Sisters of Blood and Spirit
Page 13
I blinked. There were other people with us. I hadn’t exactly forgotten them, they just hadn’t mattered all that much to me. Sometimes the living faded into the background, there were just so many of them.
“Where do you need to go?” Mace asked.
“Someplace private. Quiet. Not here,” I replied.
Kevin came forward. “My place. My parents are away for a long weekend.”
His house! Oh, no. Lark was going to kill me when she woke up. I didn’t care. I wanted to see his house. I wanted to touch the light switches he touched. Walk the floors he walked. I wanted to smell his toothbrush. Maybe try on his clothes. I didn’t care if it was weird—I spent 99.9 percent of my time incorporeal, damn it.
“I need someone to drive,” I said with a wince, gesturing to my grandmother’s hideous car. “I can’t.”
“I’ll drive you,” Kevin offered.
Oh, Lark, please stay asleep. Just for a little while longer. Please, please.
“Are you sure? It’s an ugly car.”
He smiled, and it was like watching the moon rise from behind the veil. So bright. “I don’t mind.”
Mason clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll meet you there, man.”
The keys were already in the...thing. What was that called? The ignition? I managed to clomp around the back to the passenger side. Kevin opened the door for me. I smiled. “Thanks.”
I pulled the seat belt across Lark’s body and buckled it. No need for both of us to be ghosts. Kevin climbed in, fastened his belt and then started the engine. He glanced around at the interior.
“Wow,” he said. “It really is hideous.”
I laughed. “Isn’t it?”
He grinned, adjusted the stick thing and then made the vehicle move. “It’s weird, being able to actually talk to you, and have you be more than a voice in my head.”
“I know.” I sneaked a glance at him. “It’s nice.” There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but they all seemed so foolish now that I had the chance. We’d talked a few times over the past year and a bit, but this seemed much more...intimate. I could touch him if I wanted. Smell him. Feel his warmth.
I never realized just how cold I was all the time.
“Do you think Lark will help them?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t a lie. “She’ll do what’s right.” It just took a little prodding to get her there sometimes.
“Good.” He turned his head toward me just for a second before looking back at the road. “I can’t believe it’s you in there. Earlier that face looked like it wanted to kill me.”
“She felt ambushed. The song...”
“Did you like it?”
“I did. Lark felt like it was an accusation.”
“It kind of was. She put you through something terrible.”
“She thought she was insane, Kevin. Living with me made her feel that way.” I couldn’t have expected him to understand.
His jaw tightened. “No. She let people make her feel that way. I know what that’s like, and it’s not your fault.”
He was sweet, but he really didn’t understand. “We can’t be friends if you hate her.” It hurt to say the words.
“I don’t hate her. I just think she made some bad choices.”
It sounded like something Lark would have said. As much as I liked him, this was my sister we were discussing. He had to be an only child, because he obviously didn’t know that the only person who could say anything bad about Lark was me. “She didn’t do it to hurt me. She did it so we could be together.” I had never told anyone that. In fact, Lark and I had only ever talked about it once—shortly after she cut herself. There had been that brief moment when we had actually been together behind the veil. She’d been dead for a few seconds.
It had been wonderful. I never had and never would tell her just how much. Lark and I could touch, but there was always this invisible barrier between us. We were in different worlds, even if they overlapped. To have her with me finally was incredible—and wrong. She didn’t belong in my world, and I couldn’t have let her stay.
Kevin glanced at me again. “Okay.” He only said that one word, but it seemed to mean so much more than that. I smiled.
“Can I...?” I swallowed. “Can I touch you?”
The car swerved as he jerked his head toward me, then back again. “Now?” His voice was strained.
“I just want...” I leaned over and wrapped one of his curls around my finger. His hair was silky, springy—exactly like I’d hoped it would be. I laughed. “I’ve never felt hair other than Lark’s before.”
And this was different from when Lark was awake and I shared her body. Despite the heavy limbs and awkwardness of them, they felt like mine. I was in control, not my sister, and it...it was wonderful. And strange. So strange.
I pulled my hand away, but he caught it and twined his fingers with mine. His hand was warm. Strong. My heart slammed hard against my ribs. Was I going to vomit, or burst into song? I couldn’t tell.
And it wasn’t my heart, not really. It was Lark’s heart. I had to remember that. This wasn’t my body. In this realm I didn’t have a body. I wasn’t real.
But I let Kevin hold Lark’s hand all the way to his house anyway.
LARK
My eyes opened. The first face I saw other than my sister’s belonged to Mace. Funny, but his face was the last thing I remembered seeing before I passed out. God, that vision of Wren eating eyeballs had been gross. Not something I ever wanted to see again.
“Where do you need to go?” Mace asked.
“Someplace private. Quiet. Not here,” I replied.
Kevin came forward. “My place. My parents are away for a long weekend.”
His house! Oh, no. Lark was going to kill me when she woke up. I didn’t care. I wanted to see his house. I wanted to touch the light switches he touched. Walk the floors he walked. I wanted to smell his toothbrush. Maybe try on his clothes. I didn’t care if it was weird—I spent 99.9 percent of my time incorporeal, damn it.
“I need someone to drive,” I said with a wince, gesturing to my grandmother’s hideous car. “I can’t.”
“I’ll drive you,” Kevin offered.
Oh, Lark, please stay asleep. Just for a little while longer. Please, please.
“Are you sure? It’s an ugly car.”
He smiled, and it was like watching the moon rise from behind the veil. So bright. “I don’t mind.”
Mason clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll meet you there, man.”
The keys were already in the...thing. What was that called? The ignition? I managed to clomp around the back to the passenger side. Kevin opened the door for me. I smiled. “Thanks.”
I pulled the seat belt across Lark’s body and buckled it. No need for both of us to be ghosts. Kevin climbed in, fastened his belt and then started the engine. He glanced around at the interior.
“Wow,” he said. “It really is hideous.”
I laughed. “Isn’t it?”
He grinned, adjusted the stick thing and then made the vehicle move. “It’s weird, being able to actually talk to you, and have you be more than a voice in my head.”
“I know.” I sneaked a glance at him. “It’s nice.” There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but they all seemed so foolish now that I had the chance. We’d talked a few times over the past year and a bit, but this seemed much more...intimate. I could touch him if I wanted. Smell him. Feel his warmth.
I never realized just how cold I was all the time.
“Do you think Lark will help them?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t a lie. “She’ll do what’s right.” It just took a little prodding to get her there sometimes.
“Good.” He turned his head toward me just for a second before looking back at the road. “I can’t believe it’s you in there. Earlier that face looked like it wanted to kill me.”
“She felt ambushed. The song...”
“Did you like it?”
“I did. Lark felt like it was an accusation.”
“It kind of was. She put you through something terrible.”
“She thought she was insane, Kevin. Living with me made her feel that way.” I couldn’t have expected him to understand.
His jaw tightened. “No. She let people make her feel that way. I know what that’s like, and it’s not your fault.”
He was sweet, but he really didn’t understand. “We can’t be friends if you hate her.” It hurt to say the words.
“I don’t hate her. I just think she made some bad choices.”
It sounded like something Lark would have said. As much as I liked him, this was my sister we were discussing. He had to be an only child, because he obviously didn’t know that the only person who could say anything bad about Lark was me. “She didn’t do it to hurt me. She did it so we could be together.” I had never told anyone that. In fact, Lark and I had only ever talked about it once—shortly after she cut herself. There had been that brief moment when we had actually been together behind the veil. She’d been dead for a few seconds.
It had been wonderful. I never had and never would tell her just how much. Lark and I could touch, but there was always this invisible barrier between us. We were in different worlds, even if they overlapped. To have her with me finally was incredible—and wrong. She didn’t belong in my world, and I couldn’t have let her stay.
Kevin glanced at me again. “Okay.” He only said that one word, but it seemed to mean so much more than that. I smiled.
“Can I...?” I swallowed. “Can I touch you?”
The car swerved as he jerked his head toward me, then back again. “Now?” His voice was strained.
“I just want...” I leaned over and wrapped one of his curls around my finger. His hair was silky, springy—exactly like I’d hoped it would be. I laughed. “I’ve never felt hair other than Lark’s before.”
And this was different from when Lark was awake and I shared her body. Despite the heavy limbs and awkwardness of them, they felt like mine. I was in control, not my sister, and it...it was wonderful. And strange. So strange.
I pulled my hand away, but he caught it and twined his fingers with mine. His hand was warm. Strong. My heart slammed hard against my ribs. Was I going to vomit, or burst into song? I couldn’t tell.
And it wasn’t my heart, not really. It was Lark’s heart. I had to remember that. This wasn’t my body. In this realm I didn’t have a body. I wasn’t real.
But I let Kevin hold Lark’s hand all the way to his house anyway.
LARK
My eyes opened. The first face I saw other than my sister’s belonged to Mace. Funny, but his face was the last thing I remembered seeing before I passed out. God, that vision of Wren eating eyeballs had been gross. Not something I ever wanted to see again.
