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“O-kay. I should have guessed this was why you both took off so unexpectedly. ”
Nothing except Frosty.
Dang it! I was so sick of interruptions!
Cole sprang away from me, assuming a battle-ready position.
Frosty rolled his shoulders, hard and intractable, and just as ready. “Don’t bother trying to get rid of me. I’m not leaving without Ali. Nana is worried. ”
“Fine. But you will turn around,” Cole snapped.
Though he looked as if he wanted to protest, Frosty obeyed.
My cheeks burned, and my heart pounded as I sat up. Cole helped me right my disheveled clothing before righting his own. Our gazes locked for a long, strained moment, and we both knew there were a million things we needed to say, but couldn’t. Not now.
Later, he mouthed, hooking a strand of hair behind my ear.
I should tell him no again, that this was it, the end. I might be dangerous to his health, but he was dangerous to my self-control. Instead, I found myself nodding.
Cole kept his arm around me while we walked back to the house.
“So, listen, Ali,” Frosty said. “I know I haven’t been your biggest fan lately, and I’m sorry. I like you, I do, and I know you’re going through something tough right now, but I saw what you did to Cole and I imagined you doing it to Kat. I can’t let you do it to Kat,” he said raggedly. “She isn’t strong enough to survive. ”
“I understand,” I replied. “I’ve been so careful around her. If ever I feel even the slightest urge come upon me, I leave her and dose up on the antidote. I don’t want to see her hurt, either. ”
His nod was stiff, but it was a start.
* * *
“Ali, honey. ”
Nana’s voice pulled me from a deep sleep.
“I’m headed to the grocery. Is there anything you need?”
“What time is it?” I asked on a moan.
“Eight. ”
Too early. It was the day after Christmas and I didn’t have anywhere to be until five. I would have liked to sleep till four. I’d stayed up late, trying to taunt Z. A. into leaving my body and fighting me. She’d ignored me, and I’d finally fallen into bed. Now I was tired. So very tired.
“I’m good. Thanks, though. ”
“All right, then. I’ll be back in an hour or so. ”
I put a pillow over my head. Heard footsteps. The whine of my door as it shut.
I wasn’t sure how much time actually passed before I heard cabinet doors banging shut, then silence, then the slam of the front door, as if Nana had left again.
I wanted to get up and investigate, but I just didn’t have the energy.
The doorbell rang.
I rolled out of bed, pulled a robe over my tank and shorts and stalked into the living room. Expecting Kat and a thousand questions about what had happened with Cole, since we hadn’t had a moment alone to talk, I opened the door. Gavin leaned against the frame, a formidable sight with his pale hair spiked back from his face and his eyes glinting ice.
He’d come over several others times, but I’d reverted to ignoring him.
“You need to stop avoiding me, and we need to talk about what happened the last time I was here,” he said.
“Okay,” I said, and moved aside. I could be brave. “Fine. ”
He stomped his way inside, and I shut the door.
“Just. . . give me a few minutes first. I just got out of bed. ” I raced into my room, brushed my teeth and hair, then threw on a T-shirt and jeans. I glanced at the mirror as I raced back out and gritted my teeth when I saw Z. A. grinning smugly at me.
I scowled at her. “Soon,” I told her. “We’re going to have a showdown. ”
She smirked.
“You hungry?” I asked Gavin when I reached the living room. “You want some breakfast?”
He eyed me suspiciously, but said, “Sure. ”
I put biscuits in the oven, fried bacon and whisked up some gravy. He watched me, but didn’t speak (or try to help). I didn’t push him. When everything was ready, I slid a plate in his direction.
“No eggs?” he asked.
“Wow. Your gratitude is humbling. ”
A smile teased the corners of his mouth. “What? I like eggs. ”
My lips twitched, as well. I hadn’t liked seeing him so formal. I sat beside him, and we dug into the food.
Finally he said, “I’ve been thinking about things, and I’m sorry I didn’t realize what was going on with you sooner. . . sorry I put my hands on you and tried for more than a few licks. I’ve gotten to know you over the past few months, and I should have realized you never would have made a move on me while your grandmother was a few feet away. And you did try to warn me. ”
Wait. He was apologizing to me? Not what I’d expected. “Well, I’m sorry I tried to eat you. ”
His lips stretched in a full-blown smile this time. “From anyone else, those words would be a turn-on. You, not so much. ”
I laughed. “I have to admit, I’m a little surprised you didn’t kill me the moment you realized what was happening. ”
“I won’t lie. I thought about it. I mean, I know you had pulled out of similar crazes before, but this was the first time one had been directed at me. Problem was, I would have had to go through Cole to get to you, and I would have had to kill him to get through him, because he wouldn’t have stopped shielding you any other way. That boy really loves you. ”
I turned away to hide the elation surely shining in my eyes; someone else had noticed his feelings for me—and came face-to-face with Zombie Ali.
She stood beside me, and she was still grinning.
Looked like our showdown was today.
Heart slamming against my ribs, I pushed my spirit out of my body without any hindrance; chilly air enveloped me. As I shivered, I reached for her, but she giggled and darted behind the couch.
“You’re gonna get it now,” I said.
“Ali?” Gavin said.
“Do you see her?” I pointed.
“See who?”
Cole thought she could shield herself, and maybe she could. “Stay here. You can’t see or hear the zombie in the room. She cloaks herself, and I don’t want her to hurt you. ”
“Can’t catch me,” she sang.
“I can’t wait to prove you wrong. ” I dived for her, and slammed into the top of the couch. Had we not doused all of our furniture with the Blood Lines, I would have ghosted through. But we had, and now everything was as solid to my spirit was it was to my body. Couldn’t forget again.
As I threw my legs over the edge of the couch, I summoned the fire. Small red flames began to crackle at the ends of my fingers. Red? Why red? Z. A. was no longer inside my body.
Maybe her toxin was still there. Maybe—
The cushions beneath my palms burned to ash. What the heck?
Z. A. zoomed past me, and I reached for her. I missed, popped to my feet and gave chase. In the kitchen, she circled the granite-topped island. I threw myself on top, sliding. . . falling. . . the entire structure crashed into the floor, taking me with it.
“Stop,” Gavin shouted. “Ali, you have to stop this. ”
Laughing, Z. A. raced down the hall, into Nana’s bedroom. She jumped on the bed. Again I dived for her. When I hit the pillows, the bed disintegrated, and I toppled to the floor.
Dang her!
She slipped out of Nana’s room and into mine. I was right behind her. She knocked a chair into my path. I picked it up and threw it across the room, aiming for her head.
The chair burned midway, ash drifting through the air.
Can’t blow this chance.
“Nah, nah, nah, nah, you can’t catch me. ”
“—happening?” I heard Nana say. “How? Her body is in the kitchen. She can’t be doing this! No one can! There’s no one in here. ”
/> Her voice penetrated the dark determination urging me on. I blinked, forcing myself to focus on the natural world. Nana stood in the doorway, pale and trembling, gazing around the room I’d destroyed. Gavin and Cole stood beside her.
I took a step toward her.
The boys moved in front of her, blocking her from my path.
“Get her grandmother out of here,” Cole said to Gavin.
Gavin took Nana by the arm and drew her back. I reached for her again, realized my hands were still ablaze with the red flames and froze with horror.
Had contact been made, I would have reached past flesh and burned her spirit—and what happened in the spirit always manifested in the flesh. She would have died.
I would have killed her.
Exactly what Z. A. must have wanted. She’d failed to kill me, so she’d gone after my loved one through me. And I’d let her. I hadn’t stopped to think about the wisdom of my actions.
“You’re worse, Ali,” Cole said, holding out his hands in the most nonthreatening gesture he could manage, approaching me. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to control you if something like this happens again. ”
“Cole. ”
“Don’t agree with me,” he interjected. “Don’t say anything. Just think about what you’re doing right now, all right?”
But I had to tell him—no, I couldn’t. He was right. If I believed it, I would receive whatever I said.
I looked behind me, unsure what to do about Z. A.
She wasn’t there.
My gaze darted to the mirror. There. She was there.
Back inside me. Scowling.
“Put the fire out for me, okay?” Cole said gently.
I tried, I really did, but the flames only grew hotter, only spread faster.
“I’m sorry, Ali,” Cole said, and reached for the minicrossbow he kept stashed at his ankle. Rather than load it with an arrow, he loaded it with a syringe. Then he stepped out of his body, so that we were spirit to spirit.
He paused, then said, “I thought about the vision, and stopped carrying arrows. Realized I might need antidote instead. ” A second later, a sharp pain hit my neck.
In a blink, he had another syringe loaded and flying at me. I experienced another sharp sting. Warmth rushed through me, and yet the flames began to wane. . . finally vanished.