Burn

  Gage takes a turn down a familiar looking dirt road.

  “Oh no, not here.” It’s where Carly and Carson abandoned me a few weeks back and I got my arm chopped off by Ezrina. It’s a virtual playground for Fems.

  “You’ll be fine. Besides it’s secluded, and that way no one will see us.”

  “Who cares if anyone sees us? We can go to the beach, or the Falls.” Come to think of it, I almost drowned the last time Gage and I went to the beach, and I killed a guy at the falls. It’s like I’ve dusted every location on the island with some sort of demonic patina.

  “We’ll be needing privacy.” He raises his brows suggestively.

  The car thumps along the path riddled with branches as we gyrate over every hill and valley.

  “I think your mom’s car needs shocks,” I shout over the sound of the tires grinding their way through the dirt.

  We pull into the clearing, and he kills the engine.

  “I think I need my truck back,” he says, unbuckling himself. “Come on.”

  We head out as the dust plume settles in our wake. The earth smells sweet and the pines give off their fresh scented oils as an offering to the morning.

  “So?” I lean in. “Why the need for privacy?” I bite down on my lower lip, trying to hide the fact I’m reveling in this.

  “I thought I’d take advantage of you real quick, then take you out for breakfast.” He cocks his head to side.

  “Oh? You’ll take me right here in the dirt?”

  “I was thinking more of that mud puddle over there.” His cobalt eyes burn through me like a dare.

  “Too bad it has to be real quick.” The smile melts from my face as I step forward and graze him with my lips.

  “Mmm,” He gives a soft groan. “Maybe not here.”

  “Chicken?” It sort of ruins the moment throwing poultry into a conversation laced with sexual innuendo.

  “I think we should save our first time for a special occasion.”

  “Like our almost shared birthday?”

  He presses his lips together and gives a mock smile.

  I like testing the limits with Gage this way. It’s my new favorite game.

  “Like our wedding night,” he says.

  And I thought I was spoiling the mood with poultry. Then it hits me. This isn’t a game to him. He has the gift of knowing, and he’s already informed me we’re getting married.

  Panic rips through me. If I marry Gage that means I lose Logan forever, and now I’m completely derailed from the conversation.

  I want to ask him more about the future—everything. But innately I know it will only lead to more questions, an entire ocean of inquiry, a world without end.

  I lock onto his eyes, the broad even space between them, his flat forehead, the straight bridge of his nose. In every way Gage is perfect.

  He bends over and pecks a kiss on my lips. He pulls me in and does his best rendition of the most romantic kiss known to man while Logan’s face brands itself into the recesses of my mind. Logan floats behind my eyelids, settles over my body, adheres to my skin like the scalding hot wax of a candle. He steals the moment from Gage and this infuriates me.

  “That’s not really why I brought you here.” His arm dips in through the open window and he pulls out a rather long knife. He glides it out of the sheath exposing a gleaming pewter blade.

  “What are you going to do with it?” I touch the chilled steel tongue of the dagger.

  “I’m going to cut you with it.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Slash

  Gage pierces the solitude with a sharp whistle.

  The raven—his bird comes quickly to his shoulder in all its dark glory. It purrs and fidgets a moment before settling down, still as stone.

  “Chloe gave her to you.” I reach up and stroke its soft black feathers with the back of my hand. It’s as tall as a table lamp, and this startles me.

  “It’s a he—his name is Nevermore.” He holds out his arm and the bird bounces down. “I’m giving him to you.” Gage gives a soft smile just enough to light up his dimples and spear me with those glowing eyes. “A little nick is all we need.”

  Marshall’s vision makes sense now. I feel sort of jipped with that whole prediction thing. It’s obvious he’s taking advantage of me. There’s nothing disturbing about the blood on the knife being my own. Gage is offering me something beautiful.

  “So you cut me and the bird?”

  “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  “Why such a big knife?” Not that I don’t like the drama associated with the weaponry. In fact, I wouldn’t mind having it around since I’m ready to take on the Counts myself if I have to.

  “It’s a sacred blade. Chloe gave it to me. Came with the bird.” He hands over the knife, and I examine it. It’s heavy. The metal handle is carved to look like a rope that wraps around in a smooth coiling pattern. The entire dagger is made of one piece of metal.

  “Careful, it’s sharp. It’ll cut your fingers off before you notice.” He reaches for the handle, placing his hand over mine, and the knife begins to wiggle. “Don’t do that,” he warns.

  “I’m not doing that. I thought you were doing that.”

  The knife twists violently between us—a force so powerful that the two of us start to lose our footing.

  “I’m gonna let go,” I scream, plucking my hand free from underneath his.

  Gage grasps the handle with both hands as it continues to seize combatively in the air. The tip of the blade rises and points in my direction.

  “Run,” he instructs.

  It’s a scene from a bad movie playing out before me. Me running from Gage, Gage groaning, slashing through the air to keep from stabbing me relentlessly. My foot catches on an errant branch and I land face first in the dirt. I’m too exhausted to move another inch. It takes everything in me to turn my head so I don’t inhale the forest floor and choke to death.

  The silver steely blade swipes down next to me. It plunges with the heft of an anvil right through the center of the back of my hand, pinning me to the earth with a forceful thrust.

  I squeeze my eyes shut and let out a harrowing scream. The blade is pushed so far down that the base of the handle is the only thing rising up out of my flesh. I’m so thoroughly nailed into the ground it takes Gage standing over me with both hands to yank the knife free.

  Nevermore goes wild, pecking and clawing at seemingly nothing but the air nearby.

  “Shit!” Gage’s voice booms all around us. “What the fuck was that?”

  “It’s my ghost—Holden Kragger.” I say his name accusingly. “He’s here.” I moan nursing my fresh new wound. “He caused the accident too, I’m pretty sure of it.”

  Nevermore lets out a series of harsh cries before settling back down the ground not too far away from me.

  Gage circles me with his eyes like I’ve got the plague.

  “Looks like Nev just sent him packing,” he says. “But how are we going to get rid of him permanently?”

  “No clue. With my luck I’ll need an exorcism.” I try to stop the blood from streaming free from my hand. I press my palm into my jeans and watch the red flower of my existence expand by inches every second.

  “Nev.” His tone is sharp as he calls the bird.

  I pick up the blade and watch my blood rise up on the sides. I swipe my finger down over it and realize I just fulfilled Marshall’s prophecy. I look up at Gage as a thought runs through my mind. What if I knew what was coming and refused to comply? Could I change things?

  Gage takes the knife and punctures the bird at the base of his wing. Gently he rubs my wound over Nevermore.

  “You’re bonded now.”

  “So that’s it? Last one bleeding gets the prize?” I ask as the bird hops onto my shoulder.

  “Something like that. It understands what you need from it and does what it can to help you, like with Kragger’s ghost. It’s more of a messenger than a guardian.” Gage takes off his shirt
and wraps it around my hand, tight.

  “Sort of a prehistoric 911.”

  “He can’t do everything, but he’s trained pretty well.” He holds out his arm and Nevermore hops over to him. “Say Skyla.”

  “Say Skyla.” It repeats crackled and broken.

  “That’s amazing!” For a moment I forget about my throbbing bloodied hand.

  “I love you, Skyla.” Gage says sternly to the bird.

  “I love you, Skyla.” Nevermore looks right at me when he says it then bolts up towards the upper branches of an evergreen.

  “That’s sweet,” I say. His sincerity and loyalty take my breath away. “Thank you.”

  “Let’s get my dad to look at that.” Gage places the knife back into its sheath.

  “So is Nev enchanted or something? What’s with the whole blood brother thing?”

  “It’s a bound spirit. It’s trapped. Your blood controls its actions. Nothing can happen to that bird while you’re still alive.”

  “What kind of spirit?”

  “It could be anything but human. It’s a punishment.”

  “So basically its punishment is hanging around with me? Figures.” I lean into Gage. Everything about me feels like a punishment lately.

  ***

  The morgue is teeming with people. One of the viewing rooms has a crowd nine deep, and it doesn’t register until I see Carly Foster twirling her finger around her long blonde hair that everyone here is a teenager.

  “Who died?” I whisper to Gage.

  “Don’t know.” He floats me back towards the kitchen in a hurry.

  “Skyla.” Dr. Oliver sounds disappointed as he adjust his glasses. He picks up my hand and removes the blood-soaked shirt. “You’re bleeding again. What happened? A Fem?”

  “Holden Kragger happened.” Gage says filling him in on the bizarre string of events.

  “You need stitches, but I think I’m going to glue you. It’s a fixative I use to keep peoples eyes shut, but it’ll work just the same. Are you taking vitamins? If not, do. Load up on iron.” He cleans the wound before pumping a thin line of fixative on the palm of my hand and pressing the flesh together. “East High is here on a field trip.”

  “We won’t keep you,” Gage says.

  “I could use your help if you like.”

  “Doing what?” Gage helps steady my hand while he glues the other side.

  “I need one of you to be a corpse—just lie in the bathtub, and pretend you’re dead. It packs more punch if it’s someone their own age, and I’m fresh out of youths,” he says serenely.

  “I’ll do it,” I offer.

  ***

  Gage stands guard nearby in the event someone decides to pierce a scalpel through my flesh, oh wait—that already happened today.

  I keep my eyes shut and take in slow even breaths. I can feel them amassing around me—feel the warmth from their bodies, hear their soft whispers.

  I wonder if it really hits home to see someone your own age in the bathtub of death, then I remember the first time I saw Chloe lying here, then seeing Holden in Ezrina’s layer. Death happens. It just does. It reminds us of how ephemeral these coats of flesh really are, especially when there’s someone your own age involved.

  “That’s Skyla Messenger!” I recognize Carly’s two-year old whine. “She’s dead? No freaking way.”

  “Look at all that blood. Was she like, shot in the leg?” Someone asks.

  Laughter begs to bubble out of me, but I manage to resist the urge.

  “I never really liked her,” Carly says it as a fact.

  Before I can pin her with my anger, a shadow falls over me—a dark presence that instinctually makes me want to shiver with fear.

  “Too bad.” A male voice whispers from just above my head. “I was hoping to kill her myself.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  I’ll Stumble for You

  Gage comes into the house and diverts my mother while I run upstairs to change. After, I find him in the family room with Mia and Melissa petting their new dog.

  “Does he have a name yet?” I pull my fingerless gloves up towards my wrist. What with the scarf and all, you’d think a blizzard was coming.

  “It’s between Sprinkles and Cupcake.” Melissa picks him up and strokes his back carefully. Her hair is pulled back in a headband, and for the first time, I notice the prominent widows peak on her forehead just like Drake’s.

  “I suggested Killer,” Gage says playfully.

  “I like Killer.” I bite down on my bottom lip and tickle him under the ribcage with my uninjured hand.

  “Oh, come on.” My mother breezes into the room. “Girls, don’t listen to them.” She sets a laundry basket full of clothes on the coffee table. “I hear homecoming is on Friday. You two going?”

  “Yes.” Gage rubs my back when he says it.

  “Great,” Mom says. “If you want I can take you shopping, Skyla. I’ve got at least an hour before dinner.” She beams as though she’s been waiting for this moment all her life.

  “Actually, I’m late for work.” That, and the fact she’ll want to see me in it without my scarf and gloves on. I know her. She’ll strip me down herself if she has to.

  “Well, I’m going out with the girls to drop the dog off at the vet. I might hit the mall. If I see anything, I’ll pick it up. We can always take it back.”

  “Good idea.” Right. Can’t wait to see what pink frosted confection makes its way into my closet. “Make sure you keep the receipt.” For sure we’ll be taking it back.

  Tad walks in and glowers over at Gage before heading into the kitchen. “You two have a good day?”

  A sickening feeling comes over me.

  “You don’t need to worry about a dress.” Tad pulls a soda out of the fridge and migrates back over. “I just got a message from the school. Skyla wasn’t there today. Guess where else you’re not going?” His lips stretch across his face before retracting.

  ***

  I tried to talk my way out of the fact I was very, very late to school to Mom and Tad. I even showed them the cut on my hand and told them I fell on a metal rod sticking out in the student parking lot. I told them I needed to go to the hospital to get it fixed. Who knew Tad would demand to see medical records? So there’s that.

  Gage drops me off at the bowling alley almost an hour late.

  I’m glad I have the chance to show Logan how dependable I can be. He’s probably looking forward to firing me. Getting me out of his life once and for all in every way possible.

  “You’re fired,” Logan says looking over at Gage.

  “She’s the one who’s late,” Gage says mockingly.

  “Why the gloves?” Logan is immediately suspicious.

  I tell him about our time in the forest while he inspects the damage.

  “Are you feeling better?” There’s a marked look of concern written all over him.

  “I’m tired.” Even the words come out weak.

  Gage takes off, leaving Logan and me enveloped in an awkward silence.

  “So, I called someone to cover your shift.” He nods in towards the kitchen where I see two older women scrubbing down the stainless steel appliances. “And I called someone to cover mine.” He glides over to me with a gentle smile and wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”

  ***

  Logan leads us out the backdoor. It’s heavily wooded out here, the air is dense with fog, and it feels like we’ve stepped into some alternate world that belongs exclusively to us.

  He flexes a smile in my direction as we head down a dirt path. There’s something solemn about him, something quietly accepting, but not too thrilled about the current status of our relationship.

  “How are things going?” He asks cloaked in an otherworldly light. It feels as though I’m drifting with Logan’s ghost, like he died, and all I have left are memories—makes me miss him even more.

  “Lousy. And you?”

  “Not good.” He dips his gaze
to the ground. He pours out all his tenderness in one forlorn smile. “I talked to Gage—he told me that you love him. I know you wouldn’t tell him that unless you meant it.”

  A burst of heat ripples through my body. If I wasn’t so achingly tired I’d run all the way home.

  He stops and sighs, touches me with his eyes.

  “I didn’t bring you here to put you on the spot.” He takes up both my hands carefully. “Actually I brought you here because I want to teach you to defend yourself.”

  “Against Fems?”

  “Against Gage.” He pulls his cheek to the side sarcastically. “And Fems.”

  Logan spends the next hour teaching me how to get out of headlocks, showing me how to knock someone to the ground by swiping out their feet, kicking them in their balls. It’s like cage fighting with Logan, a guy I’d rather wrestle with horizontally in a much more passionate manner.

  “Do Fems have balls?” Words I never thought would come out of my mouth.

  “We’re back to Gage.” Logan gives a huff of a laugh and motions for me to take a seat next to him on a patch of pine needles.

  I lean up against him for support.

  “Your uncle says I need vitamins. I know my mom has some floating around the house.” Correction, she’s got an entire pharmacy floating around the house.

  We lay down on the ground, resting our heads next to one another facing the opposite direction. I snuggle into Logan’s shoulder as a pillow. I could easily fall asleep like this.

  It’s nice. It feels like the old Logan and Skyla.

  I look over and see Logan’s eyes gleam like melted pools of liquid sunshine.

  “I thought he’d back off.” He pants the words, still out of breath from our workout.

  “He’s not going to. Should I?” I throw it out there. I don’t know what I would do if Logan said yes.

  “No. I know you have strong feelings for him.” He exudes a heavy sadness. “And I want to be sure that if you choose me in the end, that you and Gage…that you know, you’re over.”