Dark Spirits (12 page)

“You have no choice,” he simply said.

“She
does
have a choice,” Nathan’s voice whipped out. “And I’ll be
damned
if you spirits are going to use her as a tool for your bloodthirsty agenda.”

Ayperos scowled at Nathan. “You don’t know
shit
!” he hissed. “You’re too preoccupied with your vengeance toward Aosoth, and you hinder Paige in more ways than one with your own bloodthirsty agendas.”

He was right, and Nathan jerked his head back at Ayperos’ forceful words. Then Nathan said something that totally flabbergasted me.

“I agree,” he said, staring past Ayperos at nothing in particular.

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day,” Ayperos arrogantly said, gloating.

“Well, it’s almost time for me to close.” I moved to the front door, tugging Nathan with me.

“Before I leave, I’d like to give you a gift.” Ayperos stepped in front of me, and when I gave him a weird look, he smiled. “It’s a gift of information.”

“Information?” I had no idea why he’d inform me about something, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t be if it wasn’t okay with the “old one.” And then I thought, whatever he had told me had to be nothing more than his way to try and manipulate me. I was about to call him on it, but he spoke first.

“Correct,” he said. “I know who killed Kora and your father.”

My stomach clenched. I could feel the blood draining from my face and tears welling. “Wh-wh-what?” I stammered, stumbling backwards into Nathan. He embraced my shoulders and held me against him. I had known both my father and grandmother were murdered, but I never knew who had done it. Anwar had an idea who killed my father, but he’d refused to tell Nathan and me. And now that I was finally going to find out, I wasn’t sure if I could handle it. The room spun a little.

“It was Aosoth,” he said, taking a few steps toward me when I crumbled to the floor. His hands were out, and he leaned forward–a gesture one makes to give comfort to a broken person.

“Do. Not. Touch. Her!” Nathan growled, scooping me in his arms.

Ayperos backed away. “I’m sorry,” he said, sounding grim. He turned to leave.

“Why?” was all I could choke out.

He opened the door, not bothering to turn around. “She killed them because they refused to help her get what she wanted.”

And then he left.

Chapter Twelve

Nathan had set me on a burgundy Victorian chaise directly across from the cashier counter against the far wall. It had a beautifully carved mahogany frame I couldn’t help but touch as I silently cried.

I hated crying outside my comfort zone and reminded myself to get a grip, that my feelings were jacked-up because it was part of the immortal package.

But the tears kept flowing.

I watched Nathan lock the door, flip the “closed” sign over, and shut the window blinds. And then he was beside me, pulling me into his arms.

“I’m sorry, Paige,” he murmured.

I clung to him, thinking how Aosoth had stolen my father away from my mom and me and how much grief and heartache she had caused us. I thought about the many nights I cried myself to sleep because I missed him so much. Then there was my mom and how broken she became, so much so she avoided me because I reminded her too much of him. Several sobs shook out of me when the realization came that not only had Aosoth taken my father from me, but my mother and grandmother as well.

 She had completely shattered my family.

My tears abruptly stopped when a sweltering heat of angry fire sparked in my veins, coursing through them at lightning speed. Nathan released me, and when he did I jumped to my feet. At that moment I didn’t know what my plans were, but I had to do something to make that bitch pay for what she’d done to my family.

Nathan zipped in front of me and took my shoulders in his hands. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to the Sahara Desert,” I said, and then realized what an idiotic statement that was.

“You can’t go to North Africa.” He shook his head, concern tightening his features. “If it was so easy, I would’ve of done it already.”

“Well then, I’ll find the ‘old one’ and ask for his help,” I said, even though it was a foolish thing to consider. But in that moment, I didn’t care.

Nathan blanched. “You can’t be serious?” Panic flickered in his eyes. “He could
kill
you.”

“I don’t think he will.” I shook my head, not knowing why I was even saying this stuff, but I was so angry it kept rolling off my tongue. “He’s fond of me and doesn’t like Aosoth.”

“How do you know he doesn’t like Aosoth?”

“Because I called her a crazy, stupid bitch before she tried to kill me”–Nathan flinched– “and he laughed. Also, that one time when we were in history class, when he told me about her, I called her his girlfriend, and he was repulsed by it. So, yeah, I don’t think he likes her.” I crossed my arms, gripping my elbows, satisfied with my assessment.

“He’s a conniving and manipulative being,” Nathan said. “For all you know, it could be an act, just to get you to think on those terms.”

“I don’t know,” I mused, trying to think more clearly on it.

“Think about it. He plans this ahead of time, and when the timing is right, he sends Ayperos to drop this bomb on you, knowing it’s going to piss you off and you can’t do anything about it. So maybe then you’d strike up a bargain with him or whatever,” Nathan reasoned.

“I never thought about that.” I paused, mulling over it. “It does make sense though.”

“Listen, Paige.” Nathan stepped back, his expression turning shameful. “Ayperos was right about me being too preoccupied with my vengeance toward Aosoth, which in effect hindered you.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I now understand why you were.” I pushed my hair off my face and continued, “I mean, I so want to take her down right now and don’t care about anything else but that.” I could feel the anger I had a minute ago simmering while we talked this whole thing out. My chest felt a little lighter, and the tension in my body lifted.

“I was the same way and almost jeopardized our relationship because of it.” Holding my hands, he stared into my eyes. “But not anymore.” He vehemently shook his head. “We need to find out what you can do and develop those strengths. Anwar was supposed have done that over the summer, but didn’t. Now why didn’t he?”

I shrugged, remembering when I had met him. He told me he’d teach me how to harness and use my powers to my advantage, but he never had. Yeah, he’d taught me a little bit about the elements, but that was it.

“I don’t know either, but his bizarre behavior seems fishy to me.” He lightly squeezed my hands. “Last night when you did Morse Code, I realized there are things about each other we still don’t know about.” He paused to watch my reaction and when I nodded, he continued. “I want to know everything about you and to share everything about myself with you.”

“I would love that,” I said, trapped in his deep blue eyes.

“Do you know why I was being such an ass to Ayperos?” he asked with a hint of a smile. When I shook my head, he went on, “If you piss people off enough, things will fly out of their mouths they normally wouldn’t say.”

“Like what he said about you not knowing shit,” I replied, impressed by Nathan’s deviousness.

His smile broadened. “Right.” His attention shifted to the front of the store. I heard it too–car doors slamming. He dropped one of my hands but kept hold of the other, guiding me to the counter. “Carrie and Tree are back.”

“I have to tell you something,” I quickly said. “Last night with Anwar, I said that stuff just to see what kind of reaction I’d get out of him.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah, I--”

“You guys aren’t going to believe what just happened.” Carrie rushed in with Tree behind her. My heart lurched when I saw the wary expression on Tree’s face.

“What? Is Odell okay?” I asked, my voice raised in panic.

 “Odell is fine,” Carrie said. “Nathan was right. Gastritis.”

“Ayperos stopped us at the stop sign down the street,” Tree said, cracking his knuckles.

Carrie grabbed my arm. “He said the weirdest thing to me. He said tell Paige what you know and saddle up beside her because unlike
most
humans, I’m not a deficit to this world.”

“Yeah,” Tree grunted. “When he said it, he was looking straight at me.”

Carrie’s grip tightened. “What does it mean, Paige?”

“Saddle up.” Tree made a face. “What kind of shit is that?”

“The kind that says Carrie is now involved,” Nathan answered, sounding bleak.

Carrie turned her wide eyes on Nathan and at the same time I pulled her into my arms, shaking my head. There was no way she could get involved in this. If something were to happen to her because of me, I’d never forgive myself.

“No! She can’t have any part in this,” I said. “I won’t allow it. And if I have to give myself over to them to protect her, I will.” I tightened my arms around her. She was shaking, and a sob escaped her lips. I pulled back to look at her, and her eyes were brimming with tears.

“No,” she said at the same time Nathan said, “Like hell you will!”

I gently wiped the tears off her face and held her at arm’s length. “Look. If something were to happen to you, it would completely crush me, and I--”

“It would do the same thing to me,” Carrie’s voice cracked. “If something were to happen to you. Especially, if I knew I could have helped you but didn’t because you were too afraid to get me involved.”

“I hate to say this, Paige, but she’s right,” Nathan replied. “I think we should go back to your house and fill her in on everything.”

I bowed my head in defeat. All I could think about were the things I should have done when I became immortal, like moved away and severed my connection to Carrie and Tree. Why hadn’t I done that? But deep down I knew why. They were my family, and I was too selfish to let them go. My stomach twisted. She could die because of my self-centeredness. Because of
me
.

“I should have disappeared without telling you guys,” I muttered.

Carrie lifted my chin and held my face in her soft hands. Her brown teary eyes locked onto mine with a willfulness I was familiar with. She was going to do what she was going to do and that was the end of it. Period. I closed my eyes, mentally flogging myself for causing this to happen.

“If you had disappeared,” she said, drawing my attention to her, “we would’ve found you. So don’t blame yourself for me getting involved in this.”

“You guys wouldn’t have been able to find me,” I said, my voice weak and pathetic.

“Bullshit!” Tree blurted. He turned me around so I had to look at him. He looked pissed, but it was more of a how-could-you-have-even-considered-doing-that kind of pissed look. “You need to get this straight in your head.” He poked my forehead. “Pushing or running away from us is not going to do one damn bit of good. So get over it. We’ve been bound together since kindergarten, and what we have goes deeper than blood, it’s like we’re . . . ” He trailed off, unable to think of the word.

“Soul mates,” Carrie said. I glanced at her, and a warm smile formed on her lips. “Remember.”

I returned her smile and nodded, remembering the night Nathan and I met when Carrie mentioned he might be my soul mate. Then the next day, I wondered if there was more than one soul mate and if she and Tree were mine.

“Right.” Tree snapped his fingers. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is you’re stuck with us”–he leaned over and stuck his face in mine–
“forever.”
And then his famous goofy grin crossed his face, and he danced in place, gyrating his hips, popping his legs out, like those rap stars in the ‘80s, being a total dork.

“Okay,” I said, laughing along with Nathan and Carrie. “So I guess Carrie will meet you later.”

He stopped dancing. “What?”

 I looked at him, trying to keep a straight face. “Ayperos told Carrie to saddle up, not you.”

“So true,” Nathan said.

“Sorry, babe.” Carrie swung an arm around my shoulders. “You can’t be a part of this.”

Tree stared at us, then made a face. “Ha. Ha. Ha.” He rocked his head back and forth, making a clapping seal sound. “You guys think you’re
so
funny, huh?”

Carrie went to him and pinched his side. “We’re only joking.”

Tree hooked his arm around her waist and crushed her to his chest. “We’ll see whose joking later,” he playfully said and then kissed her.

I looked at Nathan, then at the clock. He followed my gaze. It was almost six. I remembered Nathan and I were supposed to meet Ameerah at Gnat Creek at ten, but we still had to fill Carrie and Tree in on everything, not to mention eat something. As soon as I thought about food, my stomach growled. Nathan lowered his eyes to my stomach, and my hand automatically flew to it. The corner of his mouth curled, and he looked at me as if I did something adorable. My cheeks flamed.

“Hey, you two,” Nathan said, interrupting Carrie and Tree’s kiss. Carrie giggled and pretended to punch Tree in the side. He grabbed her wrist and turned her around to where her back rested against his stomach. Hugging her against him, they looked at Nathan. “We should get going,” Nathan continued, “and meet at Paige’s house. So Carrie, if you have to balance the cash register, you should do it now.”

“Okay.” Carrie tore herself away from Tree and moved behind the counter. “It won’t take me long.”

“Oh, Carrie, a woman came by to pick up her dishes,” I told her. “I checked the receipts and everything matched.”

Carrie smacked her forehead. “I totally forgot. Mom told me about it, but I spaced it.” She frowned. “Sorry, I didn’t tell you.”

“No big deal,” I said, watching her take the money out to count it. I turned away because I didn’t want her to feel nervous while she added everything. But when I turned--my eyes sweeping across the display cabinets filled with antique memorabilia--darkness followed, erasing my surroundings, swallowing me into a pit of pitch black. For a second a cold, sick panic feeling gripped me, but then awareness quickly settled in. I was revisiting the same vision I had the other night, except this time it was stronger and seemed to demand my attention. I decided to submit to it. I took a deep, cleansing breath. My senses bloomed, and as my body relaxed, the atmosphere unfolded around me. I could hear water dripping off of something, and I felt pulled toward it. I caught a whiff of an earthy, damp smell. I tried to look around, using my immortal eyesight to see through the darkness, but it was useless. I couldn’t see anything. I waved my hand in front of my eyes and when I did, the air rippled like it was made of water and a breeze had blown across it. I blinked and poked my finger in the middle of the ripples. A tiny ring formed, the size of a Lifesaver, and a dull light shown through the center. I squinted to try to see beyond it, but then my body shook. The vision narrowed, and I was rapidly being pulled away.

“Paige, wake up.” Nathan was shaking me, and then I felt his strong hands on my cheeks. I blinked again, and my vision cleared. My eyes automatically found his. “What happened?” He looked worried.

“I had another vision.” I looked around the room. Carrie and Tree were staring at me with awed expressions on their faces. I frowned. “You two are making me feel like a circus freak. Stop staring at me.”

“Sorry,” they said in unison but didn’t quit.

“What?” I scowled.

Tree grinned. “You were glowing.”