by Russo, Jessa
“So. We’re like, fugitives now, Ev.”
I couldn’t keep my eyes from rolling. “Jessie. People want to kill me. I don’t think that’s the same thing as a fugitive. It’s not like the law is chasing me in some old Western movie.”
“Oh, I know, I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”
“Probably not going to happen.” I closed my eyes, and for a moment, I think I may have slept. But I awoke with that horrible feeling of falling, and realized I still hadn’t called Frankie. Or my mom. A quick glance around the room showed that I hadn’t been out long. Greg and Jessie were cuddled up on the bed next to mine, and the bathroom door was still closed.
I picked up Toby’s phone, which was conveniently plugged in on the nightstand within my reach, and dialed my house phone.
My mom picked up on the first ring.
“Hello! Ever? Is that you, honey?”
I sat up a bit straighter, wondering why she was so panicked. Did she know?
“Yeah, Mom, it’s me.”
“Oh my gosh, honey, I was so worried! I’ve been calling your room for hours! Where have you been?”
“Oh, sorry Mom. We were out.” I wondered if her panic meant she’d had a bad feeling. Mother’s intuition or something. “We were invited to um…brunch…with some friends we met at the pool.” Lies, lies, lies.
“Oh, honey, that’s wonderful! Are they girls your age? Where are they from?”
“Um…yeah—”
“Oh geez, okay, okay”—Mom paused, clucking her tongue at someone—“Honey, you’ll have to tell me all about your new girlfriends when you get back. There’s a handsome boy here who wants to talk to you. I love you! Have fun!”
“I love you, too, Mom.”
“Hey, Dollface. Miss me?”
“Yes. You have no idea.”
“Oh, I think I do. It’s really good to hear your voice. Hold on.”
I heard my mom in the background teasing Frankie about wanting privacy for our phone call, but I knew she’d leave him alone. She was never one to pry.
“You’ll be home tomorrow, right?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“I received a phone call from your ex-boyfriend yesterday. He’s with you now?”
“Yes,” I whispered as my stomach dropped into my toes. So Frankie knew I was with Toby.
As if summoned by Frankie mentioning him, Toby chose that exact moment to exit the bathroom wearing only his faded black jeans, slung low on his hips. No boxers. And no shirt.
What an asshole.
My eyes—without my permission—focused in on that spot just above the top button of his jeans. I felt my cheeks heat up, embarrassment and something else making me blush.
“Ever? Are you listening?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry, Frankie. Um… Jessie was talking to me.”
Toby’s gaze found mine as he caught me staring at him, obviously aware that Jessie hadn’t been talking to me. Or anyone for that matter. I quickly looked away, focusing instead on a stain on the wall next to the bed.
“It’s okay. So, I was saying that when you get here tomorrow, I will have told your mom, and we’ll be waiting for you. I didn’t want to tell her while she was in such a panic about not knowing where you were.”
“Okay. I understand. I wish you didn’t have to tell her at all. Did Toby tell you everything?”
Long pause. Too long.
“Yes.”
Liar. I knew he knew something he wasn’t telling me. My stomach sank as I considered what that could be. I kept coming back to the same question: was Frankie in danger, too?
“I love you, Ever. Stay safe, okay? And listen to Toby. He knows what he’s doing.”
Does he? I couldn’t help but wonder. He hadn’t even known how he was going to get me across the border.
“Okay. I love you, too, Frankie. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too, Doll. Stay safe, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He hung up before I said anything else, his last words spoken softly and with a hint of sadness. I could only imagine what he must be thinking, knowing I was holed up in a hotel room with my ex-boyfriend. I pressed END on the phone screen and laid it back on the nightstand.
Without looking at anyone else in the room, feeling all three sets of eyes on me, I turned over and buried myself deep in the sheets.
The bed creaked from the weight of someone sitting down.
“Babe?”
There it was again. That nickname. I wasn’t his babe anymore.
“Ever? We have to talk about tomorrow. Getting you home to see your mom and Frankie is only the next step. Only the beginning.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to think about that. I didn’t want to think about what being on the run actually meant for me. I didn’t want to think about saying goodbye to my mom. To Frankie.
Tears cascaded down my cheeks as I silently cried. I didn’t turn around. I closed my eyes and tried not to let them know I was crying. I willed the tears to stop, but trying to make them stop seemed to make them multiply.
“Oh, Ever,” Jessie said on a sigh as she climbed into bed behind me. Curling her body around mine, my best friend hugged me tightly. “It’s going to be okay, sweetie. It is. Toby and Greg will figure out what to do. Shh…”
Safe in Jessie’s arms, I cried. I let all the tears fall and didn’t worry about the sounds of my sobs, or the way I probably looked. My life was no longer my own. I couldn’t just live out my last year in peace, loving Frankie and soaking up every minute possible with my mom and Jessie. I had to leave everyone behind, and go on the run.
So what did it matter anyway? If I was going to spend what little time I had left running, what was the point? Why shouldn’t I just die now? Let one of these evil soul collectors have me?
And then it hit me.
Toby.
I could let Toby turn me in, and maybe…maybe by doing so, I could lower his debt. I could do that for him. I would do that for him.
Regardless of our past, it was better him than a stranger.
Better him than Ariadne.
So it was settled, then.
Toby’s hands hold either side of my face, his thumbs lightly brushing my cheekbones. His dark gaze holds mine with such intensity, such passion. I close my eyes, breathing in the fresh scent of him. Soft lips brush mine, teasing me. Then they’re gone. I want them back.
Wake up!
I lean forward into his hands, towards him, wanting to find his lips. My eyes remain closed. I wait.
His lips find mine again, slowly caressing me, kissing me. His tongue teases my lips open, then makes its way inside my mouth, slowly tasting me, teasing me.
Wake up!
Without breaking the connection between our mouths, one of Toby’s hands slides behind me, resting in the nape of my neck. His fingers stretch their way into my hair, while his other hand moves down my body. His hand rests for a few brief seconds on the fleshy skin above my bra. Goose bumps break out over my skin as he slides a fingertip just over the top of the lace cup, tracing its half-moon shape, before continuing his slow, torturous descent down my body.
Wake up!
I awoke with a gasp. Or was it a moan? I quickly threw my hand over my mouth and waited, not even daring to breathe.
I was again plagued by the ever-present and always haunting dreams of Toby. I was also completely suffocated by Jessie’s strong hold on me. She had to have been a thousand degrees for all the heat she was giving off. Geez. Maybe she’d come down with some crazy Mexican fever or something. I slowly tried to wiggle my way out from under her arm, which was heavy as lead, and was relieved when I managed to slide all the way out of her hold. I slid myself down to the floor, and she curled her arm around a pillow, murmuring softly.
I exhaled a breath and stood up quietly. I turned around to survey the room. The tiny alarm clock blinked in red: 3:47 a.m. Ugh. Greg was sprawled out on the other double bed, one leg stretched out and hanging off the side as if rea
ching for Jessie even in his sleep. I was half tempted to wake one of them up and tell them to share a bed, but at the sound of Greg’s snoring and Jessie’s random mumbling, I decided to leave them be. We’d probably have to get up soon anyway and they should be able to have these next couple hours of sleep without interruption.
It wasn’t their fault that my dreams were haunted and I hadn’t slept worth a damn in months.
Turning my head, I scanned the room, my gaze settling on boots I’d recognize anywhere. Toby was stretched out in a chair in the corner that had been moved just inches away from the door, as if he was acting as our guard while we slept. His legs hung far off the end of the ottoman and crossed at the ankles. I slowly looked up the length of his long body, pausing only briefly at the deep V muscles of his stomach, then the patch of blond hair on his chest. When my gaze settled on his face, my breath caught in my throat.
Eyes as dark as midnight stared back at me. Watching me.
Shit.
He’d seen me staring at him. Way to go, Ever. Way. To. Go.
His lips quirked up in that knowing smirk of his, and he tilted his head toward the door.
I nodded. I wanted some fresh air. He stood and pushed the chair and ottoman back up against the wall, then stretched…ugh.
His body was so tan and lean—built a lot like Frankie’s but so much darker—the sight of him did funny things to my stomach as I remembered moments between us—both real and dreamed up. I had to look away. That boy needed to put on a shirt and fast.
Luckily, he did, and not a second too soon. I was starting to wonder if Jessie actually did have a fever, and if I was coming down with it, too.
After sliding my feet into my black flip-flops, I quietly followed him out of the hotel room and down the short hallway to the small parking lot out front. We were seated next to each other on a brightly painted bench before either one of us said a word.
“I’m so sorry, Ever.”
“What?” I looked over at him, meeting his dark gaze.
“I’m sorry for everything. I should have never come to your house. I should have never stayed. I should have never…fallen in love with you.” He paused, inhaling a deep breath, and I had to look away. There was so much pain in his eyes. It took me right back to my own pain—the devastation he’d brought into my life. His words didn’t help matters either. Hearing him voice his feelings just made me question everything between us, and everything that had transpired.
“I should have never let this happen to you, Ever. This. All of this. This is my fault. And I’m so, so sorry.”
“No, Toby, this isn’t—”
He raised a hand to silence me. “No. Please don’t do that. Don’t tell me this isn’t my fault. It is. But, please, believe me when I say that I will do whatever it takes to fix it. And I will never, ever let anyone hurt you.”
I nodded, my throat feeling too lumpy to speak.
I don’t know how long we sat there, but we didn’t speak again after that. We just sat, listening to coyotes howl in the distance, and watching the occasional car drive past the motel. Eventually, the sky started to turn shades of pink and orange in the distance, and I knew it was time for us to get moving.
A pit grew inside my stomach, comparable in size to the Grand Canyon. Toby hadn’t touched me, hadn’t tried to hold my hand or do anything to make me uncomfortable in any way. But just being there with him and feeling the easy comfort of his closeness…that was enough to make me feel sick with guilt.
I shouldn’t be finding comfort in Toby.
I needed to get home, needed to see Frankie. I was about to stand up to head back inside when Greg came charging through the double doors.
“Holy shit! Toby! You scared the shit out of me, man!” He threw his arms around Toby in a quick man-hug and then did his usual pick-Ever-up-and-swing-her thing. It never ceased to startle me when my feet left the ground, even though it happened almost every time Greg hugged me.
“What are you guys doing out here? I thought something happened to you!”
“Sorry, man. We just couldn’t sleep. Is Jessie up?”
“No, not yet. I was letting her sleep a little longer.” Greg paused, and his eyes widened. “Oh, shit! I better get back in there before she wakes up and freaks out because we’re all gone.”
Greg turned on his heels and flew back through the double doors. I couldn’t help but laugh as we made our way back inside.
But my laughter was short lived as I realized what this new morning meant for me.
This was it. I was officially on the run.
Today would be the day that I said goodbye to my mom. And Jessie. And Frankie.
Forever.
Worse than that even, someday soon I’d have to tell Toby my plan for allowing him to collect on my soul. Because no matter how much I thought about it, that seemed the most logical, least traumatizing course of action.
And I knew he’d want nothing to do with my plan.
I almost slammed into Greg’s huge back when I returned to the room. He stood frozen in place in the open doorway, shoulders rigid and fists clenched at his sides.
Panic crept its way up my spine. Jessie.
I made a move to peer around Greg and felt Toby’s hands on my shoulders, pulling me back out the door. I turned to snap at him, but the words died in my throat when I saw his wide eyes and the rigid creases in his forehead.
He pushed past me into the room and took a spot next to Greg. Though smaller than Greg, and less muscular, his lean frame was just as intimidating by the tense stance he held.
Holy shit. What’s wrong with Jessie?
Never being one to cower behind anyone—more from stubbornness than bravery—I bent down between the two guys to look into the room. A shriek slipped past my lips before I could slam my hand over my mouth.
Jessie remained on the bed where I’d left her, but she was no longer stretched out in comfortable sleep, or cuddling with the pillow in my absence. Back pressed against the headboard, Jessie had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them tightly. Her face was so pale it was almost blue, and her eyes were wide. Tears glistened on her cheekbones.
I couldn’t look away. I also couldn’t just stand there behind Toby and Greg while my best friend cowered on the bed. I pushed through them and stood tall. From this vantage point, I had a clear view of the looming figure standing over Jessie.
Judging by the fear that radiated from her, it was obvious that Jessie’s ghost-seeing abilities hadn’t stopped with Frankie.
And clearly, neither had mine. After the ghost on the Queen Mary, and now this, I realized I’d have to ask Toby about what it all meant.
Not now though. Now I had to figure out why this creep was scaring my best friend.
He was easily six and a half feet tall. Even though his form was nearly translucent and blurred around the edges, it was obvious that he’d once been a very massive man. He leaned down, slightly bent at the waist, peering intently at Jessie. Even with our sudden presence in the tiny hotel room, he hadn’t taken his eyes off her.
Toby cleared his throat.
“It’s okay, babe. We’re here now,” Greg whispered to Jessie.
She nodded, but her tight posture didn’t relax, and her eyes didn’t waver from the beast of a ghost in front of her.
The spirit finally tore his eyes away from Jessie’s frightened face, and after seeing the three of us, stood tall and straight.
Or, well, after seeing the two of them, I should say. Because it was obvious when he suddenly noticed me. His dark, translucent eyes zeroed in on mine, almost appearing solid from the intensity of his stare. His head tilted slightly to one side, as his eyes narrowed into slits.
“Oh. This is the one.”
His voice was somehow gravelly and smooth all at once, unhinging my nerves while it coated my skin with goose bumps. He managed to turn the most innocent of words into a menacing threat. Toby and Greg stepped forward, again placing me behind them.
This time, however, they were unable to block my view entirely, which meant eye contact with our intruder never faltered.
He cocked his head to the other side, slowly analyzing me. Then he tilted his head backward and closed his eyes, sniffing the air. It was unnecessary because I knew well and good that ghosts couldn’t smell, but the slight action upped his creepiness factor tenfold. He stepped forward, fully turning his back to Jessie, and I couldn’t be scared of him—I was too full of relief for her. My friend didn’t deserve to be in the middle of this.
I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath. It felt like we’d been in a staring contest for hours, even though only a few short minutes had passed. I didn’t push past Toby—I was secretly grateful for the barrier—but I spoke to the ghost, needing to know what he wanted and why he was here in our motel room.
“Who are you?”
Toby tensed when I spoke, but didn’t say anything or try to stop me.
“It is not important who I am, my dear. It is only important who you are.”
“Yeah, okay. Super. What do you want?”
“It is not what I want—”
“Oh good lord. Cut the crap.” Jessie’s voice startled me, as she was suddenly on my side of the room. I’d watched the ghost so intently, that I hadn’t noticed Jessie make her way around the room to stand beside Greg. Well, behind Greg actually, as he now stood protectively in front of her the way Toby stood in front of me.
By the slightly widened eyes of our visitor, it was obvious he hadn’t noticed her move either. He turned his black gaze back to me, a hint of amusement in his sly smile.
“I am here but for one thing. To find you.”
“Me? Why?”
Toby reached for me, his hand wrapping around my fingers. He squeezed my hand, but I didn’t squeeze back. I wasn’t scared. If I was on the run, this was my life now. Time to pay the piper, I guessed.
Okay, that was a lie. Maybe I was slightly scared.
“Are you, like, Death…or the Grim Reaper or something?” That sounded stupid, but with all that I’d learned lately, it wasn’t too crazy an idea.
