“I don’t really understand everything, but the guys I’m with do.”
“Who are these guys?”
I didn’t plan to start talking salt rounds and secret societies. I was already pushing it. “They track violent spirits and destroy them.”
“Like Ghostbusters?”
“More like exorcists.”
Her bedsprings groaned, the way they did whenever she fell back onto her bed. “Please tell me you aren’t possessed.”
I almost laughed. “I’m not. But the spirits are dangerous, and I need these guys to help me get rid of them.”
“How many guys are we talking about?” She perked up.
“Three, but one of them is only fifteen.” I could see the wheels spinning in her mind. “There’s another girl here, too.”
“When are you coming back?”
“I don’t know.” My throat tightened. “But you can’t tell anyone you talked to me. Okay?”
She didn’t respond.
“Elle!”
“You know I won’t say anything.” She pretended to sound offended.
Alara peeked through the sheets.
“Elle, I have to go.”
“Be careful,” she pleaded.
“I will.” I hung up and held the phone to my chest, wondering when I would see her again.
When I came back, the four of them were packing it in for the night. I handed Lukas his phone and straightened the stacks of newspapers. I didn’t want to look completely useless.
Jared tipped his chin toward a mattress in the corner. “You can take my bed. I like the couch.”
“No, it’s okay—”
“I like the couch,” he repeated.
I was too tired to argue—and too cold. The warehouse was freezing, and I still didn’t have a jacket. I rubbed my hands over my arms.
Priest noticed and tossed me a hoodie from his shelf. “You’ll need it. This place is a meat locker.”
As I slid my arms into the sleeves and lay down on the bed, I relaxed for what felt like the first time in days—until I noticed Jared coming back.
Maybe he changed his mind about letting me have his bed.
I started to get up when he pointed at the pillows. “Mind if I take one?”
“Sure—I mean no.”
He held up his hands, and his T-shirt slid up, exposing a few inches of skin above the waistband of his jeans. My cheeks grew warm and I tossed him the pillow, hoping he wouldn’t notice. He stood there for a moment as if he wanted to say something, before he walked away.
It was a sharp contrast to the crooked smile Lukas gave me as he flopped down on the mattress across from mine. His fingers flew over the controls of a video game. He noticed me watching him. “It’s Tetris.”
“He plays it all the time.” Alara walked by and rolled her eyes, twisting her hair into a loose knot.
Lukas didn’t look up from the screen. “It requires hard-core spatial abilities and pattern recognition.”
“I’m sure it does,” she said sarcastically.
Priest laughed and closed his eyes, still wearing his headphones, as Jared stretched out on the couch. It seemed like he was on the opposite side of a boundary no one could cross.
I wondered what happened to Jared—who hurt him. But his walls were even higher than mine.
Alara switched off the lights. I listened to the muffled music from Priest’s headphones and the pinging sound of Tetris, wishing I could turn off my thoughts as easily.
I was lying on a mattress in a warehouse with four people I barely knew—four people who seemed to know more about my life than I did. Was it possible they knew more about my mom, too?
My eyes burned and I felt the tears building, but I didn’t want to let myself cry. If I started, I might not be able to stop.
The music and video game sounds finally faded, blanketing the room in silence. I slipped through the sheets and tiptoed to the other side of the warehouse where the gun racks and shelves of ammo were silhouetted in the darkness. Evidence of how unprepared I was for everything happening to me.
I was safe now, but I couldn’t stay here forever.
Tears slid down my neck before I realized they were falling.
I sat on the floor next to Priest’s worktable and buried my face in my knees. I cried quietly, choking back sobs until my throat was raw.
“Kennedy?” Someone whispered my name.
I covered my face with my hands.
“Want to talk about it?” It was Lukas or Jared, but his voice was so quiet I couldn’t tell which one. I shook my head, tears running through the spaces between my fingers.
He sat down next to me, and I could smell the salt and copper on his skin.
“I know this is hard. I lost it when my dad died, and I didn’t know how we were gonna do this without him.” He spoke slowly, his voice gentle and soothing. I realized it was Lukas, sharing something painful to make me feel better.
“I wish I could take it back.” He hesitated. “I mean change things.”
I took a ragged breath, and he touched my back gently.
“Hey, will you look at me?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t stop crying, and I didn’t want him to see me falling apart.
“I get it,” he whispered, so close I could feel his breath on my neck. “I don’t think I would’ve made it without Luk.”
I froze.
Lukas wasn’t the one with his hand on my back.
It was Jared, the boy who barely spoke, the one who seemed so distant.
I don’t know how long we stayed that way. Eventually, I ran out of tears, and Jared took my hand and led me through the warehouse. I climbed in his bed, and he retreated to the couch without a word. But I could still smell the salt on his skin.
CHAPTER 11
Ophthalmic Shift
When I woke up, Lukas, Jared, an
d Alara were hunched over the map again. After an hour of skimming articles for unusual weather patterns and bizarre accounts of unexplained events, I’d learned a few things about surges and paranormal activity. My mind had also taken hundreds of mental snapshots—from neglected houses and morbid crime scenes to used car ads—all sorted and catalogued automatically.
On Marrow overload, I offered to be Priest’s assistant for a while. He was determined to design the Big Bad of vengeance spirit–hunting weapons to take down whatever Andras had waiting for them.
“Hold this.” Priest handed me his blowtorch.
“I don’t think—”
“It’s totally safe. Unless you turn it on.”
Like I knew how to do that?
“We need some serious firepower.” Priest scanned his journal for old designs he could tweak.
Alara came in wearing loose cargos and a fitted tank that showed off her muscular arms. She grabbed a box of Pop-Tarts off Priest’s shelf and threw me a perfunctory glance from under her mascaraed lashes before disappearing again.
“Alara seems nice,” I ventured when she was out of earshot.
“Ah… are we talking about the same person?”
I laughed. “What’s her specialty? Aside from intimidation?”
“Wards. Her grandmother was a voodoo priestess or something. I forget what they’re called. But Alara’s pretty badass.”
Badass and gorgeous. Great.
Priest pointed at the journal and headed for the fridge. “Keep looking.”
Turning the pages carefully, something caught my eye—a tiny symbol hidden in one of the designs. I’d seen it before.
Priest came back carrying two sodas.
“What’s this?” I pointed at the sketch.
He glanced at the page. “Some kind of ocular device.”
“Why does it have Andras’ seal on it?”
“What are you talking about?” He leaned over, and I pointed at the symbol. Priest dropped the cans, and soda exploded all over the floor.
Lukas stuck his head between the sheets. “What are you two doing?”
Priest gazed at the page, transfixed. “Get everyone in here. Now.”