Craving (6 page)

3.4 Katherine

I hadn’t bothered to tie my hair back this morning, and it gave me the opportunity to watch Dante through the long fringe, without him noticing. I could also watch how Nanette kept sidling closer, slipping one arm around his back, her fingers hooking into his belt.
Just friends?
She obviously didn’t think so. When we’d talked about our mothers, I’d felt
connected
to him. I’d come perilously close to kissing him. Then again, I’d shot him down and made it quite clear there was nothing between us, no matter how much I might be tempted.

Nanette’s multiple earrings sparkled in the sunlight, and her tinkling laugh appeared to captivate Dante. When she ran a hand through her peroxide crop, I noticed that even her nails were decorated—tiny, silver stars adorned each black, glossy fingernail.

Trying to pay attention, I shifted my gaze to Lucy, now perched on the edge of the sofa, her voice crisp and assertive as she summarized the séance. “Dante stood up and spoke in a female voice, talking to Chaz, calling him Chazzy.” She paused, running a finger across her notes, her cheeks coloring. With a sideways glance at Chaz, who sat pale and tense beside her, she carried on. “
She
spoke to Chaz, and Dante walked toward him, his arm stretched out. Meanwhile, Chaz turned to the cameras and started deleting the recordings, wiping everything clean.”

I looked back at Dante, shocked at his appearance. White lines bracketed his mouth, his jaw was so stiff I was surprised he could even speak.

His words fired out like bullets. “Did I touch you, Chaz? When we were outside of the circle, did I touch you at all?”

“I don’t know.” His voice sullen.

Tristan huffed and rolled his eyes while Lucy raised her voice. “No, you didn’t. Chaz stepped away from you, then Nanette yelled, and he re-joined the circle.” Her eyes dropped to the notes. “Then Dante collapsed again. We figured it was all over.” A little shrug.

Chaz got to his feet and squared up to Dante, folding his arms and scowling at him. “How the
fuck
did you do that? How did you even
know
?”

They were a similar height, but my money would be on Dante in a brawl. Chaz looked too pretty to be a fighter. Dante’s voice was cold. “Do you remember wiping your data?”

“
No
.”

“And I don’t remember talking to you. That’s why I wanted to know what happened.”

Dante and Chaz stood there. You could practically smell the testosterone in the room. I figured it was time to take charge. I pulled Chaz away while Nanette wound herself around Dante, pressing her breasts into his back. She whispered into his ear as they moved together. I stood open-mouthed, watching the intimacy flare between them. Chaz seized my distraction as the opportunity to shrug me off. He stomped to the window.

“Dante, what do
you
think happened?” My words hung in the air as all eyes swiveled back to him. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he scuffed his boots together and glared, a hunted expression in his eyes. I recoiled from the intensity of his gaze.

“Sometimes, a strong spirit can take over. It can talk through me, take possession of my body.”

“Is that bad?”

A small nod. “Yes.”

“Umm, how bad?” A thousand horror movies flew through my head.

“
Bad
. That’s all you need to know.” He dragged in a deep breath and looked at Chaz. “Did you recognize the woman’s voice?”

Chaz stood rigid at the window, his back to us. As we waited, his shoulders sagged, and he slowly turned back, his arms wrapped around his body. “Yeah. It sounded like a woman I knew when I was a kid.
Jesus
.”

I could hear the rasp of his breathing, his anxiety almost tangible.

“It was her voice, man, it seriously freaked me. She was an exchange student that lived with us one summer.”

Tristan broke the silence that followed. “There was something about killing your father? Did I hear that right?”

“I was eight years old.” He bit the words out. “I hated my father, and she found out.” He raked a hand through his immaculate hair. “She’s fucking
dead.
She hung herself in our garage. I never expected to hear her voice again.”

Another stunned silence while we absorbed his tale.

“Is that why you wiped the data? You didn’t want us to keep that on record?” Tristan sneered, a spiteful look in his eyes that quickly turned to alarm when Chaz strode towards him.

Chaz towered over him where he was sprawled in the armchair. “I told you, I don’t fucking remember
doing
that. I heard her—
that—
voice and the next thing, Nanette was shouting at me to get back in the circle.”

“That’s why I asked if I touched you, in case the spirit had jumped to your body.” Dante’s voice cut through the simmering tension.

In a flash, I recalled hearing his voice in my head just before he keeled over. Did he remember that?

We were going around in circles. “Dante, who was the cowboy? What did he have to do with the airfield?”

“I don’t know. He made no sense at all.” He flicked a tiny smile to Lucy. “But this is where you researchers come in. He might have been a visitor here, or like Chaz’s spirit, something that just homed in on us. It can happen like that.”

There was little more we could say. We still had the amazing footage of the airman and thanks to Lucy, good notes on the second night, even if it wasn’t what we’d anticipated. The students eventually left to trawl through local records, leaving me with Dante. And Nanette.

3.5 Dante

Kitten strode past me into the bedroom. Her face carried the same haughty expression I’d first seen in the control tower. All traces of the affectionate girl from last night had disappeared.

Nanette tugged on my arm. “Chuckles.”

“Yeah?” I watched the doorway, waiting for Kitten to come back.

“What are you doing now? I’m not heading back to Manchester for a couple of days.” One finger hooked through the belt loop in my jeans. “You wanted to come back to my place. My friends are going away. We’d have the house to ourselves.”

“Huh?” I glanced down.

A smile danced across her face and she eased closer.

How can I do this with a minimum of distress?
Cupping one hand around her cheek, I conjured a regretful smile. “I’m sorry, babe. There’s some business I have to take care of, and you know I won’t take sides with you and Ash.”

“I hate to interrupt.” To say that Kitten’s voice was frosty would be the understatement of the century. Her amber eyes flicked over me, hostile and wary, no doubt drawing her own conclusions as to what I’d been doing with Nan.

What was it with her? She pushed me away, and then got snarky when Nan came on to me? I didn’t understand either one of them.

“I have your money here.” She held out a plain white envelope, and then slapped it into my hand. “Do you want to check?”

“No, that’s fine.” I tightened my fingers around it. “Kitten, I—”

“It’s
Katherine
.”

I nodded in acknowledgement. “Katherine, I need your number. In case I make contact. You know.” My smile was wasted.

Her lips tightened as she looked at Nan. Kitten plucked the envelope out of my hand, scribbled a series of digits on the front, and then shoved it back in my direction. “I’m heading back to Manchester in a few minutes. Can you get your gear packed up and out of here?”

* * * *

A half hour later, I pulled onto the forecourt of the nearest service station to see not just one, but two spirits, lurking by the pumps. They swarmed toward me. They’d been young when they died—only teenage boys—and the taller one spoke as I busied myself with the pump. “Will you help us? We’re trying to find our mother.”

The smaller one, most likely his brother, fidgeted beside him, scuffing the toes of his trainers along the ground. Blood poured from a gash on his forehead, and I tried not to stare.

“Please.” The older one took another step toward me.

It broke my heart when this happened. All I could do was talk to them. I know from previous attempts that trying to locate their loved ones was a bad idea. I swallowed hard before I spoke, keeping my voice low. “I’m sorry. I can’t do anything for you.”

The younger boy made a choking noise, and I saw fat tears rolling down his face. “I want to see my mum. Why hasn’t she come back for us?”

I ignored them and wondered when I had become so hard-faced?

* * * *

Now that I had some money in my pocket, I could grab some breakfast. Stopping at the first set of services, I stood in the line for a fry up, my mind darting back to Nanette. She hadn’t wanted to take no for an answer. While Kitten watched from the doorway, Nan had wrapped her arms around my neck and tried to kiss me. I was leaning against my bike at the time, and she took me by surprise.

The door had banged and Kitten had disappeared from view.
Fuck
. I’d eased out of Nan’s embrace. “What the fuck is it with you today, Nan?” My voice came out sharp, but she hadn’t seemed to take offense.

The day, already off to a bad start, had just deteriorated further. Now both Kitten and Nanette were acting weird.

My musing was interrupted by the harassed-looking guy behind the counter in the café. He reached forward and tapped my tray. “Excuse me. Can I help you?” He spoke at the same time as a set of familiar white robes materialized beside me.

I was rattled. Breakfast was within reach, but now I had Simeon waiting to talk to me. If I ignored him, there was no telling when he’d return. I nodded to the server and sought my voice. “I’ll, uh, come back in a few minutes.” The sarcastic way he rolled his eyes spoke volumes, and he turned his attention to the people behind me in the line.

My usual ploy was to fake a phone call. With my mobile pressed to my ear, I smiled and nodded to Simeon and retraced my steps back outside. My stomach rumbled in protest. I could still smell the fried bacon and sausages. His timing sucked.

“Hi Simeon, nice to see you.”

He ducked his head in reply, keeping in step. “You are walking a dangerous path, Dante. You have taken the darkness into you.”

Whaaat? “I didn’t figure you for a Jedi knight,” I quipped.

“The darkness surrounds you. Ingrid fears the change.”

What frigging darkness?
I stopped. Was this a subtle way of saying I should clean up my act? Maybe he was uncomfortable with some of the ways I earned money. “Is that why I haven’t seen much of you?”

He inclined his head, respectful and silent. My brain tumbled in slow circles.

“Simeon, I need you to find someone for me. Toni Fitzwarren.”

I rattled off the details Kitten had given me and leaned against a nearby information board as I waited for Simeon to respond.

As usual, most of the people walking past gave me a wide berth. Even without the tattoos and piercings, I’d always had that effect.

Meanwhile, Simeon stared into the distance, a frown across his wrinkled face. We’d normally chat, hang out together—Simeon and Ingrid were my friends. Now he was distancing himself from me. As I opened my mouth to ask about Ingrid, he nodded politely and blinked out.

With a heartfelt sigh, I pushed away from the board and headed back to the café. I’d have to stand in line all over again.

Walking back into the cafeteria, I heard a commotion up ahead and saw an elderly man collapse to the floor, thumping at his chest with weak, feeble movements. Despite the fact he’d knocked over a box of cutlery with knives and forks spilling out across the tiled floor, the busy guy behind the counter didn’t notice anything. Another spirit. My appetite vanished.

3.6 Katherine

I’d stayed late at Ellie’s, putting off the journey as long as possible, so I was late arriving home. Judging by the swathe of unfamiliar cars parked up the drive and around the house, Dad’s party was already in full swing. I’d kept my phone turned off all day. I knew the minute I fired it up, I’d be hit with a deluge of missed calls and texts.

I wished I could have stayed at the farm, anywhere but coming here this evening. Dad hadn’t been explicit, but I figured he’d make the announcement tonight. Fear churned in the pit of my stomach, swirling around with a generous helping of nausea. I’d been faking the good daughter for so many years, it should be second nature by now.

I sucked in a calming breath as I walked into the house and fished the ring out of my purse, slipped it onto my finger, and rammed it into place. Damn, it was tight. George’s ostentatious diamond solitaire had been in his family forever, and he was reluctant for me to have it re-sized. I think he liked the idea of it being a close fit. I’d normally ease it on and off with the help of some moisturizer, but I didn’t have time this evening. I was deliberately late. There was no chance to get changed, and I hoped to be sent away in disgrace for my casual dress. Any minute now and I’d be met by my personal reception committee.