How to Kill a Ghost (18 page)

“Tevin,
please!
” I cried. He ignored me. The words tumbled from his lips. An explosion of sound split my head apart, but this wasn’t the darkness coming for me. Ian had awakened, and I knew he was coming. The sun still hung too high in the sky. The road to this house had almost no protection from the sunlight. He might not make it.
“No, don’t come,”
I pleaded in my head, unsure he heard.
“I’m sorry.”

An instant later, the darkness gathered around me, its form crawling up from the corners of the room. Something thick and pungent like sulfur filled my throat. Up until now, I hadn’t been able to taste or smell, but I did with this. I gagged and coughed, struggling for a breath I hadn’t needed in this form. Yet, it seemed like whatever life was in my spirit was being sucked away.

I let go of my solid form. The clothes I wore to cover the belly chain dropped to the floor with the jewelry beneath them. Tevin never paused. He continued to enunciate each strange word as if they were individual weapons to wound me. They might as well have been with their effect.

Get up, Libby. Get the chain. Do it! Get the stake.

I didn’t move. I hardly dared to look away from Tevin or into the shadows that were surely coming for me. Sounds mingled with the smell now, screams and growls as I had never heard before, nor did I ever want to again.

Triumph radiated in Tevin’s expression. He knew he had won and was about to realize his dream—revenge on his brother. For some insane reason, I watched his lips move as he formed what I imagined were the last words I would ever hear in this world.

Light flashed on Tevin’s cheek, and he screamed in pain. He zipped away to one of the dark corners and then hissed. I followed his line of sight. There was Jake, holding a shard from a mirror. My intelligent boy had used the mirror to reflect light onto Tevin’s face and burn him.

At last, I could move. My strength had been gained from my brave sweetheart, and I wouldn’t let it go to waste. Jake needed me. He might be smart, but he was still a child, and it was my job to protect him.

I solidified and scooped up my clothes along with the chain. “Come here, Jake, fast!”

Just before Jake reached me, Tevin flashed stepped from the corner and captured him around the wrist. “Get off of me!” Jake kicked at Tevin, but Tevin didn’t flinch. I ran to join them, but the vampire sent me to the floor. The clothes and chain dropped as I lost concentration. My energy was spent, and if I didn’t do something soon, I wouldn’t be a threat to Tevin at all.

“You’re going to pay for that little stunt, boy,” Tevin ground out.

“Get your hands off my son.” Mason appeared and charged at the two. I realized Tevin must have relied on mind control to keep Mason and Jake rather than tying them up. Mason punched Tevin in the jaw and drew back to stagger against the wall, holding his hand. “What have you got a metal plate? I think I broke my fingers.”

“Mason, don’t provoke him.” While Jake had realized what Tevin was, Mason hadn’t. One couldn’t just punch a vampire and do damage.

Mason surged forward, but Tevin laughed at him, still holding a struggling Jake. I blinked in and out, glad so far Mason’s attention was all on our son and the man holding him.

“I’m going to protect our son and you, Libby.” Mason came after Tevin again, but this time, Tevin caught him midswing, raised him off his feet, and threw him against the wall.

“Dad!” Tears wet my baby’s face, and I had had enough.

I scoured through the pile of clothes and found the chain. When I tried to pick it up, it dropped through my fingers. The length of silver might as well have weighed a ton for all the fight I had to put into grasping it. I drove the last of my reserves into my hands alone and raised the chain. The moment the metal touched his flesh, Tevin howled and crashed to the floor. I layered it twice over his throat, and he raised his hands to claw at the chain.

“Take it off, take it off,” he gasped. I grabbed Jake and dragged him away.

“The stake.” I left my son where he was and scrambled about the dimly lit room for the stake. After searching for a good minute, I realized even had I found the stake, I couldn’t hold it. I was at my end, and Mason couldn’t sustain me. Jake was too small, and I couldn’t draw energy from the dead.

“Mom,” Jake called out.

I rushed to him and hovered.

“Mom, are you there?”

I hesitated and then answered. “I’m here, Jake. I need you to find the stake. Can you do that for me? We have to hurry.”

“I can do it.”

As he searched, I scoured my mind for ideas. I wouldn’t allow my son to kill Tevin no matter what, and Mason lay unconscious. Even if he were awake, I might not be able to convince him to kill Tevin with the story that he was one of the undead. Mason might suggest we tie Tevin up and call the police, which would be pointless. The authorities couldn’t help us, and most likely no one who could would arrive in time. I had to think of something.

“I got it.”

I floated to Jake and tried solidifying. No go.

“I’ll do it,” he suggested.

“No!” I said.

“No!” Tevin whispered.

I tried to draw Jake closer to me, but my arms passed through him. I stayed near, still trying to figure out a solution.

“Listen, Jake,” Tevin rasped. “I’m not a monster. You can see your mother isn’t human. She wants you to do something bad. Take this chain off, and I’ll help you both. I promise.”

“Don’t listen to him.” I tried to hug my son again and failed.

“I know what you are,” Jake said. He scooted back toward the wall a little more. “You’re a vampire.”

“They don’t exist.” Tevin tried to laugh it off, but he sounded weaker and in pain.

“Then why did the sun burn your face?” Jake was nothing if not logical.

Tevin scrambled for an answer, and Jake raised his arms, the stake between his fingers. Again, Tevin and I cried out a protest. I tried focusing to absorb more of Mason’s energy, but injured, he appeared to be low himself. If I opened myself just a tiny bit, could I use Jake? Fear that I might take from his life overcame me, and I couldn’t do it.

Jake inched toward Tevin until he stood over him.
I can’t let him do this. He’s just a child.

The door blew open and banged the wall. I expected to see a burned vampire in the entryway, but instead Isabelle stood there. She paused, trying to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. I can’t say how I did it or if I’d be able to ever again, but in an instant, I sucked so much energy from Isabelle she collapsed on the floor. With newfound strength, I solidified and zipped over to Jake. In one fluid motion, I snatched the stake from his hands, shoved him behind me, and drove the weapon into Tevin’s chest. Flames burned bright from Tevin’s body, illuminating the room even more than the front door being open. They died down with the consumption of his form, and nothing remained except a pile of ashes.

I scooted back, and Jake tumbled into my arms, sobbing. My heart broke at his trembling shoulders, and I hugged him to me, whispering comforting words. A shadow filled the doorway again, and both Jake and I looked up. Ian moved inside, sluggish, weak. He managed to drag himself into the shadows and leaned against the wall. From a dark, heavy overcoat, smoke rose, and I couldn’t make out his face beneath the hood, but I knew it was him.

Jake stirred in my arms. “Please, don’t kill my mother.” The sob on the last word tore me apart, and Ian raised a burned hand to brush the hood from his head. His face came into view, same piercing eyes, handsome face, a little burned but healing fast. I guess we both expected Jake to calm down when he recognized him, but Jake clutched me tighter. The flash of pain in Ian’s expression almost made me lose my form.

“It’s okay, Jake. Ian would never hurt you.”

Ian started for the door.

“Don’t,” I called out.

He stilled.

“Ian, he’s gone.”

“I know.”

“He threatened Jake and Mason. He started the chant. I know he was your brother, and—”

“It is fine, Liberty. I came here to finish it, to protect both of you. There was no saving Tevin. I understand that now.”

“Jake, let me check on Isabelle, okay?” Somehow I untangled myself from my son’s arms and moved to Isabelle. While I examined her and found her to be breathing easily, Ian bent over Mason. I hesitated to ask, but I felt a weak stream of energy from him, so I knew Mason wasn’t dead.

“Is he okay?”

“He will need treatment,” Ian said. “And…”

Sirens blared in the distance.

I clutched my hands together. “Ian, I—”

He nodded. First he approached Jake, who hid behind me. Ian dropped to one knee but didn’t try to force Jake to come out. “I will never hurt you, Jake. We are friends, are we not? We both love books?”

Jake peeked out and nodded. “Yes, but you’re a vampire.”

“I am. Does that make me ineligible to be your friend?”

My son hesitated and shook his head. “No.”

“Then I propose we continue. You are intelligent enough to figure out that I am not like my brother.”

Jake pressed his lips together, considering it. “But you could be. You’re strong enough to kill us.”

“Yes.”

“Ian!” I started to reprimand him, but then fell silent. Ian wouldn’t lie to Jake, and somehow treating my son with respect in that way dispelled a lot of Jake’s fear. He moved out from behind me and faced Ian man-to-man.

Ian touched Jake’s cheek and sighed. I realized in that instant, Ian wished everyone who learned the truth about him could accept him the way he was and not have to forget. I was special, partially because I knew. He didn’t have to be alone with his secret.

“Listen to my words,” Ian instructed Jake with tenderness in his tone. Within a few moments, Jake’s memories were rewritten, and Ian had lessened the emotional impact of being kidnapped. He moved on to Mason and forced him awake long enough to instruct him as well. Then he stood to turn to me. “We will tell the police Tevin was behind the kidnapping and that he got away. Later, I will arrange for them to find evidence of his death, and the case will be closed.”

“And the ashes?”

“I will take care of it.”

“That’s probably best.” I sat Jake down on the porch and stood with Ian inside the house. Ian bent to awaken Isabelle and helped her to sit up. When she saw him, she drew away from his touch and managed to get to her feet on her own.

“Are you okay, Isabelle?” I asked.

She rubbed her head and chuckled. “Did you have to suck me dry so quickly, Libby? I came to help, you know.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.”

“Don’t worry. I know Jake was in trouble. Ian came to me.”

I gaped and turned to him. “You risked your life for us. I can’t thank you enough.”

He said nothing.

I turned to Isabelle and gave her a look she interpreted right away. She joined my son on the porch, and Ian took my hand. We stood in silence for a while as the sirens drew closer. “Ian, about Monica.”

“Yes?”

I hesitated. A car door slammed.

“Later.”

He agreed, and we faced the police together.

I arrived at the hospital with Monica at my side. How would I convince Agnes to come home with me, or the hospital to release her in my care if she hadn’t awakened?

“She’s coming whether she likes it or not,” Monica informed me.

I shook my head. “We can’t force her, Monica.”

“Watch me. I want this over now and our lives to go back to normal. You’ve suffered enough.”

“And so have you,” I countered. Recalling her fear, I knew what I had decided was for the best. The minute I got a chance to talk to Ian I would ask him to erase Monica’s memories. I had asked her about it, and she’d become so terrified, she couldn’t form words. She would never be around Ian without fear. Maybe I was selfish not wanting her to hate my boyfriend, but I would do it anyway. She needed the peace of mind, and honestly, if I could go back… No, I wouldn’t return to ignorance. I needed to know what was out there, but I did wonder about myself and my personality when I got my body back.

We bypassed the nurse’s station to head to Agnes’s room, but when we got there, the bed had been stripped of the sheets, and no Agnes. A sick dread came over me, but I pushed it away as Monica and I rushed to speak with a nurse.

“Where is the woman who was in room 205?” Monica demanded.

One of the nurses paused in executing her duties to smile at Monica. “Are you family?”

Monica’s hands slid to her hips. “Do I have to be family to know if she’s still here? If so, I’m her cousin.”

I suppressed a laugh as the woman blinked at Monica. After a few silent moments she relented. “Her brother took her home an hour ago after the doctor released her.”

“But she was unconscious!” I forgot I had gone invisible when we arrived at the hospital to minimize confusion over my identical appearance to the patient. The nurse whirled around at the sound of my voice, and Monica nabbed her arm to regain her attention.

“What was her brother’s name?”

The woman gave Monica a look that said she should know what her cousin looked like if she were truly related.

“There are so many of us, you never can tell.” Monica lied with ease.

“Now that you ask, I-I’m not sure,” was the response. The nurse rubbed her forehead as if trying to recall. Monica turned a worry-filled glance in my general direction.

We headed out to the street and paused on the sidewalk as patients and hospital staff passed us by. Monica chewed a nail and stared off in the distance. “Do you think she ran, Libby?”

I floated nearer to her. “I hope not. Monica, I can’t feel her.”

She whirled to face me, her gaze darting about as if looking for somewhere to lock on. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t feel the connection. I don’t know if it’s completely destroyed or if she’s no longer in Summit’s Edge. We’ve come so close, and to have her get away… It’s too much.”

“Don’t assume the worst. Maybe you should talk to Isabelle.”

I agreed. My witchy friend was no worse the wear for my zapping her of energy, thank goodness, so I left Monica with the promise to update her later and went to visit Isabelle.