Total pages in book: 181
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181613 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 908(@200wpm)___ 726(@250wpm)___ 605(@300wpm)
“What?” I mutter.
He places a hand on my belly, right on top of my shirt, and I suddenly feel very, very naked. “Grow some of those abs.” He pinches my arms with that same hand. “Get rid of those chicken wings.”
“Chicken wings?” I bark, swatting his hand away.
He laughs loudly and then slaps me on the shoulder with so much force I nearly buckle. “I’m just joking. Don’t take everything so seriously, Freckles.” He throws his bag over his shoulder. “But I like your spark. The offer is still on the table, and you know where to find me if you’re interested in some free training lessons. I mean, if you wanna follow in Silas’s footsteps and make Levi ‘pay.’” He makes quotation marks with his fingers, then throws out the biggest, brightest grin of all. “You know where to find me.”
He makes a clicking sound twice with his tongue and checks out, leaving me flabbergasted.
And maybe just one percent convinced that I should perhaps join him in his insanity.
CHAPTER 5
Aspen
I drive my car downtown to where everything feels blurry and time begins to slow. The last time I was at Crescent Vale Cemetery, the entire world felt like it caved in on me. I swallow down the nerves as I stare at the gates after parking my car.
I never once would’ve thought to visit this cemetery … until Mavis died.
I clutch the steering wheel, staring at the fence like it’s my mortal enemy.
No. She didn’t die. She was killed.
Murdered.
Levi Torres wouldn’t admit it if it wasn’t the truth, and I’ll be damned if I let my feelings get in the way of the truth.
Levi Torres killed my sister.
And I desperately need to talk to her ghost.
Ghost
I chug down my drink and throw away the bottle without ever taking my eyes off the prize.
Aspen Caruso parks her car near the cemetery.
Her red hair flitters in the rearview mirror as she brushes away some fleeting tears and blinks a couple of times, and I wonder what thoughts she just blinked away. What kind of monstrous, murderous fantasies fluttered into her mind for just a single moment?
How much fire can one body handle before it’s bound to set everything in the vicinity ablaze with just a single match?
A smirk forms on my face at the thought.
Perhaps I should pay my respects soon as well.
After all, the dead are watching us.
Aspen
I get out of the car and shut the door, letting the cold breeze of early spring into my bones so I don’t have to feel my body as I walk toward the gates. Every step across the pebbled path feels lighter and lighter, like I’m being drawn inside by the longing for a hug from the one person who understood me.
When I find her grave, my body feels ten times heavier, and I drop to my knees near her name.
Mavis Rivera. Beloved daughter. Sister. Taken too soon by the ghosts you sought to befriend.
God.
It hurts just to read those words.
I brush away the dirt and fallen leaves, but I can’t stop the tears from flowing.
“I miss you too much, Mavis,” I murmur. “You always knew what to do. What to say. How to live your life to the fullest without shame. Without guilt.”
I smile at her grave, hoping she can see me.
“Did you make new friends up there?” I ask, chuckling. “Finally meet the ghost you were trying to chat up through that Ouija board?”
I know I’m laughing, but I’m just trying not to let the grief and loneliness overwhelm me.
To not let the violent hatred for her killer take control.
“I could really use a ghost to haunt someone right now …” I mutter.
The pebbles a few graves down scratch against each other, and when I look up, someone’s there saying a prayer. A pale-looking guy, about the same age as me, with short eerily white locks of hair blocking the view of his square face. But that jawline …
“You lost someone too?” His sudden piercing blue eyes connect with mine, and I’m too stunned to even say a single word.
Those eyes are beyond gorgeous. Breathtakingly overpowering. His brows and eyelashes are as white as powdery snow, creating a stark contrast to his long black coat.
“Um … yeah,” I stutter, trying to gather my bearings. It’s almost as if … I know him. “I’m sorry, have we met somewhere?”
He smiles, his teeth as bright as his hair. “We just did,” he says before he looks back at the grave again.
I nod a few times, and look at Mavis’s grave too, but I can’t help but wonder who he is. What kind of story does he have that brought him here, just like mine?
“Who’s that?” I ask, too curious not to.
He briefly glances at me. “My parents.”
Oh.
He brushes down their tombstone so no fallen leaves block the names, and I can finally see what’s written on there.