The Haunted (16 page)

“
When did it start?”

He shrugged. “Around the time school started. There are some days I don’t remember at all.”

“
And you’re not smoking pot?”

“
Not twenty-four/seven,” he said, sounding exhausted. “Granted, I’ve binged here and there, but for the most part I haven’t smoked. I don’t get it. I feel like I’m losing it.”

“
I’ve noticed the change in you, too.”

He glanced up. “Like what?”

I told him about all the times I’d seen him where he didn’t seem like he’d been there, like the other night in the kitchen when he’d been sitting in the dark and the mean things he’d said to me. As expected, he didn’t remember anything. I debated telling him about the levitation incident, and yet I needed to lay it on the line.

At first I could see disbelief in his eyes…which suddenly turned to something else.

“
You will never be able to get rid of me.” The deep voice wasn’t Shane’s.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and I went to stand up, but he caught my wrist.

I swallowed hard.

“
No one can save you. No one.”

I knew that voice.

Even though I stared at my brother, I knew this was Laria. I sat up straight and tried to keep calm, which wasn’t easy when Shane’s nails were digging into my wrist. “Leave my brother alone, Laria.”

“
Leave my brother alone,” he mimicked, his lips twisting into a cruel grin, before his head fell back on his shoulders and he laughed, a horrible sound that made my blood run cold. “You have no idea who you are up against. No idea…”

“
You’re wrong—I do know who I’m up against.” I yanked my arm out of his grasp and stood. “I want my brother back.”

Tears clogged my throat. With a calm that surprised me, I rushed for the door.

I don’t know how he moved so fast without me hearing him. He yanked me back against his chest, his breath freezing cold against my ear. “I will kill
everyone
you love.”

My gaze fastened on the bookcase where I saw a can of spray paint, red cap signaling Shane had been the one who had written
CUTTER
on my wall.

I elbowed him as hard as I could. He grunted and released me.

I ran for my room. Slamming my door shut, I grabbed a chair and slid it beneath my door handle. I wouldn’t lie—I was more terrified than I’d ever been. Laria was slowly picking away at my resolve, and I was beginning to crumble.

“
Mom, I need you…please,” I whispered. I sat cross-legged on my bed facing the door, closed my eyes and did deep breathing. It took longer than usual, but I slowly calmed down. Although I hadn’t prayed for a very long time, I did that as well. I even did a protection prayer I had found on the Internet, imagining a golden white light all around me.

At three in the morning I woke to the sound of footsteps outside my door. I had kept my light on, and I didn’t move a muscle as I watched the knob slowly turn, and the chair budge a little. If it were Miss A or even my dad, they would say something.

Terrified, I hugged my pillow tight.

The knob moved a few more times, and I heard Shane say my name, but I couldn’t bring myself to open it. I cried, horrified at what our lives had become—and all because of a vengeful spirit.

The bed squeaked when he got into bed. I waited fifteen minutes for anything to happen, for the creepiness to ensue. I didn’t know if I expected to hear voices…but I heard nothing.

Chapter
19

I noticed a change in Shane the next day. During Anne Marie’s memorial service, he seemed more like his regular self. And at the potluck at Anne Marie’s home afterward, he even chatted up one of Harry’s granddaughters, a cute fourteen-year-old who blushed every time Shane walked by.

Karen had been at the service, and she dabbed at her eyes. Kade stayed by my side and held my hand. I appreciated him taking the time to attend the service, and when he asked me to take a drive with him after the potluck, I jumped at the chance.

Since Dad and Shane’s fight, the house had been painfully quiet. Shane, who was grounded, spent his days in front of the television watching old karate movies and texting his friends. Dad would try to talk to him at dinner, but Shane didn’t have much to say.

We said goodbye to everyone at Anne Marie’s and Shane asked to catch a ride to the inn. I changed from the black dress into jeans, a tank and a plaid shirt that I rolled up to the elbow.

Kade rang the doorbell. I told Shane goodbye and opened the door. He’d changed into a well-worn T-shirt that did wonders for his eyes, and acid-washed jeans that hugged him in all the right places.

He reached out and took me by the hand. “You ready?”

***

We’d been driving for twenty minutes, and he’d just pulled off onto a long, tree-lined gravel drive. Kade glanced at me. “So…do you fish?”

“
You’re taking me fishing?” I asked, trying to hide my surprise. “Are you trying to impress me?”

“
My dad did talk me up, didn’t he?”

“
Just a bit.”

I’d been fishing a few times with my grandpa when I was little and remembered the thrill of catching a sturgeon on the Columbia River. Shane had said it was a baby shark that had swam from the Pacific Ocean into the river, and I’d been so terrified, I’d refused to go fishing again.

Exiting the car, I met Kade at the back of the Range Rover, where he took out the fishing poles and tackle box.

“
It’s a nice swimming hole, too,” Kade said, placing the beat-up tackle box on the well-worn wood planks. “This is where both Cait and I learned to swim. My dad showed us the tough love method.”

“
Tough love method?” I asked.

“
He tossed us in and we had to sink or swim.”

“
Isn’t that called child abuse?”

He laughed. “I suppose, but the technique worked. We both dog-paddled our way back to the dock. We swallowed a ton of water but we survived.”

Kicking off his shoes, he then rolled up his pants. I did the same, sliding my feet into the cool water. Kade had a small container, and when he popped the lid, worms squiggled about. I wrinkled my nose and he laughed under his breath.

I had never had a problem with putting worms on the hook, and now was no exception. I surprised myself with how simple it was, remembering my grandpa’s technique. Kade even looked impressed.

I stood up, swung the pole over my shoulder, cast out…and completely overshot the river.

So much for showing off.

Although Kade tried not to laugh, he did, and I laughed right along with him, especially when my line snagged the brush on the opposite side of the bank.

“
Let me help you with that,” he said, standing behind me, the front of his body flush against the back of mine. Warmth spread like wildfire through my veins.

I glanced over my shoulder at him, and he grinned, deep dimples and all.

He took the pole from my hand, and with a few sharp tugs, had the line free. He handed the rod back to me, and I immediately missed the contact.

I reeled in the line and tried casting again, this time hitting the river and letting the line float downstream a little before I started reeling in the slack.

“
Nicely done,” Kade said, a look of pride on his face.

I sat back down beside him, watching as he effortlessly cast his line into the center of the river, letting it drift down a ways before reeling in.

The sun came through the clouds and started to warm up fast. Despite the fact my feet were submerged in cold water, sweat beaded on my forehead. I started to take my shirt off but thought better of it.

“
Take off your shirt. Take off both, if you like. Honestly, I won’t mind.” His smoldering grin heated my blood.

It seemed silly not to take off my shirt, especially when I was sweating. The scars from cutting were on the inside of my elbow, so I’d just have to be careful how I held my arm. And if he asked, then I’d just have to come clean, because I wasn’t going to lie.

I slid the plaid shirt off and he helped. He set it behind us at the same time my pole jumped. I came to my feet and lifted up on the pole. I felt a snag, and hoped I had a fish on. I reeled it in, trying to keep my excitement at bay.

The fish wasn’t large, but I was elated to be the first one to catch something. Kade grinned like crazy as he helped me take the slippery trout off the hook, which was one thing I had a tough time doing with it moving so much.

He carefully pulled the hook out of its mouth and tossed it back into the water a second later.

I frowned at him. “What did you do that for?”

“
We’re just catching and releasing.”

“
So you fish just for the sport of it?”

“
Something like that,” he said laughing.

I leaned my head against Kade’s shoulder, forgetting about my pole until I heard it screech against the pier as the water dragged along.

Kade was quick, though. He reached down, snatched it from the water, and handed it back to me.

I baited the hook and cast again, and we both sat back down on the dock, his hand resting on my thigh.

“
Maddy wanted to come today.”

I smiled. “She cracks me up.”

“
She’s a riot sometimes…but then she has moments where she’s such a little shit.”

“
I suppose I understand why she’s that way. She hasn’t had the easiest life. She’s lucky she has your family.”

He nodded. “Honestly, there are times she gets on my nerves…but I try to remember myself at her age. And like you said, she hasn’t had the easiest life.”

“
Seems like she gets on Cait’s nerves, too.”

“
I think all siblings get on each other’s nerves. I’m sure you and your brother do the same.”

“
Definitely.”

“
I think Cait likes your brother.”

“
I think Shane is having the time of his life being the new guy in town.”

“
And what about you, Riley—do you like being the new girl? Having every guy in school want you?” I could see the teasing glimmer in his eye…but I swore I recognized jealousy too.

What a strange thing to say. I didn’t get the feeling that any one guy thought I was special. Aside from Johan, who had spent a little time with me this summer, no guys were knocking on my door or blowing up my phone.

“
I’m not exactly the guy magnet you seem to think I am.”

“
You could have fooled me. Aaron Johnson can’t keep his eyes off you, I understand.”

Was the football star actually jealous of a band geek? The very thought made me smile inwardly.

He gave me a confidence I didn’t realize I’d had before.

He kissed my forehead. “Aaron is a broken man now that you’re taken.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

“
I’m glad you came to Braemar, Riley,” he said, his voice turning serious. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Once again he’d said the exact words Ian had said to me.

“
I’m glad I’m here, too, and I’m glad I met you.”

The afternoon sun started beating down on us, and Kade peeled his shirt off and then unbuttoned his pants.

“
What are you doing?” I asked, my heart picking up speed as I checked out his six-pack abs, the deep V, and the dark happy trail, or what I’d heard Megan refer to as the “stairway to heaven” that disappeared into the waistband of his boxer briefs.

“
It’s too bloody hot to fish.”

I rolled my eyes. “You just said that because I caught one and you didn’t.”

He picked me up and acted like he was going to toss me in the water. Instead, he kissed me and slowly set me back on my feet. We kissed for a long time, until he pulled away. “Let’s get in the water.”

His pants were off a second later, and he stood in his boxer briefs.

I wondered if he was going to go au natural, when he dove into the water.

I scanned the area to make sure we were alone, and I slid off my pants first, and then hurried with my shirt. Thankfully I wore my best black bra and hot pink boy-cut panties.

Kade came up for air just then. He flipped his hair back and my stomach clenched. He was so beautiful…high cheekbones, water spiking off long lashes, and beautiful blue eyes that smoldered. He didn’t even pretend not to check me out…his gaze slowly gliding down my body.

I jumped in, the cold water stealing the breath from my lungs for a few seconds.

Kade swam toward me and I went into his arms as he pulled me close for a kiss. We swam for a while and I followed him to the river’s edge. My legs slid around his waist and he moaned, his hands cupping my bottom. There was that dark, heavy-lidded look to his eyes that had the blood pumping hard through my veins.

I scanned the area. “What if someone sees us?”

“
Did you notice the private property signs when we came in?”

I hadn’t been paying any attention.

“
My family owns this land. No one is allowed in but us.”