“Oh God.” Her voice cracked. “If I’d known, I would’ve talked to him. I would’ve done something. Anything. I just didn’t know.”
“There wasn’t any way for you to know. It’s all right,” Zayne assured her. “Sam had to know that. It’s not like he’d blame you.”
Some people were far more perceptive of things like spirits and ghosts, but Zayne was right, Stacey wouldn’t have known Sam was there.
“God. I just—I didn’t expect this today. It was just supposed to be catching up over ice cream and maybe a nice walk. You know? Like we used to do.” The ice cream in front of Stacey was more like soup as she picked up the Twizzlers. “I even picked up these for you. I remember how you like to put them in your ice cream.”
My lip curled.
Zayne ate Twizzlers with his ice cream? I lifted my gaze. He still had his arm around Stacey, but his eyes were on me, the pale shade of blue anything but cool. I averted my gaze to the glossy vinyl records framed on the wall.
“It’s okay.” Those were turning out to be two of Zayne’s favorite words. “We’ll try again, as soon as possible.”
I thought and felt nothing in response to that.
“Yeah,” Stacey said, dragging her palm under her eyes. “Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Good. Because I’m going to need some nonmelted comfort food after this.” She cleared her throat. “So, what’s going on at the local haunted and cursed school from Hell?”
“You sure you want to talk about it?” I asked. “After everything with Sam?”
“She’s sure,” Zayne answered, and I bit down on my thumbnail. “Stacey can handle this.”
Stacey laughed again, the sound stronger as she picked up her water and took a drink. “If you knew the things I’ve seen and experienced, you wouldn’t ask if I was sure. I’ll deal with...with Sam later, most likely when I’m alone and have a bag of Skittles to consume. Obviously what Sam was trying to tell me is important. We need to deal with that.”
Surprise flickered through me, quickly followed by respect for her ability to push aside a riot of emotions and prioritize. God, Zayne had been right. Stacey and I probably would get along...if it wasn’t for him.
“He told you something that had you freaked-out.” Zayne shifted, pulling his arm away from Stacey. “What did he tell you?”
“Other than the over-a-hundred-trapped-ghosts creepy tidbit?” I said.
“Over a hundred?” Stacey let out a low breath. “Yeah, other than that creepy tidbit.”
“He’s said there are Shadow People there,” I told them, keeping my voice low.
“Shadow People?” she repeated. “Do I even want to know what that is?”
“Probably not.” I glanced at Zayne. A muscle was ticking along his jaw. “Do you know what they are?”
“I’m assuming some kind of ghost or something?” he said.
I coughed out a dry laugh. “Not quite. I’ve never seen one. All I know is what my mom told me about them. They’re like wraiths, but they were never human in the first place. They’re like the souls of deceased demons.”
“Oh, man,” Stacey whispered.
“I don’t understand. Souls of demons?” Zayne rested his forearms on the table. “How is that possible? They don’t have souls.”
“We think they don’t,” I corrected, thinking of Roth. “But I said they’re like souls. More like the essence of them.” Based on the way Zayne was staring at me, I could tell this was something that had never crossed his mind. “What did you think happened when demons died? That they just ceased to exist?”
“I figured they went back to Hell.”
“They do, but they’re dead, and unless someone with a lot of power gives them back corporeal form, they don’t just cease to exist without being destroyed, and I can only think of a few people who have that ability.”
“Grim?” he suggested.
I nodded. “If you mean the angel Azreal? Yeah, he’d be able to do that.”
“Wait. What?” Stacey glanced back and forth between us. “You mean the Grim Reaper? The guy Layla met?”
My brows lifted. Layla had met the Grim Reaper. How had that happened?
Zayne nodded.
“He’s not the only one who can destroy Shadow People,” I said, catching Zayne’s glance, and I saw the moment he realized what I couldn’t say. With the Sword of Michael, I could destroy Shadow People just like an angel could. “But these things are inherently evil. Like, worse than when they were living, breathing demons bent on destruction. Like, if you see a Shadow Person, you turn and run in the other direction. They’re powerful and vindictive, malicious and deadly.”
Zayne reached for the Twizzlers and dragged one ropey piece of candy out. “I’m guessing they look like shadows?”
I tilted my head. “Yes. They look like shadow outlines of people. Sort of in the name.”
He bit down on the rope of cherry and sugar and stared back at me.
“And they’re at my school?” Stacey said.
“That’s what Sam says, and that’s not all.”
“It’s not? Trapped ghosts and Shadow People aren’t enough to get between me and my diploma? There has to be more?”
My lips twitched. “He says there’s someone there who’s able to communicate with the ghosts and the Shadow People.” I looked at Zayne again. “Someone like me.”
“And what are you exactly?” She stared at me and then shifted her gaze to Zayne. Her puffy eyes sort of ruined the hard-core look she was trying to deliver. “Anyone care to fill me in? Because she’s not just some chick that grew up with Wardens.”
I frowned. “I am the chick that grew up with Wardens.”
“Who can also commune with the dead?” she challenged. “Like other normal humans?”
“I never said I was a normal human.” I smiled. “Like you.”
Now her eyes narrowed.
“Was he able to tell you what this person looked like?” Zayne changed the subject. “Any information on who it is?”
“All he told me was that it was a guy before he ran out of time,” I answered.
“So, we don’t know if it’s a student or a teacher or just some random person roaming the school.” Zayne finished off the candy with one last frustrated snap of his jaw. “All we know is someone is rounding up ghosts and trapping them in the school, and Shadow People are involved.”
Not knowing how much Stacey was aware of, I chose my next words carefully. “That’s not all we know. I’m pretty sure it’s related to what everyone is looking for.”
Zayne’s hand halted halfway to the bag. “You think so?”
I nodded.
He cursed under his breath as he grabbed another strip of candy. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad news at this point.”
“Good,” I decided. “It’s a lead.”
“I have no idea what you two are talking about.” Stacey took a drink. “I don’t like to be left out.”
Zayne spared her a brief grin. “I’ll fill you in later.”
He would? When his gaze shifted to me, I arched a brow. “We need to go to that school.”
“Agreed.”
“Well, you’re going to have a problem doing it during the day, because there are always people there, and right now they’re doing renovations in the evening and overnight.” Stacey placed her empty glass down. “Except on the weekends.”
What was today? Monday. So, that wasn’t too long of a wait, but I wanted to go now, see if I was right—that this was connected to the Harbinger.
Could it be that Sam had given us our first real lead? Damn, it was almost too convenient, so much so that it was also disturbing to think that, if Sam had not had followed Stacey when she’d come to Zayne’s place, we wouldn’t know about what was going on at the school.
Made one wonder about cosmic interference.
Looking across the table, I saw that Zayne was finished with the second Twizzler. I couldn’t believe he actually ate them with ice cream. The same guy who removed buns from grilled chicken sandwiches.
There was something wrong with him.
And there was something wrong with me because not having known Zayne ate ice cream with Twizzlers made my chest ache.
How stupid was that?
My gaze flicked over Stacey and Zayne, taking them in sitting side by side, him so much larger and broader than her tiny frame. They looked good together, even if they were just friends who had been more at some point, and things would be easier for them if they wanted to be more again. Yeah, Wardens weren’t supposed to date humans, but Zayne did a lot of things Wardens weren’t supposed to do. It wasn’t the same with us.
It was time for me to hit the road.
“I hope it...helps to know Sam obviously cares about you and wants to make sure you’re safe,” I announced awkwardly as I focused on Stacey. “I know it probably feels good and horrible all at once, knowing that he’s been around, but when you’ve had time to sit with it, I think—or at least I hope—it’s a good thing. He wants you to be happy, and if you can do that, you’ll be doing the best thing for you and for him.”
“You...” Stacey lowered her gaze as she toyed with the spoon jutting out of her soupy ice cream. “You really think he’ll be back?”
“I do.” I wasn’t sure if that was going to be a good thing in the long-term. I bit back a sigh. “Anyway, sorry I busted up your ice cream social. I honestly didn’t mean to.” I glanced at Zayne as I slid out of the booth. “I’ll see you later.”
Zayne’s jaw was working overtime as I gave them a quick wave. For the briefest moment, I felt what was coming through the bond, and it had me backing up and turning around as fast as I could. Soon I stepped out into the hot air and started walking, the scents of melted fudge and vanilla following me.