I guessed this ghost had seen me somewhere and followed me here. Wouldn’t be the first time a ghost had sensed me and then found me later.
“Make it leave,” whispered Peanut.
I shot him a look and then refocused on the unexpected visitor. I might be here to find the Harbinger, but helping ghosts and spirits was important to me. For many of them, I was their only chance to impart a message or to get aid in crossing over.
Out of everything I was capable of, helping the deceased move on or communicating a spirit’s message was the most amazing gift I had in my arsenal. At least, I thought so.
As I neared the island, the shape changed without warning. Clothing appeared. A black-and-white flannel shirt thrown over a T-shirt with words on it was suddenly filled out by a chest and arms. Features formed. A roundish, almost boyish face. Messy brown hair that looked slept on. Glasses perched on a straight nose. He was around my age, give or take a year or two.
And he was a spirit.
I knew this immediately, because his skin carried an ethereal glow that told me he’d seen the light and gone into it. But I’d never seen a spirit do what he had just done—change from a black, shadowy form into a full-bodied apparition.
“I don’t like him,” Peanut whispered. “I don’t want him here.”
The spirit focused on Peanut. “You’re not very friendly for a ghost.”
Peanut gasped. “I am not Casper, you insolent fool.”
“Funny you mention Casper,” the spirit replied, head tilted. “Did you know that when Casper was first created, he was a ghost of a little boy who died, but then the creators worried that a dead child was too dark, so they changed him to where he was always a ghost and gave him ghost parents, because in their minds, ghosts having ghost babies was less hard to explain?”
I blinked.
“What?” Peanut vocalized my confusion.
“Exactly.” The spirit nodded. “I mean, if you ask me, the idea that ghosts are born and capable of procreating is way more disturbing, but what do I know?”
Okay.
I had no idea what time it was, but I could safely say that it was way too late or too early for this nonsense. Holding up my hand, I waved the dagger. “Hi. How can I help you?”
The spirit’s eyes widened behind his glasses. “You can see me?”
“Dumb question,” Peanut muttered. “Because duh.”
If I could smack Peanut, I would have. “Uh. Yeah. I can see and hear you. Isn’t that why you’re here?”
“Holy crap,” the spirit whispered, and then flickered out.
My brows lifted as I lowered my dagger. The spirit didn’t blink back into existence.
Peanut drifted over to where the spirit had been standing. Hovering a few feet off the ground, he stared down. “He’s not hiding back here.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.
“Trin?” Zayne’s sleep-rough voice called out, and I spun around. He was sitting up and peering over the back of the couch. “Is everything okay?”
Two choices presented to me. Tell Zayne there’d been a spirit in his apartment, but not be able to tell him who the spirit was or why he’d been here. Or tell him nothing at all, because already having one ghost hanging out at his place was one dead person too many.
“I was waiting up for you, but I must’ve fallen asleep,” I blurted out, my mouth making up my mind for me as I deftly hid the dagger behind my thigh. “I came out to see if you were awake, and when I saw you weren’t, I got something to drink.”
“Liar,” Peanut retorted. “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”
“I’m sorry to wake you,” I added, stepping sideways.
“It’s okay.” He dragged a hand through his hair. The moment he lowered his arm, those thick strands fell back into place. “You get something to drink?”
“Uh-huh.” I also nodded, and when Peanut didn’t comment, I glanced behind me to see that he was gone.
“You were waiting up for me?” he asked, resting his arm on the back of the couch.
“Yeah. I wanted to see how you were doing.” I stepped closer, keeping my hands behind my back. “If you were okay.”
“Always.”
“Always?” I repeated. “Dez told me that Greene was with the clan for several years. You knew him, and he’s...”
“He’s dead.” He pushed the hair back from his face again. “There’s nothing more to say.”
“There’s a lot more to say.” I felt a tinge of grief through the bond. “You knew—”
“There’s really not, Trin.” He swiped a hand down his face. “It is what it is.”
He wasn’t being dismissive or heartless. He was avoiding the loss and the pain that followed. I could understand that. “I’m sorry, Zayne. I really am.” I swallowed the knot in my throat. “I wish I could do something.”
I couldn’t see his face clearly, but I thought I saw a brief smile. “You going back to bed?”
“I guess so.”
“Really? You sound wide-awake,” he said, and boy, wasn’t that the truth. “Are you really going back to sleep, or will you lie there, staring at the ceiling?”
“Are you psychic?” I joked. Kind of.
Zayne chuckled as he turned back around. “I’m awake now. We could keep each other company. You know? Until one or both of us passes back out.”
The offer stole my breath a little, and how lame was that? I should yawn loudly and obnoxiously, but he’d just lost someone and I would do anything to make that better for him.
“Sure.” The dagger all but burned my palm. “Uh, I’ll be right back.”
Not waiting for a response, I darted into the bedroom, my bare feet sliding over the cool cement floors. I placed the dagger on the nightstand and then sprinted back into the living room. I skidded to a stop when I didn’t see Zayne at the couch. Glancing at the kitchen, I didn’t see him there, either. Or Peanut. Or a random spirit.
Was I even awake, or was this some kind of bizarre dream?
“Zayne?”
“I’m here” came the immediate response.
I turned to the couch with a frown and inched around the side, and he was there, lying on his side with his cheek resting on the curl of his arm. There was a vacant pillow beside his elbow.
He patted the space beside him.
I glanced from him to the space and then back to him again, my throat suddenly making me wish I had gotten a drink. My skin felt heavy, and I really needed to get it together. He was inviting me to lie with him and not to lie with him.
“There’s enough room,” he said. “I promise.”
There was enough room on the couch to fit a T. rex, but I still stood there, hands opening and closing at my sides. I didn’t know why I was being so weird. This wouldn’t be the first time we’d lain side by side while we’d been unable to sleep. It had been a brief habit until...until the night we’d done more than talking and sleeping.
“Trin?” Zayne started to rise. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I plopped down on the couch beside him, landing on my back with the gracefulness of a cow falling over.
“Wow,” he murmured.
“What?” I clasped my hands together, over my stomach. There were a few inches between us, but I could still feel the warmth of his body.
“Just surprised you didn’t break your back with that move.”
“Shut up,” I muttered.
Zayne chuckled.
I wiggled my toes and then my butt, sinking an inch into the cushion. “You know...this couch is more comfortable than I thought.”
“It’s not bad.”
But still not as comfortable as his bed. “I feel terrible about taking over your apartment—your bathroom.” I paused. “Your kitchen. Your bed.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
My brows knitted as I turned my head toward him. I couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or not. “Kind of hard not to. I could sleep out here and—”
“That would go against every code I have. Not going to happen,” he replied. “What woke you up?”
The spirit I’d seen formed in my thoughts. Shivering, I wondered if or when he would come back and what he had wanted. Sometimes they never returned.
“Cold?” Zayne reached down and snatched the blanket pooled at his waist. With a flick of his hand, the soft material floated out and then fell over my legs.
“Thanks,” I murmured. “I just woke up. Not sure why. I really am sorry for waking you.”
“It’s okay.” He paused. “I thought I heard you talking to someone when I woke up.”
“You must’ve been hearing things.”
“Uh-huh.”
My lips twitched. “It was Peanut.” That wasn’t exactly a lie.
Zayne shifted beside me. “Is he still here?”
When I opened my eyes, I could see enough to know he was looking around. My smile grew. “He’s not here right now.”
“Huh.” His head tilted toward mine. When he spoke, I felt his breath on my forehead. “Where does he go...when he’s not here?”
“That’s a good question. I hope he’s not bothering that girl who lives somewhere in this building. Which reminds me, I really need to check on that.” I sighed, mentally re-adding that to my list of things I needed to do yesterday. “Any time I ask him where he goes, he gives me a ridiculous answer. Like once he said he went to the moon.”