“Go ahead then.” Finn perches on the edge of the sofa and crosses his arms.
The girl dials a number, and then backs toward the door, watching us warily. “Leah? It’s Kat. Listen, I’m...” She hesitates, brows pulling together in consternation. “Leah? Can you hear me?” Kat studies the phone before putting it back to her ear. My stomach knots for her. She really doesn’t know she’s a Shade. Swearing under her breath, she redials. “Leah?”
Finn walks to her as the girl shakes, increasingly panicked in her attempts to talk to Leah. He gently takes the phone from Kat and speaks. “Sorry, wrong number.”
I hear the voice reply and so does Kat. Finn finishes the call and calmly places the phone back into my bag. The trembling girl presses herself against the door. “She couldn’t hear me?”
“No,” he says.
“But you can? And you can see me? So I can’t be dead. There must be something wrong with the phone?”
“People will see and hear you if they want to, but most people can’t.”
“Like a ghost?” she whispers. “But I can touch things and look...” She stomps to a wall and slams her hands against it. “If I was a ghost, I could walk through it, right?”
My head hurts and the scars on my arms itch again; my body isn’t as fixed as it was a few days ago. I have no information for her; I barely understand my own condition. I look to Finn and shake my head slowly, hoping he knows how to be gentle in his explanations even though her social skills appear as dodgy as his.
“Kat. Is that your name?” he asks and she nods. “In your head, picture a different room. One you’d like to be in right now.”
Kat disappears as if someone flicked a switch; five seconds later, her voice travels from the kitchen. “Fucking fuck!”
I bite down an amusement I shouldn’t have, especially as Finn appears surprised by her attitude and language. “I haven’t met anybody like her before,” he says in a low voice.
“I bet she hasn’t met anyone like you before.”
Kat reappears, some of the fear wiped away. “So I can go anywhere I want just by thinking? Like, I could go home?”
“No! Stop!” Finn approaches her and grabs her arm. “Not yet, you’ll get stuck. You don’t have the energy for travelling outside the house. And I don’t think you’re ready until you accept what you are.”
“Well, what are you?” she asks, pulling her arm away.
“A Reaper.”
“A what? Like Grim Reaper? Right…” She turns to me. “And you’re a vampire? Shit, this is weird. The other guy? What’s he? A ghost like I supposedly am?”
“I’m not a vampire,” I tell her, “not the blood-sucking sort anyway.”
“There’s more than one kind? Jesus...” She inhales deeply and closes her eyes. “Okay. I want to be on my own. Then when I’ve come to terms with this mind-fuck, I’ll get back to you.” Kat walks toward the kitchen and pauses. “Why am I walking?” The space where she was standing empties.
“You don’t think she’s left the house, do you?” I ask Finn.
“No, she’s here. Can’t you sense her?”
A loud bang from somewhere upstairs alerts Finn and he strides to the stairs. Kat shouts at someone, using the same colourful language as before and a door slams.
“More Shades?” I ask Finn.
“No. I think it’s Alek.”
Chapter 31
ROSE
Will this person be Alek? The thought is reflected in Finn’s face, too. I’m torn. I want to charge up the stairs, but my last memory of Alek was with a demon. Did he fight back? Or has he done what Finn fears? Kat’s voice continues and a male voice comes back at her.
“Wait for him. Don’t go up there,” says Finn quietly.
A queasy excitement and apprehension surges as Alek’s footsteps descend the stairs. I know for sure it’s him, the sound so familiar after my weeks living with him. Finn moves away from me, and stands in the corner of the room out of vision of anyone entering.
The Alek who steps into the room is pale and tired, lips colourless. He steadies himself and scans the room. I sit on my hands; the overwhelming urge to go to him could be dangerous.
“How did you get back?” he asks hoarsely. “I went for you and you left me! I thought you’d gone into the Void? They said you had and that if I did this, they’d get you back out again.”
“I couldn’t... I…” I glance at Finn.
Alek’s eyes narrow as he notices Finn. “The angel? What the hell is he doing here?”
“He brought me back,” I say quietly.
“I did this for nothing?” Alek steps toward me then stops. He grips his head and doubles over. “Get out,” he rasps. “Finn, get out.” I step back in alarm.
“Rose!” Finn says. “Come on.”
“No, not Rose. Rose. Stay.” Alek sinks to his knees and wraps his arms around his head. “Please.”
“What’s happening? Alek?” I ask.