Charmed Spirits (17 page)

Jordan
followed his movements and did the same with her hand. “It’s not warm. We have
time. Let me try to put out the fire with my magic. I’m not losing you, Matt.”

He
wanted to kiss her, hold her, and get her the fuck out of the house. But all he
could do was watch as she opened the door and walked out into the hallway. He
cursed but followed her. A flicking light met him, but the bright yellow and
orange glow warmed his cool body and scared the shit out of him.

Fuck.
It didn’t look like they had a way out.

Smoke
filled the room and the roar of the flames grew louder as the fire heightened,
the flames licking the air and scorching the walls. Dust and particles fell
from celling and lit up as they touched the flames. He looked up and would have
paled if he were able to. The ceiling looked like it was going to go at any
moment.

The old
Marlow house had no hope. It would burn to the ground, and his tie to this
world would be lost forever. He took a deep breath and fisted his hands. He had
to get Jordan out. He might not be long for this world, but he wouldn’t let
Jordan die for him.

“Jordan,
we need to get you out. Now!” he yelled over the roar of the fire.

“Not
without you,” she choked out as the smoke increased. She held up her hands,
magic pouring out of her. The sparks and little balls of light flitted around
her and formed a bright glow. Shockingly, he could feel the warmth.

Jordan
flexed her hands and he watched her eyes narrow. The magic engulfed the sparks
and edges of the bright orange flames. As the magic ebbed, the flames lowered
slightly and pulled back. The flames would fight and Jordan would groan,
shooting out more power.

“Stop
being stubborn!” It didn’t matter if she stopped the fire now. It was too late
for the house.

“It’s
working, Matt. I can stop this.” She narrowed her gaze and focused on the fire.
He could feel her magic like a static energy on his ghostly arms. She funneled
her strength, and he held his breath.

“Jordan.
Even if you do this, you need to go.”

“Matt,
I can do this. I’m not leaving you. I love you.”

“I love
you too, but—” The sound of Jordan’s scream cut him off.

Matt
watched in horror as a fallen ceiling timber knocked her down and she crumbed
to the ground, unconscious. He ran to her side and watched as her chest rose
and fell.

Thank
God she was breathing.

He
pulled at the hunk of wood and cursed. It was too heavy for him.  Fuck this. He
needed to get Jordan the hell out of there. He took a deep breath, grabbed the timber
with both hands and yanked. Somehow, it lifted off her, and he threw it to the
side. He knelt beside her and tried not to freak out.

He
couldn’t touch her.

She
wasn’t part of the house.

The
flames moved closer without Jordan’s magic, and he cursed.

“Jordan!
Wake up!”

She
didn’t move.

He
screamed in frustration. “Are you fucking kidding me? All of this and I’m going
to lose her because I can’t fucking touch her? She’s my everything, and you’re
going to let her die because I’m a fucking
ghost
? Some fate I got in
life, huh? This fucking sucks. Someone help me!”

Ghostly
tears ran down his pale cheeks, and he reached, unconsciously, to trace her
cheek. Her skin felt warm to his touch.

Wait.
He’d felt her skin?

Matt
put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Fuck. He could touch her. He didn’t
know what had happened. Maybe fate, someone, anyone, had finally listened to
him, but he didn’t care. He took her in his arms and stood. The flames were
approaching, but he could see a path to the front door.

He
took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Once he crossed the threshold, he’d be
gone. No more Matt Cooper. Once the fire ate its way through the house, there
wouldn’t be anything left to tether anyway.

He
kissed Jordan’s forehead and took a step toward the door.

“I
love you, baby.”

He
held her close, keeping the heat away from her, and walked through the charred
and burned door. Wood splintered around them, sparking in the flames as it
licked around him. He stared at the shocked expressions on his brothers’ faces
and grunted. They must have shown up when they’d seen the flames, but Matt
couldn’t focus on them.

He
laid Jordan on the ground beside the porch, traced her brow with his fingers,
and felt himself fading away.

He
heard his brothers’ screams as he tugged and lashed out at the hands trying to
carry him to away to the place he had disappeared to before. Tendrils of panic
tore at him as he fought their control.

Matt
didn’t want to die. He wanted a future with Jordan. He fought, tearing the
hands from his body. It felt like he was underwater, the pressure intense as he
tried to surface. He focused on Jordan’s face…on the future he wanted to have.
With a kick and a twist, he took a gasping breath and looked down at his solid
arms.

Solid.

Fuck.

“Matt!”
Jordan threw herself into his arms, tears running down her face.

“Jordan?”

“Oh,
God. How did you do it? You’re real, baby. Oh, my God. Is it over?”

He
wrapped his arms around her, inhaled her smoky lilac scent, and choked out a
sob.

“I
think they let me go.”

“They?
Matt, we didn’t see anything. We just saw you fighting and fading away.”

“I
don’t know, baby.”

“What
the fuck was that, Matt?” Jackson asked as he stormed over. He pulled Matt out
of Jordan’s hold and held him tightly. “Don’t ever scare us like that again.”

Justin
wrapped an arm around Jordan’s shoulders and kissed her cheek. Matt didn’t feel
jealous. He was too relieved to feel much of anything else. Brayden cursed
under his breath and slapped a soot-covered hand on his back.

“So,
you’re a ghost?”

Matt
gulped. “Uh, I was.”

“And
you never bothered to mention it?” Jackson asked, his gaze stormy.

“I
didn’t want to bother y’all.”

“Fuck
that shit.” Justin scowled. “We’re Coopers. No secrets.”

“Next
time I’ll tell you.”

“There
better not be a next time, Matt,” Jordan warned.

“Okay,
baby, anything you want.”

“Get
you’re filthy hands off me!” Stacey screamed, and Tyler pulled her out from
behind a bush. “My brother will have your badge for this.”

The
sheriff shook his head. “Oh, I don’t think so, hon. You were standing by with matches
and gas cans, and reek of the shit.”

“Language!”

“You
have worse problems then my language, kid.”

“Get
your hands off my sister!” Prescott screamed, and shoved through the crowd that
Matt had just noticed.

Well,
so much for his secret.

“Not
this time, Prescott,” Tyler warned.

“I’m
the mayor! You have to listen to me.”

“Not
when you have soot on your pants.”

Prescott
paled. “I’m…I’m surrounded by fire. What do you expect?”

“You
wouldn’t have it on your pants if you were just coming on to the scene. You’re
an idiot.”

“I demand
you stop these vile lies! I’m the mayor!” Even as he said it, he started
backing up. The crowed didn’t part for him this time.

Good
for them.

“You
know, I think it’s high passed time we change that,” Jackson drawled, a scowl
on face.

“No
one will run against me.”

“Oh,
shut your capped mouth,” Jackson shouted.

“My
teeth are not fake!”

“I
capped them myself, you bastard,” Jackson said, frowning.

The
crowd broke out in laughter, and Matt shook his head. These people needed to
learn to stand up for themselves and not do what Prescott demanded of them. Maybe
tonight would help.

“Prescott,
you’re done!” Matt yelled.

“Never!
I
own
this town!”

“No,
you will now be a resident of the jail cell next to your pyro sister’s,” Tyler
cut in.

Stacey
screamed. “This wouldn’t have happened if the damn love potion would have
worked. He should have been mine! Instead, he turned into a freak!”

Tyler
stuffed the disgraced siblings in the back of his cruiser and slammed the door.
The crowd cheered, and Matt shook his head.

Stacey
had drugged him all those years go. That’s why he was a ghost.

“Oh
my God,” Jordan whispered.

He pulled
her into his arms, but she pulled away. “What baby?”

“It’s
my fault. All if it. Oh, God, Matt.”

He
tilted his head, utterly confused. “What is, baby?”

She
looked up at him, her gaze emotionless. “That night I had made a vanishing potion.
I wanted to stay hidden…to disappear.”

He
grew cold. “Why would you want to do that?”

“Because
I hated the way people treated me. Stacey must have stolen it after I refused
to make her a love potion. Damn, I should have noticed it was missing, but I
just didn’t care when I left. I left so quickly, I didn’t even count up my
potion bottles.”

 “And
she laced my drink,” Matt said, putting it together.

“So
you disappeared, literally. And it’s my fault. Fuck, Matt. I was so worried
about me, I didn’t protect you. What kind of woman does that make me?”

He
gripped her arms, fear crawling up his spine. “Human. It wasn’t your fault. It
was Stacey’s. And Prescott’s for being an ass.”

She
shook her head, her body frozen. “No, I have to go. I did all this. I need to
go.”

“No,
you can’t.”

She
tugged free and ran, the crowed parting for her, sorrow and pity in their
gazes.

“Jordan!”
He started toward her, but Justin held him back.

“Give
her time, bro.”

He
tried to pull away, but Jackson held his other arm. “I need to go.”

“We
know,” Jackson said. “We’ll get her back to you. She just needs time. You know
our Jordan.”

Suddenly
exhausted and overwhelmed be everything that had happened, Matt collapsed, his
knees hitting the dirt. His brothers sat next to him silently. He watched as
the firefighters worked on the old Marlow place.

It
was gone.

Charred
ruins and smoking embers. A memory of a time when he’d been someone else, and,
just like the burning tomb in front of him, his heart felt as though it were fighting
a losing battle.

He
couldn’t lose Jordan.

Not
again.

Chapter 13

“I’m
not going, Justin.” Jordan packed the last of her suitcases and turned away
from the man who refused to leave her alone.

Matt
hadn’t come.

She
felt like a cliché, being one of those women who wanted the man to chase after
her. That just made her want to leave even more. She didn’t like the person she
was becoming. She’d find a job outside of Holiday and leave her mistakes here.

“You
have to come. We’re doing a huge Cooper dinner at Jackson’s, and you’ll be
missed.”

“I
doubt that.”

“Okay,
stop with this poor-me crap.”

Surprised,
she turned. “Excuse me?”

“You
heard me. Yeah, I get it. Life sucks. But you know what? At least you’re alive
to know it sucks.”

“I
hurt him, Justin.”

“No,
Stacey did. Using something she
stole
. That doesn’t make it your fault.
That makes Stacey a sociopathic bitch.”

“As
much as I like hearing you say that, I still can’t.”

“You
have to. Matt’s hurting, Jor.”

“And
it’s my fault.”

“You
can fix it by coming home. We’ll take care of you. You’re family.”

She
shook her head as her heart hurt. “You guys have always been amazing, but what
happens when I go back into town? Things can’t change that quickly.”

“You’d
be surprised. Now that Prescott and Stacey are facing hard time, the town feels
lighter. They knew you were in there, Jor. They tried to kill you. As for the town,
I think it was mostly the two of them scaring people into submission. Their
family had so much money invested in every part of the town that people were
afraid to go against them. But things are changing, Jordan.”

“Justin,
just let me go.”

“Nope.
I can’t. You’re coming to dinner, even if I have to drag you.”

She
narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t.”