Текст книги "Body and Soul"

Автор книги: Стэйси Кейд

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

The outside of Misty’s house looked the same as it had an hour before. The yard and plants thriving almost to the point of being overgrown, Misty’s Jeep in the driveway, the house itself quiet and still.

For whatever reason, the tightness in my chest eased slightly at the sight, which was dumb because it wasn’t like there would be flames shooting through the roof or anything as a sign of a problem. Any trouble here was going to be on the inside. Deep on the inside.

I pulled into the driveway and parked. If Misty’s parents wanted to question me about being here, Alona’s presence would be enough of an excuse. I was her ride home, or I could be, in theory.

I left the car and jogged to the front door to knock. Standing there on the porch, waiting, waiting, and waiting for someone to answer, I could feel the tension creeping into my shoulders and up my neck as each precious second ticked away.

Misty yanked open the door just as I raised my hand to knock again.

She looked startled and then frowned. “It’s you.”

“Yeah, it’s me. Ally here?” I started forward without waiting for an answer, as though I were sure she was going to let me in.

And she did, stepping out of the way and gesturing down the hall. “Kitchen,” she said, her expression still troubled. She drew in a breath like she was about to say more, but then she just shook her head.

I wanted to ask her about it, could almost feel her wanting to say something else, but I couldn’t ignore the sense of urgency propelling me forward.

“Thanks.” I hurried past her, then stopped at the sound of a familiar voice laughing and talking. Ally’s voice.

She was okay. I let out a slow breath of relief. Maybe Erin hadn’t even been here. If she’d managed to figure out who and what Ally was, there was no way she could have forced her way into Lily’s body and recovered so quickly. Even as strong as Alona was, it had taken her hours just to be able to speak.

I started forward once more, feeling Misty’s frown at my back.

The kitchen was oversized with a huge eat-in area and a big granite island in the middle of it. Sitting at stools behind it, their feet dangling off the rungs, and giggling over something, Ally and Leanne Whitaker had their heads together over a bowl of what appeared to be ice cream with chunks of cookie dough on top.

I stopped again, startled. The last time I’d checked, Alona hadn’t been Leanne’s biggest fan.

A whisper came from behind me, and I turned, almost involuntarily, to see Misty a step or two behind me, frowning at the two of them.

“Oh, my God.” Leanne’s sneering voice was unmistakable. “What are youdoing here?” she demanded, and I turned in time to see her drop her spoon into the bowl with a gooey clank.

Ally looked up from the bowl, and a variety of unreadable expressions passed over her face when she saw me. “He’s here for me,” she said simply. “Right?”

I nodded slowly. She didn’t seemangry anymore. “I’m her ride home,” I said.

“Except I’m not ready to go yet,” Ally said, looking away from me and scooping up another bite of ice cream. “You can leave, and I’ll find my own way home.”

I bristled at the arrogance in her tone. All right, so she was definitely still angry. Fair enough, so was I. And clearly she was fine, so I didn’t need to stick around. “Whatever.” I turned and started back toward the hall.

“Nice,” Leanne said, presumably to Ally, with an all-too-familiar cackle, a sound that sent me back to my most miserable days of high school.

Misty, who’d been standing in the doorway behind me, waited until I passed and then followed me out.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to steal anything,” I said over my shoulder, not bothering to hide the disgust in my voice.

She made an exasperated noise. “It’s not that,” she said.

“Yeah, right.” I kept going.

“Hey.” She caught my sleeve, and I turned, surprised.

Misty glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the kitchen before facing me with a worried expression. “Something happened,” she whispered quickly. “She’s pretending everything’s fine, but it was like a seizure or something.”

I froze. “What do you mean?”

She gave an impatient huff. “I mean, I left her upstairs to deal with, you know, the ghost.”

I nodded, waving my hand for her to hurry up and get to the point.

“And when I came back to see how it was going, she was on the floor,” she finished, her blue eyes wide in the dimly lit hall.

I relaxed a little. “Ally still has trouble with walking sometimes. The accident—”

“Dude, no. This wasn’t just a fall. She was…I don’t know, writhing on the floor or something.” Misty wrung her hands together, obviously upset.

I considered what it must have taken to convince her to come after me and try to tell me something was wrong, and dread seeped into my gut.

“Was she, uh, talking to someone before? I mean, someone you couldn’t see?”

She nodded rapidly. “She sent me out of the room, so I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I definitely heard her talking.”

So unless Alona had decided to put on a show for Misty’s benefit, there had been a ghost here. What were the odds it had been anyone other than Erin?

Not good.

And she’d done what? Attacked Alona? It wouldn’t have been impossible—Alona was definitely capable of provoking someone to the point of violence, particularly someone like Erin, who already seemed a little unhinged. But then where had Erin gone? Why wasn’t she still here pestering us? And why hadn’t Alona mentioned it?

Unless, of course, she couldn’t. I felt sick suddenly. If Erin had taken over Lily’s body and kicked Alona out, that would account for Misty’s seeing what had appeared to be a seizure—two spirits fighting over one body.

But if Erin had won that battle, how could she have recovered so quickly? That would have taken serious power, beyond what even Alona had demonstrated. Then again, I already knew Erin was no slouch in the power department—she could change her appearance on a whim. None of the other ghosts I’d ever met could do that, not even Mrs. Ruiz, who’d very thoroughly kicked my ass.

Plus, it occurred to me now, I had no idea how much Lily’s comatose state might have slowed Alona down when she took over. But Erin wouldn’t have had that issue.

So…was it possible she’d taken Lily’s body with fewer side effects? I definitely couldn’t rule it out. Ice coated my insides at the idea.

“All right, let’s keep this between us,” I said to Misty. “I’m going to try to get her to go home with me.” I had to know for sure who was occupying Lily’s body, and this was not the place for that conversation.

She nodded.

“She might not like that, but it’s important,” I added. The last thing I needed was Misty calling the police because I was trying to bodily remove someone from her home who did not want to go.

“Okay,” she said hesitantly.

I wished she sounded more confident, but I didn’t have time to convince her further.

I strode back into the kitchen with Misty at my heels.

Leanne groaned. “You again.”

I ignored her. “You know, I should just leave you here,” I said to Ally. “But I promised your mom I’d bring you home.” That was a big lie. Mrs. Turner wouldn’t even speak to me, let alone take promises from me. And Alona would know that and would call me on it…maybe.

I waited, holding my breath for her response.

But Ally didn’t even look up. “I said I’m fine.”

Which couldmean it wasn’t Alona…or just that Alona was still mad at me and more concerned about what her friends thought than about what Mrs. Turner thought. It was in line with who she’d been when she was alive, the identity she might be attempting to reclaim in part now with her makeover.

I needed a litmus test, something that would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt who I was dealing with. The only test I could think of would draw on the secret of Alona’s messed-up home life and really piss her off, but I had to know.

“Come on, I’ll take you to get a burger on the way. And Sam was over last night. He left a couple beers in the fridge we could probably snag, if we stop by my house.” I kept my tone as light and normal-sounding as possible, which wasn’t very. Every word sounded clunky to my ears, like it screamed, “Lie!” But that didn’t matter because it wasn’t my reaction that I was looking for.

The real Alona would have glared at me with her lip curling in disgust at the suggestion. But this one…she perked up and looked at me with interest for the first time. “Beer?”

My heart sank. Erin. It had to be. No way was that Alona, not with her alcoholic mother. That was one thing Alona had never compromised on, no matter who was watching or listening. She did not drink.

But dead party girl Erin (her Señor Frog’s T-shirt was a big clue) wouldn’t have known that. And a beer probably did sound good to her after so many months or years of (dead) sobriety.

So, if Erin was occupying Lily’s body, where was Alona? Gone for good? I swallowed hard, pushing that thought away. I had to find out what had happened.

“Dude, why are you still here?” Leanne asked with a huff. “She said no.”

“Leanne,” Misty murmured from behind me. “Stay out of it.”

But it was too late. The damage was done. “No, thanks, I’m good here.” Erin returned her attention to the ice cream.

Panic surged in me, and I fought to keep my expression blank. The urge to cross the room and shake Erin for answers was overwhelming. But I had to keep calm. Freaking out on her was not an option, nor was leaving her here. She might take off for parts unknown, and then I’d never know what had happened.

Think, think.I forced myself to look at things from Erin’s perspective. She had to be worried about people figuring out she wasn’t who she claimed to be, much as Alona had been. It was probably the main reason she didn’t want to leave with me. I could use that. “Okay, then call your mom and make sure it’s cool if you stay,” I said.

Erin shrugged and kept eating her ice cream. She knew that the more people who were involved, the greater the chance she’d mess up.

“What is he, your babysitter?” Leanne snorted.

“Fine, I’ll call her and tell her to come get you.” I pulled my phone out, and that got Erin’s attention. She glared at me.

“I’m just looking out for you.” I forced myself to project something resembling sincerity.

“All right. Let’s go.” She heaved a sigh and set her spoon down on the counter. “But a burger and beer first. You promised.” Easy to see where Erin’s priorities were. Not to mention, if she was at all worried about encountering Lily’s mom, making stops along the way would give her an opportunity to slip away from me before I could get her home.

She slipped down off the stool to the floor, where she swayed unsteadily, like the room was moving around her.

Out of habit, I lurched forward to catch her arm, expecting her to throw herself backward to avoid my help or glare at me.

But instead, she placed her arm through mine, leaning on me for balance, as if that was what we always did. Which, of course, would be what she’d have thought, based on what she’d seen yesterday at Malachi’s.

She waved at Leanne, who smiled with that hint of a smirk I’d seen countless times before upon encountering her in the hallway.

“See ya, chica. Don’t forget what we talked about.” Leanne pointed her spoon at Ally, who nodded.

I was afraid to ask what that was about. Erin and Leanne conspiring—the very idea was nightmare-inducing.

I led her toward the door to the hall, where she shocked the hell out of me by letting go and launching herself at Misty for a hug. Misty looked equally startled by the gesture. She hadn’t even had time to unfold her arms, and they were now pinned in between the two of them.

“Just know that Alona is in a better place, okay?” she said, her words muffled against the taller girl’s shoulder.

I froze. Had the light come for Alona when Erin had evicted her? Was that what she was saying? Or was this more of her playing the role of Ally, saying what she thought Ally the ghost-talker would say?

Misty looked at me over the top of Ally’s head, her face stunned and pale, albeit for different reasons. She nodded. “Yeah, okay,” she said, and cleared her throat.

Ally pulled back, reaching for my arm before I could offer it. Playing a role in this parody made me feel ill, but I had no choice but to follow through until I could get her out of here.

I led her down the hall to the front door and out onto the porch, where she carefully made her way down the steps, clutching my arm with one hand and the railing with the other. She was definitely not moving as smoothly as Alona had been, so there were side effects of her taking over this body.

“I’m starving,” she announced, when we reached the bottom. “Hurry up.”

“You were just eating ice cream,” I said tightly. With raw cookie dough on top, seemingly without a care in the world about fat grams or any of the other stuff Alona usually complained about. That should have been my first clue, I realized. Not to mention the fact she’d been sharing a bowl without freaking out about Leanne’s germs.

“But I didn’t get to finish,” she noted with a pout, as I led her to the car and helped her in.

“We’re going to get something right now,” I promised, with absolutely no intention of doing so.

“A cheeseburger withfries,” she said, still sulking. “And the beer, don’t forget the beer.”

So, definitely not Alona. “Right, fine.” I slammed her door shut, the wheels turning in my brain. I’d gotten the impostor out of Misty’s; step one complete. But now what?

I opened the driver’s-side door and slid behind the wheel. My brain was buzzing with anxiety and too many questions. Was it better to confront her immediately or try to play along a little longer? She obviously wanted me to believe she was Alona. And where was Alona? Oh, God, if she was gone for good…

I dared a glance from the corner of my eye to find Ally—no, it was Erin, and I had to remember that—staring down at her hands in an admiring manner, as though pleased with the manicure…or, you know, just that she had a physical form that could havea manicure.

Shit.I had to play this carefully. She was possessing Lily’s body, and I couldn’t make her get out. It was like having a built-in hostage. She could theoretically hurt “herself ” (a.k.a. Lily) at any time or threaten to do so to keep me in line.

I started the car and backed out of the driveway, on to the street.

Okay, think. I can’t keep her in the car forever.Taking her to the Turners’ was out of the question. And I couldn’t exactly lock her up at my house.

God, when had things gotten so complicated?

Edmund. Maybe Malachi/Edmund would have something to say about this. It was his freaking sister, after all.

“I screwed up, didn’t I?” she asked, just as I realized the silence had dragged on for a few seconds too long. She turned to face me, her eyes glittering with a hardness that had never been there with Lily or Alona.

I shivered, seeing something alien behind such a familiar face.

“What was it, the fries or the beer?” she asked, still not sounding too concerned about her cover being blown.

No point in further pretending, I guess. “Both,” I said.

She gave an annoyed sigh. “I should have known. She was probably counting calories.”

And her mother was, until recently, a raging, out-of-control alcoholic, not that that was any of her business. “Erin, right?”

She nodded, pleased.

“Where is Alona?” I asked tightly.

She laughed. “Gone. Vanished,” she proclaimed, sounding way too self-satisfied.

I winced, even though I’d been expecting that. “Permanently?”

“How should I know?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

“What did you do?” I demanded.

She heaved an exasperated sigh. “I don’t see how it matters now.”

“It matters,” I said, trying to keep my voice level.

“Is this about the ceremony?” she asked with a frown.

The what?I stopped the words from coming out just in time. A ceremony? There was no ceremony. At least, none that Alona had mentioned to me. “How do you know about that?” I asked instead, trying to weasel more information out of her without giving anything away.

She shrugged. “Alona said something about needing you there for a ceremony, but I figured she was just trying to stall me, keep me out.”

Oh. My chest ached. That was exactly what Alona must have been trying to do. And even though I hadn’t known what was going on, I still felt like I’d failed her.

“Like that’s even fair,” Erin scoffed. “She had her turn.”

“So you ambushed her instead?” I muttered.

“What?” she asked.

I shook my head, feeling the tension creaking in the back of my neck. “Just tell me what happened.”

She shrugged again. “I tried to claim her at first, as my ghost-talker, but that didn’t work any better with her than it did with you.” She rolled her eyes. “But once I figured out she was your spirit guide, it wasn’t that hard to put it all together. Then when I grabbed her, this body sort of pulled me in and forced her out.”

Wait, Alona was still my spirit guide? That would explain why Erin hadn’t been able to make the connection with either of us. We were still connected to each other. Or, at least, we had been up until an hour or so ago. And I’d just left her there.

I shook my head, pushing those thoughts, and the fear squeezing my chest, aside. If anyone could have survived all of this, it was Alona. Maybe another spirit taking over Lily’s body would have been enough to save her. If Lily’s body didn’t need her anymore, maybe that would give her more energy to sustain herself. Maybe.

She smoothed her hands down her body in an utterly creepy manner. “Must have been nice having it all in one package, huh?” She grinned and elbowed me, none too gently, in the ribs. “A spirit guide in a tight, living body. All the perks.”

I grimaced and shifted away from her. She made it sound so gross. It wasn’t like that, had never been like that. We hadn’t even known that Alona was still my spirit guide after she took over Lily’s body. But I doubted Erin would believe me, and I didn’t want to waste my breath explaining something she’d never understand. So weird the way Erin changed everything about Lily into something creepy and threatening, in a way that Alona had not. It said something about how much the soul or spirit in charge mattered. “What do you want?” I asked.

Erin laughed, and I shuddered.

“What do I want?” she repeated. “Nothing more than I’ve got right here, baby,” she said, slapping her thighs. “It’s a little beat up, sure, but nothing I can’t work around.” She sounded delighted. “I’m going to live it up.” She winked at me like this was all no big deal. Like she hadn’t potentially sentenced Alona to a more permanent form of death. “Now, are we going to get burgers or what?” she demanded.

I drove on autopilot, steering the car toward Krekel’s, Alona’s favorite burger place, and thinking furiously. I needed a plan. One thing was for sure: I couldn’t let her out into the world like this. God only knew what Erin would get up to if left to her own devices, and she was, for all intents and purposes, Lily. Around here, someone would eventually recognize her, and that would be bad. Not to mention her parents, who would be worried sick about her. And what if Alona wasn’t gone and she needed Lily’s body back? The Order had said the two of them had become dependent on each other. Lily seemed to be doing okay with Erin in Alona’s place, but Alona didn’t have that same option.

Locking Erin up, at least until I had a better grasp of the situation, seemed to be the only logical solution, as much as I hated the idea. But where? Maybe Edmund/Malachi would have an idea.

I looked over at Erin, her arm on the rest between us. She was weakened by her transition into Lily’s body; I could probably drag her along pretty easily. But some of what I was thinking must have shown on my face.

“Oh, no.” She snatched her arm back and scooted away from me. “I’ve already wasted too many years watching and not living. You’re not going to do that to me again. You try to lock me up somewhere and I’ll scream until someone calls the cops.” Her chin jutted out in determination, pushing aside any doubts I might have had that she would do less than she claimed. And the Turners, when they got wind of it, as they surely would, would probably press charges against me, thus eliminating any chance I had of fixing this mess.

“In fact,” she said, “I think you can let me out here.” She nodded at the red stoplight we were approaching.

“Here?” I asked, incredulous. “We’re not even close to anything, and she can’t…you can’t walk—”

“We’ll manage,” she said, already tugging at her seat belt.

“Erin, wait,” I said, fighting desperation. “What about Edmund? I know he’ll want to see you and—”

“Right,” she scoffed. “Like I’m going to waste any of my time on him.”

“He’s your brother,” I argued.

“Fat lot of good that did either of us,” she muttered. She yanked at the handle and shoved the door open as soon as we reached a stop.

I lurched across the car to grab her, but she slipped away. Then she surprised me, ducking her head back in and mashing her mouth against mine in a rough parody of a kiss.

I jerked back, hard enough that my elbow banged into the steering wheel.

“I would have expected better from you,” she said in mock disappointment before slamming the door shut.

The light turned green, and someone behind me honked and held it, loud and obnoxious. But I refused to move. “Get back in the car, Erin,” I shouted. I felt my face burning, imagining what this must look like to the other drivers. No, I’m not some jerk threatening his girlfriend. I’m trying to keep a ghost from kidnapping a body that doesn’t belong to her.

“Stalking is illegal, Will,” she warned loudly, her voice muffled through the closed door but clear to anyone who had their windows rolled down. Her gaze darted to the cars behind me, a tiny smirk playing on her lips as someone else added his horn to the mix.

“Erin!” I shouted again, as a truck from somewhere behind me whipped into the turn lane and zoomed around me. A squad car coming from the other direction slowed down, the officer staring at me through his window.

Shit.“Get back in the car. Please!” I tried one more time.

Watching me through narrowed eyes, Erin took a deep breath and started to scream.

Out of choices, and expecting the sound of sirens any second, I straightened up behind the wheel and hit the gas.

Hating myself and Erin, I watched her become a smaller and smaller figure in the rearview mirror, like I might never see her again, and feeling half relieved and half freaked at the idea.

I doubled back around the block as soon as I could, but the neighborhood had streets that curved oddly, and unexpected culs-de-sac.

By the time I got back to the intersection, she was gone, of course. Either she was hiding somewhere, or she’d hitched a ride with a stranger.

God, she was going to end up dead in a ditch somewhere, and it would be all my fault.

The light was red (again), and while waiting for it to change, I rested my head on the steering wheel, wishing for things to be different, wishing for Alona, wishing I could go back to the days when my biggest problems were Principal Brewster and getting through class without any ghosts noticing me. That had been a vacation compared to all of this. A really, really sucky vacation, but a vacation, nonetheless. I didn’t need Alona to tell me I was in over my head with this body and soul stuff and sinking fast. But I wanted her here, more than anything.

I shook my head. I had to get her back. I had an idea about how to do that, thanks to something Erin had said. But just one. And if it didn’t work…

I clenched the wheel. No, it hadto work. That was all there was to it. Because I didn’t know how to live with any other outcome. And if it didn’t work, Alona wouldn’t live at all.