Shadow Bound (Wraith) (17 page)

“Big deal. I just left.”

“It is a big deal! You’re wearing a leg monitor. They probably know you’re gone already.”

“They probably do. And I don’t care. I’m tired of being shut in my house.”

“I hope it’s worth it.” I shook my head at the disaster he’d become. “I hope she’s worth it.”

Connor’s hand grasped mine. “I’m not doing this for her, Jane. Don’t you get that?” he whispered. “Every time she sees us together, you’re at risk.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying.” I looked at our linked hands. A flare of energy spiked between us. I pushed the wide leather band away from his wrist. I’d seen a dark mark inked in his skin, partially covered.

“What the hell is that?” I asked.

He pulled his hand away. “Nothing.”

“What is it?” I reached for him and flipped over his hand, moving the watchband. A small black ink tattoo covered the inside of his wrist. “Is that real?”

“Yeah.”

“When did you get it?” I knew it wasn’t there the last time I saw him.

“Yesterday. It’s not a big deal.”

“Stop saying that.” I twisted his arm until I could see it better in the dark, shadowy corner we stood in. As soon as I made out the image, I dropped his hand.

“Jane,” he said as I stepped away.

“No.”

“Look it’s not what you think...”

“What do you think I think?” I yelled. “Because I’ve seen that before. In the Ruins.” I saw Ava pull the guys away, leaving us alone. Connor reached for me, pulling me by my waist. I let him. “What does it mean? Did she tell you to get it?”

“No! It’s a Celtic warrior symbol. I found it in some books my dad had about Ireland.” I grab his arm and push the leather strap back and study the circle. “It’s for protection.”

That word again. Protection. “What are you afraid of?”

“Everything. I’m afraid for you. I’m afraid of her. I’ve been trying to balance everything and I pushed you away but…” He jerked away and his hands flew to his head. I watched, horrified as he began tugging on his hair under his hat and his eyes filled with tears. “I’m afraid I can’t control this. Or her. I can’t control her.”

“Connor,” I said, pulling his hands out of his hair and into my own. “I need you to tell me what’s going on. Everything.”

“You know I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Charlotte’s dead. Those secrets are keeping her here. Tormenting you and me both.”

“What if I can’t protect you?”

“We’ll protect each other. Like always.”

A
va opened the
back door and raised a finger to her lips. “My mom isn’t here, but my older brother is home. He doesn’t really care if I have friends over, but he has an internship and gets up at 6 a.m.” She flipped on the kitchen light. “He’ll kick my butt if we wake him up. But we can play video games in the basement or watch a movie.”

Connor followed behind me, fingers tugging at the back of my dress. “Can we talk out here?” he said, gesturing to the small deck behind us.

Ava shot me a questioning look that I waved away. “We’ll be down in a little bit.”

Christian wrapped an arm around Ava and led her away. “Beat you in Guitar Hero?”

“You wish,” she said, and they disappeared into the house.

I followed Connor to a couple of wrought iron chairs on the porch and sat on one that rocked gently with my weight. He claimed the chair across from me and leaned his arms across his legs. There were no lights on and it was so dark I could hardly see him, but that was okay, I wasn’t sure how close I could be to him anyway. Not with what he was about to tell me.

“Okay. Start,” I told him.

He took a deep breath and exhaled. “You know the story, I set the house on fire and almost burned it to the ground. I could’ve killed everyone. The judge sent me to Brookhaven, which sucked. They doped me up and it took a while to adjust to the meds. All I wanted was to sleep, but we had required school, work detail and therapy.”

He leaned back in his seat. “A couple of weeks in, I finally felt normal again. Normal normal. No ghosts or weird stuff. Just me and a nice buzz to get through the day. The routine seemed okay, and for the first time in years I felt safe. No boogie men trying to get me at night, you know?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

“Then she showed up. Charlotte. I’ve never met a more troubled person than that girl.””

“Sounds about right,” I mutter.

“She was pretty,” he said, looking apologetic. “Smart, but also cold and calculating. She had that whole place wrapped around her finger in a couple of days.”

“Did you guys hook up while you were in there?” I braced myself for his response.

“No,” he said, but then admitted, “She was hot, and we flirted, and I liked her. A lot. There were times I thought she liked me back, but she flirted with everyone. I realized over time I didn’t have anything she wanted. I had no leverage.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Charlotte survived life as a master manipulator. She flirted – and more – with the staff and counselors to get what she wanted. If that didn’t work, she used blackmail.”

“She flirted with the adults that worked there? Did she have sex with them or something? Isn’t that illegal?” Nausea welled in the back of my throat. “What did she want?”

“Food? Candy? Privileges like phone time or extra free time. She’d corner our counselor after group and try to get out of curfew. Crying and stuff. So, no,” he said, “it wasn’t always sexual. I’m not sure how far she pushed it with the staff, but by getting them into these compromising positions she then had the leverage she needed to get the extras.”

We stared at one another for a second. “Okay, so she comes, manipulates the staff, flirts with you and what else? What’s the big secret?” I ask.

“The big secret was exactly that, a secret. In group, we’re required to talk about why we’re there. Most of us lied. You know I did. I just talked about anger and drugs. Honestly, I liked pretending I was a regular fuck up and not crazy. Being on the meds made it easier to pretend I had never seen any of those ghosts. She was the only person there I told the truth about the ghosts.”

“She knew about your gift.”

He nods. “She knew about yours, too, before she died.” 

“You told her about me?” I felt torn between being betrayed and flattered that he told Charlotte about me.

“She’s the only person I ever told.”

“Until you met me.”

“Yeah, and Evan. He was a force to be reckoned with. No medication could dampen his love for you.”

My heart ached thinking about him. “Stop it. What we had wasn’t like that and you know it.”

“I do know. He loved you completely, Jane. I think that is why I could see him.”

“Is that why you can’t see her? Because she doesn’t love you enough.”

“I’m not sure if that’s why,” he laughed. “But no, she doesn’t love me. I don’t even think she likes me. I’m starting to think the ghosts being able to touch you is more about you than about the ghosts, including Evan.”

I hadn’t told Connor about being shadow bound yet, and now wasn’t the time. “If she doesn’t even love you, then why? Why are you doing this to the two of us?” I leaned forward and rested my hands on his knees. “Forget us, why do this to yourself?”

“Because that’s what she does. She gets under my skin. She manipulates and dominates and screws me up inside.”

“So, you do want her?” I asked, pulling away.

“No!” He shifted in his seat. “She’s just so lost and damaged and she trusts me. I’m trying to do what is best for all of us. By keeping you safe and trying to figure out what she wants.”

“But you can’t even see her – not on the drugs. How are you going to help her? And for the record, I don’t think she wants help anyway. She may need it, but she doesn’t want it.”

His blue eyes flashed. “I can’t abandon her.”

“I’m not asking you to, but let’s talk this over and work together. We’re stronger together.”

He sighed. “She confessed in therapy that she learned her blackmailing habits at home. She knew something about someone in her family and used it to get whatever she wanted.”

I shake my head. “But why run away then? Why not stay home and reap the benefits?”

“I think clothes and shopping and cappuccinos at Starbucks only go so far when you’re really messed up. I guess, and I’m putting on my too-much-time-in-therapy-hat, the running away and skipping school was to get her parents’ attention.”

“Obviously. She told me they were never around and no one cared,” I said. “What’s the secret? Who did she blackmail?”

He made a face, but said nothing. The wind blew across the porch, jangling a wind chime in the dark.

“You promised.”

Connor rubbed his hands over his face and scratched at his chin. “Her uncle.”

“Her uncle? The realtor?” I thought about the pictures Ava and I looked up on the computer. “Is that why you vandalized his office? Did she tell you to do that?”

“Yeah, this thing, it’s…”

A strong, determined voice spoke over Connor. “Tell him to stop.” Surprised, I looked over Connor’s shoulder and saw Charlotte. Her face was contorted in anger.

Refusing to lose this chance to find out the truth, I said, “It’s what?”

“She didn’t tell me this in group. She waited until we were alone. I thought she liked and trusted me. She told me about her uncle and how she knew what he had done, because he tried to do it to her, and… What’s with the weather?”

A rush of wind blew around us, knocking over a pot and sending the wind chimes into a frenzy.

“Stop him. Now.” Charlotte stepped around Connor and stood between us.

I swallowed, silently refusing. “What did he do?”

Charlotte leaned over and whispered in his ear. He stiffened in his seat and his eyebrows furrowed.

“She’s here, isn’t she?”

“Answer him! Tell him I’m here,” her hand shot out and grabbed me by the upper arm. I froze, trying to keep my composure. If he didn’t tell me now, he never would. “Tell him if he doesn’t shut up, I’m going to break your arm.”

“Jane? Is she here? Where?”

“Don’t let her do this. Tell me. Don’t let her control you,” I said. Her fingers tightened and I winced.

“Where is she?” Connor batted the air, never making contact. “Let her go, Charlotte. I’m done. I won’t say anything else.”

“No,” I said, now struggling against her, I wrenched her hand off my arm and rubbed the tender skin. “Tell me. In front of her. These threats against me are just another form of her manipulative behavior.”

“She’ll hurt you.”

Charlotte smiled and leaned into him again, dragging my body with her, and whispered to Connor. When she finished, she said to me, “He’s right. You can’t beat me. Ghost beats human. Sorry.”

“She’ll hurt me anyway. What do you think the end result will be? She has you and I just walk away? Someone isn’t going to survive this.” I moved closer in an attempt to keep her away from him. “Who are you really protecting, Connor Jacobs, the living or the dead?”

He hesitated long enough for me to see the worry in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Char,” he said to the air. “It’s not going to be you.”

Charlotte tried to mask the hurt with a smirk, a chilling smile that cut to the bone. “Wrong choice,” she said, and with another gust of cool air, she disappeared.

&

I woke with a start, tangled in Connor’s arms and legs. His head buried between my side and the couch cushion. I nudged him gently. “Hey, wake up.”

He groaned and pushed his face deeper in the sofa.

“I’m serious,” I said.  I picked up my phone and looked at the time. “It’s 6:30. I’m pretty sure you missed curfew.”

Without moving his head, he lifted the leg with the ankle monitor. “They’ll find me.”

Connor and I moved inside Ava’s house once Charlotte vanished. Going on the theory she wouldn’t harm me while other people were around, we tucked in for the night, playing games with Ava and Christian.

Unfortunately, this stopped Connor from revealing more about her secret.

“Not funny,” I said, moving so he fell face first into the pillow. “I’d rather them not revoke your probation.”

“Big word. Revoke.”

“My parents were lawyers. I paid attention.”

I turned to find him with messy hair and sleepy eyes, staring up at me with the slightest of smiles.

“What’s that about?” I asked about the grin.

He eased a hand on my leg. “I’m just happy to be here with you.”

“I’m happy to be here with you, but we have unfinished business.”

He tilted his head to the side. “You’re happy to have me here?”

“Yeah. I am.” I felt the blush on my cheeks. “I missed you.”

“I never left.”

“You were here, but not here,” I told him. “It’s hard to explain.”