in paranormal activity, the closer we are to the Marrow. At least, that’s what my granddad used to say.”
He stopped working and stared at his hands. Priest’s grandfather must’ve been the member of the Legion he had replaced. It was easy to forget that I wasn’t the only one who had lost someone.
Lukas noticed Priest’s reaction and messed up the younger boy’s hair. Priest swatted his arm, the beginning of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“If we find the Marrow, we can take out the spirits Andras controls,” Jared said. “And cut off his power supply.”
“Will that get rid of him?” I asked.
The four of them looked at one another.
Lukas shook his head. “No. But it will make him a lot weaker. Damage control, remember?”
I listened as they strategized, trying to make sense of the surges and the red circles. The warehouse was only an hour from my house in Georgetown, but it felt worlds away.
I needed to talk to someone who wasn’t tracking paranormal activity or searching for a demon’s hideout. “Lukas, can I use your phone again?”
Alara snapped to attention. “She can’t call anyone.”
“Don’t worry.” Lukas raised a hand to reassure her. “She just wants to check in with her friend.”
“Her friend?” Alara gasped. “Are you insane?”
“My number’s blocked. I doubt her friend knows how to trace a call.”
“What if she tells someone where we are?” Alara was talking about me like I wasn’t there.
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said. “But if I don’t call, she’ll try to find me.”
Lukas handed me his cell. “It’s fine. Just be careful what you say.”
I slipped between the sheets suspended from the ceiling and sat down next to the fridge, where Jared had bandaged my hand.
The phone only rang once before Elle picked up. “Hello?”
My whole body seemed to relax when I heard her voice. “It’s me.”
“Where are you? I’m totally freaking out.”
I didn’t know where to begin. Elle had never doubted me before, but demons were a lot to dump on anyone. “I need to tell you something, and it’s going to sound crazy.”
“I’m fine with crazy.”
It was like ripping off a Band-Aid. The only way to do it was fast. “I saw a ghost.”
“You saw your mom?” She didn’t sound surprised.
“No—” I hesitated. “It was the ghost of a dead girl. I saw her in the cemetery one night and then again in my room.”
I waited for her to rattle off a list of the symptoms of depression.
“Is that why you ran away?”
This was the hard part. “The ghost killed my mom, and it tried to kill me. I know it sounds completely insane, but it’s true.”
I held my breath, waiting for her to say something.
“Is that who trashed your house? The ghost?” It was the same matter-of-fact tone Elle used when she grilled me about the latest social scandal at school. She wanted the details, which meant she believed me.
“You don’t think I’m losing it?”
She sighed dramatically. “I’ve watched
“No, it was… something a little different.”
“Did you dig up a graveyard?” Her voice rose, and I could practically see her yelling at the phone.
“I don’t really understand everything, but the guys I’m with do.”
“Who are these guys, anyway?”
I wasn’t willing to start talking salt rounds and secret societies. I was already pushing it. “They track violent spirits and destroy them.”
“Like the ghostbusters?”
“More like exorcists.”
Her bedsprings groaned, the way they did whenever she fell back onto her bed. “Please tell me you aren’t possessed.”
I almost laughed. “I’m not. But the spirits are dangerous, and I need these guys to help me get rid of them.”
“How many guys are we talking about?” She perked up.
“Three, but one of them is only fifteen.” I could see the wheels spinning in her mind. “There’s another girl here, too.”
“When are you coming back?”
My throat tightened. “I don’t know. But you can’t tell anyone you talked to me. Okay?”
She didn’t respond.
“Elle!”
“You know I won’t say anything.” She pretended to sound offended.
Alara peeked through the sheets.
“Elle, I have to go.”
“Be careful,” she pleaded.
“I will.” I hung up and held the phone to my chest, wondering how long it would be until I saw her again.
When I came back, the four of them were packing it in for the night. I handed Lukas his phone and straightened the stacks of newspapers. I didn’t want to look completely useless.
Jared tipped his chin toward a mattress in the corner. “You can take my bed. I like the couch.”
“No, it’s okay—”
“I like the couch,” he repeated more firmly.
I was too tired to argue—and too cold. The warehouse was freezing, and I still didn’t have a jacket. I rubbed my hands over my arms.
Priest noticed and tossed me a hoodie from his shelf. “You’ll need it. This place is a meat locker.”
As I slid my arms into the sleeves and lay down on the bed, I relaxed for what felt like the first time in days—until I noticed Jared coming back.
Maybe he’d changed his mind about letting me have his bed.
I started to get up when he pointed at the pillows. “Mind if I take one?”
“Sure—I mean no.”
He held up his hands, and his T-shirt slid up, exposing a few inches of skin above the waistband of his jeans. My cheeks grew warm and I tossed him the pillow, hoping he wouldn’t notice. He stood there for a moment as if he wanted to say something, but then he walked away.
It was a sharp contrast to the crooked smile Lukas gave me as he flopped down on the mattress across from mine. His fingers flew over the controls of a video game. He noticed me watching him. “It’s Tetris.”
“He plays it all the time.” Alara walked by and rolled her eyes, twisting her hair into a loose knot.
Lukas didn’t look up from the screen. “It requires hard-core spatial skills and pattern recognition.”
“I’m sure it does,” she said sarcastically.
Priest laughed and closed his eyes, still wearing his headphones, as Jared stretched out on the couch. It seemed like he was on the opposite side of a boundary no one could cross.
I wondered what had happened to Jared—who had hurt him. But his walls were even higher than mine.
Alara switched off the lights. I listened to the muffled music from Priest’s headphones and the pinging sound of Tetris, wishing I could turn off my thoughts as easily.
I was lying on a mattress in a warehouse with four people I barely knew—four people who seemed to know more about my life than I did. Was it possible they knew more about my mom, too?
My eyes burned and I felt the tears building, but I didn’t want to let myself cry. If I started, I might not be
