Page 18

A few minutes later, I cross the street from the campus to fraternity row. The street is near-empty, even though music pulses out of one of the buildings. I walk past Kappa Omega, around the corner, and then run down the street behind their building. I have to cut through a Honey-O gas station, past one lone car fueling up, and walk between dumpsters to the back of the Kappa Omega parking lot .

“Took you long enough,” Luke says, emerging from the shadows. My heart speeds. He’s as tall and imposing as ever. His hands dangle loosely by his waist, making his posture look deceptively relaxed. But now I know he carries a knife he can reach in a second .

“Good thing I don’t really want to rush,” he adds. He seems oblivious to my reaction, but the way he watches me with those eerie green eyes makes me question just how much he misses. “Those guys are such a bunch of assholes .”

On the tip of my tongue: you should be the expert. But I don’t say it; I don’t even know why quick, insulting patter always comes to the tip of my tongue with this big, rough man who intimidates me .

“Let’s get in that house,” I say. “Some of us have homework to do .”

“Yeah?” He leads the way between parked cars, turning slightly sideways to fit his broad-shouldered body, our feet crunching over the gravel. “You don’t seem like the kind of girl who’s doing homework on a Saturday night .”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m not the kind of girl to do homework, I’m not college material… I get it. You don’t like smart girls .”

He half-turns quickly. “Is that what you take from that, really ?”

“ Absolutely .”

“Wrong. As usual. For a self-styled smart girl .”

We reach the edge of the parking lot, and before I can tell him what I think of that, he puts a finger to his lips and shushes me. I roll my eyes, but don’t answer aloud .

He makes a quick, impatient hand gesture with his fist, then gestures to the house. When I don’t get it, his face tightens with exasperation. Well, you’re annoying me too, buddy .

He gives up and sprints for the back door, and I run after his long, lean frame .

I thought maybe he would have left the door unlocked behind him, but apparently this isn’t that kind of B I’m pretty sure I can read Luke better than that. He’s a cocky jackass, not a murderer. I already called Ellis and asked if she’d heard of him, and he’s really a Hunter. Ryker and Levi met him once on a case. Still, the thought won’t stop running through my brain: you know there are girls being murdered so you walk off into the unknown with a strange and undeniably dangerous man. Not your best work, Landon .

When Luke turns, he sighs with genuine relief to be past all the people we might have run into. In the dim light, he must see something in my face, reflecting the horrible thoughts I can’t quite shake .

“It’s all right,” he whispers quickly. “You’re safe with me. You find the geist, and I’ll get rid of it .”

Given what I know of poltergeists, that’s a pretty confident declaration. But sure. At least he isn’t going to murder me himself. What someone says and who they are in the darkness…well, you don’t need to get very deep into the psychic business without becoming aware of how different those can be .

“Great,” I say. “Find the geist. Find the geist. Shouldn’t the geist find me ?”

Luke checks again that the attic door behind us, and then reaches overhead, pulling on a chain to snap on the light. “Sure, I hope so .”

We wait, in the deep silence at the top of the house, in the gray light .

Luke drums his fingertips against his bicep and sways from side to side, soundlessly. It’s as if all his energy can’t be contained, not for a minute .

And the poltergeist doesn’t show up .

Slowly, I relax, as the drudgery of waiting overwhelms my nerves. Luke’s tall, powerful body looms over me, but it’s not intimidating when he’s so fidgety. He doesn’t seem like he’s frightened. In fact, he seems far more at ease than any sane person should be while they wait for the murderous dead. Where does his restlessness come from ?

I crook my finger at him. He cocks his head to one side, perplexed at being summoned, but leans down toward me anyway. His broad shoulder brushes mine as he lowers his ear to an inch away from my lips, and with the movement, I breathe in the scent of leather and spicy aftershave. The twin scents are so intoxicating that for a second, I forget what I was going to ask .

Thank god I remember. I whisper, “Have you thought about asking the brothers, hey, would you like to not be haunted anymore? I could help you with that .”

“No one will admit the house is haunted. I mean, it’s a joke, a big joke they use… hey girl, we better sleep over at your place because mine is haunted.” When he mimics their pick-up line, he drops his voice, his eyelashes lowering seductively. I know it’s just an imitation, but I can’t help the sudden rush of attraction to him, the flush that blooms in my cheeks in response. What is wrong with me ?

He straightens. He has the kind of face that’s so handsome it hurts, those eyes above sharply-planed cheekbones, a firm jaw, little dimples in his cheeks. Men aren’t supposed to be this gorgeous, not outside of Hollywood .

“No one really believes it,” he finishes, in his normal deep voice. “Or at least, that’s what they say. I can’t get anyone to talk to me about it openly. Also? All the brothers act like assholes when you’re rushing. It’s hard to get them to open up about the scary things under their beds .”

“So you wouldn’t rush a frat voluntarily then ?”

“No,” he says shortly .

“You’re seeing the worst of it,” I say. “I mean, I’m sure there’s a reason people rush. I’m sure Greek life is really fun — ”

“Are you going to be a sorority girl?” he asks. “Run a little further from your calling , then ?”

“I’m not running .”

His eyebrows arch .

“I’m choosing something different,” I tell him. “Something better. Nora’s life doesn’t seem to have worked out to be so fun, right ?”

“Life’s not meant to be fun, girly .”

Condescending prick .

“Have you ever been to the Far?” It’s a question meant to put him in his place, but as soon as the hot words have passed my lips, my stomach drops. I’ve just revealed too much. I’m vulnerable now .

The real reason I don’t want this life is because I’ve been in the space between Heaven and Hell, and I know I’m not a shoo-in for the good place. I’m not a very nice person. Ellis has been cagey when I ask questions, telling me it doesn’t matter; my past now feels like a fever dream, and that’s how she wants it to stay, for my sake. It’s Levi who told me, with kind eyes and brutal honesty, that I dragged people to Hell. Did every runaway from Hell deserve eternal damnation? Does anyone ?

The last thing I need is a job that turns me back into that girl with a shadowed heart and bloody hands .

He looks at me blankly and then asks, “Why don’t you summon the geist ?”

Right. Because I’ve been into the Far, it must not be important .

I would wonder why he was such an ass, but the truth is, I’ve been pretty bitchy to him right from the beginning too. I wish we could go back and start over. Maybe we could talk to each other like two normal people. But we’d have to start with a better introduction. He set the tone by interrupting me in the coffee shop, like a weirdo .

“I don’t know how to summon a poltergeist except for when they respond to the binding spell,” I say, “and we can’t do a binding spell yet .”

“You don’t know how to summon ?”

“I don’t usually want ghosts breathing down my neck. I’ve only called the one.” With Nora’s help, but that’s neither here nor there .

He throws his hands up in the air. “What use are you ?”

“Maybe you should have looked further into my resume before you hired me.” I stop, looking skyward, as if I’m remembering. “ Oh , wait .”

Luke’s powerful shoulders hunch as he sticks his hand in his pockets. The motion exposes his corded forearms; the dress shirt he wears strains over his pecs and biceps, and he’s folded the sleeves up twice, revealing the edge of a dark tattoo. “You can’t bind a poltergeist without having an object of theirs. We don’t know who the poltergeist is . So …”

“I’ve got ninety-nine problems and Rumplestiltzkin is one,” I say. He looks at me like he doesn’t think I’m funny. Maybe he doesn’t get it. “So why don’t you summon the poltergeist, since it’s so easy ?”

“I can’t talk to it. I can feel it when it interacts with the physical world, get hit if it throws a piano at me, sure.” He gestures at a baby grand piled with boxes in one corner of the room. “But I can’t hear it .”

I put my hands on top of my head and take a long breath in. This is not going well, but we’re in the frat house and we’re probably never going to be able to repeat this feat so readily. We need to make the most of it .

“I’m going to call Nora,” I say. But when I pull my cell phone out, there’s a text from Jax :

You ok ?

I quickly text back that I’m fine, not to worry. Luke glances over my shoulder and then sighs impatiently .

“Shut it,” I tell him, before remembering my desire to start over with him, nicely .

“Fine,” he says. “You won’t see me taking texts from my girlfriend in the middle of a demonic possession. But whatever .”

“You have a girlfriend ?”

Silence again. I roll my eyes and call Nora .

She doesn’t answer, so I hang up when my call goes to voicemail and dial her again. This time, she picks up .

“I knew it was you when the caller couldn’t take a hint,” she says. “What’s wrong ?”

“Do you know how to summon a poltergeist ?”

“Do you know that it’s 2 am? Getting rid of a poltergeist, that’s worth calling at 2 am. Finding one? Not worth calling .”

“I’m in an attic surrounded by hostile frat boys,” I tell her. “I have one chance to get this poltergeist’s story so we can send it off to the Far. It’s kind of an emergency .”

“Okay, fine.” In the background, I can hear the sound of her feet, the click of a light, thumbing through books. I imagine her at the bookcase when she keeps her notebook of spells, a lot of romance novels, and one neglected Betty Crocker cookbook. “Remember I’m no expert on this. I don’t usually go looking for poltergeists, but I’ll give you what I’ve got .”

“That’s fine. I appreciate it .”

“You’d better. Tell Luke he owes me .”

Luke says, “Tell Nora I know she does everything out of the kindness of her heart .”

That brings a small, rueful quirk to my lips. Luke notices and opens his mouth to say something, then stops .

Nora rattles off a short spell with ingredients I don’t have on me. “Darn,” I respond. “I left my herbs at home .”

“You’d make a terrible Girl Scout .”

“I make a terrible medium,” I say. “That’s what Luke tells me, anyway .”

“Oh, he’s useless. He can’t talk .”

Luke must be able to hear us, and his lips twist .

“You can try without the dressing. Sometimes I think the herbal stuff is just to get in the right headspace .”

“Except for salt .”

“Salt is life,” she agrees, since salt keeps demons confined. “Good night, Ash. Call me if you’re genuinely besieged by frat boys. Barring life-threatening emergency, call me in the morning. After ten .”

“ Gotcha .”

She hangs up. When I put my cell in my pocket, Luke says, “How well do you know Nora ?”

“Too well,” I quip .

He starts to say something, then shrugs. “We all know different sides of people, I guess. Summon on .”

I try to remember the words Nora gave me. “Spirit, spirit, lost in night. Let me guide you towards the light. Tell me why you’re grounded here. I offer you a listening ear .”

Luke stiffens, his hand going automatically to the small of his back and the weapon there. Long beats pass. No poltergeist emerges .

“Maybe,” he suggests, “You offended the spirit world with your lacking rhyme schemes .”

A sudden hard gust of wind rattles the roof, and we both jump. Then, deep silence reigns .

Luke starts to poke around the attic. A minute later, he drags the sheet off a couple of big boxes, then tests their stability with his hand. He steps back and half-bows, sweeping his hand towards one. “If you’d like to take a seat while we wait .”

Such a gentleman . I sit down on the box opposite him, breathing in the scent of must and old pages even through the cardboard .

We wait, so long that I begin to doze off sitting-up, my head bobbing forward before I catch myself. I swallow a mouthful of thick saliva. Oh, good lord. I might not like Luke, but he’s too handsome to drool in front of .

“Sorry to keep you up so late,” he says. “I know you have riveting homework you could be doing instead .”

“Sorry,” I say .

“No, I’m impressed. You’re cool as a cuke. I didn’t think that from all the blushing and wide-eyed stares, but here you are, falling asleep in the attic of a haunted house .”

“Thanks,” I say drily .

He half- shrugs .

“So you think the brothers have noticed you’re missing ?”

“I’m sure. And it sucks. If we aren’t all together, it doesn’t count towards our rushing requirements. Somebody’s going to be pissed .”

“But you think it’s all stupid .”

He shrugs .

There’s a pause, but now that he’s woken me up, I’m feeling chatty. We need to do something to pass the time hoping this poltergeist will show up, after all. Mischievously, I ask, “So what do you think will happen? You think you’ll get a paddling ?”

“That is not how fraternities work these days.” His forehead crinkles at the thought, no matter what he says. “But I’m not excited about letting people down, I guess. Even if it’s over something stupid .”

“And even if they’re all assholes ?”

“Well. Maybe it’s situational .”

I make a meaningfully non-committal murmur in response .

“Why yes. I would admit that I am also, situationally, an asshole. So I try to give other people some degree of benefit of the doubt.” He looks at me meaningfully .

“Yeah, yeah.” Maybe he thinks the same way I do about the way we talk to each other. I’m about to suggest we start over .

Then a gust of wind hits the house again. It rattles the roof, raising a noise so loud that I can barely hear myself think .

Somehow, the wind enters the attic. It’s loud, whistling almost, raising clouds of gray dust off every surface. I breathe in the old scent of dust, and the dryness of it coats the back of my throat, and I choke. I slap my hand over my mouth and nose as I whirl, looking for some danger to fight .

My eyes blur with water from the choking dust whirling, thick and heavy, around us. Luke is on his feet, the knife in one hand, his sleeve pressed up over his mouth and nose. When his eyes meet mine, his eyebrows rise quizzically. I nod to tell him I’m okay, more or less .

The wind dies as suddenly as it began. The dust settles, coating my hands, my sleeves, my dark jeans. I try to hold back the couch wracking my chest and gag on it .

“Go away,” the voice comes from the rafters. “You don’t belong here .”

“I’m here to help,” I say, glancing at Luke, whose face changes. He looks around, clearly irritated that he can’t hear. “What’s kept you here ?”

“I want re-venge.” He draws out the second syllable of the word. His tone is high, almost girlish. Maybe the poltergeist was young when he was killed. Maybe there could be dark dealings in the frat’s history .

“Revenge on who? How can I help you?” I ask .

There’s a long silence. Luke’s eyes meet mine, and he makes a wind-up gesture. Keep it talking .

“I’m a medium. It’s my job to talk to ghosts, to help them.” I say it and then realize it’s the wrong thing to say. According to Ellis, many ghosts refuse to accept their deaths. Ghosts who hurt people? They’re the ghosts with some serious baggage, often including a backpack full of denial .

“Why do you want to help me? Nobody cares about me .”

“I want to make sure no one gets hurt,” I say .

“No more girls getting killed? You want to protect the girls?” The voice is slurred, too, I hear it now; girlssh. Protect the girlsssh .

“Yes,” I say. “How can I do that ? How ?”

“You can’t,” the poltergeist says .

And then the lights go out .