Coldhearted (9781311888433) (27 page)

Edie stood up too, a bit shaky from the head
wound. “You can do that?”

Russell/Tristan grasped her arms and pulled
her against his chest. “I can. Now close your eyes.”

She hesitated but eventually did.

“
Now open them.”

Again, she hesitated, afraid of what she was
going to see, but then she did, and discovered that they were no
longer inside the restaurant. They were inside the bedroom that
she’d seen before in her dream.

“
You want more than a kiss,”
she accused.

“
I want a lot of things,”
Russell/Tristan said. “But for now, I’ll settle for your lips on
mine.”

Edie knew that he wouldn’t keep his word, but
she licked her lips and prepared herself anyway.

“
Kiss like you mean it,
Edie,” he warned in a husky voice.

She imagined that she was looking up at
Mason, at his sweet face and dimples, and went for it, kissing
Tristan like a wild woman. Her tongue danced with his, but it was a
dance of deception, for she was playing a part, and thought that
she was doing it rather well.

Russell/Tristan was pressing her to him, and
she could feel every outline of Russell’s manly body. What was
strange was when they’d first started, he’d been cold—cold as she
knew that Tristan always was—but now…well, now he was hot—hotter
than the sun.

She pulled away and gasped. They were no
longer inside a bedroom. They were inside the restaurant. Everyone
else was seated, but no one was staring. Well, they weren’t staring
at Edie. They were frozen, paralyzed. Their eyes were glued to a
spot in space, unaware of time. She whirled and found Mason,
sitting at their booth. His hand was extended across the table,
waiting to meet hers.

“
Edie?” a man’s deep voice
called out.

She turned back and found Russell, looking
dazed, again. He licked his lips. “We were kissing. Why were we
kissing?” He looked around the restaurant. “And why is everyone…I
don’t know…stuck in time or something?”

Edie reached up and felt the back of her
head. The knot was gone. Either Tristan could manipulate time or
her mind. She voted for the latter. He was making her think
everyone was paralyzed. Then again, Russell was witnessing it too.
Of course Tristan could possess him completely.

She felt something in her other hand and
looked down. It was Russell’s wallet. She didn’t know how it’d made
its way to her when Russell had tossed it on the floor,
earlier.

“
Here, you left this,” she
said to Russell.

When their hands made contact, she felt a
shock like static electricity, and then the room buzzed to life,
almost deafening her from the sudden rush. Her ears popped next and
with the ability to acutely hear once again, the noise was almost
too much.

“
Edie?” The voice was male,
but less deep.

She turned to see Mason, looking confused, as
he withdrew his hand from atop the table.

“
Mr. B came back to find his
wallet,” she said, which was true. She turned back toward Russell
and forced a smile. “See you in school tomorrow.”

Russell tucked the wallet into the back
pocket of his jeans. “Uh, Edie, can we talk outside?”

“
No, she can’t,” Mason said,
trying to protect her reputation.

Edie held up her hand. “It’s okay. Two
minutes.”

Mason opened his mouth to protest, but Edie
was already leading Russell outside.

When they were secluded, without being
overheard, she said to Russell, “You’re wrong. We weren’t kissing.
And obviously those people weren’t stuck in time. I think that
you’re tired. You need to get some sleep.”

Russell briefly closed and rubbed his eyes.
“I’ll admit, I need sleep, and everyone being stuck in time is like
out of some sci-fi movie, but Edie I know we kissed.” He licked his
lips. “I can taste your lip balm.”

Edie forced a laugh. “Do you really think we
kissed in front of everyone, in front of Mason, my boyfriend? Come
on, now,” she said, trying to influence his mind.

He rubbed at his forehead now. “But it seemed
so real.”

“
Well, it wasn’t. So…I’d
better get back. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Russell didn’t move. He was looking at her,
at her lips. “Maybe we did. Maybe we didn’t. But right now, as
wrong as it is, I want to kiss you.”

“
That’s not you talking,”
she said, nervous, her heart pounding.

“
It is me, Edie,” he said,
staring into her eyes. “I’m not your teacher right now. I’m a man
who craves the touch and taste of a woman.”

Stunned by his admission, she said in a meek
voice, “I’m seventeen,” reminding him of laws and morals.

He advanced and cupped her cheek. “I don’t
care. And you’re a woman to me.”

She didn’t retreat from his touch, but said,
“I have a boyfriend.”

“
I don’t care.”

“
You could go to
jail.”

“
I don’t care.” He traced
the outline of her lips with his warm thumb. “I don’t care, Edie,”
he repeated passionately.

Coming to her senses, she now retreated out
of his reach. “You’re willing to throw your entire life away for
me?” She chuckled, nervous. “I’m not that pretty.”

Russell took one cautious step forward, and
then halted, afraid of chasing her away. “I can’t explain it but
ever since I first met you, I can’t stop thinking about you. At
first, it was care and concern, the need to protect, but now…well,
now it’s more than that. It’s desire, a physical desire. I want
you, and yes, I’m willing to risk everything to have you.”

“
Russell…you-you shouldn’t
trust what you feel.”

“
Why?”

She hesitated, and then let it all (well,
most of it) out, saying, “Because you’re being possessed by a
ghost. His name is Tristan Lockhart. He’s attached himself to me.
That’s why at Lockhart Manor, he let me go, so he could be free
too. For some reason, he can possess you, although he won’t tell me
why. So…just keep a clear head, okay, and try not to be
so…vulnerable.”

Russell was speechless, and then he found his
voice. “I’m possessed?” he said, sounding skeptical.

“
Well, not right now. I
think.”

Russell shook his head. “So you’re saying
that what I feel for you is really the result of a ghost?
Possessing me? That this ghost is in love with you?”

Edie furrowed her brow. “In love? No, no!
Tristan doesn’t love me. He hates me, I’m sure. He wants me dead, I
know it. He’s mean too. When he possesses you, he says nasty
things, scary things.”

“
But-but how do I keep from
being possessed? If in fact I am—which I still don’t
believe—because it’s crazy.”

“
Well…I guess the best thing
is to stay away from me. Tristan’s attached to me,” she reminded
him. “I think he can go a little distance but not far.” She gave a
clueless shrug about that. “Like I said, he’s with me all the time.
He won’t leave.”

“
That doesn’t sound like he
wants you dead,” Russell said. “That sounds like he loves
you.”

Edie shook her head in disbelief. “If he
loved me, he wouldn’t be making my life a living hell.”

Russell took another cautious step toward
Edie. “Sometimes the ones who love us give us the most heartache.”
He took another step forward and she took a step back. “I’m sorry,
Edie, but I can’t stay away from you. I’m like David when he set
eyes on Bathsheba. I’d rather commit sin than be apart from you,
so…this ghost will have to keep on possessing me.”

“
You’d rather be possessed
than stay away from me? I’m sorry Russell but that’s just crazy.
You’re crazy,” she accused.

Russell didn’t seem to take offense. He even
smiled. “Then I’m crazy.” He reached out, but Edie retreated from
his touch, and he surprisingly dropped his hand.

“
I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr.
Ballantine,” she said quite firmly.

He hesitated, and then nodded, surrendering,
for now. “Be on time, Miss St. John. I don’t tolerate tardiness.”
He walked a short distance away before he came to a halt, keeping
his back to her. Over his shoulder, he said, “Oh, by the way,
you’re a great kisser.”

He got into his car and left, disappearing
into the night.

Edie stood outside in the freezing cold, her
teeth chattering, and her mind a pile of snow, until she heard a
door creak open nearby.

It was Mason. “Your two minutes are up.”

“
I was only out here for two
minutes?” she asked in disbelief.

“
No, it was eleven minutes
and fifty-nine seconds.” He smiled. “But who’s counting?” His smile
faded. “What happened?”

“
I told him that he’s being
possessed by a ghost.” It wasn’t the entire truth of what they’d
discussed, but it wasn’t a lie, either.

Mason observed her near frozen state and
wrapped her in a warm hug. “How’d he take it?”

She snuggled against his chest, burying her
cold nose into the folds of his sweater. “He didn’t freak out, but
I don’t think he really believed me, either.” She looked up into
Mason’s eyes. “I think that even when he’s not being possessed,
there are traces of Tristan, still inside, lingering.”

Mason’s eyes widened as he held her
protectively. “Did Mr. B say something, do something to you?”

She shook her head and lied again. “No, he
didn’t.” She shrugged beneath Mason’s loving hold. “It’s just a
feeling I have.”

It was more than a feeling. Russell wanted
Edie when he knew it was completely wrong. That wasn’t a sane
person. That was an insane person—a person who wasn’t thinking
clearly—a person who was possessed. Tristan may not be inside
Russell 24/7, but he’d left a trail of breadcrumbs of his warped
personality behind, so when he wanted to claim Russell, it was only
a matter of finding the pieces and following them back. Those
breadcrumbs, those pieces were Tristan. And Russell, oblivious
before, and still oblivious now, was so stupefied, he didn’t know
to sweep them away.

Tristan was smart. When he couldn’t invade
Russell, he kept trinkets of his soul inside his puppet, and pulled
the strings from afar. It may not be the head rush from possessing
him, but it was enough to get his jollies.

Yes, that had to be it. That had to be the
explanation for Russell’s behavior, sans possession. Because why
else was he risking his reputation, his job, and his freedom, for
her? It was undoubtedly all a scheme on Tristan’s part to cause
Russell’s downfall. Why would he possess Russell and no one
else?

To her relief, Mason hadn’t been
possessed.

“
I’m glad you’re really
you,” she said, hugging him close.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head.
“I’m glad you’re with me.”

“
Where else would I be?” she
said, giving him a half smile.

He cupped her cheek and kissed her lips,
strong and commanding.

“
Was that for Tristan? To
know I’m yours?” she asked, after she’d recovered her
breath.

Mason waited to recover his own, before
saying, “That was for me. And you.” He wobbled his head. “And that
creepy, voyeuristic bastard,” he admitted, caressing her cheek.

She smiled. “Then kiss me again.”

Chapter 19

Despite Edie’s popularity, she was alone.

Except for Tristan, of course, but she didn’t
count him because he didn’t have a pulse.

She was alone in her bedroom, thinking back
over everything that’d happened at the restaurant, especially the
kiss.

She and Russell had kissed—for real—in a
surreal world. It hadn’t been in her mind and Tristan hadn’t
transported her to that dark bedroom. The best way that she could
describe it was that she and Russell had been between worlds. On
one side was the living world; a world where people couldn’t see or
even acknowledge the existence of ghosts. On the other side was the
spirit world; a world where the deceased could see and acknowledge
the living, only to be disappointed when those who were alive
didn’t return the favor.

Edie found it immensely scary that Tristan
was so powerful. She’d come to the conclusion that his strength was
amplified when he induced fear in the living. The more someone was
afraid, the stronger he got. From this assumption, Edie realized
that Tristan had made those people (and Mason) think they’d been
eating and wearing bugs.

He wasn’t a time traveler. He hadn’t
transported them all back to the time before the bug invasion. But
he had altered reality. He’d used suggestion. He’d gotten everyone
back in place, puppets on a stage, and positioned them how he’d
wanted them: deaf, dumb, and blind. Only Edie and Russell had been
able to move. Then again, they were puppets in Tristan’s show, as
well.

“
Miss me?”

Edie was under the covers, her head beneath
the pillow.

“
No,” she told
Tristan.

“
Come on now, Edie, don’t be
shy. Look at me.”

Considering she didn’t have much of a choice,
she freed herself from the bedding and turned toward the sound of
his voice. But he wasn’t just a voice anymore. He’d manifested in a
full-length swivel mirror that was next to her dresser; curiously,
she couldn’t see her own reflection. He was wearing Russell’s
clothes: the dark blue jeans and the “Keep Calm and Carry On” red
T-shirt. No leather coat. Well, he didn’t need it, did he? He never
got cold. I should be grateful he’s even wearing clothes.

Edie sat up, against the pillows. “Nice
shirt.”

Tristan grinned and tugged on it. “Thanks. I
just got it.”