26

Chills swept across my skin. I hadn’t expected him to say something that freaking intense. “What does that mean?”

“It means that I need to get a message to them before it’s too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“Come on,” he said instead of answering, his jaw clenched with impatience. “We’re almost there.”

Inhaling the greasy scent of nearby fried food, I pushed away from the wall and followed Sam. I realized he’d said them instead of her, but he was gliding at a fast clip, and it was a struggle to keep up with him with all the people crowding the sidewalk.

Another block, and then Sam stopped outside an ice cream parlor, a super cute one from what I could tell from peering in through the large window. Black-and-white-checkered floors. Red booths and stools, and a line that nearly reached the door.

I wasn’t much of an ice cream fan, but when the door swung open and I smelled hot fudge and yummy waffle cones, I was suddenly craving a big old bowl of chocolate drowned in syrup.

“She’s here.” Sam walked right through the wall, leaving me outside.

Trying to shake the feeling of unease, I used the door like a normal living person and stepped into the store, surrounded by the scent of hot fudge and vanilla. I pushed my sunglasses up and looked around. There were booths lining the walls and framed pictures hanging everywhere. I couldn’t make out the details, but they seemed like pop art versions of some of the monuments in the city.

I stayed close to the door since the place was so busy. My heart started thumping heavily. There were so many people, some waiting in line, others hanging around the booths, digging into their ice cream, and as I scanned the faces, there were a few I wasn’t quite sure were alive. The lights of the shop made it hard to focus for any length of time.

For a few seconds, I lost track of Sam as I fiddled with the cord connected to my earbuds, but then he reappeared beside me, standing in front of the door.

“Is she here?” I asked.

“She’s right there.” Sam pointed to the area left of the ice cream bar. “In that booth.”

Following where he pointed, I saw a...girl with chin-length brown hair seated facing the entrance. Something about her was familiar. I inched closer, blinking rapidly like that would somehow soften the glare of the bright fluorescent lights. I took another step, and her blurred features came into some level of clarity. I recognized her pretty face and heavy bangs.

“Holy crap,” I whispered. “That’s Stacey. I know her—well, I’ve met her.” Understanding flooded me. “That’s what you meant when you said you didn’t follow me. You were following her.”

Sam was what I’d seen when Stacey came to the apartment with Roth and Layla. He was that strange shadow I’d seen behind her, and that meant—

“You know Zayne?” I asked.

“Yes, but that doesn’t matter. You need to talk to her.”

“Doesn’t matter? It totally matters.” A father and his daughter passed us, getting in line as I continued to pretend I was on my phone. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“Because I didn’t know who you were.” He was still staring at Stacey. “Or why you were in his apartment. When I realized you could see me, I didn’t know if I could trust you—not until I knew you’d help me.”

I stared at him, thunderstruck. His sudden appearance was no coincidence. He knew Zayne, and he was a friend of Stacey’s. He was—

Suddenly I remembered what Zayne had said about Stacey. That she had lost someone, just like he had. They’d bonded over it, and I now knew without a doubt that this spirit—Sam—was who she’d lost. I had no idea what had happened to him, but based on the minimal information he’d shared, I had a feeling it wasn’t a natural death.

Oh, man, all of this had bad life choice written all over it. If he’d told me who he was—who he was to Stacey and that he’d known Zayne, I would’ve demanded to know exactly what the message was before agreeing to help. I would’ve sure as Hell contacted Zayne first, not just to tell him that Sam’s spirit was hanging around but also to find out what had happened to Sam.

Come to think of it, why hadn’t Sam asked why I was living with Zayne? He hadn’t asked a single question about who I was or how I was involved.

“Dude...” I said.

“It’s okay.” Sam’s gaze swung back to mine. “Really. Let’s go up to her.”

“You need to tell me what’s going on.”

Sam turned to me. “This can’t wait. You don’t understand. I’m running out of time.”

I stared him down. “You’re not at all curious about who I am?” I whispered. “What I am?”

“I figured since you’re with Zayne, you’re good people.” His gaze bounced to where Stacey sat. “I know what he is.”

“But you said the reason you didn’t tell me who she was was because you didn’t know me. You didn’t trust me—”

“I lied. Okay?” He threw up his arms, one of them going through the chest of a man who walked past us. The man stopped, frowning, and then walked out, shaking his head. “I know what you are. The moment I realized you could see me, I knew what you are, and I knew if you were with Zayne, it had to mean something, but I didn’t know if you were...if you were one of the good ones.”

“What?” I gaped at him. “Okay. You need to tell me everything, and you need to make time—”

“Trinity?”

My head jerked up at the sound of Stacey’s voice. She was staring in my direction, starting to rise. Crap.

“Look.” Sam grabbed for my arm, but his hand went through it. “She’s seen you.”

Every instinct was telling me this was going to end badly, but it was too late to duck and run. Mentally cursing myself and Sam up and down the street, I shuffled over to the booth. As I drew closer, I saw Stacey’s fingers flying over the screen of her phone. I drew in a shallow breath as I glanced over the table—

Was that a...pack of Twizzlers next to the ice cream in front of Stacey?

It was.

Oh my God, who ate Twizzlers with ice cream? That was the grossest thing ever.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.” A thick fringe of bangs fell over her forehead as she placed her phone down and looked around the parlor.

“Same,” I murmured, and Stacey’s brows disappeared under her bangs.

Exhaling loudly, I glanced at Sam, who was sitting next to Stacey. “This is going to sound really random, but—”

“I’m used to random. Are...are you okay? You look a little pale...” She trailed off, frowning as she looked at where Sam sat.

Their faces were inches apart, his thigh pressing against hers, but she couldn’t see him and that...that killed Sam. As ticked off as I was at the spirit, I could see raw pain as he stared at her.

“She felt me, didn’t she?” The pinch eased from Sam’s features. “Wow. She felt me.”

I couldn’t answer him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Stacey’s frown smoothed out as she rubbed her hands over her arms. “Just... I don’t know. I’m sorry? You were saying something about this being random?”

“It’s okay.” I forced an easy smile I hoped didn’t come off as weird as it felt. I started to speak...and felt warmth flare in my chest.

Zayne.

He was nearby. Dammit. If I felt him, then he was feeling me and probably wondering what in the world I was doing out in the city. Despite the way things were between us right now, I so planned on telling him about this development. I just hoped he didn’t freak out.

“Trinity?” Stacey’s brows lifted when I focused on her.

I took a deep breath. “I have something to tell you. It’s going to sound really out there, and you’re probably not going to believe me.”

A half smile appeared. “Okay.”

“I...” This was always the most awkward part. “I see...spirits.”

Stacey’s mouth opened, but she said nothing, which caused Sam to grin. “That’s her she-doesn’t-know-how-to-respond face. I know that face pretty well.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” I muttered, and Stacey’s nose wrinkled. “I know this sounds completely bizarre, but there’s someone here who wants to talk to you. He’s apparently been hanging around, trying to get your attention.”

She looked at me and then around like she was waiting for someone to intervene, which was a common reaction and also meant it was time to bite the bullet.

“It’s...it’s Sam,” I told her. “And he wants to talk to you.”

Blood drained so rapidly from her face I was afraid she might faint. All she did was stare at me.

“You...you know a Sam, right?” I asked, startled when I felt the pulse in my chest intensify.

“Yeah. I knew a Sam. Did Zayne tell you about him?”

“No, he didn’t.” I glanced at the spirit. “He’s actually sitting right next to you.”

Her head swung to her left so quickly I wondered if she pulled a muscle.

“I’m right here,” Sam said, and I repeated what he said.

Stacey didn’t respond. She stared at where Sam sat for so long I started to really worry she’d passed out sitting up with her eyes open.

Was that even possible?

Adding it to my list of things to google later.

Stacey’s cheeks flushed a mottled red, and my stomach sank. Her gaze lifted to me. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“Tell her it’s not a joke,” Sam said needlessly.

“It’s not a joke. I know it may seem like that, but Sam is here. He’s actually been around for a while,” I repeated. “And he wants me to tell you something. It seems to be really important—”

“Good God.” Her lower jaw moved as she leaned against the table, toward me. “What is wrong with you that you would do something like this? Is it because of Zayne?”

“What?” I jerked. ‘This has nothing to do with him—”

“Because we had a thing once? And you’re mad about it?”

“Oh my God, no. Seriously. Nothing is wrong with me. I swear. You can ask Zayne. Or even Layla. They know I can do this. I’m not making this up.” Feeling the heat in my face increase, I turned to Sam. “I think it’s time for you to tell me your message.”

“I know there’s a lot of weird stuff out there in the world that I don’t know a lot about, but I’m not stupid. You need to leave right now,” Stacey said, her voice low. “Like right now.”

Sam cursed. “Tell her that she can’t go back to that school.”

Confusion thundered through me. “What kind of message is that?”

“Are you pretending to talk to him?” Her voice rose as she placed her hands on the table. I didn’t need to look around to know people were probably starting to stare. “Are you freaking serious right now?”

“Yes.” My attention shifted to her. “Sam is here, and I have no idea why he says you can’t go back to school, but that’s what he’s saying.”

Stacey laughed, made it sound coarse and twisted. “Do you really think I’m going to believe you? If it was, why has no one mentioned your little talent?”

“Because it’s not really any of your business,” I snapped.

“Excuse me?” Her eyes widened.

“Look, I’m not making this up. He—” I sucked in a sharp breath as the warmth in my chest flared intensely.

Oh, no.

Oh, no, no.

No way.

“Zayne!” Stacey called out, shooting to her feet. “You need to come get your girl.”

My stomach dropped to my toes. I took a breath, but it got stuck in the rising disbelief and confusion.

Sam was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him over the pounding of my heart. Stacey was staring behind me, her brown eyes wide, and she was saying something, too, but none of her words were making sense.

My gaze shifted to the table—the table that wasn’t meant for only one person—and I thought about what Sam had said, referring to them instead of her. My breath felt funny in my chest as things began to click into place. Zayne hadn’t told me what he was doing today. Just that he had stuff to do.

Just like he’d had stuff to do the last time he’d made plans and, other than meeting with the apartment manager, he hadn’t told me what they were.

Slowly, I turned around.

In the mess of blurred faces and bodies, I saw him in the light blue shirt he’d left the apartment in, parting the crowd like some kind of hot Moses.

I took a step back, looking around this cute little ice cream shop, and I realized I knew this place. This was the ice cream parlor his father used to take him to, a tradition Zayne had kept with Layla as he grew older. This place was important to Zayne.

And he’d never brought me here.

This place was important to him, and yet he’d never shared it with me. But he’d gotten mad because I’d said a kiss meant more? A kiss could be anything or nothing, but sharing a piece of your past with someone meant a whole lot.

Even though a rational part of my mind recognized he didn’t have to take me anywhere nor did he have to tell me squat, the slicing pain in my chest felt all too real. I felt...betrayed. A burn built in the back of my throat and crawled up, stinging my eyes.

The urge to cut and run hit me hard and my muscles tensed to do just that. I wanted space—I needed distance to get control of what I was feeling as I watched Zayne’s steps slow. The look of surprise was hard to miss, and it was as if he’d felt me and couldn’t believe I was here.

I was intruding.

Heat swept across my cheeks as my stomach churned. Oh, man, what exactly was I intruding on? Zayne had claimed he and Stacey were just friends, and friends met up for ice cream all the time, but friends didn’t hide that.

My head was shorting out like there was a loose wire somewhere between my synapses. Under a coarse coating of embarrassment was...disappointment.

Not jealousy.

Not envy.

Disappointment.

Zayne inhaled, and something flickered over his face. “What are you doing here?”

My emotions were too all over the place to pick up anything from the bond, but the way he’d spoken the words told me everything I needed to know. He wasn’t happy to see me here.

“She just showed up, and I thought she was with you, but she said—” Her voice, thick and coarse, drew my gaze. “She said Sam is here.”

Her words jolted me out of the spiral of emotion.

“Sam?” Zayne shifted so he was in my line of vision. “What’s going on, Trinity?”

“I am here,” the spirit in question spoke up from where he still sat beside Stacey. “Tell them I’m here.”

My heart was thrumming and my muscles were still tensed to run, but I held myself still. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, I probably should’ve demanded more answers from Sam before I’d agreed to help, but I was just doing what I was meant to do. It wasn’t my fault that it had led me to Zayne’s little rendezvous.

“Trinity,” Sam pleaded, and I looked at him. The golden shimmer around him was fading. “I don’t have much more time. I can feel it. I’m being pulled back.”

Get it together.

This is your duty.

I shoved everything I was feeling aside. My face was still burning, as were my throat and eyes, but I ignored all of that. I had a job. I had a duty. I got it together.

“Sam is here.” I hated how hoarse my voice sounded. “I saw him at the apartment once before,” I continued, not looking at Zayne or Stacey. “But he disappeared before he could tell me who he was. He followed Stacey when she came with Roth and Layla, but I didn’t realize he was with her then.”

“I did.” Sam nodded.

“He just confirmed that,” I said.

Stacey looked like she was close to fainting or having a complete breakdown as she stared up at us. “Zayne...?”

“Is it true?” Zayne asked, touching my arm. “Is Sam really here?”

Stunned he’d question me, I jerked my arm away as a new wave of hurt pulsed through me. “Why would I lie about that, Zayne?”

He blinked. “You wouldn’t.”

“No shit,” I spat, hurt giving way to anger. I wanted to pick up Stacey’s ice cream and toss it in his face. Instead, I gestured at the booth. “Sit down.”

Zayne hesitated like he wasn’t going to listen, and I turned to him, widening my eyes. His lips thinned, but he dropped into the seat and slid across the booth, leaving space open. Sitting next to him was the last thing I wanted, but we were already drawing enough attention to last a lifetime and Sam was running out of time.

Tugging the earbuds out of my ears, I shoved them into my pocket and then I sat, back stiff. “I had no idea until we got here that Sam was bringing me to Stacey. He conveniently left that out.”

Sam had the decency to look sheepish.

“And as Zayne can confirm,” I said to Stacey, “I didn’t know who Sam was. No one told me about him. If anyone had, I might’ve realized right off who he was.”

She stared at me. “This is real?” Her wide eyes darted to Zayne. “She can see him?”

“She can see ghosts and spirits.” Zayne dropped his arm on the table, next to the pack of the Twizzlers. “If she says Sam is here, he’s here.”

“I can’t...” She looked at where Sam was sitting, shaking her head. “Tell me what he looks like.”

I did just that, and Stacey pressed her palm to her mouth. “But you could’ve seen a picture of him online,” she reasoned. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Zayne insisted quietly, saving me from having to ask why in the Hell I would even be looking up a picture of Sam.

Stacey said something, but it was too muffled for me to understand. She lowered her hand, fingers curling into a tight ball over her heart. “Sam?”

“I’m here,” the spirit said, reaching for her but stopping short. “I’ve been here. Always.”

I repeated what he said, and Stacey’s face crumpled. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just—I’m sorry. Tell him I’m—”

“He can hear you,” I said.

“He can hear me? Okay. I guess that makes sense.” Tears tracked down her cheeks as she looked at me and then Sam. “I miss you,” she whispered, lifting her hand from her chest to her chin.

“I miss you, too,” Sam said, and I repeated it.

“Oh God.” Her slim shoulders shook. “I’m just so sorry. I...”

Zayne made a sound of distress, reaching across the table. He placed his much larger hand over hers. “It’s okay,” he told her. “It’s okay.”

But it really wasn’t.

Normally I’d be more considerate of the emotions these types of situations caused, but I had zero craps to give at the moment and we didn’t have a lot of time.

“He has something he needs to tell you—”

“Tell both of them,” Sam corrected, and my eyes narrowed on the spirit. “I knew they were meeting today.”

A spirit had known and I hadn’t.

“They used to come here once a week after...well, after everything,” he added.

Nice.

That was just freaking great.

Hands opening and closing, I kept my eyes on Sam. “He has a message for both of you. Something to do with a school?”

Sam nodded and then twisted toward Stacey. “She can’t go back to that school. Something is happening there. It’s not safe.”

“You’re going to need to give me more detail, Sam. I need to know why it’s not safe.”

“He’s saying the school isn’t safe?” Zayne questioned.

“There’s a lot of...souls there. Too many. It’s like they’re gathering for something,” Sam explained, his form flickering more rapidly now. “I’ve been checking on her since...well, since I could, and it hasn’t always been like that.”

“What do you mean souls are gathering there?” I asked, and Zayne shifted forward.

“Souls. Dead people who haven’t crossed over—”

“Ghosts?” I suggested, and when he nodded, I glanced at Stacey, who was staring at Sam but not seeing him. “There are a lot of ghosts there? How many?”

Stacey’s eyes widened even further. “At school?”

The spirit nodded. “Over a hundred. I tried counting one day, but they disappear and they’re confused. Sort of running around all hectic-like. It’s like they’re stuck.”

“The ghosts are stuck at the school,” I repeated. “Over a hundred.”

“How can that happen?” Zayne asked.

“Spirits and ghosts can be summoned to a place,” I explained.

“Like through a Ouija board?” Stacey let out a nervous, wet-sounding laugh.

“Yeah, actually those things can work under the right circumstances,” I said. “But you almost never get who you think you’re communicating with. Not unless you know how to...channel a certain spirit, and even I can’t do that.”

Stacey stared at me. “They sell them in toy stores.”

Beside her, Sam laughed. “God, I missed that look on her face.” A smile appeared. “Did you know the Ouija board marketer fell to his death while supervising the build of a Ouija board factory?”

I frowned at him.

He shrugged. “Kind of freaky if you think about it.”

“How can ghosts be stuck?” Zayne asked.

“I don’t know. I’m sure there are spells that could do it, but I don’t know why you’d want to. A trapped ghost or even a spirt could become a wraith. Could take months or years, but being stuck would corrupt them,” I said, horrified by the possibility of something like that occurring. “How could this happen at a school?”

“It’s a Hellmouth,” Stacey murmured. “Layla and I weren’t joking when we said that.”

I ignored her. “Are the ghosts putting people in danger?”

“Someone fell down the steps a week ago. They were pushed by one of the ghosts,” Sam said.

When I repeated that, Stacey sat back against the booth. “A guy did fall down the steps. Last Tuesday. I don’t know the details, but I heard that it happened.”

“I’ve heard whispers,” Sam continued, and then he blinked out and returned in a more transparent form. “And yes, I’m being literal. I hear whispers when I’m here—about it not being much longer and that something is coming. I’ve tried to find the source but when I saw them, I knew I couldn’t get any closer. I can’t keep going back there. I want to, I want to keep her safe, but I’m... I’m afraid if I keep going back, they’ll see me and they’ll know I’m not like the others.”

A chill swept down my spine.

“What is he saying?” Zayne asked, pulling his hand away from Stacey’s. “Trin?”

“Who are they?” I swallowed. “Do you know who is whispering?”

Sam’s hazy form twisted toward me. “Shadow People.”