Inbetween

Something in the tone of his voice made my chest constrict. I knew it wasn’t fair that I was sending him out into the cold so I could have a conversation with a nonexistent person, but hopefully whatever Finn had to say wouldn’t take long. “Cash, could you get me a Coke from the concession stand?”

“You have two feet last time I checked.”

“Yes, and I’ll kick your ass with one of them if you don’t get over yourself and be a gentleman.”

Cash frowned. “What’s a gentleman?”

I forced a laugh, needing him to leave. “Please.”

“Fine.” He nodded and grabbed my purse out of the floor to dig for my wallet. “But you’re buying.”

“Deal.” When he was gone, I spun around in my seat. Finn looked upset and, for the first time since we’d met, disheveled. Was that even possible for a soul? “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s happened. And I’m not sure…I don’t know how to handle it. But I don’t want you freaking out on me. I’m going to figure it out.” He braced his palms on the seat and stared at the floorboards like he was trying to calm himself. “I’m going to figure it out,” he whispered to himself again.

“Just say it,” I said, forcing the tremble out of my voice. “I can handle it.” It’s nothing I hadn’t been through before. Two years of this…was there really anything he could say that could surprise me?

“Emma, look at me.” He leaned close enough that I was enveloped in the warm scent of Finn, trapped in my own personal summer while the rest of the world battled the cold outside. I stared into his green eyes, churning with emotion. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to keep you safe. There’s no sense in you worrying about something that you can’t do anything about.”

“But that’s just it. I can do something. I stopped her, Finn.” I grabbed the back of the seat. “At the house. I used a chant, and she left.”

Finn shook his head and looked away. “Emma…”

“No, I’m serious. I’m more than capable of—”

“She left because of me,” he said, softly. “The sage, the chant… They’re just as useless as the Ouija board. None of it works.”

My vision blurred as my gaze drifted to the window. Cash was making his way through the row of cars, a Coke in each hand. The colored lights from the movie screen reflected off the shiny black leather on his jacket, making him shimmer like Finn.

It hadn’t worked. Oh my God…it hadn’t worked.

“Just calm down. Breathe,” Finn whispered into my ear.

I closed my eyes, took a breath, and nodded.

Finn stiffened, peering out the back window into the night. “Emma…” he started, never taking his eyes off of whatever he saw out the window. “Stay in the car.”

A gust of wind ruffled my hair and before I could say anything, Finn was gone. He was gone, and Maeve could be anywhere. I braced myself on the dashboard. My breaths were coming in too fast, making me dizzy. I fumbled with the glove compartment and popped it open. Cash used to keep a utility knife in here.

Cash swung open the door, and I crammed the napkins and papers back into the compartment and slammed it shut. I felt stupid for even looking. A knife wasn’t going to stop Maeve. And the sage, the chants…none of that had worked. I didn’t have anything to defend myself. I felt like I was bobbing in open water, waiting for a shark to finish me off.

Cash shoved a cup into my hand and nodded at the glove compartment. “What were you doing?”

I grabbed both drinks as he shivered and shook like a wet dog once he was in the safety of the truck.

“N-nothing. Just looking for a napkin.”

He grabbed his drink and looked me over. “You’re being weird tonight. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” I took a sip of the Coke, letting the caffeine race through my system and chase away the violent, unraveling feeling inside me. Peering into the night and not finding a trace of Finn, I couldn’t stop shaking. She was here. She was here and Finn was out there trying to stop her.

Cash set his popcorn on the seat between us and stared at me.

I couldn’t look at him. All I could think about was Finn. What had he seen out there? Where had he gone? What if he couldn’t stop her?

“Em…”

I shook my head, knowing that if I didn’t get out of that truck within the next ten seconds, I was going to lose it in front of him. “I’m going to go to the bathroom. Be right back.”

Chapter 24

Finn Maeve. I may not have been able to see her, but I could feel the wintry chill trickling down my spine.

The whisper of nearness that another soul left across my skin. I made my way through the menagerie of cars, letting the soft pull in my veins guide me. To my right, I heard a shrill peal of laughter echo across the lot. I catapulted over a car, heading in the direction of the sound, then stopped. The chill faded and the pull tugged me in the opposite direction. I spun around, shaking my head, trying to clear it. To get some focus.

“Maeve!” I rounded another car and started across the lot. “I know you’re out there.” But the pull faded again, and then pulsed with life, tugging me in the opposite direction. What the hell? I rolled my shoulders and gritted my teeth. Get it together, Finn. I stopped, looking for anything—the hint of a red shimmer, a spark of silver—anything to tell me which way to turn. There were too many people here.

Too many ways for her to bait me. Realization hit me.

She’s trying to bait me.

I spun around, slid over the hood of a yellow Volkswagen. I had to get back to Emma-“Looking for someone?”

I froze at the sound of Maeve’s voice. She stood on the roof of an old pickup that once upon a time had probably been red. Now it was mottled with rust and made creaking sounds every time the kids inside moved.

“There are so many options here. So many ways to die, don’t you think?” She tapped her finger on her chin, calling attention to the black veins standing out on her throat. A dull silver color was strangling the lively red from her hair one strand at a time.

“Don’t do something stupid just to prove a point,” I said.

Maeve glared at me. Her black pupils ate up the green that had once been around them. “And what point is that? That I have wasted the past seventeen years of my existence for something that should have been mine in the first place? Well, no more waiting, Finn. I’m taking what’s mine tonight.”

What? Her words tumbled around inside my head before clicking into place. She didn’t want just anyone’s body, she wanted…Emma’s?

She twitched as the right side of her face morphed into a screaming shadow before returning to pale- colored skin again. She grabbed the sides of her face and an agonized scream exploded from her throat. She was about to turn. I slipped my scythe out of its holster and climbed onto the hood.

“You’re not taking anything.”

Maeve straightened her back and laughed, the shadow flickering over her features. Before I could blink, she leapt over me, what was left of her red shimmer blurring across the dead black sky. I spun around, looking up, down, left, right, until the stars in the sky blurred together. Where could she have gone? What was she-An ice-cold hand wrapped around my ankle and jerked me off the hood of the pickup. I landed on my back. Swirled into nothing resembling a man. I focused on pulling myself back together, and when I did, Maeve was standing over me, red hair blowing around her pale freckled face. Rage had consumed her to the point she was shaking. I glanced at her hand. It was wrapped around a blade. My blade. My scythe. It looked so awkward in her white fist. Mine felt so incredibly empty without it.

“Maeve…” I held my hand up and tried to ease up. “Don’t do—” She swung out. The blade sliced through my thigh, and all that existed was pain. I clutched at my thigh and groaned. Black oozed from between my fingers, glittering like stars in the night.

“Oh, does that hurt? Poor little reaper. Maybe you should have picked someone else’s life to ruin. I could be