“But you will have told her. She’ll find out about him eventually. If you’ve warned her, it won’t be a total shock when he turns on her.”
God. That made me want to puke. I ate anyway. “Emily said not to trust her. What if I tell her and she runs back and tells him?”
“Who do you trust more, Emily or Wren?”
I didn’t need to answer that. I finished my food and then went home—after kissing Ben and promising to let him know how my conversation with Wren went. When I got home, I grabbed a quick shower and started in on my homework. I had just finished a history reading when I heard the text notification on my phone. I looked at the screen—there was no return number or name, but I didn’t need one.
Staying with Noah. There’s nothing wrong at Haven Crest. See you tomorrow.
I stared at it. I couldn’t even text back to ask her to come home. I damn sure wasn’t about to go to Haven Crest to get her. She’d never acted like this before, and I didn’t know what to do about it. She deserved happiness, but didn’t Noah raise any alarms for her? Didn’t she suspect that he wasn’t what he seemed?
Of course not. She thought he was everything she ever wanted—a reasonable replacement for the living boy she couldn’t have. That might be harsh of me to think, but he and Kevin were blood relatives.
What was I supposed to do? Ask Dead Babies not to perform? That wasn’t going to happen. Vandalism to sabotage the event would be tricky and wasn’t worth juvenile jail time. The town wasn’t going to shut it down—they had made a lot of money off this event, and were going to earn even more once the town filled up with concertgoers and Dead Babies fans. Who would listen to me? I was just some girl who’d spent time in a mental asylum.
God, if I caused trouble about the concert with the town, Nan would be the one who suffered for it. They’d all run bitching to her about me. I loved my grandmother—enough that I’d rather die than cause her any pain.
There wasn’t enough salt or iron to protect everyone who would be at Haven Crest Halloween night, and using the stuff would prevent any help other ghosts wanted to give us. I couldn’t count on Wren, who was either lying to me about Haven Crest or clueless about Noah’s plans.
Maybe Emily was wrong. Maybe Noah wasn’t evil. Maybe the concert would be just a concert and nothing bad would happen.
Yeah. Right.
I swiped my thumb across the screen and brought up my contacts list. I selected Kevin and lifted the phone to my ear. It rang a couple of times.
“Lark?”
“Hey, Kevin. Can I ask you a question?”
There was a second of hesitation. “Does it have anything to do with Mace or Sarah?”
“Not a bit.”
“Then go ahead.”
“Do you know if Noah McCrae is buried in your family crypt?”
More silence. “Wow. I didn’t see that one coming. Um, I don’t know.”
I guess I ought to have expected that. I mean, did I think he’d have a list or a chart lying around? “Well, do you know how old the earlier graves are?”
“There are a couple dating back to the 1700s. It’s a big crypt. Not all the family is buried there. Most of the newer graves are outside, surrounding the building.”
“Can you just walk in, or is it locked?”
“Seriously? Would you leave a crypt unlocked in this town?”
He had a point. Teenagers were pigs and horny enough to do the nasty on top of a centuries-old coffin with dusty bones rattling beneath them.
“Can you get a key?”
“Yes. What’s this about, Lark?”
I sighed. I might as well tell him. Really, there was no good reason to keep it from him. He deserved to know just in case Noah had plans for him, too. “You know that guy Wren brought to the party?”
“Mr. Darcy? Yeah, I remember him.” No, he didn’t sound jealous at all.
“His name is Noah McCrae. He’s your ancestor.”
“Fuck off.”
I laughed. How could I not? Kevin rarely swore.
“I’m not joking. I wish I was. Look, Kev, I’ve got reason to believe he’s involved in something really bad. Worse than Josiah Bent bad, but the details are sketchy. Wren is in danger, and I need to get to Noah’s grave.”
A second ticked by. Was he even there? Had the call dropped? “You’re going to smoke your sister’s potentially evil boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“I’m in.” Oh, thank God. “When?”
I checked the time. It wasn’t even eight o’clock, and I had my homework done. Nan would be okay with me going out. “Now?”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up and changed into some dark jeans and a black sweater. I grabbed a pair of Fluevog boots out of my closet and put them on. Nan was in the kitchen making tea when I came down.
“I’m going out for a bit,” I told her. “Ghost stuff.”
She nodded, dipping a tea ball in and out of her cup. “Should I be worried?”
“No, and I won’t be gone long.”
She nodded, still dipping. “Is your homework done?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Have you eaten?”