Ashes to Ashes (15 page)

Leo is still cursing when he joins us.

“Nice try,” Norris says.

Leo gives him the finger. “I almost had it.”

Norris releases his horsey laugh. “Yeah, well,
almost
doesn't count.”

If looks could kill, well, Norris would be dead again.

His eyes burning with fury, Leo reaches for me and wraps his hand around my arm. It's like a tidal wave of power rolls through me, gathers up, and shoots a bolt of lightning from me to Leo. He laughs like a lunatic. I want to pull free, but he's holding on like grim death.

Everything spins around. Darkness hovers at the edge of my vision.

“Callie?” Reena's voice comes from a great distance.

I stagger, drop to my knees. Leo must have let go, because there are no more lightning bolts, no more anything. I feel like I'm sinking into an empty void. I don't want to go there. I don't know what's waiting for me, but it can't be good.

“You're okay,” Reena says. “We just need to get you back to the Prism.”

I try to nod, but it's as though I've turned into a rag doll, as though I no longer have any structure.

And then I plunge into the inky blackness of total oblivion.

Fourteen

“CALLIE.”

The voice is soft, tender, but filled with urgency.

“Callie.”

Probably my dad, trying to wake me up to tell me that I've overslept. But it's so warm here, so comforting. I don't want to leave. It's like I'm floating near the ocean floor, no sound at all except for the gentle call of my name.

“Callie.”

I'm keenly aware of soft, harmonic waves flowing through me from my head to my toes. I snuggle down deeper, encompassed by comfort, compassion, love. I want to stay here forever, wrapped in this cocoon of heavenly bliss. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I remember once when I was blowing bubbles, watching two of them coming together, bouncing gently off each other until one bounce joined them and they began to merge. That's how I feel: as though I'm becoming part of something else.

Slowly, with a great deal of effort, I open my eyes. I'm in my room. Relief swamps me. Just as I thought. Everything—the Prism, Reena, Leo, my death—was a dream. Thatcher was a dream, too. Sadness sweeps through me with that thought. I miss him. Strange, funny thought.

I widen my eyes, taking in more of my room. I'm not in my bed but in the window seat. I can see everything, and it's wrong. It isn't my room of this morning. It's the room that was a hodgepodge of my past.

“Callie, you're back.”

I jerk my head around. Thatcher. He's sitting in my window seat, holding me in his lap, his arms tightly around me. I'm nestled against his chest. It's firm and solid, like everything else I touch within this room. I have an urge to bury my face in the crook of his shoulder.

“You're okay?” he asks, his voice rough and raspy as though he's been repeating my name for a hundred years.

I nod and whisper, “What are you doing here?”

“When I knocked, you didn't answer.” He looks sheepish. “So I came in. You were lying on your bed, fading. Almost no energy at all was emanating from you. Scared the hell out of me. I've been sharing mine with you, trying to get you to respond.” So much concern and worry is in his eyes that I want to weep. “What happened? It doesn't make sense that your energy would drain away while you're in your prism.”

Oh, yeah. My prism. Only I wasn't here, and he is not going to like that. I shrug and try to look innocent. As his eyes narrow, I realize there is no Academy Award in my future.

“What did you do, Callie?” he asks suspiciously.

I shake my head.

“Does this have anything to do with Reena? Was she in here taking your energy?”

“No,” I respond weakly, my energy still tapped out, although I can feel it returning.

“This has something to do with her, though, doesn't it?”

“It was just some innocent fun.” I cast my eyes downward, not wanting to see his disappointment.

He puts his hand under my chin, forcing up my gaze until his can lock with mine. I feel a strong buzz where his fingers touch my skin, and the gentle pleasure undulating through me increases. His jaw twitches angrily.

“Where did she take you? What did you do?” It's a harsh whisper under his breath as he drops his hand.

What's the harm in confessing? He's going to keep at it until he knows the answer anyway. I decide to leave out the part that I went to Earth on my own. He's mad enough as it is. “We were at a coffee shop. Just moved some things around.”

“And it cost you.”

“I'll be okay,” I protest feebly.

Suddenly he's standing, his arms beneath me, lifting me as though I'm as light as cotton candy. Maybe I am. Instinctively, I clasp my hands behind his neck as he shifts my weight easily and carries me across the room.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Things are really bad if you can't figure out that I'm carrying you.”

“Oh my God. Did you just make a joke? The always-so-serious Thatcher is teasing me?”

“Don't know what I was thinking,” he grumbles. His mouth is set in a tight, worried line. A pang of guilt ricochets through me because I ignored his warnings about Reena.

He sets me down gently on my bed.

“Thatcher, Reena's my friend,” I say, not certain why I don't want him to know about the others who were there. Instinctively, I know he'd be more than livid if he learned Leo was with us. “We were having fun. She brought me back when I got tired.”

He steps away from me and plows his hands through his hair. “She took a lot of energy from you,” he says, more to himself than to me. “Too much. Way too much.”

“I'm fine. Really, Thatcher, I think I just fainted or something.”

“Ghosts don't faint,” he says. “What happened was not okay.”

He starts pacing the floor now, clearly agitated.

“Why isn't it okay for me to have friends?”

“She's
not
your friend. Stay here,” he barks, and storms for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To make sure nothing like this happens again.” Then he strides out, slamming the door shut.

“Thatcher!” I shout, certain that he's going to find Reena and have a talk with her. Although it probably won't be a talk. It'll be more of a shouting match. Oh, God, I should have told him it was Leo, not Reena. He's mad at her when she's really innocent in all this. It was Leo trying to take more energy.

I roll out of bed, my energy not fully restored, but revamped enough that I can go after him. But when I step out of my prism, all I see is the cloudy mist again, the emptiness, the gray. He's nowhere in sight. Although I have no idea where I'm going, I'm determined to find Reena and warn her that Thatcher is angrier than he was before—if it's even possible to surpass his earlier level of anger.

As I wander along in what seems to be an almost aimless route, I begin to see some grass, a bit of sky, even a pathway. I'm a little afraid, but it's the good kind of fear. The kind that rushes through me when I'm pushing my limits. The kind I used to crave.

I wonder how I'll find Reena, or anyone, in this lonely place. But then the mist swirls provocatively around me and suddenly I'm turning a corner and standing in front of a gray door, which has an intimidating wrought-iron gate over it. I hesitate. For all I know, hell and brimstone could be on the other side.

“Callie May,” I say to myself. “You are no chicken.”

Just as I'm about to knock, the door swings open and I jump back, crouching down instinctively. I see a swoosh of dark hair as Reena emerges. The energy in the Prism
must
work to lead me to where I think about going—it delivered me to Reena's prism. I start to stand and say hi, but before I make a sound, I hear Thatcher's voice.

“Leave her alone,” he demands. Such power, determination, and fortitude ring through his voice that I slide back into the crouch, hoping the mist will hide me.

“She's a big girl,” says Reena. “She can decide who her friends are. Are you bothered because she's not completely under your spell?”

“What? No,” Thatcher scoffs. They're both standing in the doorway, just a few feet away from me. They're staring at each other intently. “Reena, she's a special case. You don't know what you're doing—the damage you could cause.”

“Does this have something to do with her energy?” asks Reena. “She has so much. It seems almost like she's—”

“Her energy is completely standard,” interrupts Thatcher. But he's told me that my energy level is high, so why is he lying to Reena?

“We both know that isn't true,” says Reena.

“I don't know exactly what you and Leo are doing,” says Thatcher. “But I know you're up to something—the Guides are watching you.”

“Ooh,
the Guides are watching us
.” Reena's tone is mocking. “We'd better run scared now. Oh, wait, we're already dead. I guess that means we don't get scared.”

“Reena, this is serious.
Stop
messing with the Living.”

“I thought you were here to tell me to steer clear of Callie,” says Reena. “So which is it, Thatcher? Don't think you'll get two favors out of me.”

“I'm not asking for a favor. I'm issuing you a warning—stay away from Callie and stop what you're doing on Earth.”

“We're just having a little fun,” she says. “Haunting doesn't have to be so serious and sad all the time.”

I couldn't agree more. Maybe if Thatcher would open his mind up to the possibilities and go with us, he'd see it as well.

“Besides, Thatcher,” says Reena, “you're so transparent.”

“What do you mean?”

“You like her.”

My heart speeds up.
What?

“I—” Thatcher begins, then halts. “She's my responsibility, but there are challenges with Callie that make it really difficult.”

Ouch
. Although I have to admit that I've been a pain in the butt, bucking at the restrictions, trying to find my own way to do this. I've never been one to take the path already traveled.

“You used to be into challenging girls,” says Reena.

“Not anymore.”

“Then why do you care if she spends time with little old me?” asks Reena in a flirty tone.

“I'm her Guide. It's my job to protect her.”

“You used to try to protect me,” says Reena, her voice softer.

“I still would,” says Thatcher. And I wonder what he means.

They fall silent. They're standing toe-to-toe and staring each other down. I have the sense that even if I started doing cartwheels, they wouldn't notice me right now.

Then I see Thatcher reach out and take Reena's hand. He's always so careful not to touch that I feel a momentary surge of jealousy. Which is crazy. He's just my Guide, but I've started to want him to be more.

“I wish you could still merge,” he says.

“I don't want to merge. You know that. I've been pretty clear about my feelings on the subject.”

“I'm so sorry, Reena. I'm really sorry things worked out this way.”

“Don't be sorry, Thatcher!” she shouts, pulling her hand away from his. “God, I'm so sick of you being sad. Get mad about what happened to us! Aren't you angry that we had to
die
?”

He shakes his head. “We've been over this. I won't rehash it now. Just . . .
leave Callie alone
.”

“But I enjoy her company. She's fun,” says Reena. “She reminds me of me when I was
alive
—don't you think?”

My mouth drops open.
They
did
know each other before.

Thatcher takes a step closer to Reena so that he's right up in her face. “She's nothing like you.”

“Oh really?”

“She's thoughtful and funny and smart and kind and open to believing, not to bitterness.”

If I were still in my body, I'd be blushing, my face heating uncomfortably. I had no idea he thought all those things about me.

“Hmm . . . I can tell how much you don't like her,” says Reena. “You hate her so much you're ready to spend the rest of your death with her.”

Her face lights up then, and she tilts her head at him. “Oh, I just thought of that. Is that your plan, Thatcher? From what I understand, she's not having any luck with her hauntings. I'm thinking that maybe you don't want her to succeed.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You're the most experienced Guide, the best. But she's floundering. I don't think your heart is really in this little project.” She narrows her eyes, runs her tongue over her lips. “Or maybe it is. Just not in the way it's supposed to be. You more than like her.”

“You have”—he shakes his head—“totally lost your mind.”

“You're so cute when you get rattled,” Reena says. “You know I'm right. As long as those she cares about don't move on, she can stay with you, be with you. I think that's exactly what you want. Then you're no longer alone.”

“I would never be that selfish, undermine her progress like that.”

“Because Solus is so wonderful. But what if it isn't, Thatcher? What if you're wrong? What if you're really condemning her to hell?”

Thatcher backs up a step as though she's punched him. “You don't know what you're talking about.”

“But I know what I want and I know how to get it.” Reena laughs, a light, dismissive trill. “Good-bye, Thatcher.” She walks back into her prism and slams the door. Crouching into a ball, I hope that he goes in the direction away from where I'm hiding.

I listen intently for Thatcher's footfall, but all I hear is silence. Duh. Walking on mist leaves no sound.

So much for warning Reena about Thatcher and telling Thatcher the truth about Leo. Reena's just trying to help me connect with those I love. Leo's trying to take advantage. I shudder at the memory of him reaching out to me in anger, of him drawing the last of my energy, plunging me into the blackness.

I know that Thatcher has kept some things from me, but I don't believe for a minute that he's deliberately sabotaging my progress. It's just that his method isn't working for me. At least with Reena's way, people know I'm there.

“He's gone.”

I don't start; I don't spin around. I just work to put up my defenses. “Leo, you
are
stalking me.”

I shove myself to my feet and glare at him. His hands are in the back pockets of his jeans, and he's rocking back and forth while wearing his familiar I'm-up-to-no-good grin. “I was worried. Just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Yeah, you strike me as someone who worries a lot about others.”

“I didn't mean to drain all your energy. Seriously. Reena thinks it happened because we'd already been so active. You just didn't have that much left.”