The wheels on Raj’s car squealed in response. “Gray!”
Gray leaned back into the seat.
“Gray!”
“What?”
“Concentrate! Can you turn the lights green?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Gray said. Her voice sounded a million miles away. “Still won’t make it.”
“Gray!”
“No problem.” She stared through the windshield. They could have run red lights for all the traffic that was out at almost three in the morning. But Gray made them green and when Raj screeched into her driveway he screamed, “Go!”
His shout was like an adrenaline boost. Gray threw the car door open, then the house door, and flew up the stairs. The numbers on the digital clock glowed like green eyes in the dark as Gray leapt for her bed. Two fifty-nine.
* * *
Gray sat up, gasping. Her heart was lodged inside her throat as though no time had passed. So intent was she on getting air into her lungs that it took her a moment to notice that not only was she not in her own bed, she wasn’t in Charlene’s, either.
The room was dark, but she could still make out the movie posters tacked to the walls and action figures on the dresser across from her. There was a smell both familiar and unfamiliar. A soft chuckle invaded her eardrums from directly beside her.
“Fascinating. I wish you could see the transition for yourself.”
Gray clutched the sheet to her chest and turned to face Nolan. He was under the covers with her, topless, elbow propping his head on his pillow.
Gray didn’t know what was worse: the fact that she was naked in Nolan’s bed or that she was about to cry in front of him. Fury! Focus on fury. She wasn’t about to let the little twerp watch as she wept.
Even fury was out of the question. Gray stared forward, her eyes adjusting. She pulled the sheet higher. “Why?” She couldn’t look at him. “Why did you do it?”
Any illusions Gray had that he’d express guilt were quickly shattered. “You screwed me over, Gray, so I screwed you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw you kissing Raj McKenna. I came by early to pick you up Saturday… to help you… and that’s when I saw you sucking face with your legs wrapped around that dirty, rotten warlock.” The sheet tugged under Gray’s folded arms as Nolan sat up. “You were just using me, Graylee. Jerking me around while you were screwing McKenna. Your sister told me about how you ruined things with her boyfriend. This entire time you’ve only cared about yourself. Now we’ve turned the tables on you, Gray.”
“I hate you.” She barely caught the shrug of Nolan’s shoulders.
“Hate me all you want, just remember you were loving me a minute ago.” Nolan’s smile dropped.
Gray was gone. Or so it appeared.
She’d vanished the moment she stepped out of bed.
“Graylee?” Nolan threw the covers back and stepped out.
He had on underwear. Gray did not. She didn’t have a stitch of clothing. Even the slip was preferable to this. She had to keep her body from shivering from the cool draft, but mostly rage.
Nolan looked around the room. “Crap.”
He picked Charlene’s clothes off the floor and shoved them inside a dresser drawer. At first Gray thought he was holding her garments hostage, but the longer she lingered the more it became clear he thought she’d teleported… otherwise, he wouldn’t have settled back into bed.
He leaned over and inhaled the pillow Gray had been on. Sick freak. She ought to suffocate him with it the moment he fell asleep. But Nolan lay there with his eyes open staring at the ceiling.
Murder’s not the answer, Gray chanted as she waited for her moment to escape.
That was Charlene’s department.
Goosebumps rose over Gray’s flesh. She crept toward the door then looked at Nolan. He’d closed his eyes, but she doubted he was sleeping. Gray glanced at his dresser. Wouldn’t it be great if she could dress herself without snapping?
She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it gently. Once her arm was twisted she pulled back slowly. Every movement she made was deliberate until she was out the front door and running, barefoot, on the wet pavement outside. The Beetle was parked two houses down.
The car growled to life as though feeding off the energy of her anger. She floored the gas pedal and tore down the street toward home. Gray nearly hit the garage door when she screamed into her driveway.
Once inside she turned visible. Her teeth were now chattering, body shaking. She ran up the stairs and turned on the shower. Once the water was warm enough, she stepped in. The washcloth scraped at her skin. Gray increased the temperature until it scalded her. She scrubbed herself raw and remained in the shower so long the water began cooling until it stopped altogether. She sank into the tub, head resting against her knees. Cold seeped back into her bones.
Try as she might, she couldn’t cry.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Raj slept in late on Tuesday. School was out of the question. He drove straight to Adrian’s. The first thing off was the bell. It didn’t ring, being that it was no longer attached above the door. Raj stepped inside Adrian’s chamber and cursed under his breath.
Everything was gone except the table, now cleared of its cloth.
There was a chuckle and the curtain above the back room flew to one side. Adrian entered as though upon a stage. “Don’t worry, I haven’t skipped town… yet.”
Raj only relaxed slightly.
Adrian began clapping. “Bravo, Raj. Bravo. You and the little missus cleaned up good. And I feel fantastic!” Adrian waved his hand over the table and a bottle of champagne and two flutes appeared. “Drink?”
“No, thanks,” Raj said.
“And the missus?”
Raj ground his teeth together. “Is out for the day.”
Adrian poured himself a glass and lifted the flute in the air. “Ah, well, then a toast to her and you, as well.” Adrian took a sip then set the flute down. “I tell you, Raj, don’t ever take your powers for granted. They’re a terrible thing to be without.”
Raj folded his arms over his chest. “We kept our end of the deal. Let’s talk about yours.”
“Already on it.” Adrian waved his hand and the champagne and flutes were replaced by a set of syringes filled with bright liquids. Every color of the rainbow was present.
Raj frowned. “What are those?”
“These?” Adrian smiled. “I call it Plan C.” He grabbed a syringe and jabbed it inside a vein in his arm. “Always have a Plan C, D, E, and F. If you learn one thing from me, Raj, remember that.” Adrian emptied the syringe with the red liquid into his vein and shuddered.
Raj tried without success to get a reading on what kind of potion Adrian was injecting himself with. When that didn’t work he studied Adrian’s aura. It turned white briefly.
“If this is Plan C, then what’s Plan A and B?”
“Plan A: I have excellent news! I found a fresh one—terminally ill girl, same age, looker, going to croak any day.”
“Don’t talk about people that way,” Raj said.
Adrian’s brows arched when he smiled. “Or there’s always Plan B: The Purge.”
Raj nodded at the syringes. “And Plan C is poison yourself?”
“Possibly. This is a very delicate spell—never been done before, but then, there’s never been a known case like this. Don’t worry,” Adrian continued. “I never go back on a bargain. Do you have the pendants, by the way?”
“I’m holding them for Gray.”
The second syringe hovered above Adrian’s opposite arm. “Thinks she can put a leash back on me if I misbehave, does she?”
Raj straightened. “I removed the blood from them. They no longer pose a threat.”
“I want them destroyed.”
“I’ll let Gray decide.”
Adrian studied Raj a moment. “I see.”
“See what?”
“I’ll simply need to take it u
p with the missus.” The second syringe still hovered over Adrian’s arm, yellow liquid inside. “I need to know what day she died.”
“Why?”
“For this spell is why. We don’t have time for twenty questions, McKenna.”
This was a bad idea, a very bad idea—Adrian attempting a spell that had never been done before. Sure, that’d turn out well. Raj had to make sure the transfer worked. For now he’d answer Adrian’s questions. It wasn’t like it was secret information or anything. “February ninth.”
“Well, isn’t that tragic.” Adrian stuck the needle through his skin. “So what did she die of?”
“She was poisoned.”
“Poisoned! How?”
“By her sister—unintentionally. Death by chocolate.” Raj’s lips curved up at the absurdity of it.
“If the sister killed her we should definitely purge her.”
“Let’s focus on the transfer. You say this girl is about to pass on. How can you be sure?”
“The doc was practically reading her last rights…” Adrian looked at Raj and grinned. “But then, you’re the expert. By tomorrow she could be in the morgue, which still works for us so long as the body’s preserved, though good luck explaining that one to the coroner when she rises from the dead.” The remainder of Adrian’s chemistry set vanished following the wave of his hand. “The rest will have to wait or I won’t be of any use.”
“You do realize that if you double-cross Gray she’ll bury you,” Raj said. “I once did a spell on her and she nearly killed me for it.”
The warning, unfortunately, had the opposite effect on Adrian. His smile widened. “Got something of the sinister in her, does she? Sure you can handle a witch like that?”
Instead of taking the bait Raj sighed and said, “Just do what you gotta do.”
* * *
Raj waited for Gray in the parking lot at McKinley on Wednesday morning, but she never showed. Once the warning bell rang, he got inside his car and drove to her house.
“Gray.” Raj pounded on the front door. “Gray!”
They’d cut it close the last time he’d seen her. Hopefully, she hadn’t run into any trouble with Charlene; not that Charlene could really do anything—like keep her hostage. Could she?
Raj beat on the door. Suddenly it flew open and he fell forward as he put his weight into his fist.
Gray stood at the top of the stairs in a black turtleneck and jeans. She’d cut her hair; it hit just above her shoulders. Her eyes were heavily outlined in dark liner. It wasn’t just the top or eyeliner that surrounded Gray in black. Clouds of it hovered around her.
Raj gently closed the door. “What happened?”
Gray descended the stairs and stopped at the edge of the banister. “What do you mean?”
“Something’s wrong.”
“I’m trapped inside my sister’s body. No kidding something’s wrong.”
Raj reached inside his pack and pulled out the three pendants. They dangled from his fingers. Gray’s eyes lit up and she smiled, but her aura didn’t change. “It got pretty hairy in the end, but we did it.” Raj held Gray’s gaze and willed away whatever malice troubled her. She appeared as focused on him as he was on her.
Gray reached out and wrapped her fingers around the chains dangling from Raj’s fingers. “Thank you. You did good work the other night, which is more than I can say for myself. I choked.”
“Did not.”
“Raj, I choked.” Tears glossed over her eyes and were quickly blinked away. “If you hadn’t been there…”
Raj cleared his throat. “Mr. Holloway was a bit intense.”
When Gray looked at him he grinned and suddenly she was chuckling softly. “God, he freaked me out. He always seemed so unassuming at the podium during lecture—not like something from a children’s horror story.”
“I’ll never forget the way he rushed out of the house,” Raj said.
“Or the evil grin.” Gray shuddered. “You know he’s gotta be demonic.”
Raj laughed. “I’m sure he’s thinking the same thing about his attackers—probably wanted to leave an impression.”
“He did that.” Gray turned with the pendants and Raj followed her into the kitchen. Gray pulled the stoppers and caps off the pendants. “They’re empty.”
“I emptied them.”
Gray turned toward Raj. “Adrian has his powers back?”
“I wanted him to be ready to perform the transfer.”
Gray nodded and turned away.
“Have you heard from your mom?”
Gray couldn’t stop her shoulders from sagging. “No, and I’ve left her a dozen messages. She may have gotten the call, but it’s still going to be too late.”
The kitchen countertops were polished and empty. Not even a fruit bowl was placed out. When Raj’s eyes found Gray again she had a kitchen knife poised over her wrist. Before he could speak she sliced herself open and held the first vial to her wrist. Raj hurried over and took it from her, replacing the stopper and lid as she filled the next vial. They worked in silence. When each vial was filled and sealed, Gray rinsed them once more in the sink then dried them off on a kitchen towel.
Gray handed Raj a pendant. “You’ll take one?”
He nodded and clasped it around his neck then tucked it beneath his shirt.
“Thank you. Is Adrian ready?”
“He’s located a lost soul in Seattle.”
Gray let out a breath. “Good.” Her aura morphed into a dull, heavy gray.
“Are you okay?” Raj tried asking again.
Gray looked around the kitchen. “It’s weird being inside Charlene’s body, you know?” She looked at Raj.
He didn’t answer. He had the feeling she didn’t expect one.
“I know it looks similar to my own, but it’s not and I feel it’s not. As strange as that’s been I can’t imagine being inside someone entirely unfamiliar to me.”
Raj took Gray’s hands in his. “It’ll still be you.”
Her hands trembled briefly and then she pulled away. “I know. Anyway, I’m done with this body. Onward and upward, right?”
Raj tapped a finger against the outline of his Zippo inside his pocket. “Yeah. Shall we?”
“Can we stop by the hospital first?”
Gray wanted Stacey to have one of the pendants. It was only fitting that she should be one of the individuals blocking the powers of the person who’d stolen her consciousness. Gray made the pendant invisible.
* * *
Adrian clapped his hands together and rubbed them when Gray entered his barren workshop. “All right. Who’s in the mood for a body transfer?”
Gray gave him a stony stare. She reached around her neck and unclasped the third pendant. Adrian’s eyes followed the chain as Gray pulled it out from under her turtleneck. She held it out. “A souvenir.”
Adrian snatched it. “And the other two?”
Gray inclined her head toward Raj. “Raj has one. Mine is in safe keeping. That’s Charlene’s blood in there. You can wear the pendant after the transfer or return it to Raj. Once you put it on, Charlene’s powers will be blocked. That means mine will be blocked as well.”
Adrian’s brow rose. “Not a good feeling.”
Gray took a deep breath. “No.”
“Let’s go then.”
Being powerless was a wretched feeling. Gray had already felt her abilities weaken after she clasped the first pendant around Raj’s neck. He naturally was against entrusting one to Adrian, but Gray found it fitting that the three people involved in the transfer should be the three to block Charlene’s powers. Once the transfer was complete, Gray would get her pendant back from Stacey. Every day that she had to look in the mirror and see a stranger’s face, she’d at least take comfort from the vial of Charlene’s blood hanging from her neck and know that her sister would never practice magic again.
If Gray’s transfer was unsuccessful and Stacey should die, the pendant would go with her. The ch
ances of Charlene regaining all three pendants would be next to nil with one hanging invisible around a corpse under the ground.
“I’ll drive,” Raj said.
They were the last words Gray heard. As she stepped toward the door she disappeared.
* * *
So this was what teleportation was like? It was quick. No whooshing portal or ethereal passageway leading from one place to the other. Or maybe that was because Gray wasn’t the one teleporting herself. She simply reappeared in her living room.
A shiver coursed through her body. All the windows were open. The draft prickled her skin as it had that morning. Terror gripped her by the throat. Nolan. Holloway. Her mind tripped over the two names, chanting them like a death mantra, but it was only Ryan.
“Hello, Graylee.”
The voice sounded different, smooth, but Ryan’s pear-shaped face was as familiar as ever. He stood in the living room
Oh, for goodness’ sake.
Gray’s hands landed on her hips. “What are you doing here, Ryan?”
“I’m here on Charlene’s behalf.”
“Are you now? And did you help put Stacey Morehouse in a coma on Charlene’s behalf?”
Ryan grinned. “Charlene didn’t need my help with Stacey. She’s a very powerful witch, you know.”
“You mean psychotic.”
Ryan squinted. “That’s not a nice thing to say.”
“Speaking of psychotic…” Gray said, walking toward the door. “Get out of my house.” She reached for the door handle, but the door didn’t budge when she pulled on it.
When she looked at Ryan he was grinning. The boy might be pear-faced and short, but at the moment he’d taken on an entirely morbid look. “I’m not going anywhere, Graylee, and neither are you.”
Ryan was juiced up on something and had props. He’d pulled out a glowing orb that kept her rooted in place, back flat against the living room floor. The front door, which Gray couldn’t open moments earlier, was now wide open, in addition to the windows.
Thin trails of smoke rose to the ceiling like pieces of white string. Ryan was burning white sage in porcelain bowls. After lighting incense in every room downstairs he’d gone upstairs, Gray could only guess, to do the same in all the rooms above her.
“You little sh…” The words had died on her tongue when she tried to speak.