The Rift (9 page)

“Would you like something to eat?” A
blueberry muffin on a paper plate appeared on the table in front of
me, and I looked up to meet the amber eyes of Wraith.

“Sure.” I smiled and reached for my wallet,
but he waved me away.

“It’s on the house if you let me sit with you
and chat for a moment.”

I nodded because he was cute and seemed
interested, and I was hungry for whatever moments of normality I
could find. I could rationalize it and say I needed to talk to him
to find out more about Bruce’s new life, but I’d be lying if I
pretended I didn’t have another reason for wanting his company. I
was sick to death of lying. He pulled out the chair next to me and
sat.

“What’s the story with your friend over there
who has Jeremiah so captivated?”

“That’s his story to tell, not mine. Have you
known him long?”

“How do you know him?” Wraith asked, ignoring
my question.

I shrugged. “I knew him a long time ago.
Never really liked him very much and the feeling was mutual, as I’m
sure he’ll be happy to tell you. I’m not good company, and I tend
to attract trouble.” I stuffed a bite of muffin in my mouth before
I said anymore. I really need to work on not over-sharing with
strangers.

Wraith nodded seriously. “Thanks for the
warning, but maybe I’d like to take my chances.”

“As long as you’ve been warned,” I said,
meeting his eyes and finding it impossible not to return his
smile.

“May I ask what brought you to our fine
town?”

“I’m here with some friends,” I said. “A week
in the mountains to get away from it all.”

He nodded. “Sounds like fun. Why’d you choose
these mountains? This town? Did you know Jeremiah was here?”

“No, we had no idea. We live in
Charlottesville, so this was a short drive and an affordable place
to stay. It was kind of a spur of the moment plan, you know, so we
had to keep it cheap.” I used the backstory Jed had come up
with.

Wraith’s eyes held mine, and I repressed a
shiver. “So you’re fun, spontaneous, and responsible with money.
You sound like someone I’d like to know better.”

I had to look away from the heat in his eyes
to regain my bearings and think of something logical to say. I
looked out the window to see Jed leaning against the front of the
car. He had his arms crossed over his chest and, for a moment, I
just enjoyed the view. His t-shirt stretched tight over his biceps,
his posture relaxed like he was just soaking up some spring
sunshine. I wished that was all he was doing, that I didn’t know
him at all and could walk out of that bakery and talk to him
without any of the baggage we had between us. I missed his laugh. I
missed
him
I realized, and my chest ached the way it had
after I’d kissed him and he’d pushed me away. Reality crashed back
down, and I felt certain that even without reapers and corporate
politics he’d still look at me and see someone he didn’t want.

“Ah, I see you’re taken,” Wraith said,
startling me from my reverie.

“No,” I said, with more enthusiasm than I’d
intended. “No, he’s just a friend.”

“But you’d like him to be more than a friend.
Maybe I could help you with that. There’s nothing like jealousy to
inspire interest.” He leaned back in his seat, draping an arm over
the chair back, like he was showing off what he was offering.

God, the guy must have thought I was
desperate and pathetic. “No, honestly,” I said, smiling at him in
what I hoped was a confident, assured way. “I’m not interested in
him. I have a boyfriend.”

Wraith shook his head. “Of course you do,” he
said. “If you and the boyfriend don’t work out, you should call
me.” He slid a card across the table, and I took it.

“What about you?” I asked. “Have you always
lived here?”

He smiled. “No, I grew up in the New England
area and went to college up there. I got a law degree and made lots
of money, but I got bored. I started traveling, found this place,
and decided to stay for a while. I haven’t left yet.”

“What drew you to this area?”

His eyes twinkled and he leaned in. “There’s
so much space to run and to hunt. There’s nothing quite like
chasing your prey over mountains, so many places to hide and miles
without a single human soul.”

I swallowed, feeling a bit like prey myself,
not sure whether he wanted to eat me or seduce me. “I’d love to
take you with me sometime,” he said. “I think you’d enjoy the
hunt.”

I pushed my chair back and stood. “You know
we should probably get going. Thank you for the muffin.”

“Thank you for the conversation,” he said,
his nostrils twitching. “Feel free to call me anytime.”

I turned and walked over to get Angelica and
get the hell out of there. “You should invite them to the party
tonight,” Wraith called over my shoulder to Jeremiah.

“I already did,” Jeremiah said with a wicked
grin. I was getting a bad feeling. I wasn’t sure exactly what kind
of trouble those guys were, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t the fun
kind.

“We should go,” I said to Angelica. She stood
without argument. Jeremiah gave her a hug and a serious kiss, with
tongues in full play and everything. I walked past them and out the
door to Jed, giving them time to say their goodbyes.

Jed’s body tensed the tiniest bit as I walked
out into the sunlight, and I wished I could go up to him in my
pretty dress, wrap my arms around him, and kiss him until he
smiled. I wished I knew how to make him smile. “How’d it go?” he
asked when I was next to him.

“He’s Bruce,” I said. “Anyone could have
found out what he told me, but the attitude was all Bruce.”

“You’re sure?” Jed asked.

“This Jeremiah annoys me the same way Bruce
always did and he’s got a lot of anger and hostility toward me. I
don’t think that can be faked. Plus, his ghostly stalker, Abigail,
made an appearance. I’m as sure as I can be, but I wish we had a
second opinion that wasn’t the girl in the rose-colored
glasses.”

Jed grunted in agreement as Angelica walked
out of the bakery glowing, a smile splitting her face.

Henry appeared from up the street where, I
presumed, he’d been checking things out. He wrapped an arm around
my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “Let’s go eat. I’m
starving.”

We found a cute little mom and pop restaurant
that promised southern fare and got a table in the back. The place
smelled a bit of cleaner, but the waitress was nice, and my shrimp
and grits was incredible. While we ate, Angelica gave us a run-down
of all the things Jeremiah knew that only Bruce could have known.
She was absolutely convinced, and I wanted to be happy for her, but
I couldn’t help worrying about what would happen if we were wrong.
Bruce’s ghost could have given up that information for the right
price, or maybe reapers had watched her and Bruce in their most
intimate moments. Abigail had claimed she’d spied on them, and I
wouldn’t put it past her to go after Angelica with some sort of
scam. There was no real way to be sure, unless Bruce left the body
he was inhabiting and showed himself.

I kept my mouth shut at lunch, because I
didn’t want to rain on her parade, but Jed had no such qualms.
“Angelica,” he said, his tone more gentle than I’d expected. I knew
he’d be skeptical, but I hadn’t thought he’d be nice about it. “I
understand how much you want this to be Bruce and I really hope he
is, but I you need to be careful and aware. If you notice anything
off, or if he says even one thing out of character, you get away
from him.”

Angelica nodded and smiled, but her
expression was dreamy like she was still thinking about Bruce and
not really listening to Jed. Jed looked at me and shrugged, looking
gloomy. I just shook my head, telling him there was nothing more he
could do. He smiled and something cold in the center of me warmed
and melted just a tiny bit. I looked down at the table and pushed
the feeling away, finally recognizing it for what it was. I had a
serious thing for Jed, and I was desperate for any sign of approval
from him. I was pathetic. I squeezed Henry’s hand tighter under the
table, pushed down the warmth I’d felt from Jed, and concentrated
on my sandwich.

“Something’s going on,” Tucker told me that
evening, after another soul-shattering discussion with Doctor
Veronica. I was rocking on the porch swing with Henry wrapped
around me to keep me warm. “There are about twenty-five reapers in
that town, and they all avoided you and Henry when you were there.
They were friendly enough, but they wouldn’t tell me anything about
the wolves, acted like they didn’t even know wolves live around
here, and very kindly implied I wasn’t welcome to ask them any more
questions or overstay my welcome. I don’t like this.”

“What do you think is going on?” I asked.

Tucker shrugged. “You wanna know what I
really think? I think we should all get the hell out of here and
fast. The reapers are clearly up to something. They’ve reaped
wolves for the first time in centuries. It’s like they’ve got some
sort of experiment going on.”

“That would explain why Houston’s here,” I
said. “But why are they doing this experiment now? Why do they need
to reap wolves when they’re in the middle of a war?” Not that it
was much of a war. From what I understood, Varius was only fighting
hard enough to get a piece of whatever political and financial
power the reapers gained in each town they took. Varius believed
they could control the reapers in those towns, but I doubted it.
Harvest One wasn’t fighting at all. They were waiting it out and
planning to reap the benefits with their con game when the living
started noticing all the strange things going on around them. My
dad, Len, was the only one truly fighting them and, though
powerful, his group was small and stretched thin. As a young ghost,
Len didn’t have much power, but he and his team had still managed
to reclaim two cities. At last count, the reapers had major
political and financial clout in 45 towns and cities and they
weren’t stopping. Some people believed they wanted to claim all of
America. If they had control of the politicians, the police forces,
and the money, there’d be no one except those of us who could see
the dead to stop them.

“Would you like to fight a wolf?” Tucker
asked, making a good point about why reapers might want to reap
wolves during a war.

The three of us considered the downsides to
that battle for several long minutes. “Why don’t I go talk to Jed
about this,” I said.

“You want me to come with?” Tucker asked.

I looked at him, then I looked at Henry and
shook my head. “Nope, but my room will be free. I can meet you
there in twenty minutes.”

“No,” Tucker and Henry said together.

When I raised my eyebrows at Tucker, he
smiled like he was about to give me bad news. “It drains you too
much, Kelsey, and I’m afraid you’re going to need all the energy
you can get.”

“You really think I’m going to have to
fight?”

Henry shrugged, and Tucker said nothing. They
both stood and walked back inside. I followed them in to look for
Jed.

The living room was dark, only the flickering
blue light of the T.V. reflecting off Angelica curled up on the
couch. She was watching some recent romantic movie and her cheeks
were wet. She looked up at me and smiled as I walked by. I smiled
back at her and shook my head. I hated movies that made me sad.
Real life was tough enough without crying at make-believe.

The kitchen was well-lit, and I walked back
there to find Jed on the phone, laughing. I hadn’t seen him laugh
since we’d lived in Briarton together. He caught my eye and held up
a finger. “Okay, thank you again, Tessa,” he said, grinning, his
eyes dancing with mirth.

He hung up and I sat down at the table,
trying to stretch my dress farther down my thighs, feeling awkward
and over-exposed. Something like jealousy curdled in my stomach.
Why couldn’t I stop caring that Jed wasn’t interested in me?
Wraith’s face popped into my head, and I just knew he’d be open to
helping me move on with no strings or expectations. He just seemed
like that kind of guy.

Jed sat down at the table across from me and
shook his head. “You want to tell me why you let us assume you’re
an alcoholic?” he asked.

“Are you going to tell Yvonne?”

His eyes widened. “You
want
her to
think you’re an alcoholic?”

I shrugged. “Not really, but I’d rather her
think I’m an alcoholic than know that I’ve been working out more
than I’m supposed to. Not only am I not supposed to be trained, but
she also limited how many hours I can exercise a day.”

“When did she decide that?”

“When I quit going to therapy. I offered to
return to therapy, but it was too late. She realized how bad I
wanted to keep working out, so she said I couldn’t have 24 hour
access to the gyms without agreeing to perform deletions.”

Jed looked down at the table, tapping his
fingertips against each other. “So you let everyone think you’re a
lush so they wouldn’t question what you were doing when you
disappeared.”

“Yeah.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but I
didn’t trust Jed with the whole truth. “So could you please not
tell your mom? Working out is the only thing keeping me sane at
that place.”

“Why do you even have to ask me that?”

I should have let it go. I should have just
apologized and hoped he wouldn’t tell her, but I’d never been very
good at keeping my mouth shut when I should. “Oh, I don’t know Jed,
maybe because it seems like Varius is your whole life, and you do
everything your mother asks.”

His open hands fisted on the table and he
glared at me. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m not sure where to start. How about you
kidnapping me, then disappearing back to Varius like you didn’t
care what happened to me, or staying behind when we went back to
try to save Briarton, or…?”
pushing me away when I kissed
you
. Luckily I managed to stop my traitorous tongue before I
revealed the last bit.