Audrey Claire - Libby Grace 01 - How to be a Ghost (13 page)

Monica sat up in the bed, an expression of annoyance on her face. “I said I’m fine!”

I smiled. A doctor stood at her bedside, along with Clark and Isabelle. I
swooshed
through the wall into the hall, checked that no one looked my way, and materialized. Hoping I could handle the door, I gave it a push and was relieved when Isabelle opened it on the other side. Her brown eyes widened at spotting me, and a second after the soft rose mouth tightened. Isabelle Givens did not like me, and I had no idea why. I could not remember anything in our pasts to cause such a reaction, but then I hadn’t come across her often, even in my small town. The handful of times I had was when Mama got sick, and Jake and I were very healthy naturally. Mama hadn’t stayed in the hospital long, but passed within days of her stay.

“Ms. Wade,” the doctor intoned, “you have a mild concussion. I advise you to get plenty of rest.”

“I can do that at home,” Monica insisted.

I rushed to her bedside. “Monica, you should listen to the doctor. He knows what’s best, and you’ve been through a lot.”

My friend’s angry gaze burned into mine. I knew what she tried to tell me. I could not afford for her to be stuck in the hospital, but she needed to understand her health came first. I tried to convey this right back at her with my own gaze, and her lip quirked in amusement as if she understood what I tried to do.

Monica flung the covers away and did not even flinch at the fact that so many people viewed her bare legs dressed as she was in an unflattering hospital gown. She slid to the edge of the bed, and Clark spoke up. “Ms. Wade, I need to talk to you about the accident. It looks like someone might have pushed your car over the bridge deliberately.”

“Gee, you think?” Monica snapped. She ran a hand over her face and took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “Someone tried to kill us.”

“Us?” Clark frowned. “Was someone else in the car?”

“Me, I mean.” She gave an unconvincing chuckle. “Just me. Some man driving a…” She gave a general description of the car that had followed us, knowing about cars as much as I did.

Clark’s expression turned dark. “Did you get a good look at the suspect?”’

“No, he wore a baseball cap I think.” She looked at me, and I widened my eyes, trying to show her I agreed. Monica hesitated.

“Go on,” Clark nudged her. “What else can you tell me?”

“He was thin. At least he seemed to have narrow shoulders, so I assume he was slender.”

“Could it have been a woman?”

“I don’t think so.” Monica thought it over and then shook her head. “No, it was a man.

Clark seemed to come to his own conclusion. “Could it have been Miles Lucas?”

Once again Monica looked at me, and I shifted uncomfortably. I could not conclude the person who ran us off the road was Miles, but I couldn’t say with certainty it wasn’t. Monica echoed my thoughts, and Clark scratched in his little notebook and tucked it into his shirt pocket.

“I can provide you with protection, Ms. Wade,” he offered. “Also, when you’re feeling up to it, I would like you to come down to the station so we can discuss this incident further. Libby?”

I started when he said my name. “Yes?”

“I can give you a ride to the station now.”

“Why me?”

His brows bunched over his eyes, and squirm as I might, I couldn’t escape his knowing look. “I think you know more than you’ve shared with me. We need to discuss it.”

“I promise you I don’t know anything. Besides, it’s time to pick up my son. With Monica ill, I don’t have anyone to leave him with if I come to the station.” I held up a hand before he could speak. “Before you say you can question me about an attempted murder in my house with my son present, the answer is no, you will
not
.”

Clark’s hands worked into fists at his sides as he glared at me. I tried to appear as calm and innocent as possible, all the while aware of Isabelle, the doctor, and Monica’s gazes on me along with the chief of police’s.

At last, Clark pushed between clenched teeth, “I expect your call in the morning, Libby, and if you don’t call, I will be at your house to pick you up. Is that clear?”

“Crystal clear, chief.” I smiled. “Have a nice day.”

Isabelle shuffled her brother from the room, and the doctor left with the reluctant message that he would ready the release papers. I helped Monica dress while attempting to convince her to stay.

“Monica, I almost lost you. You need to rest.”

“And who’s going to pick up Jake from school?” she countered.

“I can do it. Your health is important.”

“So is yours.”

I laughed, a humorless sound. “My health can’t be helped at the moment.”

“And you should know me by now that I’m not going to lay here.”

“How bout this?” I suggested. “You pick up Jake and then rest while I look after him. Deal?”

She gave me a look that said she’d like to see me try, but it appeased her, and I soon tucked her into one of two taxis in the entirety of Summit’s Edge. Needless to say, Bernie also made his living restocking supplies and sweeping up at the Laundromat. I gave the excuse of having to take care of an errand as not to ride with them, but in reality I didn’t want to hold my form. Rather, I floated invisible along the streets to my house. I found that while it took time to get there, I expended no energy.

I waited in the house for Monica and Jake to come home with a plan to seek out Ian the first chance I got.

Chapter Eight

“Jake,” I called out to my son in his room. In a little while, his head popped from his doorway. “I was thinking of visiting our neighbor, Ian McClain. Want to come along?”

Jake stepped into the hall, confusion clouding his young face. “Why?”

“Because I can’t leave you in the house alone, and Aunt Monica is resting.”

“I mean why are you visiting him? We never did before.”

He waited for my answer with a wide, innocent gaze that made me want to shake my head and chuckle. I couldn’t weasel out of giving him an answer that satisfied him, and I didn’t like to tell him to stop asking so many questions—except when I couldn’t take it anymore of course.

I thought fast and remembered a few facts about Ian. “He’s an expert on history.” He
was
pretty old after all, and he read a lot. “I think with your trouble in social studies, Ian might be able to help.”

I waited, expecting my seven-year-old to lecture me about the differences in social studies and history, but to my great relief he was not so advanced, or he recognized my ploy and thought it not worth the effort. I had spent the better part of two hours ducking in and out of visibility in order to conserve energy so I could look after Jake. The plan worked, but now I wanted to visit Ian to make sure he was okay. He deserved that much from me.

Jake and I left the house, and it was only when we drew up to Ian’s door did I consider whether he had reinstated the barrier, and would Jake be able to pass through it even if I couldn’t. My worries turned out to be unnecessary when Jake jogged up to the door with his usual vigor and proceeded to ring the bell repeatedly.

“Jake, stop. That’s rude,” I scolded him and tugged his hand away from the bell.

Just as I thought that maybe the sun had burned Ian and I should let him heal, the door opened. Ian stood several feet away from the light bouncing into his foyer—another faux pas on my part. I should have waited until the sun went down.

“Perhaps another time is—” I began, but Jake seeing the door wide and Ian standing to the side of it took the situation as an invitation, and he bound into the cool interior. I followed, intending to rein in my son. “I’m sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to see if you were okay after….um…the accident.”

Ian said nothing but shut the door behind me. Jake exclaimed over a bauble on the hall table, and I opened my mouth to tell him not to touch any of Ian’s things without permission, but Ian spoke.

“You have not sufficiently replenished your energy, and neither your son nor I can do it for you.”

I pressed knuckles to my hip. “I know. However, I don’t have a choice. Monica was hurt, so I have to look after Jake. He’s my responsibility, and I want to take care of him.”

“Look at all these books,” Jake chirped from farther down the hall. I groaned, but I couldn’t tell from Ian’s expression whether we bothered him or not. He didn’t look like he was about to die, but I noticed white bandages beneath long sleeves. Then I thought of him having to do what he called “feeding.” Was he hungry? Was Jake safe?

“At sundown, I will go out,” he said as if he read my mind.

Being summer, I knew the sun wouldn’t give up its reign in the sky until close to nine at night. “Don’t you eat anything else?” I whispered.

“Not usually.”

I took his words to mean he could but chose not to, and my motherly instincts kicked in. I headed toward his kitchen, which I had passed previously on the way to the book room. I had enough energy to fix at least a simple meal, and if Jake continued to explore the library, I could wink in and out as necessary and maybe even solidify just my hands.

Ian’s refrigerator was not plugged in, and his cupboards were all barren. I blinked at him.

He shrugged. “I forgot to go to the grocery store.”

“I’ll bet you did.” I shook my head at him. Of course, he never had guests, so there was no need to stock the house with food. “I’ll be just a moment.”

I zipped across his lawn to mine and then into my house. A light dinner would suffice, a little wine for Ian and milk for Jake. Warm roast beef sandwiches would have to do for the two of them tonight, since Monica had already cooked the meat and it would take minimal effort for me to put together. From the snack drawer I kept stocked for Jake, I grabbed two rice crispy treats and hurried across to Ian’s house.

Ian nabbed the bags from my hands as soon as I entered. For an expressionless, limited emotion vampire, he was astute at judging how I felt. He dumped everything on the kitchen table, and I sorted, working fast to prepare the meal. The rate my hands prepared astonished me, definitely not what a human could accomplish.

Just before Jake appeared in the kitchen doorway, Ian shifted his position. I had thought he stood on my right, but the next instant he appeared on my left, blocking me from Jake’s view.

“I’m hungry, Mom,” Jake said.

When I heard my son’s voice, I slowed my movements, but I was thankful to Ian. I hadn’t heard Jake approaching the kitchen, but apparently Ian had. He fascinated me, and I wanted to get to know him better. What had he seen in his past? How long had he been alive? Did he miss his family and friends from so long ago? Were there other vampires living in Summit’s Edge? I shivered at this thought. Ian looked out for us for his own reasons, but that didn’t mean others would, or even that Ian wouldn’t change his mind and become the enemy. I had to keep that in mind.

I poured Ian a glass of wine and pushed a plate toward him. He ignored the food and sipped the wine. Jake attacked his meal and his glass of milk. “Slow down, Jake,” I said out of habit.

“Aren’t you going to eat, Mom?”

“Of course.” I pretended to, but I was fading fast. No way could I even hold a bite of food in my mouth. I was scared to even try. At first, I had intended to pretend to drink tea, but when I attempted to pick up the cup it rattled. “I’ll eat a little later. It’s been a long day.”

I checked the clock on the stove and found I’d held my form a good twenty minutes and closed my eyes. I tried thinking of an excuse to leave the room, but none came to mind. Sweet peace seeped into my head, and I felt myself sinking into it. A sigh of satisfaction rose to my lips.

“Libby!”

I started and opened my eyes. Ian and Jake were no longer in the kitchen, but then neither was I. I stood next to a king-size bed covered in red satin sheets. I drew nearer and touched the unmade bed. Had I drawn Ian from his rest when I arrived? I turned and explored further. A master bath made me want to weep in jealousy at its size, but the gauze in the sink distracted me.

I whirled to leave only to be blocked by Ian, filling the doorway.

“You were hurt,” I mumbled, concerned, nervous, and confused.

“I am fine. I heal quickly. However, I will need to replenish my energy by feeding tonight.”

A rush of panic surfaced, and Ian frowned. Once again, he appeared to read my mind.

“He’s in my study, reading.” I thought I heard a touch of fascination and pride in his tone. “Your son is interested in subjects unusual to someone of his age.”

I smiled. “He’s always been that way. I can’t keep his nose out of a book, and what he doesn’t understand he wants me to explain to him. It can be tiring, but I love his mind.”

He nodded but said no more. I started fidgeting, clasping my hands together, my gaze darting about the room. Ian wasted no effort or time in décor. Not to say his home was not furnished or well-appointed. To my eyes, the place seemed like a museum. There were no frills, no clutter. No excess or papers lying about. He didn’t even have reading material in the bathroom like many people, which made me wonder about his need to use the facilities. I jerked my mind away from such thoughts before I lapsed into my son’s habit and asked flat out.

“I wanted to thank you for saving Monica. You could have died, and I know you didn’t have to help us.”

His gaze locked on my face, and I couldn’t tell what he thought. “I was not in any real danger.”

“Um, your arms and shoulders were smoking!” I pointed at him. “I can see the bandages under your sleeves, and there’s more of it in the sink. I’ve heard the stories, Ian. I know vampires die in sunlight.”

He tilted his head a little to the side. “You know this?”

The single question made me feel silly and question what I thought I knew. I opened my mouth to answer, but he continued.

“We do not die right away in sunlight, and some, if they are careful and have done a little research, can find a way to minimize the danger.”

I wondered what he meant. “You’re almost like a witch.”

His nostrils flared, and I felt I’d insulted him. “We are all unique in our way.”