A Strange There After (26 page)

“I want to make this better, believe me. I
fell hard for you, and I’m not willing to give it up yet.”

“
And you kept falling for me the last
month.” The stubborn part of me was like a dog with a
bone.

He jerked as if I’d reached out and slapped
him. It took him a while to find the right words. Finally, he
settled on a simple, “Yes.”

The heat inside me flared. Rational, level
headed Quinn wondered what I would do in his situation. If his body
was taken over by someone very good at impersonating him. Would I
notice the subtle changes and chalk them up to getting to know him
better?

I didn’t want to be rational.

“What was different about her? That you
liked?”

“Quinn, don’t make me do this,” he begged. “I
don’t want to hurt you.”

“You already have!” I yelled, startling
him.

“You act like this has been easy. Black and
white. I don’t know what I’m supposed do here!”

“Sounds to me like it’s been pretty easy,” I
mumbled.

“I’ve been in hell the last couple days.
Everyone else here has a link to the paranormal, a way to see you
or communicate with you. I’m an outsider. Dammit, I want to help,
but I don’t know how. Not after I’ve hurt you so badly.”

I steeled my heart against his admission. It
probably was hard, being left out of so much, but he didn’t have
the skills Abby or Boone did. What I needed from him was support
and faith, the things I hadn’t gotten, not in the way that
mattered.

“If you want to help, tell me the truth about
why Catherine was better.”

He paced in front of me, a ball of nervous
energy. “Fine, you want to know what was different? She wasn’t as
hesitant about showing me affection in public, about the
consequences of what people would think about someone like her with
someone like me. She relaxed in that environment a lot quicker. I
didn’t have to worry about her as much.”

I swallowed the sudden sobs in my throat,
determined not to show him how deeply his words wounded me.

“There were plenty of reasons why I held back
with you. Most importantly, the fact I’d been threatened
repeatedly, warned I wouldn’t live to see my eighteenth birthday.
Forgive me for being a little cautious. Not all of them revolved
around your world and what you do for a living.”

“I know, and I didn’t mean for it to come out
so badly. With you, all I knew was your fear, your limitations
based on what was happening with your family. With Catherine, it
was gone. It felt freer. It was who I always imagined you to be.”
He must have seen my crestfallen expression. “No, crap, this is not
coming out right. I pictured being with you after we helped your
stepmother, when your life was back to normal. It involved sitting
outside at a café and you not caring if we had our picture taken
because you were that confident about us. I wanted to walk down the
street with you and hold your hand, in the open. I guess I was too
caught up in it actually happening, I didn’t pay enough attention
to the details.”

Exhaustion was causing me to sway. After
using this anger earlier in Catherine’s bedroom, and again now, I
felt the effect it was having on me. I wasn’t sure how much longer
I could hold on to it. So, I ripped the scab off my fresh
wound.

“Who initiated things first? You or her?”

“Why are you doing this?”

I didn’t really know. “Because I need all the
facts if I ever plan on moving past it.”

“It was mutual, just kind of happened. Being
with you, with her, wasn’t planned. One night, things progressed to
a point neither of us wanted to stop.” He drew in a shaky breath.
“I know I’ve done irreparable damage, and I understand the
consequences, that I may have lost you forever. All I’m asking is
for you to take some time. I don’t want this to distract you from
the most important thing, which is finding a way to get your life
back.”

I barely heard what he’d said. My mind was
saturated with visions of them kissing and touching, in bed
together. It all became too much. As if it had a mind of its own,
the simmering anger reared up, becoming almost impossible to
contain.

“You should leave,” I warned him.

“No, I have more to say to you.”

“Go. I don’t want to hurt you again.”

This made him tense. “What do you mean?”

My gaze refused to reach his eyes, and I
stared at his chest. “Wait. Where is your amulet? The one from
Meena?”

He reached for it absently. “I had to take it
off for a photo shoot. I think I left it in my trailer on
location.”

“Find it,” I ground out. “It will protect you
from me.”

“You won’t hurt me,” he said stubbornly. “Not
again.”

“I can’t always control the anger. Not
anymore,” I shouted, feeling the heat building inside me. “Get out!
Please!”

For a second, I didn’t think he would listen,
but his entire body slumped in defeat. Right as he got to the
entrance, he looked back at me. “This isn’t over.”

I watched him leave, feeling more torn and
confused than ever. He was right. I needed to process all this. It
wasn’t going to resolve itself overnight. I let go of the anger and
shook my hands, hating how oily they felt afterward.

Relationship drama was for later. Now I had a
crazy ghost to confront and a deal to make.

On cue, Kalfu materialized out of thin air,
grinning from ear to ear.

“My respect for you has grown even more.”

“Why?”

“For not letting him off the hook so easily.
You deserve to be heartbroken, to wallow in your hurts. He should
treat you better.”

I blinked a few times, processing the kind
statement. It seemed so out of character for him. Immediately, I
was suspicious. Regardless of his cooperation and the gift of
making me real enough to confront Jason, I understood who he really
was.

“I have a question.” He raised an eyebrow and
waited. “What if I sign this contract of yours and can’t go through
with it, with getting rid of Cora or doing one of your requests
later on?”

He frowned, one of the rare unfriendly
expressions I’d seen on his face. It made him look very much the
part of the villain. “Going against me once we have a written
agreement would be very bad indeed. Your soul would belong to me,
to do with as I choose.”

I struggled not to shudder. “How is that
different than me owing you favors?”

“You’d still have your free will, love.”

Kalfu didn’t elaborate, and to be honest, he
didn’t have to. Without free will I’d be his puppet and not just
when he needed me. I’d lose all control over my life and become
Catherine. Or worse.

“Okay, what now?” I wiped my sweaty palms on
my jeans, realizing I was still in my human form. As unsure as I
was about accepting this deal, I was sick of being a ghost, of
being hurt both physically and emotionally. Even if the only
benefit of working with Kalfu was getting rid of the traitorous
Catherine, I’d be perfectly fine with that.

The loa pulled out the blank parchment again,
brandishing it with all the flourish of a magician. “Now, it’s just
a matter of the signing. Hold out your hand.”

Tentatively, I reached out and focused on not
letting my hand tremble.

His smile became predatory. “In exchange for
ridding me of the frightful Cora and three yet-to-be-named favors
in the future I, Kalfu, Watcher of the Crossroads, swear to return
you to your body and dispose of Catherine Roberts. Quinn Roberts,
do you accept my help and agree to this bargain?”

I nodded.

“You must say the words, love.”

“Yes, I accept.”

He waved his hand over my outstretched palm.
A flash of pain erupted there. I glanced down to see a cut opening
across the skin. A dark red gash appeared. I hissed in
reaction.

“Blood is binding,” Kalfu said as he
winked.

Wrapping his long fingers around my wrist, he
held my hand over the blank contract. A drop of blood fell, hit the
paper, and suddenly words appeared. My signature, the deep red
color of blood, graced the bottom.

“It is done.”

He flicked his arm again, and the cut on my
palm healed over, tickling slightly. I gasped, and my chest heaved.
The weight of what I just did hit me. The room spun. Reaching out,
I grasped my old computer desk for support. Oh, God, what did I
do?

Chapter
Twenty-Nine

Once I was alone, the sounds reverberated
through the door again. Abby and Boone. I sighed. They were going
to go nuclear when they found out about the contract. And I had to
tell them, didn’t I?

“On the count of three,” Abby said through
the thick wood.

“One, two, three.”

The door creaked open the same moment they
went to ram it. My friends tumbled into the room, tripping over one
another and falling to the floor in a pile of limbs.

“Who unlocked the door?” Boone asked.

“Hey, watch the broken arm, you big oaf,”
Abby fussed, pinned beneath Boone’s weight.

So wrapped up in my own impulsive decision, I
listened with half an ear. Sickness swirled around in my belly as
my body shook, unable to be controlled or calmed.

After some grunting and scuffling, Boone
rushed to my side. His static touch told me I’d returned to my
ghostly form. I swallowed a phantom wave of nausea. When he knelt
in front of me, I shied away from his stern gaze. Unbidden, a
totally inappropriate vision of the nakedness I’d seen earlier
resurfaced and my cheeks flushed.

“What did you do?” he growled, not paying any
attention to my mortification.

Beside him, Abby slapped his head, fumbling
with her ear buds and recorder. “Way to be patient and
understanding like we discussed.” She elbowed past him then
crouched down next to him, staring through me. “Quinn, have you
crossed over to the dark side?”

Exhaustion caused me to giggle, which was
joined by Boone’s own chuckle.

“Seriously? Are you going to tell us why you
tried to choke Jason?”

And just like that, my mirth died. My first
instinct was to wait until Boone wasn’t around, but against all
odds, I did trust him. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t already seen me
at my worst.

Plus, at this point, I didn’t really care who
knew my secrets. Once they heard about Kalfu, something as trivial
as my virginity would be nothing.

I took a deep breath and dove in. “Catherine
and Jason slept together.”

“Oh, okay, I’d choke the loser too,” she
fumed. Boone cut her a sharp look. “What? I would!”

“What an ass,” Boone muttered.

“Hey!”

He grinned at Abby. “Not you. Jason.”

Abby returned her attention to my general
direction. “Quinn?”

“The thought of him kissing her. Touching
her.” The rage built inside of me, a beast with no leash. “And
lying in bed with her.”

“Ew!” Abby cried, interrupting. “Don’t put
those images in my head. It’s vomit inducing.”

“Exactly!” Out of the corner of my eye, I
noticed Boone staring at me, his dark eyes flashing behind his
glasses. “What?” I almost snapped, reigning it back in at the last
minute.

“You’ve never...?”

I shook my head rapidly so he wouldn’t have
to say it, and he answered with a low whistle. “I’d be pretty
angry, too.”

“I tried to choke him.” Dropping my head in
my hands, I said, “Angry is an understatement.”

“Right, stupid statement. You know,
technically, you’re still...ah...you know. One.”

“
Like she cares about that!” Abby cried
in indignation. She chewed on her lip, obviously mulling something
over in her head. “So, earlier, when you were all solid, and I saw
you, was it just because you were so pissed the bad energy made you
human?”

Instead of answering, I ambled a few paces
away to gather my thoughts and come up with a rational sounding
explanation. Lethargic, I tripped on the threadbare rug in the
center of the room. Recovering my balance, I realized there was no
easy way to say it. Not really. I started small.

“Kalfu allowed it to prove his good
intentions.”

“Are you out of your damn mind?” Boone
roared.

“I think Kalfu and the word
good
are,
like, an oxymoron or something,” Abby added.

Impatient, and frustrated with my own blind
trust of a disgraced loa, I snapped, “Nothing else is working. I’m
so sick of just standing around waiting. He has the power to give
me what I want. I’d be a fool not to consider every option.”

“As long as all you’re doing is
considering.”

As Abby spoke, Boone watched me closely. “I
don’t think that’s what she’s saying.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying very
hard to appear confident. “What he asks for in return is simple in
comparison.”

Boone swore and walked away, arms folded over
his head and jaw clenched so hard I thought it would shatter. He
stared at the sloping ceiling for a long time.

“
What does he want?” Abby broke the
silence.

Concentrating on my friend, who I hoped was
more rational, I said, “He wants Cora gone. Since she’s already
dead, it doesn’t seem as immoral as I expected. She’s hurt me,
badly, on more than one occasion. It’s not like I’ll be killing
her.”

“Cora’s presence is what keeps Kalfu’s power
muted.” Boone shot me a glare.

“Maybe. We don’t really know for sure.”

“You’ve lost your mind!”

“Boone, calm down,” Abby warned. “Quinn
wouldn’t do anything rash. Give her some credit.”

Guilt crept in, and I dipped my head in a
feeble attempt to hide behind my hair.

He stalked back to me, and I felt his ire
before he even opened his mouth. “She already accepted his
deal.”

Each word hit me like a physical punch, and I
flinched. Abby gasped, “No.”

My mouth opened and closed, a fish desperate
for air. Just because I had buyer’s remorse and considered my deal
an epic fail, I didn’t want them to see it that way. Besides, if I
acted positive, maybe they wouldn’t be so uptight about it.