The Haunted (2 page)

Megan glanced at me. “So are you going to tell me about Kade?”

“
He gave me a ride home, which took like two minutes from school to the inn.”

“
Seriously, that’s all you have to say?” she asked, looking disappointed.

Kade MacKinnon intrigued me, and not just because he was Ian’s descendant, but things he’d said made me believe he and Ian were the same person. That, and the physical similarities couldn’t exactly be ignored. I didn’t know a lot about reincarnation, but I was really curious if it was possible for a spirit to be earthbound and yet living at the same time. Maybe that’s a question I could ask Anne Marie.

“
Hey, text Cassandra real fast and tell her we’re right around the corner.”

I did as asked and immediately received a text back from Cassandra that read
.
I’m headed toward the gates now. Park at the entrance!

“
She said to park at the entrance.”

Megan turned onto a long, tree-lined road. I could make out an enormous grey stone manor house in the distance. Manicured lawns, fountains, and a large, wrought iron gate—it was incredible and looked more like a country club than someone’s home.

“
Wow, nice place,” I said, hoping to get a look at the inside one day soon.

“
Cass comes from old money. Her great-grandfather owned a shipping empire. This was just one of his many hunting lodges.”

Hunting lodge, manor, house, whatever—the place was straight-up amazing.

“
I can hardly wait until her birthday, which is coming up next month, by the way. She can do the driving then. She’s been dropping hints to her dad about buying her a Beamer, but Cass said her step-mum has mentioned a few times how she’d like to get a Rolls Royce Phantom and retire her Mercedes.”

“
Poor Cassandra,” I said.

Megan laughed. “I know. Would be nice, right?”

“
Definitely.” My dad had said when it came time for me and Shane to get cars, we’d have to buy our own…so I knew I wouldn’t be driving for a while. When I did get my own car, it would be like Megan’s—functional and economical.

“
Oh my God, look at her,” Megan said, nodding toward the gate, where Cassandra was squeezing through. She wore four-inch stilettos, skintight jeans and a black Lycra top with a plunging neckline. Her long platinum blonde hair was flatironed and her dark eye makeup was on the dramatic side.

Megan pulled closer, and hadn’t even stopped before Cassandra opened the car door.

“
Jesus, Cass…you could wait until I came to a complete stop.”

Cassandra dove into the backseat, and looked over her shoulder at the house beyond the iron gate. “Bitchzilla told me I couldn’t go. I snuck out the servants’ entrance, but I think she’s onto me.” She buckled her seatbelt. Just then her phone rang. She glanced at it and hit
Ignore
. “Shit.”

Megan’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, she’s headed this way.”

A bone thin woman with dark brown hair and a fake tan ran down the driveway, her fake boobs bouncing with each step. She couldn’t be a day over thirty, and she wore a hot pink velour sweatsuit that fit her like a second skin. “Cassandra!” she screamed.

“
Floor it!” Cassandra yelled, and Megan didn’t hesitate.

***

The glen was jammed full of cars, and I had butterflies in my stomach when I noticed Kade’s Range Rover among them.

“
Milo’s not here yet,” Megan said, searching the parking lot for her boyfriend’s van. “Where the hell is he? He left before I did.” She reached for her cell.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Um, he has his license now, so you’re going to have to let go a bit. Plus, he has people to pick up just like you.”

Megan ignored her and dialed his number. I could hear the head-banging music that was Milo’s ringtone. She cussed under her breath when he didn’t pick up and dropped the phone in her purse with a heavy sigh.

I grabbed my jacket, slid it on and followed behind Megan and Cassandra. Excitement rippled down my spine when I caught sight of Kade standing with Johan, Tom, and a group of girls I recognized from the schoolyard. The same girls who had been watching me talk to Kade earlier.

“
You want a beer, Riley?” Cassandra asked, heading for the keg resting on the tailgate of an old station wagon.

I shook my head. “No thanks.”

Cassandra lifted a brow. “Seriously?”

“
I have homework I have to get done when I get home.” It wasn’t a lie. I had five pages to read for History, but I also had no desire to drink, because the last thing I needed was to get shit-faced, especially with Laria hanging around.

My gaze shifted across the clearing to where Joni was stepping out of a car with her older sister and a short, stocky guy with a shaved head who I had passed in the hallway earlier at school today.

I still hadn’t seen Shane yet, and since he wasn’t with Joni, I had to assume he was with Milo.

“
There’s Kade,” Cassandra said, pointing toward the fire pit. “And big surprise—he’s with Dana and her crew.”

I could hear the sarcasm in Cassandra’s voice.

Dana, the beautiful redhead was in my first period class, nonexistent skirt showing off her long, flawless legs and kick-ass body. The guys in the class were checking her out pretty hard. She wasn’t as busty as Megan, but she came in a close second.

Figures.

Cait walked up to us and gave each of us a hug. Her jet black hair with chunks of platinum made her stand out in the crowd, and she wore a military looking charcoal shirt with pencil leg black pants and flats. “Took you guys long enough. I was beginning to think you might not show up.”

“
Did you come with your brother?” Cassandra asked, glancing at me and giving me a wink.

Subtle.

Cait smiled. “Actually, I did catch a ride with him. Sorry, thought I told you that.”

Megan shrugged. “I kind of figured when you didn’t call.”

Something, or someone, beyond my shoulder caught Cassandra’s gaze because her eyes widened and she immediately stepped behind me. “Bloody hell.”

“
What?” Megan asked, following her gaze. “Oh, you mean Tom?” She flashed a mocking grin. “I thought you liked him, Cass. At least that’s what I heard.”

“
Bitch,” Cassandra said under her breath. “I swear to God, I will never mix hard alcohol with Vicodin again.”

Vicodin? I tried not to look too surprised, even though I was. I had no idea she’d popped pills that night at the glen.

“
What a fuckin’ mistake that was.” She chewed on a fingernail. “He’s been blowing my phone up ever since.”

Megan snorted. “You must have been bloody outstanding for him to take on stalker status.”

I didn’t dare tell Cassandra that more than one person at school had asked me about her and Tom’s hookup. I’d just shrugged and told them I knew nothing about it, thinking the two had just made out that night at the glen.

From Cassandra’s reaction though, I had to think that maybe they’d done more than kiss.

“
Shoot me now and put me out of my misery,” Cassandra said, taking another swig off her pint. “Stage five clinger. Oh my God.”

Cait’s eyes widened. “Is that the Scotch from Bitchzilla’s stash?”

Cassandra grinned and handed the pint to Cait. “Yep.”

“
I have to say, the woman might be psychotic, but she has great taste in alcohol,” Cait said, before taking a swig.

“
Finally!” Megan said, watching Milo pull up in a beat-to-shit circa-1970s van. The blue paint had faded in spots, and there was rust around the fenders. Somehow it fit him to a T. He came to a screeching halt six feet from a group of girls. The van backfired and the door opened a second later. Richie, Shane and two other guys poured out in a cloud of what I assumed to be pot smoke.

The crowd roared and Milo flashed a cocky grin.

“
Who’s
that
?” Cait said, and I realized she was staring at Shane.

Megan straightened a little. “That’s Shane, Riley’s younger brother.”

“
No kidding,” Cait said, glancing at me with eyes wide. “Wow, little brother is a hottie.”

“
He’s with Joni,” Megan added quickly and Cassandra smirked. It was no secret, at least among our little group, that Megan had a crush on my brother.

“
I’m not sure how serious they are,” I replied before I could stop myself. “I mean, he hasn’t brought her over to the house or anything.” The second the words had left my mouth I felt kind of bad. I shouldn’t be encouraging any of my friends to go for my brother, especially since he seemed happy with Joni.

Cait nodded. “Hmmm…interesting.”

Did I sense a little friendly competition with Joni?

Milo came up from behind Megan and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder and slapping her butt. “’Ello, darlin’.”

“
Milo!” she yelled, and he laughed wickedly while spinning her around in a circle.

I had to admit—Milo was growing on me. He didn’t take himself too seriously, and he had a wicked sense of humor. Plus, it was obvious he loved Megan, which made him even more okay in my book.

Megan squirmed and he finally set her down. Her face was flushed, and she slapped his chest. “Bloody wanker.”

Giving a low groan, he kissed her neck. “Ah, I love it when you talk dirty to me, babe.”

He nodded at Cassandra and Cait, and then hooked his arm around my neck, pulling me close. “I see you made it through your first day of school, Ri. How are you doing?”

He reeked like weed.

“
I’m good, Milo. How about you?”

“
Never better, my friend. Never better.” He flashed a mischievous grin. “Hey, you up for another game of Truth or Dare?”

I shook my head. “Uh, that would be a no.”

From the corner of my eye I saw a flash in the woods of what looked like someone moving from tree to tree. Whoever it was wore a dark cloak, head covered, making it impossible to see their face.

A faint chanting began, and I swallowed hard. It was the same chanting I’d heard before when Ian was here.

Here we go again,
I thought to myself as I tried not to panic.

I blinked a few times, looked again, and sure enough I saw someone move, or glide in that now familiar creepy motion. And they were making their way closer.

Chapter
3

“
I’m glad to see you made it,” Kade said, and I glanced up, surprised he’d approached without me seeing him.

He was gorgeous, wearing a long sleeved navy shirt that formed to his athletic body, and dark, low-riding jeans. The Celtic cross, just like mine, hung from his neck. “Hey,” I said, my voice coming out a squeak.

Cassandra laughed under her breath and covered it with a cough.

It seemed like everyone was watching us.

“
On the way here Johan and Tom told me about the night you were put in the mausoleum,” Kade said, lowering his voice.

I’m sure Tom, who didn’t seem to like me for some reason, enjoyed telling Kade every detail of my terrifying hour locked in the MacKinnon family mausoleum. “Yeah, that was quite the welcome.”

“
That wouldn’t have happened if I’d been here.” His blue eyes were intense as he watched me.

I believed him. “I survived.”

The sides of his mouth lifted slightly. “It was brave of you to stick it out. I don’t know many girls who would have stayed.”

“
I bet Cait would have.”

“
True,” he said, grinning in full force now, and I wasn’t ready for what that smile did to my insides. Once again I thought of Ian. It was difficult to separate the two. They were so much alike. Even their personalities seemed similar. Or was I just looking for those similarities?

He stared like he was studying my face. “I don’t know what it is about you, but from the second I saw you, I felt like I’d seen you, or maybe even met you before.”

My heart missed a beat. “Maybe I just have one of those faces.”

“
No.” He shook his head. “No, it’s not that. When I saw you, I experienced déjà vu. Have you ever felt that with someone?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I felt the same way when I met you.” I said the words before I could stop myself.

His eyes brightened, and for a second his gaze shifted to my lips.

“
Kade…you left me.”

It was the chick with the big rack, her clique on her heels. The girls who had been giving me the dirty looks after school when I’d been talking to Kade.

Dana checked me out hard, her brows furrowed as though she couldn’t quite figure out why a guy like Kade would be wasting his time talking to a girl like me. One of the girls glanced at my jeans, arched a penciled-in brow, and actually whispered in the ringleader’s ear. Dana’s glossy lips spread in a smug smile.

I felt like an insect under a microscope…and it didn’t feel good.

“
Kade, do you think you could give me a ride home? The girls have to leave early and I really want to stay.” Dana’s eyes widened a little, and I swear she blinked fast a few times. “Tom said it would probably be okay with you.”