“You trusted me,” I said, shocked to my soul, “despite what you saw.” That was absolutely, utterly huge.
“Yes,” he said. He fit his hands against my jaw. “I told you I did. I’m in this thing, Ali. All the way.”
“But...why did you stop texting me?”
I saw the ice frost over his eyes, and I shuddered. “My dad was monitoring my phone feed.”
Oh. The ice wasn’t for me, but for his father.
I looked away from him, trying to give myself time to think, and caught a glance of my reflection in the glass. I stumbled backward.
Zombie Ali was back.
Flickers of red burned in her eyes, and the black smudges on her cheeks were thicker. She smiled at me, waved—and then, through the reflection, I watched her step out of my body, away from the glass.
Chapter 23
The Rain of Broken Glass
With the tick of a clock loud in my ears, I watched Z.A. glide off the porch and into the driveway. She paused to look back at me and crook her finger, a silent command for me to follow. A need to know her purpose consumed me, and I stepped off after her.
Uncheck from list: disabled.
“Ali,” Cole called.
“Tell Nana I’ll be back as soon as possible. And don’t come after me.” Who knew where she was leading me?
Z.A. continued moving forward, across the street, into someone else’s yard. The sun was hidden behind thick gray clouds, creating a dreary backdrop. Any moment, I expected fat raindrops to fall, soaking and freezing me. I wondered how she would react—if the water would even touch her.
“Food’s ready,” Kat called. She must have stuck her head outside the door.
I never heard Cole’s reply.
Z.A. ghosted through a fence, and I was forced to climb it. Thankfully, no one was in the backyard to accuse me of trespassing. We repeated this process three more times before coming to a creek with tall, brittle grass.
She glanced back at me and giggled.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“You’ll see,” came the singsong reply. She continued on.
I stayed in place, debating the wisdom of my actions. But then, the farther away she moved, the more I felt pulled toward her. Compelled. My feet kicked into gear without any prompting.
She reached another front yard, another fence. Again she ghosted through. Again I climbed. We exited the backyard, came to a street, and she stopped to once again crook her finger at me. I closed the distance, putting us nose to nose.
“How are you doing this?” I snapped.
She reached up, traced her fingers over my cheek. I couldn’t feel the pressure of her touch, but I could feel the coldness of her skin—a cold far worse than the air around us.
I shuddered.
“So pretty,” she said.
I jerked away from her reach. “I can’t return the compliment.”
Her lips curled in a slow smile. She leaned forward and whispered, “If I can’t have your body, I’ll have to get rid of it and free myself from our connection.”
In the distance, I heard the honk of a car. A second later, something hard slammed into me, throwing me a good distance. I landed, lost my breath and then the “something” slammed on top of me, pushing out any air that had managed to remain in my lungs. As pain tore through me, the sound of squealing tires registered.
“Are you trying to kill yourself?” Cole shouted.
I glanced up. A car zoomed past the place I’d just been standing, swerving, finally managing to straighten out. I looked across the road, my gaze colliding with Z.A’s.
I saw fury.
“You disappeared for a moment,” Cole said. “I couldn’t see you. I don’t think the driver could see you. Then you reappeared and the car honked, but you just stood there.”
“I...” Wasn’t sure what to say. Z.A. had just tried to kill me.
“That’s it. I’m officially signing on as your keeper.” He stood, hefted me over his shoulder as if I were a bag of potatoes and carried me toward Kat’s house.
“Let me go, Cole. I’m going to murder her!” I beat at his back, not to hurt him but to gain his attention. He never slowed.