Z.A. watched us warily as we closed in on her.
“Murder who?” he asked casually.
“Her! My tormentor.” I would force my own spirit out of my body, and I would summon the fire and burn her to ash—whether the fire was white or red. If she could survive without me, I could survive without her. Surely.
He turned a corner, and she stretched out her arm. He had no idea. I, however, felt her as she was sucked back inside me.
Argh! “Why can’t you see her? You can see other spirits.”
“I don’t know. Maybe, like you, she has special abilities. Maybe she can cloak herself.”
That...made sense. Terrible, scary sense.
“Tell me everything that just happened, Ali. Give me the long version, but make it short. I want the full story before we reach Kat’s.”
“She left my body, and she tried to kill me, and now she’s back inside me, and she’ll be more careful, because she’s smart and she knows I can’t get to her until she leaves me again.” Frustration overwhelmed me, and I banged my fists into his back with more force. “I hate this. I hate her!” I accidentally kneed him in the stomach, but he held firm.
“Ali, calm down.”
No. I was done with calm. I twisted my upper body, sliding off his shoulder. He couldn’t stop me, but he made sure to catch me before I hit the ground. I came up fast, trying to avoid him, intending to run. The moment I was alone, I was going to freaking kill the zombie inside me!
He grabbed my wrist and kept me in place. “Calm down,” he repeated. “I mean it.”
Calm? Calm! I. Utterly. Exploded.
I launched myself at him, throwing a left, right, left. He ducked, then arched, then swung in the other direction, but I never managed to land a blow and that angered me all the more.
“What’s wrong with you?” he demanded.
“My life is changing again, and just when I think I’m on the right road, something else happens to prove me wrong, and I’m so tired of being wrong and I think I’m mad at you because you stayed away an extra three days, and now you’re back but I know it would be best if I stayed away from you and everyone else because I could hurt you, seriously hurt you, and I just don’t know how much more I can take!”
I swung at him. Again he ducked.
“You think it was easy to stay away from you?”
“Yes.”
“My dad told me he’d keep his nose out of my relationship with you if I’d keep away from you for ten days. Just ten. No contact. I think he hoped the craving would fade. Do you know what day this is, Ali? Nine. I couldn’t make it one more damn night.”
I stilled, panting. I didn’t know what to say to that.
He stared over at me. “I love you, Ali. Do you understand? I love you.”
Wait. What? “You love me?”
“I’ve never said those words to another girl.” He lifted his chin, squared his shoulders and braced his legs apart, as if preparing for a real battle. “You’re stubborn, too curious for your own good and you’ve become a wild card, but yes, I love you.”
He.
Loved.
Me.
“And that’s how you tell me?” Snarling, I kicked out my leg and knocked his ankles together. He fell backward, and I followed him down, throwing more punches—but these lacked any heat. My heart was too busy doing somersaults.
He rolled me to my back and pinned my arms over my head. I bucked, but he weighed more than me, and I couldn’t dislodge him. Our gazes met, and tension smoldered between us, hot and strong and undeniable.
“Let me go,” I rasped.
“Never again,” he replied.
I was breathing so heavily my chest rubbed against his. Our legs were tangled, and I could feel every inch of him. I ran my tongue over the seam of my mouth, anger giving way to need.