by Ami Urban
“Goodbye...”
The word whispered through my thoughts just as the taxi pulled to a stop in a heavy traffic jam. I had no idea whose voice it was, but it sounded male—unaccented.
I checked my cell phone for the millionth time. When I’d found out that Mr. Mays had killed himself, I knew I had to warn Katie. But when I told her over the phone, she sounded…strange. So, I hopped into a cab and bolted straight to Kevin’s hotel.
“What’s going on?” I demanded, tapping my fingers against the leather seat behind the cabby’s head.
“Traffic jam,” he said simply.
“Obviously. But why?”
“Got me. Hotel’s just a block up the way if you want to get out now.”
I shoved money at him and hopped out of the taxi. Hurrying in the direction of Omni Hotel, I noticed people running past me, pointing and talking in hurried tones.
I skidded to a stop just outside the lobby where a police man was holding back a mass of people huddled around something.
It was like ants at a picnic. Something was going down, and it didn’t look good.
“Martin...”
I spun around. That psychopomp guy Julian was standing right behind me. He looked like he’d been through hell and back—his hair a mess, posture slumped, and what looked like some bruising around his throat.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Where’s Katie? Is she okay?”
He nodded. “She’s fine—still up in Kevin’s room, huddled in my arms and crying,” he said.
“Crying? Why? What happened? How are you with her right now when you’re here?”
“I’m omnipotent. And she’s crying because the man lying in the street right here is Kevin Carter. He’s dead.”
“Dead? What the hell happened?”
“Katie called Irish Moses. She wanted to prove to Kevin and me that she could banish him on her own.”
“What?! But he’s way too strong for her first try!”
“I tried to tell her that. She sang, but when she did, she didn’t filter to only him, so wraiths came in from the other dimension, drawn to her.
“Irish Moses took the body of the girl Justine. She came to the room pretending that you’d said you needed her.”
“What?!”
“I used my touch. She’s gone. Katie’s fine, as I said,” he replied, holding up a hand to keep my comment in place. “But Irish Moses has been trying to ‘link’ his soul with others so he can stay on our plane. He succeeded with Justine. But when I killed her, he tried it with Kevin’s soul. Kevin sacrificed himself to keep the wraith inside.”
I slumped and turned back to watch the crowd mill about. I could hear the sirens wailing somewhere down the street, coming to rescue my former teacher. It felt ironic, seeing as how they were too late.
“What does this all mean?” I asked myself.
“It means your guardian wraith is no more. It means your soul is up for grabs unless you can make a deal with the same afterlifers as Katie. And it means that Katie is free now.”
I snapped my gaze around to look at Julian.
“You should go to her.”
He was right. She was free from Kevin’s overprotective nature. She could be mine again.
“But not now.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Police are up there now. They’re asking questions. Justine’s body is lying dead. It’s common knowledge you and she dated, even if it may not be true. Go back to your hotel until they leave.”
I turned to look as a paramedic cleared people out of the way.
I caught a glimpse of Kevin Carter. He was on his back, his eyes wide open and staring. Staring straight at me.
My pulse spiked. I watched for signs of life, but there were none. Blood pooled around his head, flowing in a neat line to the gutter. Then, the paramedic blocked my view.
“He’s really dead?”
When I received no answer, I spun around. He was gone.
* * *
The last uniformed officer had left the Dallas Omni Hotel. It was my turn to go see Katie. I could finally be with her.
At last I could see her, touch her, smell her, and kiss her. She would remember me finally. Anxious didn’t begin to describe what I felt as I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button marked Seven.
For a moment, I wondered if this was how she felt when coming to my room the last night she’d been alive. We’d been so close to each other. The last day we were together, we spent time doing things I’d never done. Even though I’d been in love before, it had never felt like that.
I wondered what would become of me after the whole situation blew over.
Irish Moses was gone, but was he really gone for good as Julian had said?
I couldn’t fathom the thought. Was I free after two hundred and sixty years of serving a wraith? Would I start aging?
Who did my soul belong to?
The elevator dinged. I was on the right floor. The doors slid open to reveal a hallway. It was quiet; there were no more officers roaming around.
I took a left, following the same path I had when going to see Kevin. Julian had told me that they’d moved her to a new room right next to his. Just a few more doors now.
Julian had said something about making a deal with the same afterlifers Katie had.
Was that possible?
I wondered if I could exchange my services for their protection of my soul. In all my two and half centuries, I’d never heard of anyone else losing their guardian wraith. I had no idea what to expect.
A second later, I was staring at the numbers outside the room they’d moved Katie to. It was the moment of truth. I was there for her when no one else was. I brought up my hand, curled it into a fist, and...
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Knock, knock, knock.
I jerked away from the sappy romance movie I’d been watching.
It was all I could do after what had happened. There was no energy left to do much else.
To top it all off, I didn’t want to think about anything.
But someone was knocking on my door. It must have been one of the policemen from before. They’d probably forgotten to ask me some other question that would bring all the memories flooding back and make me want to cry again. But I had to do what I had to do.
I sighed and stretched my back, letting whoever was at the door know I’d be there in a second.
After muting the movie and pulling a blanket around my shoulders—give me a break, I was wearing ratty pajamas—I shuffled toward the door.
I was already starting to anticipate what the questions would be before I even put my hand on the knob.
What were you doing when Kevin Carter stepped onto the window ledge?
Did you try to stop him?
Did he seem depressed lately? Did he ever talk about suicide?
How do you know Justine Coleman? Do you think her boyfriend would want her dead for any reason?
Were you and Kevin Carter having an affair?
Okay, so they hadn’t asked me the last question at all, but I felt like I owed it to both of us to answer it anyway.
Why? I don’t know.
And the thing about Justine bothered me even more.
I hadn’t seen or heard from Martin since the phone call. But that was just par for the course.
I had a feeling he had a habit of disappearing.
I pulled open the door, fully prepared to stare a policeman in the face. Only that’s not who was standing there.
“Martin?” I stared into his perfect blue-green eyes.
“Oh, Katie...” He scooped me into his arms.
I wanted to push him away, but my willpower wasn’t strong enough after the shock of losing Kevin.
Instead, I buried my face in his chest, breathing a familiar scent of fresh hotel soap.
A memory flooded through me, clicking into place with the others. Martin and I had been like this before.
But when? And why?
“Katie... Katie...” he whispered.
It was like he couldn’t believe I was there. When I pulled away, he didn’t let me go.
“How are you doing?” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
I sighed. “He’s gone...”
“I know...” He wiped away the tear trickling down my cheek. “But it’s okay.”
I took a step back to break the connection. I shouldn’t have been near him.
I still didn’t know whose side he was on. And just because he was there for me at that moment, didn’t take away the fact that he’d lied to me.
“It’s not okay.” I shook my head. “It’s not okay because he was the only person I could trust.
“And I couldn’t even do that right because he lied to me, just like everybody else! Everybody was lying to me!”
I could feel myself growing close to hysterics. “Kevin lied to me, Julian lied to me, Marcus lied to me, you lied to me!”
Martin seemed hurt. “I tried to help you remember, Katie.”
“Why? Why would you want me to remember all the horrible things you did?”
“Katie!” He jumped forward and grabbed my shoulders. “We were together! We were a couple! Remember that!”
My heart stopped beating. “What…?” I tried to sift through memories, but glaring holes met me. “No…no way would I…”
“I didn’t want to tell you, because—”
I pushed him away again, anger becoming my new best friend. “Because why? Because I couldn’t handle it? I’m too young? Too inexperienced?” I balled my fists at my sides.
“No, Katie!” He shook his head. “Because I was afraid you’d grown out of me…”
When his voice trailed away into nothing, I felt my entire body tingle.
“I was afraid you’d remember everything wrong because I pushed too hard. And I was afraid that if you remembered right, you’d think I was pathetic and stupid for giving my soul to wraith…”
I didn’t know what to say, so I muttered, “I want to remember.”
He looked up at me, swallowing hard.
“I want to remember the way you remember.” I approached him in the center of the room.
First, I stared at the chest of his T-shirt. It was kind of cute; it had a little orange dinosaur on it holding a picket sign that said “Boycott the Asteroid Belt”. Why did that seem familiar?
I looked into his gorgeous eyes, wanting and needing to fill those gaps in my memories. His hand reached up to touch my cheek. A delicious spark shot up my spine.
“What if you don’t—?”
“Don’t think,” I said. “Just…kiss me.”
He pursed his beautiful lips, closing his eyes as if he had to think about it.
Then, he lowered his head and kissed me. And just like that, memories washed over me. I remembered our first kiss and how he held me so close. I remembered the way he’d tickled me in the middle of watching Terminator. Said tickle fest turned into something more physical, and I still didn’t remember how the damn movie ended.
I recalled looking up at the stars on the hood of Sherry’s old Civic. But most of all I remembered his help. Together, we’d fought off three different wraiths. And he’d never once treated me like a child.
And that evening in the hotel room, he kissed me the way I remembered he liked to kiss—soft, yet hot and greedy for more. I melted into him, feeling everything from the past week seep away from my body like cold away from heat.
But he broke it off abruptly, sucking in a breath. And when I didn’t say anything because I was too stunned, he let the breath out.
“Do you… Did it…work?” he asked.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Instead, I grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him into my room.
I pressed my mouth against his, wanting to feel more of that rush. We clumsily fell onto the sofa together, unable to separate our passion. His legs tangled with mine, his hands brushed through my hair, and our souls mingled together in harmony.
At last when we came up for air, I didn’t let him go.
“I missed you.” I grasped his perfect face between my hands and gave it a tiny shake. “I can’t believe I didn’t remember that I missed you!”
He laughed, catching my right hand and placing a kiss inside my palm. “I missed you, too.” He smiled, causing my heart to melt right in my chest. “I missed you like hell. And you know what else?”
“What?”
He kissed the skin just below my ear, then whispered, “I’m crazy about you. I love you, Katherine Louise Bunny.”
A shiver rocked my body to the core. Hearing him say those words was too much after the week I’d had. Hell, after the month I’d had, anything other than “here, let me protect you” was better than chocolate brownies with ice cream on top—no nuts.
When I didn’t answer, he pulled away and looked into my eyes.
“Katie? Did you hear what I said?”
I nodded a few more times than necessary. “But say it again.”
He smiled. “I love you.”
My brain went fuzzy. “And I...I love you, Martin whatever-your-middle-name-is—”
“Joseph.”
“Really?”
“Yup.”
I made a face. “I like it.”
“Mm-hm.” He gently touched his nose to mine. “But what were you saying?”
“I was saying... That I love you Martin... Joseph... Krane.”
* * *
“You okay?” he asked for the sixth time before kissing the back of my hand.
I nodded, allowing a weak smile to fill my face. I glanced around the funeral hall. Students filled the place, some crying. I saw Marcus sitting in the very front, silent with a straight back in the uncomfortable wooden seats.
When Martin and I had arrived, he didn’t even look twice at me.
I was sure he’d heard about the incident with Kevin and Justine, and, no doubt, thought I had something to do with their deaths, too.
I noticed Chris Summers sitting next to Marcus, but the seat on his right was empty. I wondered if it was meant for Charles Gibbons.
We were instructed to stand. Serena’s funeral was open-casket, so we would all be able to say goodbye to her face one last time before she was laid to rest.
Martin took my hand, pulling me from the chair and securing a spot in the long line of people.
Marcus was the first to step up. For a moment, he looked at her. I couldn’t see his expression as his back was to me, but after a few seconds of tense silence, his knees buckled and gave out. Chris caught him before he began to wail Serena’s name. She was his only daughter.
It was my turn.
Martin’s arm was wrapped tight around my waist as we stepped beside the coffin. It was nice—expensive with red velvet trim. Serena would have hated it. I smiled at the thought.
On the other hand, she looked like a doll. Her face was painted impossibly white with large circles of rouge on her cheeks. Her eyes were closed, mouth red and shining. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have said she was alive. But something about the way she looked seemed wrong.
I swallowed hard. “She made it okay,” I reminded myself.
“She did.” Martin pulled me closer. I hugged him, pushing my face into his shoulder and letting the last tears for the assignment fall down my cheeks.
After all, there would be many, many more.
Epilogue
I nodded at the morgue director as he left, the chrome swinging door reflecting the skewed light with each squeak of its hinges.
Before me, on the metal slab table, was a body, covered by a white sheet.
As requested, the body was brought back to the states to be buried. No autopsy was done by Katie’s insistence, so it should have been intact.
I don’t know how I knew, but I was there just the same.
Approaching the slab, I held an arm out, catching one edge of the sheet. In one swift tug, I pulled it to his waist.
/> His skin was pasty, but still pink. They’d closed his eyes—thankfully—but the feeling of death still hung in the air like a plague. Maybe it was just the place.
I stood back, examining every inch of him. I wanted to be positive of the reason I’d been drawn there.
The pinky finger on his left hand twitched, although it was just a slight movement. But then, a muscle spasm jolted in his shoulder. I began to see his eyelids flutter. His chest expanded with a sudden breath. Then, he sat bolt upright on the table, the white sheet falling to his waist.
He doubled over, clutching his gut and letting out a growl of pain. The process was almost over. Someone would win the battle, and it would be soon. I just hoped good would triumph over evil.
He turned toward me. His blue eyes glazed over for a moment, but then recognition flashed. Another wince of pain shot through his features.
“Martin...” he whispered in a voice I recognized. “Krane...” A subtle Irish lilt accented his final word.
“Who are you?” I hoped to get the answer I wanted.
“I am...” he began with the accent, “who I’ve always been.” The voice returned to normal.
I nodded. This looked like it wasn’t going to be as simple as I’d hoped.
He was going to have to fight, and fight hard. And he’d probably be fighting the rest of his life, which may very well have been all eternity.
“Is she...all right?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “But that’s not what I came here for.”
“Then why...? Are you here...?”
“I just came to say one thing to you.” I took a step toward him.
“What might that be?” He winced again, but was able to sit straight. I couldn’t have imagined the amount of utter pain he must have been in.
I mustered all my courage and came within inches of his face.
Although I could feel the breath of life against my skin, he smelled of death—rotting, putrid, inevitable death.
We stared at each other for a solid thirty seconds. When I couldn’t stand to look at him any longer, I turned away.
“Stay away from her,” I swung the door to the morgue open.
He was silent, so I made a move to leave.
