“You really didn’t take Noah’s remains, did you?” I asked.
She shook her head. “He’d be dust if I had.”
I believed her.
She lifted her head, and her gaze met mine. “I took yours, though.”
I blinked. For a second, I forgot all about the blackness creeping over my form. “You dug up my grave?” My voice rose higher with every word.
“Yup. Hid your casket, too.”
“Why?”
She arched a brow. “Uh, because if Noah can possess Kevin and make him hide his bones, he can make Kevin burn yours.”
“Noah wouldn’t do that.”
My arms fell to my sides when she released them. “What did he say when you asked him why he never mentioned that he was related to Kevin? Did he tell you that he was afraid it might change things between you?”
“Yes. Sort of.”
Her lips twitched. “Let me guess—he talks about not wanting to come between us, but tells you that I don’t understand you, that I’m overprotective, stifling?”
I had that dropping feeling inside. “Maybe.”
She didn’t gloat like I expected her to. “I’m sorry, Wren.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry I picked a fight with you.” I frowned. “I was just so angry.” In that moment I had hated her and wanted to destroy her. My God, I’d wanted to kill my sister. How could I have ever wanted that?
She took one of my hands and tugged me toward her vanity. “I need you to see something.” She gestured to the mirror.
I bent down to look at myself.
“Oh, my God,” I whispered. My hair was normal, but there was darkness around my eyes and mouth, and black veins like the ones on my arms. “My aura’s not right.” It had splotches of green in it. Like Noah’s aura. “We merged,” I whispered. “I’d never done it before, and it was so incredible. But he left some of himself behind, inside me.”
Lark made a face. “Didn’t need to know all that, but, okay. Looks like Noah’s infected you with a spectral STD. Which is, you know, gross.”
I smiled—not that there was much to smile about. “You always do that.”
“What?”
“Joke about a serious situation to make it seem less terrible. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”
She looked surprised. “Thanks.”
“I don’t like it when we fight.”
“I don’t either.” She paused. A sheepish grin curved her lips. “But we were pretty freaking awesome, weren’t we? I mean, I felt like we had at least a few more rounds before we tired each other out.”
We laughed, and I felt like I might choke on it. “I don’t want to believe Noah did this to me on purpose.”
“Hold up. We don’t know for sure that this is a bad thing. I mean, maybe it’s some kind of protective spell. I mean, maybe Emily was wrong. Maybe Kevin’s wrong, too. Hell, even I might be wrong. Maybe Noah’s exactly as he presented himself to you.”
She didn’t believe any of what she’d just said. I knew that just by looking at her, but she wanted it to be true, for me. My sister would do anything for me, and I would do anything for her. Wouldn’t I?
At the moment I was getting the oddest urge to attack her again. This anger was unfamiliar. Strange. It wasn’t mine. It was Noah’s. How could I have been so foolish?
“I don’t think this is for my protection, and there’s nothing good about it.”
Lark put her arms around my shoulders and pulled me into a fierce hug. “No,” she murmured. “But I’ll fix it, Wrennie. Nobody’s going to take you away from me.”
I was so close to her I could rip her eye out of its socket before she could blink. I let that realization just hang there for a bit. I could bite her. Punch her. I could do all sorts of violence to her.
I hugged her tighter. “I’m scared,” I whispered.
“It’s going to be okay.”
God, I wanted to rip her throat out. “I don’t think it is.”
She pulled away and looked at me. “You look like you want to kill me.”
“I think I do,” I replied. “I don’t. But...I do.”
Lark didn’t look concerned. “Wreck this room, and I’ll get Nan to bind you to a sewer drain.”
“This isn’t a joke, Lark!” Panic gripped me by the throat. “I want to hurt the only person who has ever loved me!”
“So do it.”
I gaped at her. “What?”
“You’re standing there flapping your lips about how much you want to hurt me, but you haven’t even flicked me in the eye. Come on, then. Hurt me.”
“I...I can’t.” Not now. Even though the urge was there, I couldn’t bring myself to harm her.
“Then shut up about it. We’ve got bigger things to worry about. We’ve got to do something.”