Sisters of Salt and Iron

by Kady Cross

  I glanced away. “That’s sweet, thank you.”

  A finger under my chin turned my head back so that our gazes locked. “I didn’t say it to be sweet. Wren, you must know that I have the greatest admiration for you. I cannot remember the last time I was this drawn to anyone. We’ve known each other only a few days, but I feel, in my soul, that I’ve known you forever.”

  “Oh.” It was like I was in a romance novel. I couldn’t believe my ears.

  Noah smiled. “‘Oh’? Is that all you’ve got to say? You crush me.”

  “I like you, too,” I said. “A lot.”

  The hand over mine tightened around my fingers and lifted them. “Come with me.”

  I let him pull me toward the stairs. On the next floor he turned the corner toward the men’s wing. He took me into a room as abandoned and run-down as the others, but the moment we walked in, it began to change. Noah made it look the way it had been—or the way he wanted it to be. When it had finished, it was a beautiful space with cream walls and a huge four-poster bed.

  “Is this your room?” I asked. “It’s beautiful.”

  “Yes. Wealthy patients were allowed to bring their own furnishing. My father was already racked by guilt committing me to Haven Crest, so he spared no expense in making my environment as comfortable as possible.”

  I admired every detail, right down to the pattern of the huge rug that covered most of the floor. My gaze landed on a portrait hanging on the wall—it was of a beautiful dark-haired girl with bright blue eyes. The resemblance was obvious.

  “Is that your sister?”

  “Maureen. Yes, that’s her.”

  “She was beautiful.”

  “She was.”

  I turned to face him. “You must miss her terribly.”

  His pain was reflected in the lines of his face. “I do.”

  “Where is she?” When he frowned, I immediately regretted asking. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry.”

  “No, it’s fine. It’s just been a while since I’ve spoken of her. I assume she’s wherever we go once we leave this place. She’s not haunting anywhere, if that’s what you wanted to know.”

  It was. “Why didn’t you go with her after you died?”

  He hesitated, and I wanted to stick iron in my eye for being so nosey. “Unfinished business,” was his reply. There was a darkness to his gaze. “I’ll see her again one day.”

  “That’s a beautiful thought.” I drifted closer to the picture. “Can I ask you how she died?”

  “A fever.” He moved to my side. “One of those diseases that, if she were alive today, would require nothing more than a few pills to recover.”

  I turned my head to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

  A sad smile tilted his lips. “Let’s not talk about it anymore. She’s not why I brought you up here. I brought you here so we could be alone.”

  A band of pressure surrounded my chest. “Why?”

  He tugged me closer until the edges of our energy touched. “Have you ever melded with another ghost?”

  I shook my head. “No.” Melding was a very intimate experience. I’d only ever done it with Lark.

  And Kevin. But they were alive, not another ghost. It was different when ghosts did it. With humans, you were aware of them, like they might be aware of a coat. It was possession but with the host aware. With ghosts, though, you really became one.

  “Would you like to meld with me?” Noah asked softly. “It’s all right if you don’t.”

  Did I? It was such a trusting, vulnerable thing to do. For the duration of the meld we’d be the same creature. No me. No him. Just us.

  “Yes,” I murmured. There was a fluttery feeling inside me, like there was a light inside me around which a thousand butterflies flapped their wings. “I want to meld with you.”

  He smiled. “Don’t be nervous.” He moved closer, and closer. I let down some of my guards, embraced being a being of pure energy and opened myself up to him. Slowly, our auras came together as I drew him in. He let me decide the pace, letting me know he’d stop if I asked him to.

  I wasn’t going to ask him to stop.

  His lips pressed against mine, and we kissed until it wasn’t his lips and my lips, but our lips, and then there weren’t even any lips, because he was inside of me, and I was inside of him. There was nothing but just us.

  It was beautiful.

  LARK

  Wren didn’t meet me after school. Was I surprised? Not really. Was I disappointed? Yeah, a little. But, whatever. I assumed she was with Noah, and since I wasn’t going to go to Haven Crest to hunt her down—because I’d hate it if she did that to me—I went home to change. I was going to do some kickboxing with Ben. He swore by it as his favorite way to work out, and I thought he looked hot all sweaty and stuff, so it was all good. Plus, ever since my run-in with Josiah Bent and his minions, I appreciated knowing how to throw a punch.

  I could fight ghosts, but I still needed to know how to fight. It was a good skill for a girl to have.

  Nan, being the living, breathing example of awesomeness that she was, had homemade organic granola bars on a plate in the kitchen when I walked in. I grabbed one and stuffed half of it in my mouth as I ran upstairs.

  I changed into leggings, a sports bra and T-shirt and dug my sneakers out of the closet. I didn’t wear them very much. I was more of a Fluevog girl. Most of my shoes came from secondhand stores or eBay because I had designer tastes and a nonexistent budget. My father had given me a credit card out of guilt, but I didn’t use it very often. Although, I was tempted to run it to the max on shoes.

  I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my room, twisting my hair up into a messy bun on the back of my head. My hair was getting too long—it grew like crazy. Sometimes I fantasized about chopping it all off and getting a really edgy cut, but I never followed through.

  I had just finished wrapping a scrunchie around the bun when I caught a glimpse of movement in the mirror.

  Sweet baby Jesus, what now? Hopefully she wouldn’t explode this one.

  I glanced up and met a gaze almost identical to mine in the mirror. Emily and I looked a lot alike. It wasn’t just the eyes—which she had again—or the white hair; there was something to her expression that reminded me of my own face. She looked a bit older than me, which was funny because she had been an old woman when she died. A lot of ghosts were like starlets—they always wanted to look like they did in their prime.

  “Thank goodness you’re there,” she said.

  “You’re not going to try to kill me again, are you?” I asked warily.

  Her brows lowered in annoyance. “I didn’t try to kill you, girl. I’ve done nothing but try to get your attention, but you don’t listen all that well.”

  Now I knew where I got my prickly nature.

  “What’s going on with you?” I asked. “Where are you? Who are you afraid of?”

  She ignored my questions, peering around the edge of the mirror as though looking for something—or someone. “Is Wren with you?”

  “No.” Thanks for the reminder that I’d been tossed over for a ghost.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Lark, listen to me. You’re in a lot of danger. You can’t trust him.”

  “Trust who?”

  Another exasperated look. “You know who. Noah McCrae.”

  Oh. This was fabulous. Why couldn’t I have been wrong about him? Why couldn’t he be an awesome guy who wanted nothing more from Wren than to hold her hand and do whatever it was that love-struck ghosts did? “Why not?”

  “It’s all about revenge.” Emily’s blue-eyed gaze was earnest as it met mine. “Against me.”

  “Revenge for what?”

  She glanced away. “For what I did to his sister.”

  “Th
e sister whose death sent him to the crazy house?” I’d read about it in his file.

  “No, the other one.”

  It took me a second to realize she was being sarcastic. Another family trait, obviously.

  “You toasted her, didn’t you?” I’d like to think I was brilliant to have come to that conclusion, but I was just following along.

  Emily nodded. Her hair glinted silver in the mirror. “She turned bad as a spirit. Really bad. Noah was a medium, so he was able to communicate with her, which was why his parents had him committed to Haven Crest. She drove him to the brink of real madness—she persuaded him to kill someone. I couldn’t let her continue. So, I snuck into the family crypt and sent her on to her rest. Or her torment. Or whatever happens when we’re allowed to move on.”

  “Someone’s bitter,” I muttered.

  “Lark, Noah McCrae killed himself so he could take his revenge on me.”

  If she had reached through the mirror and slapped me, I wouldn’t have been more shocked. “What was that?”

  I swear on Wren’s grave she rolled her eyes. “Listen to me—Noah McCrae blames me for what happened to his sister. It doesn’t matter that perhaps I gave her the peace she sought. To him, I killed her more effectively than the fever she’d contracted. He killed himself shortly after. Do you know what happens to a medium when they die?”

  I shook my head. “I’m kinda learning this stuff as I go.”

  Emily sighed. “That’s because you’ve had no one to teach you. You and your sister are the first Melinoe in generations.”

  “Melinoe?”

  She shook her head, as though that weird word wasn’t important, even though she’d used it like it was. “When a medium becomes a ghost, they have some power over other ghosts—like a pied piper or snake charmer.”

  Well, that was just awesome. “How does he do that?”

  “Ghosts are drawn to them when they’re alive, and that charisma doesn’t go away when they die. If left alone, it simply makes for a ghost with a lot of charm and friends, but when nurtured and honed...”

  I sighed. “You get Charles Manson and the Family.”

  Her expression turned grim. “Exactly.”

  I couldn’t even enjoy the fact that she got the reference, despite having died a good fifty years or more before Helter Skelter became more than just a Beatles song.

  In the mirror, Emily glanced over her shoulder. I didn’t blame her for being paranoid. “I wish I could explain everything to you and teach you what you need to know, but I can’t so long as he’s got me trapped here. With Alys and I separated, I’m weaker, and he’s made me more so by polluting me with his own energy. I’ve only had this much time with you because he’s with your sister. You have to keep her away from him, Lark. He’s going to use her to further his own agenda.”

  “Which is?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Of course she didn’t.

  “He hasn’t made me privy to his plans. I do know that what he plans to do isn’t nearly as important to me as the fact that he plans to destroy the two of you to achieve it.”

  That got my attention. “Destroy us? Define destroy.”

  “If he kills you it will only make him stronger.”

  “I’m not going to let that happen.” And then, “Wren thinks he’s her boyfriend.”

  She grimaced. “I know. He will turn her against you if he can. He will turn you against each other and then destroy you both to give himself more power.”

  “How?”

  “All Hallows’ Eve is coming. The dead will walk among the living. Haven Crest will be at the apex of a huge energy surge. Noah will harness that energy and use it. He’s going to rise, Lark. He will destroy everything in his path, and he will become the most powerful spirit the world has ever seen. Imagine the damage he could do.”

  This was what One-Shade-of-Gray had been talking about—the terrible thing that was going to happen at Haven Crest.

  It was Noah.

  If somebody came into my room at that moment and offered me a full-on, needle-through-the-eye lobotomy with an electroshock-therapy chaser, I’d take it and I’d thank them for it. At least then I wouldn’t know just how shitty the situation was, and I wouldn’t care even if I did.

  “We have to stop the concert,” I said. Never mind that I’d said the opposite earlier. Never mind my promise to Joe. I hadn’t known the full scope of Noah’s douche-baggery when I made that promise. Joe would have to understand. Saving the town, and possibly the world—ego much?—had to be more important than a promise to one ghost.

  At least, that’s what I told myself.

  “How?” she asked.

  I couldn’t think of a single way, other than arson or planting a body. Neither of those were an option, unless I could get Olgilvie to act early in the evening, but how? Going to the press would make me look nuts. And even if I could get in touch with the band, they’d think it was cool that ghosts were going to crash their party.

  “Okay, then, if I can’t stop the concert, what other option is there?”

  “You know what you have to do.”

  Salt and burn his remains. Of course. But I didn’t know where he was buried... Wait. Wasn’t there a McCrae crypt in the graveyard? Kevin would know. He would definitely help me if it was for Wren.

  In the mirror I met Emily’s gaze. “I can do that,” I told her, and I sounded so sure of myself even I believed it.

  “Be careful,” she warned. “He’s stronger than he seems, and the closer All Hallows’ Eve comes, the more powerful he is, especially as connected as he is to Haven Crest.”

  “Won’t Wren and I become more powerful, as well?”

  Emily smiled softly at me. “My dear girl, the two of you have no idea how strong you are, and I hope if it comes down to it, you’ll figure it out. I promise I’ll rectify that as soon as I’m out of this prison. I’ll rescue Alys, and then we’ll make sure you girls are trained.”

  That sounded pretty awesome to me. “Why’s Alys in the void?”

  Emily’s smile faded. “For something she did trying to save me. Lark, you and Wren are stronger together than you are apart, that’s the way of the Melinoe, but you each have your own strengths. Don’t let McCrae lure Wren to his side.” She glanced over her shoulder, and I knew our chat was coming to an end.

  “I have to go,” she whispered. “But, Lark, there’s something else I have to tell you before I go. It’s very important, and you must trust me and not waver. Do you understand?”

  I shrugged. “Sure.”

  She shook her head, her expression fierce. “No. You must heed me.” She glanced over her shoulder again, then moved closer to the glass. If I touched the glass over her cheek, would it be warm? “This will be very, very difficult, but you must not give in. It is imperative that you do not fail.”

  “Seriously? Just tell me what it is!”

  Blue eyes bore into mine with such intensity that I felt it right down to my toes.

  “Noah has his hooks into Wren now. You must find a way to get her away from him, but you cannot, under any circumstances, let your guard down around her. Do you understand?”

  I stared at her in shock. “You mean...”

  Her expression was grim. “You cannot trust your sister.”

  And then she was gone, and I was left staring at my own shocked reflection.

  WREN

  Noah and I held hands as we walked through the graveyard at Haven Crest. My entire being still tingled from merging with him earlier. I’d done something similar with Kevin once, but it hadn’t been nearly as amazing. Lark would probably be shocked if I told her I’d had the ghost equivalent of sex. It wasn’t like I could get pregnant or contract some kind of terrible disease—that sort of thing was found only among the living.<
br />
  To put it simply, Noah and I had become one being, our energy melding together, then re-forming. I felt closer to him than I had to anyone other than my sister, and even Lark and I had never blended so completely. I’d say it was impossible since she was alive, but my sister had died once, and she had been to the Shadow Lands, so I couldn’t apply the same rules to her.

  We walked among the ancient headstones—some of which were smashed beyond repair. Such disrespect for the dead. This was where they’d reburied the oldest of Haven Crest’s dead. The rest lay beyond, with little plaques that contained nothing more than a number. It was so sad that they were left unnamed and unremembered.

  At least my own grave was taken care of—by Lark, Nan, sometimes Kevin and even occasionally my parents. That stone was all they knew of me. My parents only ever saw Lark—their strange little girl with an unhealthy attachment to her dead sister, and an interest in the macabre.

  “You know, our parents had Lark institutionalized after she tried to kill herself.” He had told me about his past after I picked up parts of it during our merging.

  Noah glanced at me. “Really?”

  I nodded. “They didn’t believe that she could really talk to me. They didn’t believe in me at all.”

  “It seems your sister and I have something in common, after all.”

  “That and the fact that I like you both,” I teased. I wasn’t going to say I loved him, even though that had been the word that wanted to tumble out of my mouth.

  He looked somewhere out in the distance. He had the loveliest profile. “Forgive me for saying so, but I do wonder if your sister feels the same loyalty to you as you have for her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Now he looked at the grass. Why wouldn’t he look at me? “Only that she seems to treat you as though you were some sort of exotic animal—something she can admire and show off at her discretion, but always holds at a distance because she doesn’t trust you not to attack.”

  I frowned. “No, that’s not it at all.”

  “No?” He shrugged. “When she talks to you about me, is it with distrust? Does she talk to you about anything personal, or is it always about information you’ve discovered? The one time she came here it wasn’t to get to know me, or your new friends, but because she wanted to hunt down Robert—something she never even discussed with you beforehand.”