Ian, and some women—not me—liked that bad boy persona.

Tevin started toward me, taking deliberate steps. Each movement heightened my fear, and Isabelle and I both moved in retreat with his advancement.

“Stay away from her,” Ian shouted, but Tevin ignored him.

I held up my amulet alongside Isabelle’s, and Tevin faltered. He cried out in pain and raised a hand. Isabelle rose off the ground and flew through the air to thump against the wall. I shrieked in fear. “Stop it! Don’t hurt her.”

He held out a hand to me. “Then throw that thing away and come here.”

“No.”

He flipped his hand over and held it in that same way he used to throw Isabelle. Ian began to bang at the barrier and shout. I knew in an instant if Tevin tried to use his power on me it wouldn’t work, and if it didn’t I would be in greater trouble. I darted forward and pressed the amulet against his chest. His hand dropped, and he shrieked. Smoke rose from his shirt as if it was on fire, and he thrust me physically away. I fell on the floor. My grip loosened, and the amulet skittered along the hardwood floor.

“Come here,” he growled.

I charged up to my feet and scurried from the room. As soon as I was out of his sight, I winked out and hid behind a china closet for good measure. Tevin’s footsteps sounded on the floor coming into the room.

“Liiibbby, where are you?” he said in a sing-songy tone. “Be a good girl and let me suck your blood.”

Good luck trying.

“You’re going to pay for burning me, Libby.”

I cringed when he kept using my name. He gave it an intimate sound each time he pronounced it, and I couldn’t help recalling the time he kissed me. Why did he have to come to Summit’s Edge when I was at my weakest, when I was close to a solution to my problem?

“Libby! There’s nowhere you can hide from me.”

I knew this was true, but I wouldn’t give up. I worried about Isabelle in the other room. She’d been knocked out when he threw her. I prayed she was okay. Tevin’s steps echoed closer. I had to stay out of his sight, which was the least I could do. Ian knew of my presence even invisible, so it stood to reason Tevin had the same gift. If he came across me and knew I was there but didn’t see me physically, I would be in big trouble. He would know right away what I was.

I phased through the wall, and darkness surrounded me. A shadow shifted, and I opened my mouth to scream, but Ian shushed me. I materialized and sagged into his chest. His arms came around me.

“Get out of here, Libby, as far as possible. He’s going to realize you are no longer in the house.”

“I can’t leave Isabelle, and I left my amulet in there.”

“Forget it.”

“Isabelle—”

“I will not let the witch die. Leave now.”

“Ian, promise me! Take care of Isabelle.”

He ground his teeth and shoved me toward the road. “I promise.”

I started running away and then willed myself home, praying he would keep his word.

My heart broke into a million pieces as I stood over Isabelle. She didn’t deserve this. She’d only been helping me, and now what could I say to Clark? He sat next to her, clutching her hand, head bowed. I searched for words, but none came to mind. All were an excuse to save my face, and to keep my secret. I felt like a wretch who didn’t deserve friends. Maybe I was coming down too hard on myself. I hadn’t asked for any of this, but neither did Isabelle or Clark or Monica or Jake!

“Hey.”

I started and peered into Isabelle’s eyes. She forced a crooked smile, eyes sleepy-looking. “Stop. I can just feel you blaming yourself. It’s not your fault.”

Clark sat up straighter, frowning. “What’s not her fault, Isabelle? Why did Ian McClain carry you into the hospital? Where did you get these injuries? Did he do it? If he did, I’ll kill him, and if you’re covering for him…”

I groaned. The whole thing was a mess. I had waited at home for Ian to either come or call to me. He did neither, but later, Monica had come by the house to tell me Ian had carried Isabelle to the hospital and then disappeared. No one knew where he went or where he had found Isabelle. At the time, I had avoided answering Monica’s questions and just willed myself to the hospital.

“It’s nothing, Clark. I just fell. That’s all. Ian found me.”

No one would believe that lie.

“I’m not a fool!” Clark surged to his feet, jostling the bed. Isabelle moaned, and her brother turned contrite. “I’m sorry, Izzie. Are you okay? Should I call the doctor?”

Isabelle had shut her eyes, clutching her side. “I’m fine. I haven’t heard that nickname since we were kids. I always hated it, and you said it anyway just to tease me. You must really be worried, huh?”

Clark drove fingers into his hair. I saw the mark and glanced away. “You have a concussion, three cracked ribs, a broken wrist, and bruises from head to toe. Where did you fall from?”

“My memory’s a little foggy with the pain meds.”

“Isabelle!”

“Clark, don’t shout. You’ll disturb the other patients. At least think of them if you don’t care about your own sister, the only family you have left.”

He growled, frustrated. I hid a smile. Isabelle was just as stubborn as Clark, and no one avoided answering the chief of police’s questions like his sister. She was unimpressed by his position.

Clark spun on his heel toward the door. “I’m going to get a coffee. Talk some sense into her, Libby.
Please
.”

“Uh, of course.”

He left the room, and I sat down beside Isabelle to take her hand. She gave mine a squeeze. “Don’t you start in on me.”

“I wasn’t.” I didn’t know what to say. “I got you into this, Isabelle. I’m so sorry. I wish I could go back in time and make sure no one gets involved with me. If I never met Ian…”

I shut my eyes, and she stroked my arm. “If you never met him, you wouldn’t have been able to bear what you’re going through. Keeping everyone at arm’s length is not the answer. We have the answer.”

“The spell didn’t work.”

“We don’t know that, but I can’t cast the other spell that would alert me if the person shows in Summit’s Edge. Not while I’m stuck in here. Plus, I wasn’t kidding with Clark on the fuzzy head.”

I brushed hair from her face. “It’s the concussion and pain maybe.”

She made a sound of agreement. “I have to get to my herbs and get off these infernal medications.”

“Shouldn’t a nurse support modern medicine?” I teased.

“I support it. Just not always for me. My herbs do just fine, and the sooner I get out of here, the better.”

“Take it easy,” I insisted.

“I will, but you sit tight, okay? Promise me you won’t do anything rash while I recover.”

I tut-tutted her and avoided making the promise. I knew what I had to do, and it didn’t involve getting my friends hurt anymore. After I left the hospital, managing to avoid running into Clark, I went to Gatsky’s to meet Monica. We ate lunch together, and I went to the hardware store to give a semblance of doing some work. Later, in the evening, I went home and waited for Monica to come over. Before we parted during the day, I had told her I wanted to talk. She’d tried to get me to say what it involved, but I had put her off. When my front door opened and closed, followed by the clink of keys being tossed on the hall table, I knew I wasn’t ready. Either way, this was it.

“Hey,” she said, entering the kitchen. “I had a lousy day, scared about what you wanted to tell me. I know you’ve been keeping a lot to yourself, and I know it’s because you worry about me. I’m going to be straight up with you. It hurts my feelings when you think you can’t tell me everything, Libby. We’re like sisters. Or we were. Maybe that’s not the case anymore?”

My heart broke all over again. “Of course we are. I’m so sorry, Monica.”

I held my hand out, and she walked over to sit down beside me at the table. “I love you, Monica, but you’re right. I have been keeping some things to myself. Partly it has to do with secrets that aren’t mine to share.”

“Isabelle and Ian?”

I swallowed.

“Did he cheat on you with Isabelle, because if he did, his butt is mine.”

I laughed. “No, he didn’t.”

She waited for me to continue, and I had to think about how much to share with her and how much to keep to myself. I still couldn’t tell her about Ian being a vampire or that Tevin was also one. I couldn’t tell her about Isabelle either. My choices were limited, so I decided to keep the focus on me.

“Monica, you know how we decided in the beginning that if we couldn’t find my body then you would call Mason to take Jake?”

She stiffened, and I saw fear in her eyes. They welled with tears. “You’re not…”

“Monica.” The words wouldn’t come.

“You let him take Jake because…”

Monica kept speaking, a pleading quality coming into her tone, but I no longer heard her. Ian had said to me once that I should be able to sense my body because I still had a connection to it. I was never aware of the connection no matter how hard I tried to feel it. At that moment, while I spoke with Monica, for the first time ever, I
knew
. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that my body was now in Summit’s Edge.