B00AO57VOY EBOK (35 page)

“I used to be,” she said,
frowning, the first traces of suspicion in her eyes.  “Do I know you?”

“Um, can we sit for a
second?”  That was something else I had learned.  It was always better to have
the person receiving the message from beyond sit down—that way, I didn’t have
to pick them up.  She nodded and then sat down gingerly on the edge of the
bench she had just vacated. 

Charles appeared on the
bench beside her and I smiled.  His hand rose as if to brush the tears from her
cheeks, and I was glad I had agreed to help him.  No one as sweet as Charles
should be stuck in limbo forever; it was just another indication of how cruel
the universe could be.  At least in Charles’ case, I could make it right.  When
he nodded and smiled at me so sweetly it almost broke my heart, I dove right
in.

“I have a message for you,”
I told Mary Beth, watching her expression to gauge her reaction.  She wasn’t
exactly a young woman.  I didn’t want to give her a heart attack or something. 
“When you went to school here, you were friends with a boy named Charles,
right?”

“How do you know that?” she
demanded, her face paling perceptibly.  “What is this about?  Who are you,
young lady?”

“My name is Ember,” I told
her, already knowing she wasn’t going to believe me and forging ahead, anyway. 
“I know your friend Charles.  He helped me and in return I am going to help
him.”

Her face hardened to stone
in less than a second.  Angry tears filled her eyes as she stood up and gave me
such a venomous look that I nearly recoiled from it.  But I had made a promise,
and, no matter how pissed she got, I was going to keep it.

“Young lady, I don’t know
what kind of game you’re playing, or how you know about Charles, but what
you’re doing is cruel,” she said, stonily.  “Now, if you will excuse me—”

“You kissed him!” I cried
quickly, knowing I was losing her.  “The night he died, you kissed him.  He
said he can still smell your perfume.  You smelled like roses.”

Her knees gave out beneath
her and she collapsed back onto the bench.  Her mouth opened, but she couldn’t
seem to find her voice.  I figured it was the best chance I was going to get to
give her Charles’ message, so I hurried on while she was still in shock.

“He loved you,” I said,
gently.  “He said that kiss was the sweetest he ever had.  He doesn’t want you
to be sad anymore.  He wants you to know that he’s going to be okay and that
you don’t have to feel bad about what happened because it wasn’t your fault. 
If anyone was to blame, it was that stupid bat.”

She stared at me for another
full minute and then dropped her face into her hands and began to sob. 

“It
was
my fault.  If
I hadn’t gotten scared and ran, he wouldn’t have chased me.  I was so crazy
about him.  He was perfect and wonderful.  I loved him, too.”

“Then forgive yourself,” I
told her softly.  “He can’t let go because you haven’t.  You’re as trapped as
he is and neither of you will ever get to move on if you don’t.  Remember how
much you loved him, carry him in your heart, but let go of the guilt.  It’s a
prison that will destroy you both.”

She looked up at me, more
tears flooding her eyes, and nodded.  I could almost see my words taking root
in her mind, growing into a bloom of hope that she might finally be able to
wake up every day without that terrible guilt eating away at any chance she
might have to be happy.  It would take time for that seed to grow, but it was a
good start.

“Thank you, Ember,” Charles
whispered and I noticed he was glowing brightly.  The smile on his face was so
brilliant it brought tears to my eyes.  “I can go now.”

He leaned forward and
brushed his lips across Mary Beth’s forehead and a tear slipped from the corner
of my eye as he glowed even brighter.  For the first time in my life, I was
sorry to see one of my ghosts go.  I watched as the glow around him got too
bright to look at and then closed my eyes against it.  When I opened them
again, he was gone and Mary Beth was looking at me with awe.

“I felt him,” she whispered,
staring at me like I had given her a gift.  And I had, in more ways than one. 
“I felt Charles.  He was here, but now he’s gone.  Did he…?  Did he go…on?”

“Yes, he did,” whispered,
smiling even as another tear slipped from the corner of my eye.  If I didn’t
accomplish anything else that night, I could die with a clear conscience.

“Time to go, Em,” Tyler
said, appearing at my side as silently as the ghost who had just disappeared
from my life.  “You kept your promise.  He can rest now, but we can’t.  We
still have work to do.”

I gave Mary Beth a gentle
smile and took the arm Tyler offered me so I wouldn’t fall on my face as we
made our way back across the slippery lawn.  I mean, I couldn’t exactly wage
war with a demon if I broke my stupid neck, now could I?  We were already
turning away when Mary Beth spoke.

“Thank you, Ember,” Mary
Beth sighed softly.  “Maybe now I can go on, too.  You freed more than one
spirit tonight.  You’re a remarkable young lady.”

I smiled at her again,
feeling proud of myself for the first time all night, and she returned it with
a smile as brilliant as Charles’ last one had been.  Feeling better than I had
in a long time, I squared my shoulders and turned to face my own demons.

Tyler led me carefully back
across the lawn.  If the situation had been less critical than it was, I would
have laughed at how many times he had to keep me from falling on my face in the
wet grass.  Rain and heels really don’t mix.  Walking across the lawn was like
trying to stay upright on a Slip and Slide. 

I stopped just inside the
door of the gym, looking around appreciatively.  The decorating committee had
done an awesome job.  At the far end of the gym a stage had been set up, backed
by glittering black and white fabric, and a DJ was already set up there.  The
music he was playing was great and some couples had already started dancing. 
Streamers hung everywhere and there were huge masquerade mask cutouts blocking
the bleachers—closed for the dance—from sight. 

A buffet was set up on one
side of the room and red and gold balloons waited overhead in a net to drop at
the end of the dance.  On the scoreboard was the score from the game the people
already present had decided to forego in favor of warmth and dry clothes.  We
were winning.  The football team was going to be insane when they got there.

I finally spotted Kim and
Blake chatting with Ms. Cantrell in the far corner and nudged Tyler in that
direction.  I saw Ms. Cantrell’s eyebrows go up when she saw my escort and had
to stop myself from gritting my teeth. 

“Where is your dear Mr.
Ashley?” she asked when we finally reached them through the press of bodies on
the dance floor.

“Sleeping,” I mumbled.  I
didn’t know how much Kim had told Blake and Tyler about what had happened to
Nathan, and I really didn’t want to go into it right then. 

“Just like a leech.”   She
made a sound of disgust, and I thought for one second that she was talking
about me.  At least in my case the description would have fit.  “Always running
when things get tough.  It’s better if you learn that now, Miss Blaylock.  You
will never be able to depend on him.”

“Shut
up
,” I hissed,
venomously.  Her eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed to furious slits. 
I didn’t care if I pissed her off or not.  I wasn’t going to just stand there
and let her talk about Nathan like that.  It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t the one
at my side, it was mine.  “He’s not here because I drained his energy and left
him almost comatose.  There.  Happy now?”

Her eyes widened again, but
not in anger.  She looked almost…impressed.  Tyler and Blake looked horrified
and Kim still just looked sympathetic.  Then, Kim knew what it had cost me to
do what I had done.  Even if I lived through the night, there was a chance I
wouldn’t have anyone to go home to. 

Ms. Cantrell’s impressed
look only lasted a second, though.  The doubt I saw bloom in her eyes a minute
later had me gritting my teeth again and balling my hands into fists to resist
the urge to smack her.  I mean, really!  Condescending much?

“You drained a centuries-old
vampire?” she asked, mockingly.  “That is an amazing feat, Miss Blaylock.  In
fact, it is so amazing that I don’t believe a word of it.  It isn’t necessary
for you to make excuses for him.  It’s in his nature to run.  Never think you
can keep him, my dear, because you can’t.”

She didn’t have to believe
me.  I knew what I had done.  What did it really matter if this bitter old
crone didn’t believe me?  I sure as hell didn’t care.  Constance “Dragon Lady”
Cantrell was the least of my worries.

“Constance, I’m really
getting tired of you insulting me every chance you get.”

My body tensed and a moan of
defeat slipped through my lips as Nathan’s voice washed over me, through me, causing
my heartbeat to spike and the blood to drain from my face.  I forced myself to
turn slowly to face him, holding Tyler’s arm in a death grip.

I lifted my eyes slowly to
his face and felt my stomach drop through the floor as the signs of what I’d
done jumped out at me like they were painted in neon.  He was as white as a
sheet.  His handsome features were sunken and gaunt.  His eyes had deep,
bruise-like shadows beneath them—and they were glowing with anger.

He held out his hand to me
and Tyler went rigid at my side while Kim and Blake moved closer to me as if
they were afraid he was going to attack me.  I couldn’t really blame them,
either.  I was kind of afraid of him myself.  But, I was going to have to face
his wrath eventually.  It was probably safer to do it with a room full of
witnesses.

Patting Tyler’s arm
reassuringly, I stepped forward and slipped my hand into Nathan’s.  His skin
was icy cold and I shivered as he pulled my arm through his and turned us
toward the dance floor.  It was too much to hope that he just wanted to dance. 
I wasn’t going to get that lucky.  He led me across the floor to the opposite
side of the room from where Blake, Kim, and Tyler stood, watching us warily,
and pulled me into his arms as a slow number began to play and the lights
dimmed even further. 

Not good.  It’s hard to
witness a murder when it’s committed in the dark.

“Nathan,” I began, hoping to
head off his anger before it boiled over and became the destructive force of a
volcano.

“I had the strangest dream
after you sucked the life out of me,” he said, cutting me off and making me
feel like I was half an inch tall.  “I dreamed of Gabby.  She was in the room
with me and she was telling me I had to get up and protect my soul mate,
because if I lost you she wouldn’t be able to go on.  She gave me some of her
energy, somehow.  Don’t you think that’s strange, Ember?”

 “Um,” I hedged, gulping.  I
was in deeper shit than I had thought.  Gabriella had sold me out.  I wondered
if it was possible to strangle a ghost.

 “I’m sure you’ll understand
why I might be confused,” Nathan continued, calmly.  Too calmly.  “Gabriella
died four centuries ago.  Therefore, in order for her to give me energy, she
would have to be a ghost.  But that can’t be right, can it?  My
soul mate
sees ghosts, after all.    Isn’t that right?”

The iciness of his skin
seemed almost warm in comparison to the arctic quality of his voice by the time
he finished speaking.  I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to defend myself for
first.  Yes, I
had
known Gabriella was a ghost, but I had only kept the
secret because she hadn’t wanted him to know.  And I
had
drained his
energy to an almost dangerous level, but I had only done that to keep him safe.

Therefore, it seemed like
the best idea to just apologize for everything at once.

“I’m sorry, Nathan,” I
murmured, still not looking him in the eye.  Yep, I’m a coward.  Instead, I
focused on the tight line of his clenched jaw.  “I can explain?”

“Explain what, Ember?” he
snapped, his temper finally boiling over.  “Explain why you kept Gabriella’s
presence in our home a secret?  You’re sorry for nearly killing me?  What
exactly is it that you think you can explain?  What are you apologizing for? 
Please.  Enlighten me.”

His unforgiving tone pissed
me off.  I knew he had a right to be angry, but he didn’t have to be such a
jerk about it.  If he was mad about Gabriella, he needed to take that up with
her.  She was the one who had wanted to keep her presence a secret, after all. 
As for almost killing him, I wasn’t about to apologize for something I hadn’t
done.  I had drained him, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t been planning on giving
him back what I had taken. 

“None of it!” I hissed, now
just as furious as he was.  “I’m not sorry for any of it.  There.  How do you
like
that
, Nathan Ashley?”

“You’re not sorry for any
of it?” He asked, his shock at my response momentarily stronger than his
anger.

“No, I’m not,” I shoved at
his chest to try and push him away, but he only held me tighter.  The song had
changed to something more upbeat, but we hadn’t noticed. 

“You could have put me in a
coma and you’re
not
sorry
?” he growled, his anger returning full force.

“Nope,” I told him, still
trying to wiggle out of his grip without causing a wardrobe malfunction I might
never recover from.  “I knew what I was doing.  I had to take more from you
because you’re a vampire, but you were never in any real danger.  I’m sorry I
had to do it, but I’m not going to apologize for trying to protect you.  So if
you want to be mad, go ahead.  You’ll get over it.”

The anger died in his eyes
before the last word left my lips and he just stared at me.  It took me a
second to realize that he was speechless.  For the first time since we had met,
he just simply didn’t know how to respond.  I didn’t care, though.  I had tried
to save him and he had thrown that in my face like I had committed a crime or
something.