Legend of Witchtrot Road

Praise for the Spirit Guide Series by E.J. Stevens She Smells the Dead "She Smells the Dead provides something new and fresh to the YA realm." -Stacey, Flippin' Fabulous: A Reader's Record "This series is like Nancy Drew meets the Winchester Brothers from Supernatural." -Natalie, I'd So Rather Be Reading "I absolutely loved every last delicious page of She Smells the Dead!" -Mary, Sparkling Reviews "If you love ghosts, Goths, and a little bit of YA romance, you will want to check this book out." -Yvonne, Diva's Bookcase “Great YA Paranormal Romance.” -Were Vamps Romance Spirit Storm "Part mystery, part adventure, part romance and all the things a reader wants." -Mechele, Read For Your Future

"Fans of Rachel Hawkins’ Hex Hall Series and Lauren Kate's Fallen Series will love this!" -Kristen, Seeing Night Reviews "These characters are so unique and fun to follow." -Amber, The Musings of Alymbnenr "I haven't read a truly great YA paranormal in more years than I can remember, and Ms. Stevens delivers the most well written tale imaginable!" -Tamela Quijas, At Your Fingertips Legend of Witchtrot Road "I just adore this series. It is so much fun to read and the characters are just so unique and unlike any others out there." -My Guilty Obsession "These books are brilliant- such a wonderful mix of mystery and magic with really quirky and lovable characters." -Sally, Always Lost in Stories "Well this book was so fantastic I do not even know how I can put into words what I thought of this beautifully written masterpiece. I just adore this whole series." -Catie, Forbidden Passions Reviews "This is an awesome series and I would suggest it for anyone that loves YA!" -Jessilyn, YA Book Haven "I didn't think it possible to fall even more in love with this series (and the characters, oh the amazingly swoon-worthy male characters and the super snarky female characters), but after having read this book, the third installment of this series, I found that it is indeed possible." -Avery, Avery's Book Nook

Also by E.J. Stevens SPIRIT GUIDE SERIES

She Smells the Dead Spirit Storm Brush with Death (Coming 2012) DARK POETRY COLLECTIONS

From the Shadows Shadows of Myth and Legend

Legend of Witchtrot Road E.J. Stevens Published by Sacred Oaks Press Copyright © 2011 E.J. Stevens All rights reserved Publisher’s Note This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. Kindle Edition, License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Chapter 1 I heard the harsh, grinding creak of a ship’s hull

straining against stormy seas just as I felt the vertiginous tilt and roll of the waves beneath me. I considered letting the motion lull me back to sleep, but one thought kept creeping in to ruin my slumber. I wasn’t on a boat. With a jolt I tried to leap upright, but up was down and down was up, causing a searing pain to shoot through my shoulder as I dangled from the car safety belt. I needed to get a look around, but turning my head didn’t seem like an easy option. My neck was stiff, like the time I fell asleep with wet hair, and my head was pounding a rhythm that matched the vampire bats gnawing in my stomach. Come

on Yuki, you can do this. Reaching up to grab the safety belt, I steadied myself and drew in a deep shuddering breath. It did nothing to calm my racing heartbeat, but the pain in my head momentarily lessened. Forcing my eyes to stay open, I turned them to my right and flinched. A ghostly pale face stared back at me and it took a moment for my sluggish brain to realize that the spectral form was only my reflection. I examined the sickly face suspended in the darkness and knew one thing for sure. I looked like hell. For a moment I closed my eyes and gathered another steadying breath, remembering to breathe in the way I’d been taught during the numerous yoga classes that Cal had dragged me to over the years. Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of why I was hanging upside down from a car safety belt, I pulled my eyes to the left. A golden amorphous shape hung glowing beside me and I jumped when it moaned. “Emma?” I asked. My voice was dry and raspy and started a series of painful coughs that nearly made me pass out again. Emma didn’t answer me, but with a rush of memory I knew that it was my friend beside me. Emma’s blond hair cascaded past her face to dangle above the glowing instrument panel. Pale skin, golden hair, and white blouse sleeve were marred only by a dark stream that trickled from her scalp along her arm to drip slowly, tap tap tap, off her fingers onto the windshield. How did this happen? It had to be the curse. I

clenched my fist in frustration as my eyes filled with tears. We had known better. Emma with her research and me with my psychic gift to sense the dead; we knew the risks of messing with the curse, but that hadn’t stopped us. Our curiosity had won out over common sense and now we were paying the price. Son of a dung beetle. I just hoped we survived long enough to benefit from the lesson learned. Never mess with a curse and never, ever travel on Witchtrot Road after dark. ***** We never would have ventured onto Witchtrot Road if it hadn’t been for Dylan Jacobs. Dylan was a sophomore at Wakefield High, and though I didn’t know him very well, I felt sad at the loss of someone so young. I also found his ghost difficult to ignore. The announcement came a week earlier in homeroom. The screeching of desks on linoleum tile and the buzz of giggling and whispers stilled as the principal stated that a Wakefield High student had died in a tragic motorcycle accident. For a moment I wondered at the grisly details. Maine winters were really not conducive to motorcycling. Had he slid on icy roads? Did he drive his bike off a bridge, plummeting into the frigid waters below? With a shudder, I tried to shake off my morbid thoughts. I may have a major bridge phobia, but it didn’t mean every traffic accident had to include one. “…counselors available…,” the school principal’s voice droned on over the intercom. “Too bad they don’t offer counseling for smelling the dead,” I muttered. Students were already getting restless, shuffling feet and papers, as the announcement ended. I didn’t think anyone heard me, but a hand settled on my shoulder as Cal leaned in close. “Do you smell him already?” Cal asked. “Is Dylan here?” Of course Cal would hear my muttering with his super sensitive wolf hearing. It was easy to forget he was more than just my gorgeous boyfriend. Cal had recently discovered that he was descended from the Old Blood. He

carried the spirit of a great silver wolf and could shift into wolf form. But even among his pack, Cal was special. More special than being a studly werewolf? Yes, even among the werewolves Cal was different. He was the pack alpha, and with that role came the weight of responsibility. After our recent troubles with a psycho, werewolf hating murderer, Cal was taking his role as pack alpha more and more seriously. There were changes that needed to be made to protect the pack. This was made especially clear when a young member of the pack was kidnapped just before Halloween. When we tried to find Sam, and warn others of potential danger, we discovered that prior pack alphas had been keeping member identities a secret. The practice stemmed from a combination of paranoia and greed and had made contacting pack members nearly impossible. Now Cal, with the help of our friends Emma and Simon, was creating a central database so the pack could be notified in the event of any emergency. We had all been spending a lot of time together at the cabin lately working on the project. Cal was determined to keep his pack safe. Simon, who was also a werewolf and a major pain in my behind, was taking his new role as Cal’s second-incommand seriously as well. We had all worked straight through the night, which was why I was nursing my second double-shot latte of the morning. “No worries, the only thing I can smell is yummy caffeine goodness,” I answered with a smile. Cal leaned in closer and nipped my ear once, sending shivers down my spine and heat to my face. “You are a very bad boy Calvin Miller,” I said huskily. “Just keeping you awake,” Cal said with an impish grin. He may have the face of an angel, but that didn’t mean he always acted like one. I was starting to wonder how much of Cal’s increasing wild streak was caused by his wolf spirit and how much was just teen rebellion against massive responsibility. I was hoping it was the latter. We all knew what a whopping dose of wild wolf could equate to. Simon was the poster child for “wolf crazy” and his wild side made him only one step away from a gigolo,

but then again, maybe that was just Simon. I couldn’t picture Cal strutting around the room and flirting with anything that moved. No, Cal had always been a deep thinker who only acted after giving something a great deal of serious thought. He was calm and reserved. Well, except for these recent displays of affection and thrill seeking behavior. Who knows? Maybe it had something to do with me. It’s not like I was the most normal girlfriend in the world. Not by a long shot. Chairs scraped back as the bell rang. “Saved by the bell,” Cal teased. Looking down at me through his shaggy, brown bangs with shining blue eyes, he winked. “Brat,” I said, reaching up on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “See you at lunch.” “Stay safe,” he said. “Text me if Dylan’s ghost starts bothering you.” “Right, ‘cause you’ll show him who’s boss,” I laughed. “No, I’m just wondering what smell he’ll have,” Cal said lightly. It was meant as a joke. Cal always knew how to cheer me up, even when what I needed was just for him to say something silly so I’d stop worrying. That’s the funny thing about soul mates and best friends. They always know the right thing to say. ***** I barely made it down the hall before I learned the answer to Cal’s question, but I had to wait until lunch to tell anyone. Sitting through all of my morning classes while smelling motor oil had ruined my appetite, but I raced through the crowded hall to the cafeteria. I couldn’t wait to share the news with Emma and Cal. When I first realized that the weird smells that followed me around were the psychic smell impressions of dead people, I wasn’t too thrilled. Who wants the ability to smell the dead? I guess, in a bizarre twist of fate, I do. Smelling the dead wouldn’t make me rich, or cool, or help me get into college, but it was a gift that I was beginning to appreciate. I may not love being bombarded by smell impressions,

especially when they were unpleasant…not everyone came back smelling like roses, but I took my new responsibility seriously. It felt good to be helping spirits of the dead find peace. I could be their light in the darkness. With the help of my friends, I had solved a few mysteries that helped spirits find their way into the light and I planned to lead many more. The image of glowing spirits of the dead returning to their families on the Day of the Dead was seared into my memory. It was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen and I wanted to be a part of that, which was why I was so excited to smell the strong odor of motor oil. Too bad it didn’t mix well with the smell of greasy tater tots. Pulling my purple and black skelly scarf from my bag, I wound it around my mouth and nose. I may look like a freak, well…more so than usual, but the smell was now less nausea inducing so the scarf was there to stay. It may have lessened the food smells, but the scarf didn’t do anything to dampen the multitude of conversations. Stomping through the crowd in my new purple, vegan boots, a Christmas gift from Emma who “was sick of gagging at my dead cow footwear,” I caught pieces of conversation. “…friend heard he hit pole number thirteen,” pseudo whispered a blond girl who was expertly tossing her silky hair to show off her tanned, bare shoulder. In January. “…probably suicide,” a dark haired guy said as he stuffed his mouth with tater tots. “They say he wasn’t wearing a helmet.” “I bet it was the curse,” gushed a redheaded girl. I stopped so fast that my boots squeaked against the floor. At second glance, I recognized the red haired girl from the library. She was a bit overly cheerful, I think her face might break if she ever stopped smiling, but I needed to know more about this supposed curse. “Hey, um, can I sit here for a sec?” I asked. I smiled, but realized belatedly that my scarf covered most of my face. Fortunately for me, librarian girl didn’t seem to notice. “Sure!” she said, smiling. “You’re Yuki, right? Did you

have any luck with your Halloween report?” Oh right. Librarian girl had helped me find research materials that ultimately led to my discovery of Nera’s amulet and the capture of the werewolf killer. I winced, feeling a sudden pang of guilt. Since she had helped to save my life and the lives of the pack, I really should know her name. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m terrible with names, but your assistance at the library totally saved me. Thanks.” “Yay!” she squealed. “Always glad to help! My name’s Katie.” “Katie, um, maybe you could help me again,” I said. “Have you heard anything about a curse?” “Oh my God, you mean the curse that killed Dylan?” Katie asked, eyes wide. “Yeah, I heard something about it, but I don’t know the details,” I said. I wasn’t sure if it was the mention of Dylan’s name, or a clue that I was on the right track, but the smell of motor oil became stronger. “He drove on Witchtrot Road, AT NIGHT, and they say he was covered in toads when the paramedics arrived,” Katie said. She said the last like it should mean something, so I nodded my head. I was actually glad for a chance to look away. Her eyes were now open so wide that it was making mine burn just looking at them. “So this Witchtrot Road is cursed?” I asked. “By toads?”

Toads? Okay that was weird, even for me. “No, silly!” Katie laughed. “You are such a joker. Witchtrot Road is HAUNTED and the ghost curses everyone who travels the road at night.” “And the toads?” I asked. “Well, they say that when the ghost was alive, there were toads around his house and this was used as evidence that he was a witch,” she said. “A witch?” I asked. I was getting a bad feeling about this. I had stolen a magic amulet from a witch in Salem this past Halloween,

and though it had allowed me to survive the spirits unleashed on Samhain I still felt guilty about it…and a little scared. I may not follow every rule, but not messing with witches seemed like a smart guideline to follow. “Yeah, he was accused of being a witch and so they came and took him from his home here in Wakefield and marched him back to Salem to stand trial,” Katie said. “Salem?” I asked. Could this get any worse? I didn’t want any more connections to Salem or witches. “You know, the Salem Witch Trials?” Katie asked. For a moment she looked at me like I was crazy, but when I nodded that I knew what the Salem Witch Trials were, she continued on. “When they came to take this guy away he offered to show them a shortcut through the woods. During the night a storm came out of nowhere and the thunder and lightning scared the horses of the constables. They claimed the man called upon the devil to create the unnatural storm, and used it as further evidence of witchcraft. The road where this happened is now called Witchtrot Road.” “What happened when they reached Salem?” I asked. “He was found guilty and hanged,” Katie said. “His ghost has haunted Witchtrot Road and cursed travelers ever since.” ***** My head was pounding with a smell impression induced headache and I had missed my lunch break with Emma and Cal. On my way to class, I texted each of them apologizing for missing lunch and promised to make it up to them after school. Looks like I’ll be treating for burritos

at Mr. Green Genes again. “Hey, Witch!” Jay Freeman yelled. I knew he meant me. “Witch” was the nasty nickname that the J-team, Jay Freeman and Jared Zempter, had given me freshman year after they blamed me for Jared falling on his face in gym class. They claimed I had put a spell on him and that I cast this hex using my evil eye pendant. That’s what an all black wardrobe and some cool bling will get you from the J-team. They don’t like anyone

who’s a nonconformist, though neither of them could spell the word. Unfortunately, being bright wasn’t a prerequisite for cruelty. Jay and Jared went out of their way to make certain students’ lives miserable. I was one of the unlucky ones. Ugh. This was really not helping my headache, which was starting to feel like demons were trying to claw their way out of my head…through my eyes. “What now?” I asked, rolling my eyes and immediately wishing that I hadn’t. I had to dig my fingernails into my palm to keep from whimpering. Never show any signs of weakness in front of the J-Team. Not if you want to survive high school. “What now?” Jay asked sarcastically. “What do you think, Freakazoid? Students are dying, that’s what’s what.” “Yeah, I heard,” I said, staring him in the eye. It was a difficult thing to achieve, since Jay was like six feet tall and I was barely five-one, even with my awesome purple boots on, but I was determined not to back down from a thug like Jay. “In fact, the entire school heard when principal Anderson made the announcement this morning. What does it have to do with me?” I was losing patience and having to hold my breath, since Jay had leant in threateningly and was now close enough that I could smell the tuna sandwich he had for lunch. So gross. “Like you don’t know,” he snarled. “Actually, I have no idea,” I said. “We’re done here. I have to get to class” I started walking toward class, but Jared, the other half of the J-team, blocked my path. I should have known that Jay wouldn’t have threatened me without back-up. “You’re not going anywhere, Witch,” Jared said, grabbing the strap of my backpack. This was bad. Really, really bad. While Jay and I had talked, the hallway had cleared of other students. Everyone else had gone to class. All except for Cal, who stepped confidently out of the shadows like a knight in shining armor. “Yes, she is,” said Cal.

Cal looked calm and unthreatening with his hands hanging loosely at his sides, but I knew him well enough to know that he was at his most dangerous. Well, for his human form anyway. Cal may have looked relaxed, but he was actually coiled to spring in any direction with supernatural speed and strength. Jay and Jared smirked, seeing only a new victim to torment. They didn’t know that Cal was in incredible shape and had the advantage of his werewolf abilities. He was also really ticked off. Not good. Jared pulled me closer and Jay sneered, taking one step closer to Cal. “Well, well, if it isn’t the witch-loving hippie,” Jay said. “Let her go,” Cal growled. He was staring at Jared, who still held the strap of my backpack in his vice grip. Cal’s wolf must have shown in his eyes because Jared trembled behind me. Jay wasn’t as perceptive. “Why should we do that?” Jay taunted. “What are you gonna do about it? Spray us with patchouli or chant some heathen prayer?” Jay smirked and puffed out his chest. I saw the wild beast stalking him behind Cal’s eyes, but apparently Jay was clueless. He still seemed to think that they were winning. I would have felt bad for him if he wasn’t such a jerk. Cal may have had the upper hand, but I was worried about him nonetheless. He had gained an amazing amount of control over his wolf spirit in just a few short months, but that didn’t mean that he had mastered it completely. If Cal became too enraged, his wolf spirit could take over and he would transform. Cal could risk exposing his secret and jeopardizing the pack’s safety. All to protect me. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I had been the one to accidentally call Cal’s wolf spirit during the homecoming dance a few months ago and I still hadn’t totally forgiven myself. Cal had begun to transform and it was only with the help of our friend Emma that we managed to escape the school grounds without anyone discovering his secret. Unfortunately, not everyone made it through the

experience unscathed. Cal had shifted completely into his wolf form while still inside Emma’s car. When we tried to get him out of the car and into his parents’ cabin, he broke his foreleg, or rather his arm. That was when we learned about Emma’s mad healing skills and Simon’s surprising loyalty to Cal. If it hadn’t been for Emma and Simon, I’m not sure if Cal and I would have survived that night. We had all been spending a bit too much time together lately, but I never wished for Emma and Simon’s company as much as I did right at that moment. Cal may be able to save me from these bullies, but I could never live with myself if he risked everything while doing so. Looking directly at Cal, I called out to him, but he was focused intently on Jared. In particular, he was glaring at the hand that still gripped my backpack. I don’t think Jared even realized that he was still holding onto it. “Cal, it’s okay,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm and soothing. “Jared, let go of my bag. Or else.” Okay, I won’t get cool points for that last comment, but I couldn’t think of anything more profound to say. So sue

me. “Don’t do it, Jared,” Jay ordered. “This witch killed Dylan and she could be coming after us next.” Cal started to lunge forward, but I shook my head for him to stop. He froze about a foot away from Jay. That was close. Too close. “Why would you guys think I had anything to do with Dylan’s death?” I asked. “And why would I come after you next?” I could think of a few reasons for going after the J-team if I were inclined to violence, which I’m not, but I didn’t share that info. Not the right place, sure as heck not the right

time. “We all know that you’re an evil witch,” Jay scoffed. “Plus, you’re a freak who hates football players and everyone knows that Dylan was on the team with us the past four years. So you used the curse and your witch powers to kill Dylan and you’re planning on coming for the rest of the team next. Well, we’re not going to let that happen. Are we, Jared?”

“Uh, Jay, maybe she didn’t do it,” Jared said. He was trembling and his eyes hadn’t left Cal’s face. “Of course she did it!” Jay yelled. “If you don’t get that witch out of our school now, you’ll regret it.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking to Jared or Cal, until Jared started dragging me toward the fire exit. Oh no. I may not like high school, in fact I loathed the place, but I was not being tossed out the back door like a bag of trash. No bullies were going to force me to leave school. Ever. “Help!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. Taking advantage of the Yuki-scream-startle-factor, I jumped up, hitting him under the chin with the top of my head, and stomped down on the top of Jared’s foot. The pain that shot through my head was nearly enough to blind me, but it could wait in line. I was already battling a major migraine and I wasn’t going to faint like a wimp. Not today. I was way too mad for that to happen. As soon as I screamed, Cal shot into action. With a blur of movement he crouched low and foot swept Jay, who landed in a heap. Jared was reaching for his injured foot as Cal lunged for him, forcing Jared to put his arms up to protect his face. At the very last second, Cal spun to the left and came up behind Jared with an arm around his neck. “Call off your friend,” Cal ordered calmly. “Tell him to walk away, now, or I’m pressing send. I’ve already dialed the principal’s office. Attacking a student, a girl, is a serious offense. Are you willing to risk possible expulsion and getting tossed off every sports team?” I don’t think Jay and Jared cared much about a possible suspension or expulsion, but getting kicked off the team? Oh yeah, that got their attention. “Okay, man, we’re going,” Jared said. “Right, Jay?” “Right,” Jay muttered. Jay was on his hands and knees and had to reach for the trash can to raise himself up. Jared ran to his side as soon as Cal released his arm from around his neck. With one frightened look back at Cal, perhaps wondering if he’d call the principal anyway, Jared put his arm around Jay’s shoulders and led him down the hall. Cal gently put his arms around me and pulled me to

him. Sliding his fingers down my cheek, he lifted my chin and stared into my eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked. “You’re amazing,” I said, gazing with wonder into his concern-filled, crystal blue eyes. “You moved so fast that I could barely see you and yet you were so controlled that you didn’t even leave a mark.” “That was the idea,” Cal said, his lips breaking into a lopsided grin. “No cuts or bruises means no evidence, and no evidence means…” “No crime,” I said, smiling. “Like I said, you are amazing.” “Anything for my Dung Beetle Princess,” he said. “You sure you’re okay?” “Yeah, nothing hurt except my pride,” I said. I didn’t mention the bruised lump starting form at the top of my head. “I can’t believe that they thought I killed Dylan and have it in for the football team.” “You don’t have it in for the football team?” Cal teased. “Well, I can’t stand most of them, especially the team’s star players Jay and Jared, but it’s not like I’d go so far as to kill them all,” I said. “Though their recent behavior is starting to sway me to the dark side.” I reached up to touch my head and winced. Ouch. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Cal asked. His eyes and fingers traced my face and I’m sure he saw my pained expression as I touched my head. “I can walk you to the nurse’s office.” “Actually, I’ll take you up on that gallant offer,” I said. “I started to get a serious migraine just before the, um, attack. I could use some aspirin.” “Dylan’s ghost?” Cal asked, raising one eyebrow questioningly. “I think so,” I said. “I’m like ninety-nine percent sure, but I’d like to ask around and get to know more about him.” We were walking hand in hand down the hall and were nearly at the nurse’s office. “Yuki?” Cal asked. “Promise me you won’t go asking any of the football players about him? At least not until after school when I can go with you.”

I was impatient to get to the bottom of the mystery of Dylan’s murder, but Cal was right. It wasn’t safe to go sniffing around the football team. Ewww…that conjured up a nasty image, complete with sweaty gym socks. “Sure,” I said. “Meet me by my locker after school?” “Wild werewolves couldn’t keep me away,” Cal said, leaning down for a kiss.

Chapter 2 Wild werewolves nearly did keep Cal away. Well, one wild werewolf. I received a text from Cal apologizing for being late and that he would meet me at Mr. Green Genes after school, instead of at my locker as promised. Apparently there was some kind of pack drama going on. I spent the last class of the day worrying about a mob of football players, led by the J-team, stalking me at my locker. I tried to take deep, calming breaths, but the memory of the earlier attack caused my hands to sweat. The salty sweat made the half-moon circles, where I had dug my fingernails into my palms, sting like crazy. Fortunately, Emma was waiting for me when the last bell rang. The relief must have been apparent on my face, because she pushed herself away from the doorframe, where she had been leaning, and did a little satisfied twirl. “Hey, girl,” Emma said. “I thought you could use some company.” “You’re the best,” I said, smiling. “I heard you had a run in with the J-team today,” Emma said. “Yeah,” I said. “I also heard you won this round,” she said, raising her hand to bump knuckles. “You rock.” “Well, it wasn’t all me,” I said, walking to my locker. “Cal was there. Which is something that has been bugging me. Did Cal mention how he knew I was in trouble?” “I think it was his wolf hearing,” Emma said, shrugging. “We were leaving the cafeteria and his eyes just glazed

over. He had his head tilted to the side, like he was listening to something, and then he went running off down the hall. He must have heard Jay saying something threatening to you and gone to check it out.” “That’s one mystery solved at least,” I said. “Now only a gazillion more to go.” We had finally reached my locker and there were no jock thugs, paid assassins, or flying killer monkeys waiting for me. Just tons of homework. I spun the lock with shaking fingers, trying to grip the dial with my fingertips, but even the very tips of my fingers were sweaty. I looked at the chipped, black polished fingers angrily as I rubbed them down the front of my shirt. Traitors. Emma reached over and opened my locker before I could say BFF, or have a break down. “Thanks,” I said, pulling my homework out and shoving it into my backpack. “No problem,” Emma said. I watched Emma’s posture stiffen, and her eyes narrow, as two jocks in athletic jackets walked toward us. One of the guys was belching the alphabet while his friend cheered him on. The two jocks didn’t even look our way, but I could see Emma prepare herself for battle. It was nice to know that my friend had my back. “They’re gone,” Emma said. “Why are jocks such pigs?” I asked, pushing the last book into my bag and slamming my locker shut. “I blame their diet,” Emma said. “Most male athletes eat large quantities of meat. Some even start the day drinking raw eggs.” “Gag me,” I said, shuddering. We were finally leaving school and heading to Emma’s car. The prospect of grabbing a meal at Mr. Green Genes, and the familiar anti-meat banter from Emma, helped me to relax. I was still coping with a spirit-induced migraine, but the knot of tension between my shoulder blades had started to unwind. My stomach growled out loud, interrupting Emma’s rant. She looked at me with eyebrow raised and we both burst into peals of laughter.

For the first time today, I was feeling hopeful. With the help of my friends, I would help Dylan’s ghost find peace by figuring out the mystery of his death. That would mean no more stinky smell impression, painful headache, and hopefully—fingers crossed—no more threatening run-ins with the J-team. ***** When Emma pulled her car up in front of Mr. Green Genes, I found out just what kind of drama had kept Cal from meeting me at my locker—the Simon kind. Simon was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, angrily waving his hands in the air. Even angry, he managed to swagger in his tight, faded, blue jeans and was attracting a lot of attention—a lot of female attention. Of course. Simon was a gorgeous werewolf somewhere in his thirties…you know, older than God. Unfortunately for females everywhere, Simon also thought he was a God, or at least God’s gift to women. The fact that he had a jagged scar, that bisected his ear and extended down his cheek to meet the corner of his lips, didn’t seem to detract from his male beauty. If anything it only added to his bad boy persona. Not that he needed any help. Simon was the ultimate bad boy. He was a werewolf with a wild streak and a death wish. His wild nature was due to being born fully aware of his wolf spirit. Members of the Old Blood didn’t usually become aware of their wolf spirit until they reached maturity, with most pack members beginning to shift into wolf form in their late teens. Simon’s early awareness had given him the gift of knowing how to control his wolf spirit better than many of the elders, but it also left him a bit…off. I was also learning more about what caused his reckless behavior. When Simon was just a young man, he was in a relationship with another werewolf. It had been love at first sight. Simon and Meredith were inseparable, so when Meredith was accepted into the University of Edinburgh, he went with her. Simon and Meredith had the kind of love that most people dream about, but it wasn’t meant to last. While racing together in wolf form, across the fields of Perthshire, Meredith was shot by hunters.

Simon managed to transform into his human form and drag Meredith away, but she died in his arms. Their story is as tragic as their love was true. The loss of Meredith changed Simon and it didn’t take a brainy, rocket scientist to see that the guilt continued to eat at him every day. Simon was a survivor, but I often wondered if he regretted that ability. His reckless behavior seemed to indicate a desire to join Meredith, sooner rather than later. The one thing that Simon hadn’t bargained for was Cal. Cal had been born with the spirit of the alpha wolf inside of him. When Cal reached maturity and began to communicate with his wolf spirit, he also became the alpha of the werewolf pack. Not only was Cal the pack’s alpha, the one werewolf they were bound to obey, but he had also earned the respect of his pack members—including Simon. Simon had become loyal to Cal, and when Cal was put into a coma while fighting to save a young pack member, Simon had stepped up to fill his shoes as pack leader. When Cal returned to consciousness, and learned of all that Simon had done, he nominated Simon to be his second in command. Now Simon had something to live for. So what was he doing freaking out in front of Mr. Green Genes? “Someone needs to switch to decaf,” Emma said, turning off the car and pulling her keys from the ignition. “Do we go out there or stay here, you know, where it’s safe?” I asked, only half joking. Simon had become a good friend and I trusted him, sort of, but he looked really upset and I had been manhandled enough for one day. I picked at my nail polish while debating what to do. “We might as well go save the day,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. She pushed away from the steering wheel and climbed out of the car. “Yeah, but where’s Cal?” I asked. “Isn’t that, like, his job?” I may have taken a bit of extra time gathering my things while scanning the growing crowd looking for a certain shaggy head of hair. Where the heck was Cal? I spun in a circle one more time and finally caught sight of him. Cal

stood with his hand on the chest of a guy I’d never seen before. Had he just broken up a fight between Simon and this stranger? I turned to show Emma where Cal was, but she was already walking over to Simon. Nothing like tossing a bit of fuel on the fire. Emma and Simon never went a day without arguing, so I wasn’t confident that Emma could calm him down. Son of a dung beetle. I jumped over the concrete parking marker and onto the sidewalk, running to keep up with Emma. “How dare he?” Simon shouted, waving his arms in the air. “How could he hit me in the FACE?” Simon was shaking his head in anger and disbelief, but I caught sight of a bruise forming below his right eye. Not good. Simon may have become used to the jagged scar that crossed his face—he claimed it added to his rugged charm—but a black and blue, puffy welt was not something he was going to accept. Simon was the most vain guy I had ever known. There were top models who didn’t gaze into mirrors as often as Simon. No, he wasn’t going to just walk away from this. “Let me look at that,” Emma said. She interrupted his pacing and reached up to press on the bruise. “Ouch!” Simon shouted. “Bloody hell woman, what was that for?” “I’m sure you did something to deserve it,” Emma said. “Well, you’re not going to do that again…ah!” Simon said, wincing. “Stop being such a baby,” Emma said. “Nothing is broken.” Emma was our medic, and veterinarian. If she said he was fine, then there was nothing to worry about. Except for

Simon seeking revenge. “You could have at least warned me first,” Simon grumbled, holding his face. “Would you have let me examine it then?” Emma asked. “No,” Simon said. “My point exactly,” Emma said.

“So who is that guy?” I asked, pointing across the street to where Cal was still trying to restrain the stranger. “Is he the one who hit you?” Simon sighed and turned away from us, staring down at the sidewalk. Emma and I stole a questioning glance at each other. What was going on here? Simon spun back around with a haunted look in his eyes. “That’s Gabriel,” Simon said. “Meredith’s younger brother.” ***** Meredith’s brother was everything his namesake implied. Gabriel was gorgeous, more beautiful than handsome, his cherubic face surrounded by a halo of curly blond hair. He looked like an avenging angel as he stormed toward Simon, emerald green eyes flashing. Gabriel was just as tall as Simon, but where Simon was all lean muscle, Gabriel looked willowy by comparison. He may be angry with Simon, but Gabriel didn’t stand a chance against him in a fight. “It’s all your fault,” Gabriel said, stopping directly in front of Simon. “She never should have been running that morning. My sister is dead and it’s your fault.” Simon, who was never at a loss for words, stood in anguished silence. For a moment Simon let his mask of indifference slip and the look on his face was one of raw pain. And were those tears in his eyes? Emma slid between Gabriel and Simon, placing her hand firmly on the younger man’s chest. “Leave him alone,” Emma said.

Surprise Gabe, we have our own avenging angel. Gabriel did look surprised by Emma’s interference, but he wasn’t backing down. “Gabriel, this isn’t how we handle things,” Cal said. He had moved to Gabriel’s side and was staring at him intently. “You have a right to speak your mind, but this is not the time or place.” I smelled the scent of wet dog and knew that Cal’s wolf spirit was emerging. Pulse racing, I panicked, until I realized that Cal was intentionally bringing his wolf to the surface to exert his dominance. Cal was pack alpha and

he was making sure that Gabriel didn’t forget it. It was an impressive display of his will, and of the peace that Cal and his wolf spirit had achieved, especially for someone so young. All of those weekends and long nights practicing with Simon had paid off. Cal had brought his wolf spirit to the surface just enough to display his dominance to any surrounding wolves, and smell sensitive girlfriends, but not enough to make humans in the vicinity uneasy. Gabriel stepped away from Emma and Simon, thrusting his hands into his jacket pockets as though he didn’t trust what they might do if left free. Simon continued to be ogled by his entourage as he resumed his pacing up and down the sidewalk, but he no longer looked angry. Emma was keeping an eye on him, so I went to Cal who was running his fingers through his wavy hair. “Are you okay?” I asked. “I could use less excitement today, but I’m fine,” Cal said, reaching out to pull me closer. “That was impressive what you did with your wolf spirit,” I said, keeping my voice low. All eyes were on Simon and Gabriel, but I didn’t want to take any chances. We didn’t need a passerby to overhear and become curious about wolves in Wakefield. Protecting the pack was important to Cal and I wasn’t going to be the one to risk their safety with a slip of the tongue. “Really,” Cal said, raising one eyebrow. “Do I get a reward?” “Of course,” I said. I reached up behind his neck, and on tiptoes, pressed my lips to his. “Very, very impressive,” I said, running my hands through his hair. “You should be dead, not her!” a voice shouted. Son of a dung beetle. It was Gabriel. Apparently Cal’s authority was less effective when he was lip-locked with a human. Who knew? Emma jumped in between Gabriel and Simon and I had a bad case of déjà vu. Didn’t we just do this, like ten seconds ago?

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, dude,” Emma said, thrusting her finger into Gabriel’s chest to punctuate each word. “He may not always show it, but Simon is a good man. He’s kind, and loyal, and I lo…” Suddenly Emma looked sick, really, horribly sick. Her face shifted from its normal shade of pale to a greenish shade of gray as she ran for the alley beside Mr. Green Genes. I lifted my backpack off the sidewalk and ran to follow her into the alley. Emma was bent over a beat-up metal trashcan, her fisted hands pressed against the brick wall. I pulled a black hair elastic off my wrist and pulled her hair up into a high topknot. She may look like Tasslehoff Burrfoot, but at least she wouldn’t get puke in her hair. She can kill me later. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap,” Emma said. The continual muttering turned into a moan and she shuddered as the first spasm of vomiting hit. Gross, I was so not treating for

veggie burritos at Mr. Green Genes now. “Are you okay?” I asked. What was wrong with Emma? She had seemed fine at school today. Wait. She wasn’t pregnant was she? But who could be the baby daddy? Gordy? No way. I was Emma’s best friend. If she had made it past first base, I would have been the first to know. No, something was definitely wrong with Emma, but she wasn’t “in trouble” as my mom would say. Did she have the flu? Could you even get the flu that fast? Emma’s eyes had gone wide, like crazy, alien huge, but the puking had finally stopped. “No way,” she said, bringing her fisted hands to her side. “Not me. Not ever.” Huh? I was totally confused. “Emma, are you okay?” I asked again. “Here, drink some water.” I pulled a water bottle from my bag and handed it to Emma. She shook her head and turned to reach for the water. “Yeah, thanks,” she said. “Sorry, I must have had something bad to eat at lunch. I probably grabbed the wrong can of beans when I made my burrito this morning.

Did you know that if you don’t buy the refried beans labeled vegetarian that they put lard in them? No wonder I got sick.” “Are you sure?” I asked. “You seemed kind of freaked out.” And what was that talk about not me, not ever? The image of Emma with the alien eyes was burned into my brain. A little lard wouldn’t do that to a person, would it? “Of course I’m sure,” Emma said. She tried to toss her hair in a huff, but it was still pulled up in a silly topknot. “What did you do to my hair?” “Oh, that,” I said, trying not to laugh. Now she looked less like an alien and more like a strung out Kender. “I was helping.” “Helping?” Emma said, reaching up to pull the elastic out. “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d want puke in your hair,” I said. “You’re the best,” Emma said, smiling. She reached out to bump knuckles and I knew that everything was back to normal. “Do you want your water back?” “No, you keep it,” I said. Yuck. “Are you two alright?” Cal asked. I had forgotten all about the guys. Cal and Simon were standing in the mouth of the alley looking worried. “We’re fine,” I said. But when I looked at Emma she had turned that sickly shade of green again. “Just a bit of potential lard poisoning. Sensitive vegan bellies and all that.” “Lead poisoning?” Simon asked, looking more worried. “Shouldn’t we be bringing her to a hospital?” “No, not lead poisoning,” I said. “Lard poisoning. Emma ate some non-vegetarian beans that contained lard.” “I’ll be fine,” Emma said, looking at the ground. “I’m not really up for Mr. Green Genes now though. I think I’ll head home. See you guys later.” Emma pushed past, without looking up, jumped in her car and was gone. Well that was weird. “So, um, you guys want to grab take-out and eat at the cabin?” I asked.

Cal looked unsure about getting Simon and Gabriel into an enclosed space together, but I figured the cabin, though small, was safer than a public restaurant. We really didn’t need the fur to start flying with an audience. “I’ll treat for pizza,” I said. That got their attention. Boys everywhere are the same. Werewolves, humans, it didn’t matter—they all loved pizza. “Trying to win my heart, love?” Simon teased. “A meatlover’s pizza will get you…everywhere.” Ugh! I wasn’t really in the mood for Simon’s flirtatious teasing, but at least it meant he wasn’t too depressed by the accusations that Gabriel had been slinging at him. It was amazing what some tomato sauce and melted cheese could accomplish. If I were writing a goth girl’s guide to making peace, I’d have an entire chapter on pizza, the ultimate tool for conflict resolution. Peace-zah? “Gabriel?” Cal asked. Would my peace-zah theory work? I tried to smile innocently at Gabriel, which was actually kind of hard since I was still mad at him for shouting at Simon in the middle of the street. Seriously, what had he been thinking? “Yes, Mr. Miller, I will join you for pizza,” Gabriel said. He shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking toward his car. “I better go with Gabriel,” Cal said. “I don’t want him getting lost while trying to follow us.” Cal tossed his keys to Simon and jogged to Gabriel’s car. “Hey, old man, I guess it’s just you and me,” I said. “If you want that meat-lover’s pizza, you better keep up.” “I am only eight years older than you, love,” Simon said. “It’s not like I’m geriatric.” Really? I could have sworn Simon was older than that, but it didn’t matter. He was still old. I turned toward the pizza place down the street and Simon walked with long strides to stay one step ahead of me the entire way. Boys.

Chapter 3 Riding in the cab of Cal’s truck with a lap covered in hot pizza and Simon at the wheel was strangely calming. The memory of Dylan Jacobs’ motor oil smell impression was muted by the scent of steaming garlic and oregano. My stomach growled, breaking the silence, and Simon laughed. “Hungry, love?” he asked. Okay, with Simon that could be a loaded question. I was so not taking the bait. “So what does this Gabriel guy want?” I asked, changing the subject. “I mean, I get that he’s not a big fan, but why bother you now? He’s mad about something that happened like a gazillion years ago, right?” Simon sighed and ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair. He must be really upset if he’s mangling those sculpted locks. That man uses a truckload of hair product.

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked about Gabriel. “They say that time heals all wounds, but there are some wounds that time can never heal,” Simon said. “For some people time acts as a salve, but for others time is the infection that makes the wound fester.” Gross. “So Gabriel is one of the latter…all infected with rage?” I asked. “Yes, love,” Simon said. “He has had seven years for his wounds to fester and that boy is now a cyst under pressure, just waiting to explode.” “You only said that to make me give up my cheese pizza didn’t you?” I asked. “Yes,” Simon said, grinning. “Did it work?” “No,” I said. “Too bad,” Simon said. “You don’t even like cheese pizza!” I blurted. “I have plenty of venison back at the cabin,” he said. “It would have been a meat pizza by the time I was done with it.”

“Bambi pizza?” I asked. “You’re sick, old man.” “I just have refined taste,” Simon said. “You are so full of it,” I said. “Perhaps,” Simon said. He was beginning to sound serious again and I wondered if he was worried about the upcoming confrontation with Meredith’s brother. It couldn’t be easy having someone come along and dredge up the past, especially when that past included losing the one person he ever loved. I tried to imagine myself with Cal bleeding to death in my arms. No. It was too horrible. The image shot a pain like a knife thrust through my heart and tears came to my eyes. The cab of the truck suddenly felt too small and my lungs strained for air. “You alright, love?” Simon asked. “If you’re going to be sick, at least let me know so I can pull over. Cal won’t be too happy if we bring back his truck filled with puke. I’d blame you of course, but he’d probably still get mad at me.” Simon’s selfish comments dispelled the nightmare image, and I chose not to share my morbid thoughts. If he wanted to think his gross comments were making me sick, that was fine with me. “Bambi pizza is disgusting, but I’m not giving you the satisfaction of throwing up,” I said. Simon raised an eyebrow and cast a longing glance at the boxes on my lap. “And you are not getting my cheese pizza. Deal with it.” If Emma were here, she would be kicking his wolf behind for even thinking about Bambi pizza. So much for my peace-zah theory. With a sigh, I turned to look out the passenger window, and sent a silent prayer that things didn’t become violent between Simon and Gabriel. We had enough to deal with without having to worry about those two tearing each other’s throats out. ***** The scene at the cabin was not what I expected. Calvin and Gabriel had set the table with mismatched plates and silverware, though I suspected Simon would still eat with his hands. They remained silent as Simon and I approached the table. I jumped at a low growl, realizing belatedly that it

was only the scrape of a chair against the rough hewn floorboards. Wow, I was really tense. The portrait of domestic bliss remained undisturbed as we sat at the table together and helped ourselves to slices of pizza. Everyone avoided the big fat elephant in the room. The thing is, our big fat elephant was in the form of an angelic looking brat (okay, that may not be entirely fair, but I really wasn’t liking what I’d seen of Gabriel so far) and a quickly purpling bruise below Simon’s eye. Oh yeah, and the ghost of someone that they both had loved and lost. I silently wished for one of Emma’s rants against the evils of pizza ingredients, but she was at home sick with some mutant stomach bug. It was just way too quiet. If someone didn’t start talking soon, I was going to go crazy. I looked hopefully around the table, but Simon, Gabriel, and Cal were all staring intently into the depths of their pizza slices like the sauce and cheese held the secret of the universe. Sigh. I guess that just left me to lighten things up. Problem was, the only things I could think about right now were werewolf fights, a puking BFF, and the ghost of Dylan Jacobs. Since I was trying to avoid the topic of Gabriel and Simon’s issues the topic of werewolf fisticuffs (pawicuffs?) was out. Discussing vomit at the dinner table also seemed like a bad idea. Oh well, dead people it is. “So, um, how about those smell impressions?” I blurted. “I mean, anyone want to know about the new ghost haunting me today?” I know. That all just sounded totally lame, and everyone was looking at me like I’d sprouted wings and said I was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, but it was still better than the tension fraught silence. At least they were looking at me instead of staring into their slices of pizza. That was just

creepy. “Sorry, we never did get a chance to talk about Dylan’s ghost,” Cal said, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “So, what does he smell like?” “He...,” I said. I was interrupted by the crashing sound of Gabriel’s

fork falling and hitting his plate. Oh right. He’d have no idea what we were talking about. Gabriel was looking at us like we were crazy and Simon barked out a laugh. “I guess we have some explaining to do,” Cal said. “Yuki can smell spirits of the dead…” It was a very long explanation. For some reason Gabriel, who knew about paranormal stuff because, you know, he was a werewolf, had a hard time wrapping his brain around the concept of smelling dead people.

Whatever. I tried at first to help Cal explain my situation to Gabriel, but he wasn’t the easiest person to talk to. Gabriel tended to be whiny and argumentative. Trying to talk sense into that guy was just an exercise in frustration. I finally gave up and watched Cal patiently talk to The Brat while I ate an entire cheese pizza. I had a feeling that I was going to need my strength. ***** “Yuki,” a voice whispered. “Mmmmm…” I mumbled. “Time to wake up,” Simon said. Simon? I opened my eyes as he backed away. “What time is it?” I asked. How did I fall asleep? I looked over and saw that Cal was still explaining my ability to smell spirits to Gabriel. Ugh. I must have fallen into a food coma after eating that entire pizza. Either that or the sheer boredom of hearing Gabriel whine about how he “didn’t understand” had sent me retreating into the oblivion of sleep. I hope I didn’t

drool. “It’s late,” Simon said, dangling a set of keys. “Cal asked me to take you home.” I pulled myself up from my chair and looked over at Cal. I gave him a little wave as I turned to leave and he winked. “Goodnight, Dung Beetle Princess,” Cal said. “I love you.” Gabriel looked more confused than before. That boy

had a majorly thick skull. “Love you too,” I said. I left with Simon, but wished that Cal was the one driving me home. Of course, that would have meant leaving Simon and Gabriel alone in the cabin—which would have been an epically bad idea. I guess Cal had made the right choice sending me home with Simon, but I didn’t have to like it. I spent the ride home dreaming of planes, trains, and automobiles—all ways for Gabriel to return to wherever he came from. He had come here and insulted and assaulted Simon. Calvin, their alpha, wasn’t going to let things go further than that. Hopefully Gabriel would realize he had no reason to stay. I didn’t know it at the time, but he did find a reason. In the brief time that I had known Gabriel he had been controlled by his need for revenge, but what I didn’t realize was that he was a man ruled by his heart, and love and hate are just two sides to the same coin.

Chapter 4 When Emma came to pick me up for school the next morning, I was running late. It was past midnight when Simon dropped me off at my house the night before. I had fallen asleep the second my head hit the pillow and forgotten to set my alarm. I raced down to the front door in my pajamas to wave Emma inside. She met me up in my bedroom a minute later. “Sorry,” I said. “I overslept. I just need a sec to throw some clothes on. I’m already dreading school enough. I really don’t want to show up in my jammies. The J-team would never let me live that down.” I scanned the room for clothes. We had been so busy lately that I was way behind on my laundry. The hamper by the bathroom was spilling over and my dirty clothes were spreading across the floor like some kind of black and red

mold. I considered giving my favorite hoodie the sniff test, but changed my mind. Even if it smelled okay to me, it would still smell stinky to my werewolf boyfriend. No, dirty clothes were not an option. I made a mental note to do laundry after school and grabbed a white tee with a cartoon rice ball on the front. I pulled on the one clean black skirt that had been hanging alone in my closet and slid into my knee high boots. I could lace them up in the car. “What do you think?” I asked. “I don’t know,” Emma said. “What does that weird cartoon mean?” “It’s the rice ball from Fruits Basket,” I said. The rice ball cartoon was smiling, had little stick-figure arms and legs and the arms were raised in a cheer. “See she’s cheering because she’s proud to be different. In the Fruits Basket anime, there’s this girl who gets ridiculed as an outsider—the lone rice ball in a fruits basket—and she comes to realize that being a rice ball may not be cool, but it does make her special.” “Well, at least no one at school will know what it’s from,” Emma said, shrugging. “Hey, don’t diss the shirt,” I said, laughing. “It was your ex who bought it for me.” Emma looked kind of upset at my Gordy comment. Gordy and Emma had dated a few months ago, but things had been a little awkward ever since their breakup. Gordy and I were finally hanging out some again, but Emma always managed to disappear when he came around. “Sorry, that came out all wrong,” I said. “I didn’t mean to tease about Gordy. I’d even change the shirt, but it’s the only clean thing I have to wear.” I may not have time for a shower, but I was going to make an effort not to smell bad. “Okay,” Emma said, running her hand through her messy hair. “Can we just, like, skip the boy talk? We’re already late and we need to get to school.” She looked like she hadn’t showered either. In fact, Emma looked like she had been up all night and was on her way to school in the same clothes from yesterday.

Ewww. Emma never wore wrinkled clothes or had messy hair, but here she was standing in my bedroom wearing a dirty outfit and sporting some serious bed head. Maybe she was still feeling sick? I grabbed my backpack and snuck a look at Emma while I slung the bag over my shoulder. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was holding her car keys so tightly that I thought she might turn them into diamonds. She was totally wound up and it was freaking me out. “Feeling any better today?” I asked. “Right as rain,” Emma said, fidgeting with the button on her blouse. “Well, you know, so long as it isn’t, like, acid rain. If I was right as acid rain, then I wouldn’t be alright, right?” Woah. Emma was one of the most eloquent people I knew. She never talked in muddled up run-on sentences. That was my job. “Dude, you sure you’re okay?” I asked. “I’m fine,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. Her big, scared, open a bit too wide alien eyes. Agitated ghosts, irritated witches, angry werewolves, and the horrors of high school were all things that I could face head on. But Emma’s bugged out alien eyes? That was truly spooky. I tried to think of my biggest fear. What was making my spidey sense go all tingly? Why was Emma’s behavior making my skin itch? Oh no. There was one thing I never thought that I’d have to worry about with Emma. I mean, of all my friends she was the most level headed. There was no way she’d go all crazy and start experimenting with something harder than herbal teas and tinctures, right? “You’re not, like, on drugs, are you?” I asked. Oh yeah,

Yuki. That was smooth. “What?” she asked, indignant. Emma put her hands on her hips and glared at me. I was never so happy to see the Emma glare…even if it was, for once, aimed at me. “Never mind,” I mumbled. “So, uhm, you hungry?”

I pulled a granola bar from the side pocket of my backpack and waved it in front of Emma’s face. Food always works to distract me, so it was worth a try. Maybe she had skipped breakfast. “You are not getting away with this that easily,” Emma said. The hardness of her glare was beginning to soften, but she still appeared irritated when she looked imperiously down at me with one eyebrow raised. How do people do that? I began picking at my nail polish, trying to think of how to explain myself, but Emma let out a giggle. “How could you think I was On The Drugs?” Emma asked. She imitated our old guidance counselor from middle school, which made me start to giggle too. “Seriously, girl, I don’t know,” I said. I raised my hands in surrender and managed to drop my granola bar. “See, I’m a total mess. No way I’m thinking straight.” “Obviously,” Emma said. She reached down and snatched my granola bar from the carpet. “This is payment for the insult.” “No way!” I said, laughing. “That was my breakfast.” “Halfsies?” Emma asked. “Deal,” I agreed. We ran to the car, but still arrived late for school. Emma was back to her normal, sensible self and drove the exact speed limit the entire way. I tried urging her to go faster, but she either didn’t listen or couldn’t understand what I was saying around my mouthful of granola bar. The school lobby was already empty when my boots hit the tile. We didn’t have time to talk so we just waved as I ran toward homeroom hoping to beat the final tardy bell. I caught one last glimpse of Emma’s disheveled appearance as she disappeared down the east hall and felt a pang of worry. She may have dodged my questions so far, but I would get to the bottom of this. Emma had always been there for me, no matter how weird or dangerous my problems were, and I wasn’t going to let her face whatever she was going through alone.

***** My butt hit the seat just as the final tardy bell rang. Phew! Saved by the bell. I was breathing heavy from my sprint down the school halls and suddenly realized that I hadn’t had time to brush my teeth. Gross. I snuck a glance at Cal and hoped I didn’t have morning breath. He flashed me a toothy grin and I looked back to the front of the room where our teacher was droning on about an assembly later in the day. I rested my chin on my hand and tried to turn my head and sneak a ninja stealthy breath check. Smells like

granola bar…and motor oil. Great, I either had motor oil breath or the ghost of Dylan Jacobs was back. I wondered if he was doomed to haunt the halls of Wakefield High. The thought filled me with dread. Being trapped in High School, to wander the rooms where I was scorned and ridiculed, for all eternity was one of my long-standing nightmares. Welcome to my own personal Hell. No, I wasn’t going to let Dylan’s spirit suffer that fate. I may have been distracted from my task yesterday, but my goal remained the same. I would solve the mystery behind the death of Dylan Jacobs and help lead his soul out of this High School and into the light. A shadow crossed my desk and I jumped, punching myself in the face. I didn’t sulk for long. Cal stood over my desk looking swoon-worthy in faded blue jeans, gray graphic tee, and black hoodie. “Are you okay?” he asked. “You seem kind of out of it today.”

That was the understatement of the year. “Sure, I just thought, you know, that Simon made having a black eye look so cool,” I said. “I wanted to be one of the cool kids too, so I punched myself in the face. How does it look?” “Beautiful as always,” Cal said, leaning in to kiss my cheek. His lips brushing my skin raised goosebumps on my arms and I stifled a shudder. “Walk with me to class?” “Did the bell ring already?” I asked. I hadn’t heard anything, but I had been deep in thought.

“Yes,” Cal said, raising one eyebrow. “Are you sure that you’re okay?” “I’m fine, just a little spacey,” I replied. “I overslept this morning and I still feel like I’m half asleep.” “Smell impressions keeping you awake?” Cal asked. Cal’s brow furrowed and he looked concerned. He slung my backpack over his shoulder, adding it to his own, with ease and waited for me to get up from my desk. “No, I’m actually starting to think that Dylan’s ghost is trapped here at school,” I said. “I think I’m just exhausted from all of the drama yesterday. I went straight to bed after Simon dropped me off, and I forgot to set my alarm.” “Sorry I couldn’t drive you home last night,” Cal said. “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to leave Gabriel and Simon alone.” “Yeah, Gabriel seems like a hot head,” I said, “and he obviously came here to pick a fight with Simon.” “They both have some issues to work out, which I’m sure they can fix with time, but I do have one regret from last night,” Cal said. Cal reached down and pulled me up from my seat and into his arms. His touch was electric. I had been trying to motivate myself to stand up and now found myself pressed against his well-muscled chest. Okay, now I’m motivated and, like, completely awake. Who needs caffeine when you have your very own hot werewolf boyfriend? “Um, what do you regret from last night?” I asked. “Not having a chance to do this,” Cal said. Cal lifted my chin with his right hand and sank his left into my hair as he leaned down for a kiss. His lips were soft and warm and his kiss sent a tingle down my spine and made my legs feel weak. “You are amazing,” I said, gazing into Cal’s mesmerizing blue eyes. “That’s my line,” Cal said, a smile touching his lips. Until that moment when we touched, I had been drowning in my worries. I was fearful of a dangerous tooth and claw death-match between Gabriel and Simon, concerned about Emma’s odd behavior, and anxious to solve the mystery of Dylan’s ghost. As Cal pulled me to

him, all of those thoughts were washed away. When we kissed, our love was the only thing that mattered. No worries could enter the safety of Cal’s arms. My fingers traced Cal’s bicep where I knew a tattoo representing our connection as soul mates lay beneath the thin fabric of his hoodie. Cal’s eyes followed the movement of my hand and recognition showed on his face as our eyes met. He always was good at reading my thoughts. “You complete me,” Cal said simply. He kissed my lips, my cheek, and my forehead then gently pulled away. His kisses left me wobbly, but I managed to steady myself against the desk as I caught my breath. “We should go,” I said. I felt a silly, uncontrollable grin take over my face and hoped I wasn’t blushing. Pesky hormones. Cal, still shouldering my backpack, gave me his hand. I floated all the way to class with Cal at my side. The smell of motor oil shadowed me as I walked to class, but my worries didn’t return. Nothing could intrude on our little bubble of happy. ***** Lunch was a challenge. I had to run the gauntlet of social terror and avoid all of the non-veggie menu options the cafeteria provided. The J-team, and their partners in slime the football team, still had it out for me. While playing dodge the jock, I also had to cautiously hang with Gordy for a few minutes before heading to my table, but without actually inviting him to come sit with me. This situation majorly sucked. Gordy stopped sitting with us after the Emma breakup. Emma didn’t just break off their relationship, she also broke his heart. Gordy always had an emo streak, it was part of how we met, but Emma had sent him off the emo tip. Now the cute hipster boy I used to have so much fun with in Anime Club never smiled. In fact, he rarely looked away from his shoes. Today, at least, was different. Gordy smiled as I came over to sit with him. “You wore the shirt,” he said happily. “I knew you couldn’t resist the positive power of the rice ball.”

Son of a dung beetle. I should have worn the shirt to school sooner. I’d been waiting months to see that smile again. “Yeah, I’m a total fan,” I said, starting to laugh. “Well, so long as it’s a veggie rice ball.” “You’re in luck then,” Gordy said. “I think they’re serving rice pudding today. You could totally shape it into rice balls.” “Sweet,” I said, raising my fist to bump knuckles. “I better motor if I’m going to get any. I’m starving.” “Cool,” Gordy said. “See you later. And Yuki…I’m glad you like the shirt.” I went in search of food, though my stomach was feeling twisty. Guilt will do that to you. Note to self—spend more time with Gordy. When I finally made it to our table, Emma and Cal were in the middle of a heated discussion. Cal was eating his creamy rice pudding and Emma was arguing that the only creatures that should be ingesting cow’s milk, and hence rice pudding, were baby cows. I could tell by the loud sighs escaping Cal that he just wanted to eat his lunch in peace. I love Emma, but sometimes it’s best to distract her from her rant of choice before things spiral out of control. I knew this particular anti-milk topic and I could guess where Emma planned to take things next. If I didn’t help to change the subject soon, we’d be doomed to eat our lunches while listening to stories of chapped cow udders next and that would be udderly disgusting. Tee hee. I clunked my tray down with a bit too much force and Emma looked away from Cal to glare at my food. “Oh no, not you too,” Emma said. “How can you both be so barbaric?” “Um, Emma, you know I’m never giving up dairy,” I said. “It’s a thing. But I was hoping to ask a favor.” “What kind of favor?” Emma asked. “I need some pieces of fruit, preferably colorful little bits, and was hoping you might have some trail mix or something,” I said. I knew Emma usually kept an emergency stash in her bag.

“Well, I do have some with me,” Emma said. “Why do you need colorful fruit?” I had a heaping tray of food, so it was obvious that I wasn’t scrounging for food. “I want to make rice balls with my pudding,” I said. Emma raised an eyebrow, but handed over the bag of trail mix. “Here, take it,” she said. “Just don’t expect me to eat any of your little rice creatures. That pudding has cow juice in it. Plus, eating smiling little rice people is just creepy.” Emma shuddered dramatically and I laughed. Cal mouthed, “thank you” and dove into his own food. I tackled the rice balls, while telling Emma more about the Fruits Basket anime. When I was done, I had five rice balls with colorful pieces of fruit on their backs. Cal had added some toothpicks for little arms and legs. “What now?” Emma asked. I snapped a picture, selected The Gordster, and sent a pic to Gordy. “Don’t look,” I said. “You won’t like this next part.” Emma turned a sickly shade of green and looked away as I ate the first rice ball. “Yum,” I said. I giggled and have to admit, it sounded pretty evil. “That is sick,” Emma said. “Sorry, so hungry,” I said. I ate the other rice balls quickly. “Okay, it’s safe to look.” Emma raised her head and looked at me through her fingers, like she was watching a scary movie. I guess for her, seeing me eat rice ball people made with cow’s milk probably was kind of freaky. Emma looked at the remains of my food and let out a little shriek. All that was left on my tray were the discarded toothpick arms and legs. “Um, sorry?” I said. “I’ll treat if you guys want to go to Mr. Green Genes after school.” “You owe me big time,” Emma said. “Can you, like, throw those things away?” “Sure, no problem,” I said. I crossed the cafeteria and scraped the toothpicks into

the trash. On my way back I saw Gordy wave and hold his phone up in the air. It displayed the picture that I had sent him. He was smiling and giving me a thumbs up. I was glad to be able to make Gordy smile again. I waved and turned back to my table where Emma sat scowling. It suddenly occurred to me that anything that made Gordy happy made Emma miserable, and vice versa. Maybe it was a good thing that they hadn’t stayed together after all. Cal greeted me with a smile and reached up to brush my hair back behind my ears. I leaned in closer and closed my eyes. Cal’s hands moved deeper into my hair as he brushed his lips against mine. More. I waited for my second kiss, but instead, with a flick of warm tongue, Cal licked a patch of skin beside my mouth. My eyes flew open in surprise to meet Cal’s smiling eyes and toothy grin. “Wha…wha…what?” I stuttered. “I mean, why did you just lick my face?” I was totally confused. Was this some kind of wolf thing? If so, I was not liking this new development. At least, I didn’t think I was. Great, now I’m blushing. The skin around Cal’s eyes crinkled even more and he let out a laugh before leaning in to whisper in my ear. “Because you’re delicious,” Cal said. “And you had a piece of rice on your face.” Okay, now I’m really blushing. I could feel the burn of my cheeks as Cal’s voice echoed in my head. Because you’re delicious. He did not just say that. No, wait, he did. We were so in trouble. How were we ever going to make it through graduation if all we could think about were each other’s yummy kisses? Cal’s new attraction to danger and excitement wasn’t helping any. Could we get detention for what he just did? There was something thrilling about knowing he just licked my face in front of the entire school, though no one actually knew that’s what he was going. Well, except for maybe Emma who was giving us a funny look. “I’m trying to decide whether to tell you two to get a room or go barf in the trash can,” Emma said. “I’m leaning

toward the second choice. You are both getting way too weird. And gross.” Cal barked out a laugh and slid his fingers down my arm to entwine with mine. His touch, and Emma’s comments, only made me blush more. Looks like Emma saw Cal lick my face after all. Now that wasn’t awkward or anything.

Chapter 5 Mentally I prayed for a distraction from the whole rice fiasco. I didn’t like people staring at me and Emma was looking at me like I might suddenly sprout a Siamese twin. I tried manifesting my best inner Obi Wan. This is not the

freak you are looking for. Fortunately for me, the bell rang and we all set off in different directions for class. I guess I really could use the power of the force. With a bounce in my booted step, I turned the corner to my locker…and ran face first into a football player shaped brick wall. Before I could mumble an apology, big, meaty hands clamped over my mouth as someone grabbed me from behind and slid something slippery over my head. Judging from the swish of the slick fabric, and the repulsive smell of sweat, I guessed that they had pulled a football jersey over my head as a makeshift hood. What the heck? This could not possibly be good. People didn’t just bump into you in the halls and thrust a sweaty hood over your face for kicks. Maybe it was some kind of weird fourth year hazing ritual? Please let this be some kind of senior prank. Please, please, please. I tried to scream. I didn’t care if this was some hazing blitz that would end up on YouTube where everyone could laugh at me shrieking in fear, but the guy with the big hand kept it securely over my mouth. Okay, I wasn’t really the violent type, but I was about to go all ninja on this guy. I swung my legs forward then stabbed them backward,

aiming my heavy boots into the body of Mr. Meaty Hands. I chose that moment to bite down on the hand covering my mouth. Meaty Hands let go as my teeth sunk into his hand and my booted feet connected with what I guessed was his leg, but my little woot moment was short-lived. I may have been free of Mr. Meaty Hands, but I was now the victim of gravity. I dropped to the ground where I hit my head against something hard. My vision swam, not that I could see much from inside the makeshift hood, and the pounding in my head nearly made me throw up. The football jersey already stank of sweaty jock funk, so I tried to keep my head as still as possible. I didn’t need to add rice pudding vomit to the interior. “The Witch bit me!” Meaty Hands wailed. Suddenly he wasn’t such a tough guy. Meaty Hands sounded like he was going to cry. I guess my dark goth mojo was good for putting fear into the hearts of giganto jocks. Unfortunately it was probably how I got here in the first place. “Xenophobic toad,” I muttered, surprising myself. I hadn’t realized until then that I could speak out loud. I guess I hit my head harder than I thought. Someone stuffed a gag in my mouth before I could try to call for help. Please don’t be a gym sock. A nasty, old gym sock would really be a gag—like, gag me with a spoon. “See, she’s going to turn me into a toad!” Meaty Hands shrieked. Wow, that kid was really losing it. He must totally believe I have scary witchy powers. Good to know. I tried to think of a plan where I could scare them all into letting me go, but someone grabbed me and pulled me to my feet. I staggered and moaned at the throbbing pain in my head and was lifted and tossed over some guy’s shoulder. I stifled a whimper and tried to think. There was no way to know how many guys were involved or where we were going. I listened intently, hoping to get my bearings. Occasionally I would hear the murmur of voices, but they always stayed in the distance and I wondered if the

comforting sounds of other people were just figments of my imagination. It felt like we were walking in circles, but that may have been from the spinning in my head. Probably have a concussion. I was pretty sure that people with concussions were not supposed to be hung upside down and bounced repeatedly against a lumpy jock back. Too bad I had bigger things to worry about. The guy carrying me ducked low, making my stomach do roller coaster style somersaults, and a door slammed shut behind us as he straightened. A moment later he set me down against what may have been boxes and grabbed my hands, holding them behind my back. Were we in some supply closet, storage room, Box-R-Us? I heard a snarky laugh and the sound gave me chills. I knew that laugh. One of the guys was Jay Freeman, which meant the J-Team was involved with this, whatever this was. The smell of motor oil was overwhelming, but it wasn’t coming from my attacker. Apparently the ghost of Dylan Jacobs was here too. We must still be on school grounds. The thought gave me hope.

Cal will come. He’ll realize that I’m not in class and he will come for me. I know he will. I believed in Cal. I had faith in my friends. If they knew that I was in danger, they would be here in a second. The problem was that they may not realize I’m missing in time…and time wasn’t something I had a lot of. I was sure of it. As if to punctuate that point, Jay ripped the football jersey from my head, nearly taking my nose with it, and started his maniacal laughter again. Now that’s not creepy

or anything. Jay paced back and forth in front of me while laughing and gesticulating wildly. The other half of the J-team, Jared Zempter, stood glaring down at me with feet firmly planted hip width apart and arms folded. It looked like something he rehearsed in the mirror. Practice much? I wanted badly to say something witty, but now was not the time. It’s also hard to be snarky with a gag in your mouth.

There was something wild and menacing in the eyes of the football players lining the walls of the storeroom. Jay, who had always been a jerk with a violent streak, looked manic and unhinged. Dude was totally off his meds. The situation looked really bad. I didn’t have all of the details, but the strong motor oil stench coming from Dylan’s ghost combined with Jay and Jared’s earlier threats gave me a clue as to what had happened. The football team, with the urging of the J-team, had become convinced that I was responsible for the death of their teammate Dylan Jacobs. They were upset about Dylan’s death and were now out for revenge. The fact that I had nothing to do with Dylan’s accident didn’t seem to matter. Fear and anger were powerful motivators for bad behavior and these guys were used to solving problems with their fists, not their brains. Okay,

officially scared now and ready for my rescue. Jay stopped pacing directly in front of me and bent down to sneer at my crumpled form. “Not so tough now, are you, Witch?” Jay said. “Hard to cast your black magic spells and curses when you’re bound and gagged. Freak.” The last word he spat out with such force that spittle flew out of his mouth and hit my cheek. I don’t know why this angered me more than all of the other indignities that I’d already suffered, but I felt my temperature rise like my blood was about to boil. How dare he call me a freak and

spit in my face? These were the guys who tried to ruin every moment of my high school life. Jay and Jared were bullies who used fear, ridicule, and brute force to stay popular. I always knew that they were a menace, but never in my wildest nightmares did I imagine they would go this far. I should have felt afraid. I should have shrunk down inside myself in terror, but the burst of fiery energy that flared up from my belly to burn with white hot intensity was not fear but pure unadulterated rage. As my anger flared, I caught the smell of lavender and honey. Something nagged at me that I had smelled this particular scent before. It was actually amazing that I could

smell anything over Dylan’s smell impression. The room had quickly filled with a motor oil miasma that seem to cling to everything, including the gag stuffed in my mouth. The pleasant scent of lavender and honey was a welcome change. I raised my head to look Jay directly in the eye and gave him my very best glare. If there’s one thing goth girls can do best, it’s a scary glare. I was not going to cower for their amusement. My anger flared again and my ankle started to itch. Unfortunately, my hands were still being held behind my back and my boot covered ankle was on the floor out of reach. I glanced at my boots in frustration and realized that the itchy ankle was the one encircled by my spirit ink tattoo. The same spirit ink that smelled of

lavender and honey. A few months ago, when I asked for my tattoo, I had forced Phil, the spirit ink dude, to tell me what was really in the ink. According to Phil, each living werewolf contained the soul of a wolf and the soul of a human. The wolf souls live on and are reborn into the next generation of werewolves. Each human soul, however passes on at the end of its life. The human souls of werewolves are not reborn, but they can be called upon in a special full moon ceremony. In this ceremony the ancestor spirits are asked if they will bless the union by giving a small piece of their soul to become a part of the spirit ink. Apparently Phil had held back information. Not really surprising. The guy was slippery and it had been difficult getting him to talk at all. I had assumed that the ancestors who chose to be a part of the spirit ink were only helping to bless the union between me and Cal, but now I was in a scary situation and extremely angry. Maybe the spirits in my tattoo responded to danger or strong emotions. There was definitely something going on with my tattoo and I could smell the lavender and honey scent growing stronger. I wasn’t sure if the spirits could actually do anything to help, but it was comforting to know that I wasn’t alone. “She’s giving you the evil eye!” Meaty Hands yelled. Actually, now that I could see his face I recognized him from my neighborhood. I think his name was Ed or Eddy.

“I’m not scared of her lookin’ at me,” Jay sneered. “But the witch is dangerous,” Meaty Hands Eddy whined. “She bit me earlier and threatened to turn me into a toad.” I rolled my eyes and tried to shrug, but the guy behind me still had my wrists in his vice-like grip. “Of course she’s dangerous,” Jay said. “She’s a freaky witch.” Jay looked around the room and all of the guys nodded with enthusiasm. Great, they all really do think I’m a witch. I had been hanging onto the hope that only a few of them had been brainwashed by the J-team and that the rest had just come along for something to do. You know, laugh at the frightened goth girl trapped in the supply room. Just another day at Wakefield High. “Reverse the spell, Witch,” Jared snarled. I flinched. Jared had been silently brooding and staring for so long that I almost forgot he could speak. Reverse the spell. What did he mean by that? “Yeah, freak, that’s why we’re here,” Jay said. “Well, that and a little fun after.” Oh I really did not like the sound of that. I had to find a way out of this, fast. Think, Yuki, think. I looked at my ankle trying to will the spirits there to come to my aid. My boots where sprawled against the concrete floor and I side stomped my foot in frustration, which gave me an idea. We had discovered that I could call Cal’s wolf spirit by dancing. I may be gagged and held in a little heap on the floor, but I could still move my legs and feet. I just hoped that it was enough. My boots tapped a beat against the concrete while I held the image of Cal’s wolf in my mind. It was harder than before. Holding my focus was difficult with Jay and Jared staring down at me like I was a bug that they wanted to squash. “Do what we say, Witch,” Jared said. “Reverse the spell you put on our quarterback. Bring Dylan Jacobs back to life.” Wow, these guys were completely messed up. They

thought I was some kind of witch with the powers of necromancy? I could barely coax a potted plant to wilted zombie status. Emma said I had a black thumb. There was no way that I could bring a person back to life. Have I mentioned how difficult it was to concentrate on Cal’s wolf spirit? Take that and now multiply it by a gazillion. The smell of lavender, honey, and motor oil were overwhelming and fear was creeping in like a spider after a spring rain. No matter how much you don’t want it to be there, it slips through the cracks and scuttles in the shadows. My concentration was being splintered and unconsciousness threatened. That’s when I felt his presence. I was greeted with the smell of wet dog and sunshine and could suddenly see Cal’s wolf spirit in my mind’s eye. I used my last bit of will to concentrate on sending the wolf spirit a message. Help.

Bring Cal. I’m being held somewhere in the school. Please hurry. I looked up at Jay and Jared and nodded my head, hoping to look weak and eager to please. I needed to buy Cal time to find me. “Good, help us and things won’t go as bad for you,” Jared said. Jay looked momentarily disappointed, but that manic gleam returned quickly. “What do you need for the spell?” Jay asked, yanking the gag from my mouth. “Do you need blood? I saw a movie where they needed blood to work the dark arts.” This guy was totally sick in the head. He obviously wanted to, like, skin a cat…or me. The horribleness of the situation sank in further and I started shaking. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to be all tough girl, but there was something twisted and wrong in Jay’s eyes. He wanted to see blood. How messed up is that? The smell of lavender and honey grew more powerful and it gave me an idea. Cal was probably already searching for me, but I needed to give him time to come up with a rescue plan. Keeping the J-team distracted and their lackeys busy running errands seemed like the best idea. And maybe I’ll stop shaking if I have something to

keep me from obsessing over Jay’s new found love of blood and revenge. “Um, no, but I do need some herbs and stuff,” I said. I tried to keep my voice from quavering. I’m pretty sure I failed. At least with my hands held behind me, Jay and Jared couldn’t see how badly they were shaking. Could I really pull this off? “Herbs?” Jared asked, looking confused. Jared looked around the room and one guy actually flashed a questioning look and mimed smoking something that I was pretty sure wasn’t cigarettes. Wow, these guys didn’t even know what herbs were. “You know, like the herbs and spices used for cooking,” I said. “I’m sure they have a bunch in the home-ec room.” “Why would you need cooking supplies?” Jared asked. He crossed his arms again and looked down at me suspiciously. “You’ve heard of eye of newt and all that right?” I asked. “I need to make the spell by brewing it up in a pot, preferably a black cauldron, but I need herbs for the Witches Brew.” It was all nonsense, but I tried to use bits of phrases I’d heard in scary movies about witches. I emphasized the Hollywood-style witchy bits and hoped that they believed me. “Okay, you three,” Jay said, gesturing to three burly guys leaning against the wall, “Go upstairs and grab a big pot and all the herbs you can find. Meet us in the East wing science lab.” The boys followed Jay’s order without question. “Science lab?” I asked. “So you can cook your spell,” Jay said. He looked smug—and sinister. “Yeah, there’s one thing that this room doesn’t have,” Jared said, nodding his head in agreement. “Flame.” Jared and Jay exchanged smug grins and started dragging me to the science lab. The guy behind me continued to hold onto my wrists and helped Jay and Jared push me toward the door.

“Don’t worry, Witch,” Jay said. “We won’t burn you… much.” ***** We were nearly at the door when I heard a loud thud, followed by a moan, coming from the hallway. It sounded like the football thugs were picking on some poor student. Whoever it was would likely regret that trip to the bathroom. They’re probably beating him with his own hall pass. I tried to suppress a shudder, but it didn’t work. Jay let out a weird tittering laugh and Jared snorted, amused at the sign of my fear. The smell of freshly turned earth and dung filled my nostrils and I suddenly felt a comforting presence. It was kind of strange, but the alien aura of my dung beetle spirit guide was much more welcoming than any of the humans in the room.

Do not worry, Little One. Your wolf is on his way and you are much stronger than you think. Did you know that we dung beetles can roll up to fifty times our own weight? It is all in the…LEGS! I reacted instantly, kicking out with a thrust of both legs. Each heavily booted foot connected with a member of the J-team. Jay and Jared lay sprawled on the floor. I was still held captive, and Jay and Jared were already pulling themselves upright, but I felt a surge of hope. I just kicked some jock butt and Cal is on his way to rescue me. I will make it out of this alive. I know I will. “Thank you,” I whispered. I hoped that my spirit guide could hear me. She had somehow reached me outside my dreams and given me the courage to continue fighting. I was more grateful than she could ever know. I would not give up. I refused to give in. Even if Cal didn’t make it here in time, I wouldn’t show fear again. No way was I giving Jay and Jared the satisfaction. I heard more sounds of struggle in the hallway and wondered if it could be Cal. Most students wouldn’t put up a fight against three members of the football team. Those goons ruled the halls of Wakefield High. Everyone knew it. It was just easier to accept the beating, or the swirly, and

move on. Most students would just surrender, but Cal wasn’t most students. I caught a whiff of wet dog smell as Cal strode through the doorway. He looked fierce. “Take your hands off of her,” Cal growled at the guy behind me. I felt sweaty, shaking hands release their grip. I think the guy made a pathetic whining sound, but it may have been me. My shoulders screamed in protest and pain surged all the way to my fingertips as the blood returned to my arms and hands. I nearly checked to make sure they weren’t broken, but I couldn’t take my eyes from Cal’s face. “Yuki,” he exclaimed. Cal looked elated to find me unharmed. We would have rushed into each other’s arms at that very moment, but the battle wasn’t over. Cal’s face had relaxed with relief, but now his hard look of determination returned. A gleam of feral anger flash in his eyes as he turned to stare down at Jay and Jared. Cal looked ready to take care of the J-team, but what about the others? Three of my captors may have been incapacitated in the school hallway, but the rest of the football team formed a wall of muscle behind me and lined the walls on both sides. Cal was strong, but he was still in his human form. His wolf was right at the surface, but transforming was not an option. What good would it do to save ourselves at the expense of the entire pack? “Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Simon said, wagging his finger as he swaggered into the room. “Starting the party without me? How rude.” Simon moved with calm, liquid grace, but his scar jumped as his eye twitched with excitement. I should have known that Cal would have planned ahead. He was the pack alpha and there were those sworn to come to his aid. Simon went to stand at Cal’s right hand and the smell of lavender and honey filled the room. The ancestor spirit within my tattoo was responding strongly to his presence. Interesting. There was no time to ponder the implications of the spirit’s reaction to Simon. Jay and Jared pulled

themselves to their full height and looked ready for a fight. Jay even smirked as he flicked his wrist to wave his thug friends closer. They must still think they have the advantage. Their faces fell as five more men filed into the room to flank Cal and Simon. My jaw dropped as Gabriel walked over to stand by Simon. They may have been mortal enemies with unfinished business, but apparently they were willing to set their differences aside to defend their alpha. I wouldn’t have thought Gabriel was mature enough to come. His appearance earned instant cool points. Maybe I had been a bit quick to judge him. I think my jaw plummeted all the way to China when the last guy walked through the door. Gordy stepped up behind Cal and winked at me from over his shoulder. Gordan Avery, my emo hipster friend from Anime Club, was willing to face down the football team to protect me. I felt a flutter of worry, Gordy was a slender human boy after all, but the feeling of panic was followed by a warm sense of belonging. The J-team tried hard to make people feel bad about themselves and had relegated me as an outcast that could be mistreated and tossed away like trash. Not everyone thought that way. I had friends who cared about me. Gabriel and the others were werewolves who were probably here only to assist Cal, but there was no doubt in my mind why Gordy was here. He was here for me. Cal and Gordy were both here because they cared about my safety. My heart swelled so large, it felt like my chest might burst. “We are taking Yuki out of here,” Cal said. “I suggest you let us go without a fight.” “Not that we wouldn’t love to dance with you boys,” Simon said. “Yes, but we’d rather not involve the school faculty,” Cal said. “We’re not afraid of some old teachers,” Jay sneered. “I think your teammates would disagree,” I said, pulling myself up. “Being kicked off all sports teams would be a real downer.”

“Dude, she’s right, I think we should go,” Jared said. “We can always get her later.” The J-team wasn’t all that tough without backup and right now their backup was getting ready to leave. “This isn’t over,” Jay said. Cal and the others cleared a path to the door and Jay and Jared waved their guys to follow them out into the hallway. I heard a growl as they walked past, but I’m not sure who it came from. I was just glad when the last jock left the room. Cal rushed to my side and scooped me up into his arms. “Can’t breathe,” I gasped. Werewolf strength could be great, and kind of hot, when you needed rescuing, but it could be a little too much at times. This was one of those times. “Sorry,” Cal said, releasing me. “I thought I lost you.” “Nope,” I said, grinning. “I’m right here.” “Ahem,” Gordy said. He was shuffling his feet and staring intently at his Chucks. “Um, Yuki, I better get going. I grabbed a bathroom pass, but my teacher will send out a search party if I’m not back soon. You’re okay, right?” “Yeah, I’m awesome,” I said. “And Gordy? Thanks.” “Sure,” Gordy said. “Glad you’re okay. See you around.” Gordy left and Cal squeezed my hand. He seemed to need to reassure himself that I was really here. Gabriel and Simon had started shooting each other nasty looks and I wondered if there would be a fight today after all. “Gabriel, take the others home,” Cal said. “Simon and I can handle things from here.” Gabriel was pouting, but nodded and headed for the door. I had the feeling that the rivalry between The Brat and Simon was far from over. “You alright, love?” Simon asked. “You look a bit… disheveled.” Only Simon would worry about messy hair after a kidnapping. “Yeah, a few bruises, but nothing major,” I said, rubbing

my shoulder. “I may not be so lucky next time.” “I got your message to come find you, but why were they holding you here?” Cal asked. “This is going too far, even for the J-team.” “They’re all convinced that I practice dark magic and that I used a curse to kill Dylan Jacobs,” I said. I suddenly felt exhausted. How could an entire football team be convinced that I was capable of doing something so horrible? “But why kidnap you?” Cal asked. “They were trying to force me to reverse the curse,” I said. “They wanted me to bring Dylan back to life.” The smell of motor oil overpowered the lavender and honey smell of the ancestor spirits in the room. I can’t bring

you back to life, Dylan, but I will try to solve the mystery of your death. “The fools seem determined,” Simon said. “May I suggest setting up a perimeter around Yuki’s house?” Cal sighed, but agreed. “Yes, ask for volunteers to work in shifts,” Cal said. “Consider it done,” Simon said. Simon could be deadly serious when it came to serving his alpha. He strode purposefully out of the room, leaving Cal and me blissfully alone. “Don’t worry, we’ll protect you,” Cal said. “There’s only one way that I’ll be safe,” I said. “I have to find proof that I didn’t do anything wrong. The J-team needs to know that I wasn’t involved in Dylan’s death. I’m not a murderer.” I needed to prove my innocence, now more than ever.

Chapter 6 I survived the remainder of my classes by fantasizing about the long, hot bath I was going to take as soon as I got home. Missing my morning shower had made me feel icky all day and the afternoon school abduction left me feeling violated and dirty. I felt contaminated by the J-team’s

negativity. Being dragged through grimy supply rooms didn’t help. I don’t think the school washed those floors.

Ever. It seemed weird to go back to class as if nothing had happened. I would have loved getting the J-team in trouble, but we didn’t report the incident to the school faculty. After the events of homecoming and Samhain we had all agreed to lay low until graduation. Discovery of our paranormal double-lives could be disastrous. Unfortunately today’s kidnapping had the potential to attract a ton of scrutiny, so I spent my final classes trying to act like I hadn’t just spent a half hour at the mercy of the school’s meanest, cruelest psychopaths. It was hard to push away my still-raw feelings of hurt and anger, but I held onto the blissful dream of sliding into a scalding hot bubble bath. When school finally ended, Cal walked me to the parking lot, but it was Emma who drove me home. I think they both knew that I was at my breaking point. Simon was also there in the distance. He nodded to Cal and continued his surveillance of the school grounds without coming closer. I felt like someone had stamped ‘handle with care’ on my forehead. My friends were treating me like I was made of glass. Normally that would have irritated me, but I was too worn out for anger. There had been too much anger already. All I wanted now was to feel clean and safe. Cal helped me into the passenger seat of Emma’s car and kissed my forehead. He slung my school bag into the back seat. I hadn’t even realized that he had been carrying it. Maybe I was a little out of it. “I’m just a phone call away,” Cal said, reaching in to squeeze my hand. “I know,” I said. “1-800-Dial-A-Wolf. Who needs a cell phone when you can communicate by wolf spirit?” “Actually, I’m curious about how you managed that, but it can wait,” Cal said. He grinned, but his blue eyes looked worried. “We can talk about it when you’ve had a chance to recover.” “Recover?” I said. “You make it sound like I’ve been through a major trauma or something. I’m okay, really. I’m just tired.”

Why was everyone so worried? Today was scary, but we’d been through crazy stuff before. I mean, I might have a mild Bunsen burner phobia now, but the school year was already half over and then I’d never have to see one again.

No big. “Sweetie, you have been through a trauma,” Emma said. “You probably just haven’t realized it yet. Let’s get you home.” Well, I was really tired. My eyelids had gone on strike and were closing early. Maybe I should just go home and get some sleep. “Okay,” I said. I turned to Cal who stroked my cheek through the open window. I pressed my face into his hand and breathed in his wonderful wet dog and sunshine scent. He smelled of love and happiness. The touch of his hand was like returning home. “Love you.” “Love you more,” Cal said. “Sweet dreams, Princess.” Emma drove me home without saying a word. No curious questions about my abduction. It was unlike her to stay so quiet, but it was kind of a relief. I didn’t want to think about my day and all of the terrible what might have beens. When we reached my house, Emma seemed to instinctively sense my vulnerability and followed me inside and up the stairs to my room. She went into my small bathroom and turned on the tap. I could hear her opening the bath salts and knew she was adding scoops of scented salts to my bathwater. Emma always knew what I needed most. It was amazing that I was the psychic one in our friendship. I gathered my softest pajamas into my arms and joined her in the bathroom. The smell of the bath nearly blocked out the smell impressions that had been plaguing me all day. I was grateful for that. “You roxors my socxors,” I said, smiling. “Girl, get in the tub,” Emma said. “I stink,” I said. I started to giggle. Emma went to sit in the doorway facing out into my bedroom. My own personal bodyguard. It wasn’t like I was really worried that someone would try to break into my bedroom and bathroom, but the gesture

made me feel safe. I slid into the hot, sudsy tub and my giggles turned to sniffles. It wasn’t long before my sniffles grew into sobs. Emma let me cry it all out. She was good like that. No words could have made me feel better. I just needed the tears and bath water to wash all of the pain and fear away. After a long soak and a good cry, I was finally fabulously, gloriously clean. “There are fresh towels on the rack behind you,” Emma said. She hadn’t turned around so she must have guessed I was done by the lack of crying. No condemnation for being a crybaby or drama queen. Emma really was the best. I wrapped myself up in the towels and got out of the tub on shaky legs. Putting on my pajamas took longer than usual. My shoulders and wrists were bruised and it felt like I was moving through quicksand. When I was finally dressed, I walked up behind Emma and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thanks,” I said. “You are made of awesome.” “I know,” Emma said. She helped me into bed, but didn’t leave. Once I was tucked in, she climbed onto the bed and held the comforter around me like a shield to protect me from scary dreams and evil jocks. “You’re the best,” I whispered. “You already said that,” Emma whispered back. “Nope, I said you were made of awesome,” I said. “Good night, Yuki,” Emma said. “Good night,” I mumbled. ***** I woke up feeling stiff and sore. Sun was streaming through the window and for one panicked moment, I thought I had overslept. I turned to my Edgar Allan Poe calendar and let out a sigh of relief. Oh yeah, today’s not a school day. My school worries were quickly replaced by confusion. Where the heck was Emma? Maybe she was in the bathroom? “Emma?” I croaked. There was no answer from the bathroom or anywhere

else. Weird. I went to my closet to find a row of empty metal hangars that jangled as they swayed into each other like wind chimes in a gentle breeze. Oh, right, laundry. I closed the closet doors and turned to scoop up piles of dirty clothes and place them in the overflowing hamper. I opened my bedroom door and flicked on the hall light. No sign of Emma, or my parents. The hall was empty and the house was silent as the grave. It wasn’t unusual for the rents to be at work early on Saturday morning, but I was still perplexed by Emma’s disappearance. Emma was here when I fell asleep. Hadn’t she stayed the night? Stepping back into my room, I lifted the overstuffed clothes hamper and trudged down the stairs. I went to the laundry room and filled the washing machine with dirty clothes and soap. Fortunately for me, my laundry was all the same color. Wearing all black definitely simplified the task of sorting laundry. Easy peasy. I dragged myself into the kitchen, bare feet squeaking against the cold linoleum tile floor. Maybe things would make more sense after coffee. Something on the table caught my eye and I made a detour to check it out. A black paper origami cat crouched on the edge of a penciled note from my mom.

Your father and I had to go to work, but please call us if you are still feeling sick. Emma told us about your migraine yesterday and said to let you sleep in. She is such a sweetheart. You have a good friend there. Emma was worried about you, but had to leave early to work the morning shift at the animal shelter. She said that she would call you on her lunch break. Gordy also stopped by and left this little black cat for you. What a nice boy. He said he hoped it would cheer you up. Are you sure you’re okay, sweetie? You’ve been getting a lot of migraines lately. I blame your father’s mother. You never met Grandma Stennings, but she always suffered terrible headaches. Maybe your father can remember what remedies she used.

Hope you are able to get some rest and enjoy this lovely sunny Saturday. Perhaps Calvin will come over to check on you? Love, Mom Gordy stopped by? I hope he didn’t run into Emma. That would have been majorly awkward. I fingered the origami cat and decided to make thank you cards for my friends while waiting for the laundry to wash and coffee to brew. Today was going to be a good day. I could feel it in my bones. ***** I called Cal around noon hoping that we could hang out and maybe do some reconnaissance of Witchtrot Road. Something fishy was going on surrounding Dylan’s death and I was sick of being blamed for it. Maybe we could uncover something before I had to return to school on Monday. A girl can hope, right? “Hello?” Cal answered. He sounded flustered and his voice was muffled. “Cal?” I asked. “Is everything okay? I can barely hear you.” Something crashed and Cal let out a low growl. “Stop, now!” Cal ordered. “Nobody move. Simon, that means you too.” Cal let out a huge sigh. “Sorry, Yuki, I don’t mean you. I’ve been trying to keep these two from killing each other and it’s not working.” “Are they fighting?” I asked. “Always,” Cal said. “The crashing was actually an attempt to get them to work together. I asked Simon and Gabriel to help me clean the cabin—which they are trying to accomplish by throwing furniture at each other. I don’t think the cabin will survive much more of this.” “Anything I can do to help?” I asked. “Not after yesterday,” Cal said softly. Cal was still worried about me. His soothing voice was like a warm embrace. I closed my eyes and pictured his strong arms wrapped around me. Yesterday was horrible, but I couldn’t live my life in fear. “I’m fine, really,” I said. “If I just sit here, alone all day, I’ll

go crazy. “Well…” Cal began. “Come on, spill,” I said. “Anything I can do to help is better than hanging around an empty house.” “Okay, but you’re not going to like it,” Cal said, finally giving in. Cal was right. I didn’t like it. Not at all. ***** It was a beautiful sunny Saturday and I was spending it sitting beside a sulking werewolf. I definitely drew the short straw. How did I end up babysitting The Brat? When I asked Cal if there was anything I could do to help keep Simon and Gabriel from killing each other, I hadn’t expected to be put on Gabe duty. No, I was thinking more like distracting them with pizza or ice cream. Unfortunately, things had escalated since yesterday and tempers had gone from fiery to nuclear. According to Cal, Gabriel had confronted him regarding Simon’s status as pack Lieutenant. Apparently he wasn’t too happy about Simon’s new role as Cal’s second in command. Gabriel wanted to challenge Simon to some kind of werewolf deathmatch—a duel fought with tooth and claw, rather than guns and bullets. Cal needed to spend the day going over pack law with Simon. They both wanted to come up with an alternative. Simon may not like Gabriel, but he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of fighting his dead girlfriend’s kid brother. Cal also wanted to avoid unnecessary death and injury. Cal cared about every member of his pack and wanted to change some of the old ways, but was wise enough to know that too much change too soon could cause more harm than good. Cal needed to find a solution that demonstrated respect for the old ways while working to change pack law. He may have been born with the Alpha wolf spirit, but it didn’t guarantee that others would follow his leadership. Cal couldn’t risk turning some of the more conservative pack members against him. If that happened, he could lose the pack…and his life. So I ended up babysitting The Brat. Oh, joy. “I don’t want to go to a library,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel sat in the driver’s seat of his SUV with his arms crossed over his chest. He was sulking again. No surprises there. His parents probably spoiled him after his sister Meredith died. Gabriel acted like a bratty little kid most of the time. He had sulked the entire way to the library and now that we were parked on the road out front, he was grumbling about smelly library books. The Brat never stopped complaining. Ever. “Library books do not smell like old cheese and feet,” I said stubbornly. Okay, actually some of the older books did smell like ripe cheese, I had made the same observation to Emma more than once, but I needed to salvage what I could of the day. I had to find information on the history of Witchtrot Road before the J-team tried something again. Plus, a trip to the library seemed the most likely way to get Gabriel to quit bellyaching. If he didn’t stop whining, I was going to rat him out to the librarians myself. His sensitive werewolf nose would just have to deal. It wasn’t like I was complaining about smelling ghosts. “Can’t we go visit Emma instead?” Gabriel asked. “No way, she’s at work,” I said. “Why would you want to go visit Emma? You hardly even know her.” “Her golden hair is like gossamer strands of corn silk,” Gabriel said. “Wow, that’s really poetic,” I said. “Thank you,” Gabriel said. “I’ve been practicing for when I propose to her.” “What?” I asked. I was draining the last of my latte and nearly choked. “Propose?” Maybe the word meant something different where Gabe was from? “Of course,” Gabriel said. “When I ask Emma to be my mate.” It was a good thing I had cast my coffee cup aside. I still gagged a little. Gabriel and Emma? No way. It just wasn’t happening. Emma would never date a spoiled rich kid who drove a gas guzzling, planet killing Hummer. “Have you bothered to see if she even likes you first?” I asked.

“I will make her like me,” Gabriel said. I couldn’t believe this guy. Was he for real? He was totally crushing on the wrong girl. No one ever made Emma do anything. Gabriel might be a werewolf, but Emma would eat him for breakfast. Well, you know, if she wasn’t a vegan and everything. “Um, yeah, good luck with that,” I muttered. “Let’s go inside.” I really needed to get out of Gabriel’s SUV and into the library where I hopefully wouldn’t have to hear him speak. His smug voice was making me queasy. Ugh. There was no way this spoiled brat was going to date my BFF. I climbed out of the Hummer, trying not to fall to my death, and raced up the library steps. Gabriel continued to complain about going to a library. He made it sound like the lamest most boring place ever. I hoped he protested like that in front of Emma. She adored libraries and thought that research was exciting. I waited impatiently as Gabriel trudged up the stone steps, hands thrust sullenly in his jacket pockets. When he finally reached the top, I shook my head and opened the door for him. Babies first. Gabriel didn’t even acknowledge me standing there holding the door. In fact, he acted like people always did this for him. Maybe they did. It totally wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Gabriel had servants at home waiting on him hand and foot. It would explain a lot. Katie was working at the front information desk. Cool. She had been the one to tell me about the curse of Witchrot Road and the events that gave the road its name. Maybe she could help me locate books about the road’s history. “You wait here,” I said to Gabriel. I didn’t stick around to see if he obeyed. How much trouble could he get into in a public library? “Hi Katie,” I said. I made an attempt to smile, though my face always ached in sympathy when I looked at Katie’s permagrin. “Do you have a minute?” “You remembered my name!” Katie said. “You have, like, no idea how happy that makes me, Yuki. So what can I do to help?”

Katie always ran her words together in a way that made me feel breathless and left my head spinning. How could someone have that much energy and enthusiasm? I couldn’t help examining her desk for evidence of caffeine, but, of course, the librarians didn’t allow coffee or soda in the workplace. Cal had once told me his theory of energy vampires— people who sucked the energy from other people’s auras— and I wondered if that was how Katie maintained her level of intensity. It just wasn’t natural. “Um, yeah, I was hoping you could help me find some books about that curse you were telling me about,” I said. “Maybe some history books that tell more about the local man who was accused of witchcraft?” “Oh yes, I am sure I can find something,” Katie said. “Are you and your friend going to be working upstairs in your usual spot?” “Yeah, should we wait up there?” I asked. “Yes, go on up and I’ll bring your books up in a jiffy!” Katie said. A jiffy? Who says that? Katie was already rushing off into the stacks so I walked over to where Gabriel was standing. He was staring intently at Katie’s receding form. With a quick flip of her red hair, Katie disappeared behind a row of shelving. “Come on, Loverboy,” I said. “Let’s go wait upstairs.” “Loverboy?” Gabriel asked. “Well, you are staring at Katie like you’ve never seen a girl before,” I said, heading up the first flight of stairs. “No, I only have eyes for Emma,” Gabriel said. “It’s just that that girl never blinked once the entire time you were talking to her. Is that a human thing?”

Nope, it’s just a Katie thing. I just sighed and shrugged, leading the way to the study area. Explaining human girls to Gabriel was not how I was going to spend my day. Plus, I really didn’t have an explanation. I was always pretty baffled by Katie. ***** We waited nearly twenty minutes before I began to worry. What if Katie fell or fainted in the stacks? She could

be lying under a collapsed bookcase, buried by a mountain of dusty books, as we sat doing nothing. “I’ll go see what’s taking her so long,” I said. “Maybe she needs some help carrying the books up.” Gabriel just gave me a pouty look and turned away. He was still mad about being at the library and had asked repeatedly if we could just leave and visit Emma. After saying no a gazillion times, we had finally reached the silent treatment phase. Fine by me. I found Katie in the local history section…kissing a boy. Her frizzy red hair was unmistakable and for a moment I wondered snarkily if she smiled while kissing. The boy looked familiar, but I couldn’t see his face…for obvious reasons. He had a slight build and was wearing dark, tight-fitted jeans with Converse sneakers and a “Pugs Not Drugs” t-shirt. I only knew one person with that shirt. “Gordy?” I asked. “Is that you?” It just slipped out. I swear. I raised my hand to my mouth as though I could push the words back in. The couple broke apart to reveal a red faced Katie and a slightly embarrassed Gordy. “Oh, Yuki, I forgot about your books,” Katie said. “I got distracted. Gordy can be really distracting.” “That’s okay,” I said. “I just started to worry that maybe you fell off a ladder or something. It’s cool. I can go find the books myself.” “No way, that’s my job,” Katie chirped. Her face was flushed and she was overflowing with enthusiasm. Maybe she really was an energy vampire. “I’ll bring your books right up. See you later, Gordy.” Katie said the last with a wave and a smile that made her dimples show. Gordy stared intently at the floor and smoothed his asymmetric side-swept bangs down over his eyes. I recognized it as a nervous gesture. It was kind of silly, since Gordy’s bangs were only long enough to hide behind on one side. I cleared my throat and tried to think of what I could possibly say to ease the tension. “So that was awkward,” I said. Might as well be direct. “Sorry to interrupt. I really was worried about Katie. She’s

nice by the way.” “Yeah, she is,” Gordy said, pushing his bangs out of his eye. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other. Katie doesn’t have a lot of friends from school.” “Well, we’re not friends exactly, but we both spend a lot of time here at the library,” I said. “Is this where you two met?” “We met in Group,” Gordy said, looking even more embarrassed. “I missed some school after the Emma break-up and the school counselor put me in group therapy. Katie was there because she used to struggle a lot with an eating disorder.” “Wow, I had no idea,” I said. “We’re all pretty secretive about Group,” Gordy said. “It’s not really something we want everyone to know.” “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” I said. “Cross my heart.” “I’m not worried about you knowing,” Gordy said. “I should have told you sooner.” “So are you guys dating?” I asked. “I guess so,” Gordy said. “We were just hanging out as friends at first, but when she found out I was into anime and manga she told me about the library’s manga and graphic novel section. I started coming by a lot more after that. Today was the first time we kissed though.” “I feel like the biggest jerk,” I groaned. “No, you just have really bad timing,” Gordy said, grinning. “Speaking of timing, I really have to motor,” I said. “I’m supposed to be babysitting this kid from out of town. Catch up with you and Katie later? Maybe you can show me the manga selection after school this week.” “That would be awesome,” Gordy said. “And Yuki…” “Yeah?” I asked. “Be careful,” Gordy said. “I know you think you’re invincible like the chick in Ghost in the Shell, and most of the time you are, but the J-team really have it out for you.” “Thanks Gordy,” I said. “Oh, here.” I pulled an envelope covered in colorful drawings from my backpack. “Thank you for yesterday. See you Monday!”

I left Gordy holding the construction paper thank you card and walked quickly to the second floor where I had left Gabriel. I just hoped that he was still there. I needn’t have worried. Gabriel was sitting exactly where I left him, fast asleep. With his cherubic face relaxed in sleep, a line of drool trickling down his chin, Gabriel looked innocent and peaceful. Too bad he wouldn’t stay

that way. A stack of books rested on the table beside Gabriel, with a sticky note smiley face on top. Definitely the work of Katie. Even her notes smiled painfully. Now that I knew a little bit about her past I could understand Katie’s desire to appear happy all the time. When you had a problem like an eating disorder, you might get better, but your friends and family would always be watching with an eagle eye wondering if you’re starting to slip. They did it out of love, I understood that, but that kind of pressure could explain Katie’s constant need to please everyone. It used to bother me that Katie tried so hard. I was all about being yourself and not worrying about what others thought, but now I knew that in Katie’s case she wasn’t doing it to be popular. She was trying to avoid making the people who cared about her worry. That was something I could completely relate to. When your friends knew that ghosts haunted you, they had a tendency to worry. I slid the books across the table, careful not to wake Gabriel. Most of the books were histories of the Salem Witch Trials. Katie had also located a sheaf of documents that, according to the attached note, were the property of the Berwick Historical Society, but were temporarily in residence at the Wakefield Public Library while the other organization’s building underwent repairs. The papers were yellowed and dusty, and yes they did in fact smell like cheese, but I stifled a sneeze and set to work.

Chapter 7

I left the library, holding a messy stack of photocopies to my chest like they were the most valuable documents in the world. To me they kind of were. I nearly floated down the library steps. Not even Gabriel’s cranky post-nap whining could ruin my happy mood. I visited the library hoping to unlock the mystery of Witchtrot Road and help the ghost of Dylan Jacobs. I hadn’t expected to learn so much about my hometown in the process. The Historical Society documents provided dates and locations of every tragedy to occur in my town, and the surrounding county, for the past three hundred years. This made the information within the cheesesmelling pages priceless to me. I had learned a valuable lesson last Samhain. Spirits of the dead walked the land on Samhain night, and not all of these ghosts were the good, kind-hearted, warm and fuzzy types. No, on Samhain night the evil spirits outnumbered the good and gathered together in areas of past horrors. If I knew where past atrocities had taken place, then I might be able to avoid the largest groups of The Grays. I nick-named the evil spirits The Grays, due to the dark gray apparitions that I could see while wearing Nera’s amulet. The Grays emanated an aura of fear, anger, despair…and hunger. My psychic awareness of spirits left me vulnerable to The Grays, and it had only been Nera’s amulet, and the help of my friends, that kept me sane during their last attack. But I was still uncomfortable with using stolen property to protect myself from evil spirits. I also wasn’t crazy about the idea of angering a group of powerful Salem witches. Witchtrot Road had gained its name in connection with the Salem Witch Trials, and this seemed like a sign that I shouldn’t forget the witches I had stolen from. Perhaps the new historical information that I had uncovered could help us map the locations of past murders and battles so that I might avoid these places when Samhain next approached. If I could find a safe place to hide during Samhain night, then I could return Nera’s amulet to its rightful owners. The thought gave me hope. We climbed into Gabriel’s Hummer, and I nearly

squeed in excitement as he readied the vehicle to drive back to the cabin. I couldn’t wait to tell Cal about what today’s research had uncovered. Gabriel grumbled about fabric stains and car detailing as I happily swung my booted feet back and forth. For the first time in days, I felt elated. I hadn’t realized just how much of a burden Nera’s amulet had been. Now that there was real hope of returning the amulet to its rightful owner, I felt as though my limbs were strung with helium balloons. “Why are you so happy?” Gabriel asked. He was using a sulky tone that was really getting on my nerves. “I thought goth kids weren’t supposed to smile. Isn’t it against the rules or something?” “In case you haven’t noticed,” I said, rolling my eyes, “I’m not big on societal norms.” Nope. I had never been one for doing what everyone else was doing. Being a teen vegetarian, dressing in black clothing, and having a crush on anthropomorphic anime characters didn’t fit with the common definition of normal, not to mention dating a werewolf and smelling dead people. “I never would have guessed,” Gabriel muttered. “Whatever,” I said. “I have good news for Cal. Let’s just get to the cabin.” “Will Emma be there?” Gabriel asked, perking up. “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe.” Hadn’t Emma said that she would call me on her lunch break? Oh no. I had turned my ringer off while doing research in the library. After my sobbing episode last night, she was probably still worried about me. I pulled out my phone and winced. I had ten missed calls. She’s going to

kill me. I called Emma and she picked up on the first ring. “You better be tied up and held captive by the J-team AGAIN, because I can’t think of another acceptable reason why you’d ignore my calls today,” Emma said dryly.

Son of a dung beetle. “Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.” “So you haven’t been kidnapped by Neanderthal football players who want you to resurrect their dead

quarterback?” Emma asked. “No,” I said. Not today. “You know, when you say it like that it sounds kind of crazy.” I couldn’t help myself. The whole thing suddenly seemed so ridiculous that I started to giggle. “I’m glad someone thinks this is funny,” Emma said. “Sorry, the whole J-team thing just seems so surreal right now,” I said. “So where are you anyway?” Emma asked. “My shift ends in fifteen minutes. You want to do something? I could pick up Tofutti and Rice Dream ice cream after work and we could do some Internet research on Witchtrot Road.” “Oh em gees, that sounds awesome!” I said. “I’m not actually home though. Want to meet me at the cabin? I’m on my way there now with Gabriel. He’s driving.” “You’re in that environment destroying, gas guzzling beast?” Emma asked. Gabriel looked at me encouragingly when I mentioned his name to Emma and I hoped that he didn’t hear what she just said. He had no idea how misplaced his heart was, but I guess that’s why they called it a crush. Unless he traded in his Hummer for a Prius and completely revamped his selfish personality, Gabriel was going to receive a broken heart with this visit to Wakefield. Hopefully, like the tacky tshirts we sell to tourists, this souvenir would fade with time. Of course, there would probably be a lot of complaining first. I was already dreading the fallout. “Um, it wasn’t my idea,” I said. “I was doing a favor for Cal, but I’m on my way back to the cabin now. Meet me there?” “Okay, I’ll be there soon,” Emma said. “We can do vegan ice cream later.” “You rock,” I said, smiling. “I know,” Emma said. “And Yuki…I really was worried about you. Until we get this mess with the J-team straightened out, promise me you’ll keep your cell phone on.” “I promise,” I said. I really did have the best friends. Ever. *****

Cal was standing in the cabin doorway, hands in his low-slung jean pockets, as Gabriel struggled to park his SUV without trampling any trees. Gabriel, who was worried more about his precious Hummer than the beautiful hundred year old oaks, finally brought us to a stop. I smiled at Cal who winked back with a toothy grin. I couldn’t wait to get out of The Bratmobile. I struggled with the handle and started to fall as I pushed open the heavy door. I was caught in Cal’s well-muscled arms. “You fall for all the guys, or just for me?” Cal quipped. I gasped and looked up into his smiling face. He had been standing in the cabin doorway only moments before. Thank goodness for werewolf speed…and swoon-worthy muscles. Blushing, I looked up into Cal’s blue eyes. “Just you,” I said, breathless. Cal leaned in to brush his lips against my own. He teased me with a kiss at the corner of my mouth, but I turned my head to meet his kiss. It was a good thing he was still holding me in his arms. I may have melted into a little puddle of happy right there in the Hummer’s shadow. Cal pulled away with a little moan and rested his forehead against mine, breath ragged and warm on my face. Had it only been a day since I had seen him last? It felt as though we had been apart for an eternity. “I never did get to reward you for being my hero yesterday,” I said, wrapping my hands more tightly around Cal’s neck. I didn’t want him to pull away. Not yet. “It’s not every day that you get to rescue me like a damsel in distress.” “No, just every other day,” Simon said. Leave it to Simon to interrupt our romantic moment. Gabriel bristled at Simon’s sudden appearance and Cal let out a sigh. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself before turning my head to glare at Simon. I did my best to instill fear, but the effect was diluted somewhat by being held aloft in Cal’s arms. At least it made it easier to look down my nose at Simon. “I do not require constant rescuing,” I said. “I can take care of myself.” “Obviously, love,” Simon said with a bemused smile.

“My mistake.” Simon quirked an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Cal’s arms holding me off the ground. Simon could be so…so infuriating. I felt my face redden, gritted my teeth, and tried to think of a comeback. Nothing came to me. Cal must have sensed my frustration because he reluctantly released me to stand on my own two feet. See, not needing help. I started to march to the cabin door when Gabriel shot Cal a sulky look. “I was hoping you’d carry her over the threshold,” Gabriel said. “I need to see how it’s done so I’m prepared.” “Prepared for what?” Cal asked. “For when I carry Emma over the threshold,” Gabriel said. “For when I make her my mate.” Cal’s jaw fell open and it was a good thing he was no longer carrying me—he probably would have dropped me on my head. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that surprised. Cal continued to blink at Gabriel, but when I turned to laugh about it with Simon, his face was a whirlwind of shifting emotions. Confusion, anger, indifference, and pain all chased each other across Simon’s scarred face. I smelled the heady scent of lavender and honey, but didn’t have a chance to wonder at its significance. “Hey Yuki!” Emma shouted. She was walking up the gravel drive holding pints of vegan ice cream above her head. “Grab some spoons. I can’t wait to hear your good news.” Okaaay. This was awkward. “I thought we were doing ice cream later?” I shouted back. “Dude, it’s chocolate Tofuti, I couldn’t resist,” Emma said. “I even grabbed some strawberry for the guys.” Simon clenched his hands, thrust his fists into his pockets, and spun on his heel to stalk away from us into the woods. “Was it something I said?” Emma asked, walking up beside me. “He seriously didn’t have to leave. I wasn’t going to force him to eat Tofuti.” “I don’t know,” I said. I really didn’t have a clue. Something was going on

with my friends, but I didn’t know what it was—or even where to begin deciphering their odd behavior. “So what’s this about good news?” Cal asked. “I’m bored,” Gabriel said. “And what’s Tofuti? Emma, come inside and tell me about it.”

Smooth, Gabe, smooth. “I found some cool info while doing research at the library today,” I said. “Research?” Emma asked, perking up. “Dude, spill.” “I’ll tell you all about it, but we better go inside before Gabriel has a stroke,” I said. Gabriel was standing in the cabin doorway with hands fisted on his hips and his face pinched into a sour look like someone had double-wolf dared him to suck down a dozen pixie sticks. As I watched, hair sprouted from his ears and his canines elongated, pushing past pinched lips and stretching them into an ugly frown. So not attractive. It was easy to forget that The Brat contained the power of a wolf. Normally I’d suggest he train with us under Simon’s tutelage, he obviously needed some lessons on self-control, but that didn’t seem like a good idea. No, Gabriel’s hatred for Simon ran too deeply to become his willing student. “Patience,” Cal said, facing Gabriel. Gabriel stomped his foot and disappeared inside the cabin. As we followed Gabriel inside, I caught a whiff of lavender and honey behind me. I turned to see a huge, silver wolf staring mournfully at Emma. Simon. His eyes followed Emma as she walked into the cabin. When she was finally out of sight, he turned away and with a swish of his tail was gone. Only a swaying hemlock branch marked the place where Simon had stood looking at Emma with sad human eyes staring out of a wolf’s face. With a shake of my head, I followed Emma inside, and tried to force a smile. Something strange was definitely going on with those two, but I needed to tell my friends my good news. I could at least give them one less thing to worry about. ***** I wasn’t quite prepared for the bachelor mayhem that

threatened to pull my eyes from their sockets. What the heck? The cabin was a riot of color from paint splashes and odds and ends strewn on every surface. It looked like a tornado had come through tossing everything that wasn’t nailed down, and a few things that I’m pretty sure had been, every which way. Gabriel sat sulking in a bright blue beanbag chair while Emma and I gaped at the mess. Son of a dung beetle. “What happened in here?” I asked. “Simon and Gabriel happened,” Cal said, running his hands through his shaggy hair. “Gabriel announced that he was moving in and tried emptying his entire Humvee into the cabin.” “It was just a few things,” Gabriel muttered. “I take it that didn’t go over well?” Emma asked, raising an eyebrow at the mess. “No, it didn’t go well at all,” Cal said. He let out a sigh like the air deflating from an abandoned balloon. “We’ve been sorting and cleaning, but the fight that broke out created a huge mess…as you can see.” “I was only trying to make myself comfortable,” Gabriel said petulantly. “You can’t just barge into someone else’s home, even if it is a slummy old cabin, and move in,” Emma said. “Slummy old cabin?” I asked. “I like this place!” Emma turned to me and winked. Ahhh, I get it. If anyone could convince Gabriel that he didn’t want to stay here it was Emma. “It is kind of drafty…and small,” Gabriel admitted. “It would probably be beneath me to live in such a place.” I saw Cal tense and hoped he wasn’t too offended. Emma hadn’t had a chance to fill him in on her plan. “I’ll be sad to see you go, but agree it is probably for the best,” Cal said. His shoulders twitched and I realized Cal was trying hard not to laugh. “So Gabriel, want some help moving your stuff?” I asked. “It’s the least we can do,” Cal said. “I’ll dish out ice cream while you get started,” Emma said, smiling at Gabriel.

“I would be honored to eat your ice cream,” Gabriel said. Gabriel made a stiff attempt at a bow and started hauling stuff out to his Hummer. Wow, Emma was amazing. I’d have to warn her about Gabriel’s intentions though. I’m sure she had no idea that he planned to make her his mate. I shuddered at the thought. Not only was that guy a brat, he was also pretty darn creepy. I was happy that he wouldn’t be living here with Simon and Cal. We continued to pack up Gabriel’s clutter, with frequent ice cream pit stops, but Simon didn’t return. Leave it to Simon to get out of cleaning up the mess he helped to create. Clever werewolf. I sometimes felt as though someone, or something, was watching us, but I didn’t see Simon again that night. When we finally finished packing, and Gabriel was on his way to a hotel on Main Street, I grabbed one more bowl of Tofutti and told Cal and Emma about the papers I found at the library. “That’s awesome,” said Emma. “I can help design a map of the town with areas of past murders and battles.” “Cool,” I said, bumping knuckles with Emma. Samhain may be months away, but it felt good to have a plan. “I agree that this information is really helpful…” Cal said. “But?” I asked. Cal sucked in his lip then let out a heavy sigh. “I’m just not sure about giving the amulet back,” Cal said, running his hand through his hair. “What if the map isn’t enough? What if you can’t avoid the spirits of the dead?” “He has a point,” Emma said. “You are kind of a ghost magnet.” I let out my own sigh and bit the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming. How could I explain how I felt about Nera’s amulet? I wasn’t even sure myself, but I had become increasingly uncomfortable about keeping it. It felt wrong to hold onto something stolen, even if it had been for a good reason, and the idea of Salem witches tracking me

down and seeking revenge was…creepy. “Okay, I’m just a little bit freaked out about keeping the amulet,” I admitted. “I mean, I don’t like the idea of keeping something that doesn’t belong to me, but the fact we stole it from witches makes my skin crawl. Don’t you ever worry what might happen if they find out it was us?” “You’re right,” Cal said. “I just worry about you. I wish we had more of a plan. There’s no way of knowing if avoiding evil spirit hot spots will work.” “All the more reason to help as many ghosts as possible,” I said, smiling. “Ooh, I like it,” Emma said grinning. “Didn’t you say that Mr. Greene was one of the happy spirits surrounding you that night?” “Exactly,” I said nodding. Cal tilted his head, curious, then his eyes widened in surprise. “You’re going to have your own army of good spirits to protect you!” Cal said. “That’s my plan,” I said. “Well, it’s my backup plan. Plan A is to put all of this information into a useful map so we can avoid as many Grays as possible.” “Where do we start?” Emma asked. “We begin with Dylan Jacobs,” I said. “Surviving Samhain without Nera’s amulet would be fabulous, but first I have to survive high school.” ***** There was, of course, a flying monkey wrench in my plan. The full moon was only two nights away. With the full moon fast approaching, and the pack preparing to get furry, Emma and I would soon be on our own. “I’m so sorry,” Cal said. “We can stay through tomorrow evening, but by midnight Sunday we should be on the road for Wolf Camp. Normally I’d leave Simon here with you, but with everything going on with Gabriel…” “No, take Simon with you,” I said. “We’ll be alright.” “Promise you’ll call Gordy or your parents if the J-team comes anywhere near you?” Cal asked. “Seriously, I’ll dial 9-1-1 if they come near me again,” I said. “I’m not taking any chances.”

Cal reached out and slid his hand into mine, our fingers interwoven like two vines grown together over time. It was difficult to tell where I ended and he began. I made a silent, selfish wish that he didn’t have to leave. I squeezed Cal’s hand and he pulled me to his chest. His eyes darkened as I reached up with my free hand to run my fingers along his tanned neck. Even during the depths of Maine winter he managed to maintain his sun-kissed complexion. Cal let his shaggy hair fall into his face, tilting his head down as a shiver coursed through his body. “I really wish that I didn’t have to go,” Cal said. “I know,” I said. “I love you,” Cal said. “I would do anything for you.” “Then kiss me,” I said, pulse racing. Cal’s lips met mine and our hands parted so he could run his fingers down my back. He left a tingling trail of sensation everywhere he touched. I pressed closer, but Cal pulled away with a sigh. “We better slow down,” Cal said. “Wow, um, yeah,” I said. “Good idea.” At some point during our kiss I had started panting and Cal looked disheveled. Had I done that to his hair? My traitorous fingers twitched as I restrained myself from running them through his shaggy locks. Yes, that must have been me. Definitely time to cool down. Emma chose that moment to walk back in from outside. She had exited the cabin to take a call from her mom before Cal had a chance to tell us about the full moon. Our crazy kiss had gone unnoticed. I hope. “Sorry guys, but I need to go home early,” Emma said. “Yuki, rain check on our movies and ice cream night?” “Sure, no problem,” I said. “Everything okay?” Cal asked. “Yes, just my parents wanting a family night,” Emma said. “I think the empty nest thing is starting. Ever since I got accepted to Tufts University, they’ve been acting strange. Fortunately for me, they have a house full of pets. There’s no way they’ll be lonely when I’m gone.” “Tell your mom I said hi,” I said. “Um, Emma?” Cal said. “I was just telling Yuki, but I

have to leave for Wolf Camp tomorrow night with the rest of the pack. It’s almost the full moon…” “Don’t worry,” Emma said. “I’ll look after her.” “Ugh, I don’t need looking after,” I said. “I’ll be fine.” “Right,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, we should get together to do more research on Dylan and the curse of Witchtrot Road.” “Well, okay,” I said. “See you tomorrow.” “See you,” Emma said. As she turned to leave, Emma winked at Cal. Apparently doing research was also her way of keeping an eye on me. I sighed and started gathering my things. “I should probably go home too,” I said. “I’ll get my keys,” Cal said. We didn’t say much on the ride to my house. My thoughts were a tangle of curses, death threats, evil spirits, and the warm lips of a werewolf that I was beginning to want a little too much. I really wasn’t sure which of these things was the most dangerous.

Chapter 8 After Cal dropped me off, I changed into my favorite pajamas, covered in pink and black smiling skulls, and went up to bed. It was still early, but the past few days had been exhausting. I tossed and turned, but eventually fell into a fitful slumber. Something tickled my nose, and though I tried to brush it away, it persisted in touching me. Oh em

gees, I hope it’s not a spider. There was one determined spider living in the corner of my bedroom that had thwarted all of Emma’s efforts at “humane relocation” and though I didn’t mind spiders while awake, much, the thought of one crawling on my face while asleep was really creepy. I opened my eyes to find myself lying in the grass with an enormous antennae waving monster towering over me. I squeaked in fright before I realized that I was dreaming and the monster was only my dung beetle spirit guide. The

paper dry grass, whispering as it moved in the breeze, was the culprit responsible for tickling my nose. Could be

worse, could have been a spirit guide sized spider. I pulled myself to my feet and looked my sacred scarab spirit guide in what I guessed was her face. With a seven foot tall beetle, it’s kind of hard to tell. “Hi, um, thank you for your help the other day at school,” I said. “You were right. Using my legs really worked to create a diversion.” “You are most welcome, little one,” said the scarab, her voice echoing in my head. The scarab tilted her head to the side and seemed to be weighing her words. “Are you here about the kidnapping?” I asked. “It is true that I am concerned for your wellbeing,” said the scarab. Her long, thin arms scraped up and down along her carapace in what seemed to be a nervous gesture. “Is everything okay?” I asked. If my spirit guide was nervous, then I was in big trouble. “You have begun to walk the world of dreams and darkness, my child, but the way before you is a troubled one,” she said. “Your power has awakened, but you still have much to learn.” “I know I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve already helped a few good spirits find peace,” I said. “I’m trying to help spirits find their way into the light.” “Yes, little one, and I am proud,” the scarab said. “You have become the flickering flame that leads the spirits of the dead out of darkness, but if you falter, who will rescue you?” “I don’t understand,” I said. I could feel my brow wrinkle and twisted my pajama top between my fists in frustration. Why did the spirits who actually spoke to me have to speak in riddles? “Your wolf is a strong protector, but even great warriors have weaknesses however small,” said the scarab. “Lady Moon holds sway over your wolf each month. Beware those who may do you harm, whether they be mortal or spirit, when your wolf runs beneath the light of the moon.”

I felt a chill run up my spine and goose bumps sprout on my arms. My spirit guide had a point. “I’ll be careful,” I said. “I won’t let you down.” “Do not worry about letting me down, child,” said the scarab. “Worry about those who are lost in the darkness.” The scarab waved her arms and I turned to look behind me. The air shimmered and blurred to show hundreds of ghosts wandering the in between realm. The feeling that emanated from them was sadness so deep it bordered on despair. I could look at their torment no longer. Brushing tears from my eyes, I turned back to face the scarab. “Think of how much suffering your untimely death would bring to these lost souls,” said the scarab. Untimely death? I definitely didn’t like the sound of that. “So, um, are you trying to tell me something?” I asked. “Like, am I going to die?” “Maybe, maybe not,” said the scarab. “I am only your guide. I do not have the gift of far sight, but I have heard whispers on the wind and I have watched you as your powers have developed. Heed my warning, little one. Do not rely solely on your wolf warrior to protect you.” The scarab turned away and I took that as my cue to leave. There wasn’t a way out that I could see and I didn’t want to turn around in case the lost spirits were still visible behind me. I considered asking for directions, but just then I heard a shrieking sound and woke up. My ears were filled with a high pitched wailing, but I smiled rather than hide under my pillow. I was actually happy to hear my morning alarm—it meant that I was home. I turned off the alarm, feeling a teensy bit guilty about letting it run so long on a Sunday morning. Sundays were the only day of the week that my parents could sleep in.

Sorry. I slipped into my smiling skull slippers and padded downstairs to the kitchen. The least I could do was make breakfast. I poured water into the coffee maker, remembering what my mom’s note had said yesterday.

You never met Grandma Stennings, but she always

suffered terrible headaches. My headaches were caused by smell impressions— the stronger the smell impression, the worse the headache became. According to my mom, Grandma Stennings used to get terrible headaches. Was it possible that my grandmother had been able to smell the dead too? It was definitely something to look into. Maybe I inherited my psychic gift from my dad’s family. It would be awesome to learn more about my unique talent. Perhaps I could find some riddle-free answers in the boxes of Grandma’s stuff in the attic. My spirit guide wasn’t being all that helpful. It wasn’t like how they made it seem in Shaman Camp. Cal dragged me to Shaman Camp the first time to discover our spirit guides. It was muddy, buggy, and way too touchy feely. I also wasn’t too happy about being told that my spirit animal was a dung beetle, especially when everyone else received cool guides like wolves, bears, eagles, and bunnies. Why couldn’t I get something cute and furry? Oh no, I get a giant bug that disturbs my sleep and speaks in riddles. Lucky me. When we returned to Shaman Camp the second time, looking for answers about my emerging gift, I had a private session with the head shaman. Cal somehow arranged the whole thing, but it wasn’t as swanky as it sounds. I guess it’s an honor to be invited to sit at the head shaman’s fire, but it was just as muddy and buggy as my first trip to Shaman Camp. The news I received was just as discouraging as the first time. Not only did I have a dung beetle spirit guide, but the head shaman dude announced that the reason I had started smelling things that weren’t there, and getting mega hella headaches all the time, was due to my psychic gift of smelling the dead. Oh joy. Unfortunately, the answers seemed to stop there. There was only so much that the shaman could see. He left me with cryptic instructions to be patient and wait for my spirit guide to lead me on the path between the worlds of the dead and the living. As if that didn’t sound totally

creepy. I closed my eyes and whispered a silent prayer that I

would find some helpful answers in our attic. I still had my eyes closed when my dad tapped my shoulder making me jump and causing the hair on my neck to stand up as if electrified. “Gotcha!” my dad chuckled. “You are so evil,” I said laughing. “You could have given me a heart attack.” “Just keeping you on your toes,” he said. “You weren’t falling asleep on your feet were you?” I was tempted to spill everything to my dad, the ghosts, dreams, and bullies at school, but I didn’t want to risk losing my freedom so close to graduation. My parents were pretty awesome, but telling them that I could smell dead people, and put myself in danger while trying to help ghosts find their way into the light, would likely convince them I was crazy. A one-way ticket to the funny farm was not in my plans for spring semester. Oh yeah, and “hey Dad, I’m dating a werewolf” probably wouldn’t go over well either. No, the only thing I could come close to telling my dad about was the bullying from normal humans, well creepy steroid humans, and that would only make my parents worry. It’s not like I could tell my dad not to worry, since I had round the clock werewolf protection. Although I’ll be losing that protection tonight. I tried not to wince. If the Jteam came after me while Cal and the pack were gone, then I’d tell my dad, but it would only be as a last resort. Leaning back against the counter, folding my arms over my chest, I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s Sunday morning,” I said. “I’m allowed to be sleepy.” “You getting enough sleep?” Dad asked. “I heard you having nightmares again last night.” Son of a dung beetle. I had been talking in my sleep? Not good. “It’s no big, Dad,” I said. I tried to laugh and come up with a believable reason that I’d be having nightmares that had nothing to do with spirit guides, ghosts, or werewolves. “Emma showed me one of her PETA YouTube videos yesterday and it kind of freaked me out. That’s all.” My dad groaned as he poured his coffee. “It wasn’t the

one with baby chickens getting their beaks clipped, was it?” “That’s the one,” I said. “That video gave me nightmares too,” Dad said, giving an exaggerated shudder. My dad grabbed his mug and newspaper off the counter and went to sit at the kitchen table. “You kids doing anything fun today?” Dad asked. He was already reading his paper, so I knew he was just asking to be polite, not because he was worried about me. “I’m doing some school work with Emma later,” I said. “No Cal today?” Dad asked, winking over his newspaper. “Um, he’s going on a skiing trip with his family,” I said. That’s what we called Wolf Camp in the colder months. In the summer they were on a camping trip and during the winter they were off skiing. My parents never seemed to think it was suspicious. “Tell him to have a good time,” Dad mumbled. He was already off in newspaper land, so I grabbed my coffee and retreated up to my room. ***** Cal was busy with pack preparations all day, as I’d suspected, but he made time to send me loads of text messages. Some messages were funny and others romantic. He always seemed to know what I needed most, even when he wasn’t here with me. I was smiling again at one of Cal’s messages when my phone rang. It was Emma. “You busy?” Emma asked. “Nope, Cal’s doing last minute preparations getting the pack ready for Wolf Camp so I’m totally free,” I said. “Cool,” Emma said. “I’m coming over.” “Okay,” I said. “And Yuki?” Emma asked. “You don’t know who would send me flowers do you? Gordy hasn’t said anything has he?” “Oh, oh, I need to talk to you actually,” I said. I hadn’t had a chance to fill Emma in on the Gordy

kissing Katie thing and the Gabriel making her his mate thing. Those were two very big pieces of news. “Great, that does not sound good,” Emma said. “Do I even want to know?” “I’ll tell you when you get here,” I said. I really wasn’t sure how Emma would react to Gordy’s relationship with Katie, but I knew she’d be crazy mad when I told her about Gabriel “making” her his mate. No guy was going to make Emma do anything she didn’t want. Ever. “Be there in ten,” Emma said. ***** Emma made record time and was on my doorstep in five minutes. She was standing on the porch tapping her foot impatiently as I opened the door. “Do you know who sent me flowers, or not?” Emma asked. She tilted her head to gauge my response and her blond ponytail swooshed back and forth. “Come on up to my room,” I said. “You’ll need to sit down for some of this.” “Oh my god, you’re killing me,” Emma said. “Seriously, this better be good.” Emma remained poised as she strode up the stairs, but her eye twitch gave away her anxiety. I closed the front door and took the stairs two at a time. When we reached my room, Emma swung the door shut. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, letting me know it was time to talk. “Okay spill,” Emma said. “Tell me what you know.” I sighed and sat on my bed, grabbing a dung beetle plushie for comfort. How do you tell your best friend that her ex is dating the painfully happy girl who works at the library, her favorite place on earth, and the obnoxious new werewolf in town wants to settle down and have puppies? “Well, I don’t know for sure who sent you flowers,” I said. “But I do have a guess…and some news.” Emma sighed and came to sit at the foot of my bed. She bit her lip and looked down at her feet dangling above the floor. “Is it good news?” Emma asked. “Girl, I could really use some good news right now.”

“I don’t know,” I said, letting out a sigh. “I, um, kind of walked in on Gordy and Katie, the red haired girl who works at the library, and they were kissing. I guess they’ve been hanging out and just started dating. So, yeah, they’re together.” “Wow,” Emma said. She raised her hand to her mouth, either in surprise or in memory of kissing Gordy herself. “You okay?” I asked. “Yes, I think I am,” Emma said. She turned to me, smiled, and squeezed my hand. “Thanks for letting me know.” “Yeah, well, I didn’t think you’d want to find out by seeing those two holding hands or something,” I said. “Plus, I think that crosses Gordy off our list of potential flower suspects.” “True,” Emma said. “So who do you suspect?” “The Brat,” I mumbled, putting my head in my hands. “What?” Emma asked. “Gabriel,” I groaned. “I think it was Gabriel. Whiny, horrible, self-centered, meat eating, gas guzzling, money flaunting Gabriel.” “Ugh,” Emma said, wrinkling her nose. “Why would you think that?” “Gabriel declared that he was going to quote unquote ‘make you his mate,’” I said, doing air quotes with my fingers. “He said what?” Emma asked, raising her voice. Her hands curled into fists and I hugged my plushie tight to my chest. “I know, it’s like way creepy stalkerish and totally not cool,” I said. “Not cool?” Emma asked. “No, his behavior is abhorrent. I can’t believe anyone would think they could make someone like them, though he’s obviously a spoiled brat. He’s probably never been told no before.” “That’s my nickname for him,” I said, grinning. “Abhorrent?” Emma asked. “No, The Brat,” I said. “Well, I suppose The Abhorrent Brat would be a mouthful,” Emma said. “Oh what am I going to do? Gabriel

is a member of the pack and he’s here to try to force Simon into some kind of barbaric duel.” “Yeah, that boy has testosterone issues,” I said, snorting. “I’m trying to earn the respect of the pack so I can effectively practice medicine,” Emma said. Emma closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Gabriel could ruin things with the pack.” “Like how?” I asked. “He’s just a whiny brat.” “But he’s a werewolf,” Emma said. “There are advantages to me being human, like having hands to provide medical care with on the full moon, but I’ll never be a real member of the pack.” “Don’t worry,” I said. “The pack won’t listen to Gabriel. Plus, Cal will speak up for you. If Gabriel tries to embarrass you or start any rumors, Cal will put a stop to it.” “I know Cal is the alpha, but that also means he has other responsibilities,” Emma said. “He might be too busy to make the pack listen.” “Totally not going to happen,” I said. “Cal would never be too busy to put in a good word for you with the pack, but if you’re worried we could always ask Simon. He could make the pack listen.” “Right, like he’d speak on my behalf,” Emma said. “Well, he would definitely defend your healing abilities,” I said. “He might complain about your teas tasting like tree bark, but he tells everyone how talented you are.” “No way,” Emma said, blushing. Emma reached up and started twirling her hair and I had a nagging suspicion of who she wished sent her flowers. But I wasn’t going to touch that idea with a ten foot pole. No, there wasn’t a pole long enough for that hunch. “So do we have a plan?” I asked. Emma was gazing into space with a glazed over expression. “Earth to Emma!” “What?” Emma asked. “I mean, yes, we have a plan. When the boys get back from Wolf Camp, I’ll tell Gabriel that he doesn’t have a chance in Hell of making me his mate, date, or anything else.” Emma’s eyes lost their glazed-over look and twinkled

with mischief. Now that’s the Emma I know and love. “So what do we do now?” I asked. I had a feeling that the next two days would feel like an eternity while we waited for the guys to return from Wolf Camp. Emma was obviously eager to give Gabriel a piece of her mind and I was already missing Cal. “Gabriel seems pretty dense, another reason why he is so totally not my type, so I was thinking some visual aids might be necessary,” Emma said. Oh yeah, there was definitely a gleam in Emma’s eye. “Like flow charts and statistics?” I asked. I knew Emma very, very well. “Yes, and some supporting quotes about this little thing called women’s liberation,” Emma said. Oh boy, Gabriel was in for a full frontal Emma confrontation. I almost felt bad for him. Almost. “I can supply the poster board and markers,” I offered. “Good, then all we need now is a trip to the library,” Emma said, rubbing her hands with glee.

Chapter 9 I was in for another surprise at the library. Katie was working the front desk and I tried not to cringe and hide. I had to make an effort to smile and wave while worrying about what Emma might say or do. I needn’t have worried. Emma approached the desk and started asking Katie about where we could find books on the women’s liberation movement. They both started chatting at hyper speed, apparently they had found a shared interest, and Emma was positively beaming. She even graced Katie with her girl power knuckle-bump. Katie squeed with delight and ran off to find Emma’s books. “I’m starting to like that girl,” Emma said. “Yeah, me too,” I said. “So you’re cool with Katie dating Gordy?” Emma shrugged one shoulder and her lips quirked in a semi-wistful smile.

“I never wanted him to be miserable,” Emma said. “I mean, I like Gordy, I wouldn’t have dated him otherwise. He wasn’t right for me, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t right for someone else.” “So you don’t hate him?” I asked. “You’ve been majorly avoiding the guy for months…which, you know, has been kind of awkward.” “No, sorry, it was complicated,” Emma said. “It’s like… I can be his friend now that he’s with someone, but I couldn’t be around him when he was pining over me and wanting me to take him back. Does that make sense?” “Yeah, I hadn’t really thought about it like that, but I guess that would have been stressful,” I said. Actually it made perfect sense. I knew Emma felt guilty about breaking up with Gordy and it must have been hard to see his tearful face every day. Add a side dish of pressure to that guilt entrée and you have a meal that no one would want to swallow. We grabbed our favorite table and Emma waited for Katie to return with her books. I was glad that Emma liked Katie and was beyond the whole Gordy thing. Maybe we could all hang out sometime soon…after we made it past the full moon, I solved the mystery of Dylan’s death, and returned Nera’s amulet to the Salem witches, of course. I went in search of more books on Witchtrot Road. I had been distracted during my earlier search by the papers documenting past Wakefield atrocities, and what that could mean regarding Samhain and my future. This time I needed to focus on learning more about the curse. I hauled a huge pile of books, even a local map or two, back to our study table where Emma was furiously taking notes. Her eyes never left the page as she raised her fist over the pile of books for an encouraging knuckle-bump. Oh yeah, Emma was totally in her element. Some guys get a Dear John letter, but Gabriel was about to be delivered a thesis. I laughed quietly and started flipping pages. What I discovered was fascinating. Katie had been completely right about the history of Witchtrot Road. The road got its name from the freaky

events that took place there back in 1692. The library books confirmed what Katie said about the Wakefield man accused of witchcraft. Reverend Burroughs, a Wakefield minister, had previously worked as a minister in Salem and apparently made some enemies there. An opportunist named Cotton Mather, a Puritan minister in Massachusetts, used the witch trial frenzy to get rid of Burroughs by claiming he was a witch. Evil jerk. The crazed town folk, with the egging on of Mather and his cronies, sent their agents to Wakefield to arrest Burroughs. Burroughs, a family man, was woken from his bed as the three officials broke into his home with the intent to drag him back to Salem to stand trial. Reverend Burroughs was so confident of his own innocence that he offered to go willingly with the officials. He kissed his family goodbye and began his journey to Salem. Burroughs even offered to take the officials on a short cut through the Berwicks. The Salem constables followed Burroughs on horseback on dark, remote, thickly forested roads. At nightfall a storm unleashed, bringing with it thunder and lightning. The riders’ horses were startled by the storm and the superstitious men claimed that Burroughs, who wasn’t afraid of the storm, had cast a spell on them. Apparently the constables were too studly to admit that their terror was due to a simple storm. As the tree branches lashed threateningly over the road, the men declared that Reverend Burroughs must in fact be a witch. When Burroughs reached Salem he stood trial. At one point during the proceedings, when he flawlessly and reverently recited the Lord’s Prayer, it looked as though he may be found innocent of witchcraft. Mather, who was beginning to remind me of two nasty pieces of work I knew all too well, made a rousing speech that finally convinced the mob-like crowd that Burroughs was indeed a witch and should be destroyed. The constables also added to Mather’s claim that they had witnessed a large number of toads at the Wakefield residence. Since toads were thought to be the Devil’s instruments and the pet familiars of witches, their story added weight to the accusation of

witchcraft. Reverend Burroughs was found guilty and sentenced to be executed by hanging. Poor guy. Finding information about the curse was more difficult. I used the library computers to go online and Google the legend of Witchtrot Road, Burroughs, and a curse. I found a few paranormal sites that claimed Burroughs had cursed his accusers and that his ghost continued to haunt Witchtrot Road, where he was marched to his death, to this very day. “Dude, you okay?” Emma asked, startling me from thoughts of Cotton Mather. I’d given him Jared Zempter’s face and a pilgrim hat, which was probably all kinds of wrong. “You look like you just ate something nasty.” “Ugh, I hate bullies,” I said, pointing to the open book. “Even back in 1692 there were creepy, horrible bullies.” I told Emma about what I’d learned. “So when do we go check it out?” Emma asked. “Check what out?” I asked. “Witchtrot Road,” Emma said, rolling her eyes. “You have bullies of your own to deal with and we still don’t know what caused Dylan’s death.” “We could go out there, I guess, but shouldn’t we wait until after Wolf Camp?” I asked. “Since when do we need guys to protect us?” Emma asked. Son of a dung beetle. Emma had just spent hours researching women’s rights. She wasn’t going to take “we need the big strong guys” as an excuse. “Um, okay,” I said. “I do want to clear this up, and get the J-team off my back, as soon as possible. When should we go?” “Tomorrow night,” Emma said, raising her fist to bump knuckles. “Girl power, yo.”

Chapter 10 Dreaded Monday morning came all too soon. The thought of going back to school and facing the J-team set my teeth on edge and made my jaw ache. I dressed

quickly, but memories of being held captive in that dusty, little storage room crept in and made me feel claustrophobic. I felt like I was going to gag. Definitely no high necked Victorian collars today. Instead I grabbed a hoodie with cat ears that made me feel cute and tough at the same time. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, trying to look strong, and sighed. The face of a scared little girl looked sorrowfully back at me. Strong? Not so much. How could I possibly face the day without Cal? Okay, I know I wasn’t rockin’ the girl power vibe, but Cal knew exactly how to make me feel better and today was destined to be a day that I really needed the extra comfort. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. If wishes were werewolves, you’d be by my side. Yep, I looked like a gloomy, freaked out kid on the first day of school. I tried quirking one eyebrow at my reflection, but both lifted to my hairline, as usual, making me look even more frightened. With a sigh, I risked triggering my gag reflex and added a spiky studded choker and wrist cuffs for extra courage. At least if the J-team tried to grab me, it would hurt. I exchanged my pajama bottoms and fuzzy slippers for a black asymmetrical skirt and tall, steal-toe boots with lots of buckles. My spirit guide didn’t dole out a lot of advice, but her tip about using my legs in a fight had proven useful. I hoped the steal-toe boots would give me an added edge. Plus, they looked fabulous…and imposing. When Emma arrived, I stomped down the stairs and out to the car. “Ooh, scary,” Emma said approvingly. “I wouldn’t want to mess with you.” “Thanks,” I said, smiling. “I was going for the ‘I may be cute, but don’t touch me’ look.” “Mission accomplished,” Emma said, driving. “So, you ready?” “I was born ready,” I said. I picked at my already chipped black nail polish and looked out the window. When the school building emerged from behind a stand of trees, my heart skipped a beat.

What if the J-team really planned to grab me again today? Worse, what if they had given up on making me perform necromancy and decided to skip straight to revenge? My palms became sweaty as I imagined alternating nightmare scenarios. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Emma asked, putting the car in park. “No, not really, but running away isn’t the answer,” I said. “Plus, there’s no one at my house or the cabin today and I don’t really want to be alone. Just in case.” Just in case someone hunts me down seeking revenge. It could be the J-team or the Salem witches— take your pick. “Well, call me if you see anything suspicious,” Emma said. “Oh, and Yuki?” “Yeah?” I asked. “I’d hug you right now, but I don’t want to be impaled by your jewelry,” Emma said. I laughed and waved goodbye as we parted ways. As I walked to class I nearly stumbled at the overwhelming smell of motor oil. Don’t worry Dylan, I haven’t forgotten about

you. ***** By second period I had a skull-splitting smell impression induced headache. My teacher didn’t hesitate to give me a hall pass to visit the school nurse. I’m not sure if it was my scary, tough-girl outfit or the fact that I was squeezing my head like my hands were all that kept my brain from exploding—it may have been a combination of the two. I stumbled to the nurse’s office wary of stealthy figures lurking in doorways. I was jumping at shadows, but thankfully didn’t run into any football players along the way. The smell of motor oil grew stronger as I approached the nurse’s office. Weird. Why would Dylan feel strongly about the school nurse? Maybe he just felt bad about giving me a headache. I knocked and let myself in, since the door wasn’t locked. “Be right there!” the nurse called from behind a moving curtain. I watched her shoes pace back and forth beneath

the striped fabric. “Can I sit down?” I asked. Watching the nurse’s feet pacing behind the curtain was making me dizzy. I sat on the stool beside her desk, but wished that she would offer me a cot to lie down on. When the nurse finally came out, I saw a long dark cloak hanging on a hook on the wall and a cot covered in stacks of boxes. Great. It looked like she was using the space for storage. I looked around and didn’t see any other place to take a nap. “What can I do for you?” the nurse asked. She looked sickly pale and continually sniffed and rubbed her nose. I hoped she wasn’t contagious. “I don’t feel so good,” I said. Understatement of the year. “Could I have something for a headache…and maybe some cold medicine for later?” If she did give me her cold, then at least I’d be prepared. “I can give you something for your headache, but we misplaced our recent shipment of cold medicine,” she said. She started rummaging through a very messy cabinet. No wonder she’d lost stuff. “Here you go,” the nurse said, handing me a small paper cup holding two pills. At least she didn’t touch them with her icky germ hands. What kind of nurse doesn’t wash her hands? I thought everyone used that hand sanitizer stuff too, but I didn’t see any. I went to the sink and swallowed the pills with a mouthful of chlorinated school water. It tasted like it was pumped directly out of the YMCA pool. Gross. I thanked the nurse and walked back to class. When I was nearly at my classroom door, I realized where I’d recently seen boxes stamped with the names of popular cold medicines. The supply room where I’d been held hostage by the J-team had been filled with those boxes. My hands started shaking just thinking about that room and I nearly dropped my hall pass. I considered going back to tell the nurse, but the smell of motor oil increased and I felt queasy. Nerves and ghosts were a bad combination. I looked over my shoulder one more time and stepped back

into class. When lunchtime came, I hustled to the cafeteria. Head down, I bit my lip and tried to push through the crowd of students hanging out in the halls. I didn’t want to be caught alone by the J-team. I made it to the cafeteria in record time. It was only half full, but there were already three familiar faces at our table. I rubbed my eyes just to be sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Nope, they were still there. Gordy and Katie were sitting beside each other, shoulders touching, while Emma sat across from them…laughing. I smiled and went to spend lunch with my friends. I no longer felt alone or afraid. I could almost forget that the Jteam existed. “Hey, Freak!” a voice shouted. “You’re gonna get it, Witch!” another voice yelled. I froze. Is this what a panic attack feels like? I tried to move, really I did, but my brain wasn’t listening. If you looked for the little gnomes that made things run smoothly, you’d find a ‘gone fishing’ sign. Really. I couldn’t move my arms or legs, though my hands were shaking. My chest contracted and it was impossible to breathe. I started to see sparkly stars and knew I was close to passing out. No, please not in front of the J-team. “Hey, Yuki, come sit with us,” Gordy said. I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Emma, and Gordy slid his arm around my waist. “Girl you are so much better than they are,” Emma said. She kept her voice low, but firm. “Do not even give them a second thought.” “Want some of my cereal?” Katie asked, holding up a mini box of flakes. “I even have soy milk. Emma, um, convinced me not to eat it with cow’s milk.” Gordy and Emma guided me onto a chair while Katie continued to smile and chat like nothing was wrong. My friends absolutely rocked. Even Katie, who I’d only known for such a short time, was a total pro. They knew exactly how to ease me out of my fear stupor. I blinked back tears and clenched my fists. Now that I could finally move, I was angry. How dare they terrorize this

school? Who gave them the right? “I can’t believe they did that,” I said. Gordy and Katie looked relieved at my renewed ability to speak, but Emma acted like it was no big deal. “The J-team are still being major jerks,” Emma said, shrugging. “Big shock.” “You’re right,” I said. “I don’t know why I got so freaked out.” “Because steroids make them scary looking,” Katie said. I wasn’t sure if she was making a joke, but I laughed. “They do kind of look like Frankenstein,” I said. “More like Frankenweenie,” Emma said. “I always thought Jared looked like the homunculus Gluttony from Full Metal Alchemist,” Gordy said. “He acts like him too. And that is not a compliment.” I was really laughing now. The J-team and their jock friends gave up taunting us. We were having way too much fun to be their targets. When lunch ended, Gordy walked me to class and I agreed to wait for him when the next bell rang. My friends didn’t want me walking the halls alone, especially with the Jteam yelling obvious threats, and I didn’t want to risk the panic I felt earlier. With the help of my friends, I made it through the day. Waiting for Gordy to walk me to my classes didn’t leave me with any extra time though, so I didn’t have a chance to visit the school nurse again. I promised myself that I would stop by her office tomorrow and tell her about the crates of cold medicine. I couldn’t tell the nurse the real reason why I had been in the supply room—explaining that I was being held hostage by the football team would be all kinds of bad, but if I said that I stumbled onto the medicine while looking for art supplies, she shouldn’t get too suspicious. After thanking Gordy, I let Emma drive me home. We were still planning our reconnaissance ride along Witchtrot Road later that night. I would have rather gone during daylight, but we had to wait until Emma got out of work. “It might be better that way, you know, going after dark,” Emma said.

“Why?” I asked, stifling a yawn. “Won’t it be hard to see any clues?” “Dylan had his accident at night, so it might be best to visit Witchtrot Road under the same circumstances,” Emma said. “And the full moon will help make things bright enough to see.” I was way too tired to argue with Emma’s logic. After another hellish day at Wakefield High, I was ready for a nap. The ghost induced headache continued to pound a stomping march through my skull and my eyes were gritty with fatigue. I could really use some beauty sleep. “I’ll bring extra flashlights, you know, in case we need to get out of the car for a closer look,” I said. “Good idea,” Emma said, grinning excitedly. “See you tonight.” I stumbled out of Emma’s car and up the stairs to fall into bed. Hopefully we would find some answers tonight. I couldn’t take another day like today. Being terrorized by the J-team was way too stressful. Who knew that fear could be so exhausting? ***** After a shower and nap, I was ready to go. I tossed on a black, bell-sleeved top, long, layered skirt, and my red power boots. Dramatic black eyeliner gave the dark circles under my eyes an intentional look. I twisted my hair up into a messy bun, covering up some serious bed-head, and secured it with hair sticks. The hair sticks made me feel like a ninja with sharp, pointy weapons hidden in my updo.

Sweet. It was long after dark when Emma pulled into the driveway. My parents were at a movie, so I clomped noisily down the stairs with my backpack stuffed with flashlights. I was probably bringing too many, but being caught out in the dark on a road reputedly haunted by a man murdered for witchcraft and where one student had recently died was not my idea of a good time. You can never be too prepared… especially when on your way to a haunted road, that may carry a deadly curse to those who travel it, late at night.

What the heck were we thinking? I hesitated with my hand on the doorknob. Cal would

be disappointed in our rash decision to go plunging headlong into potential danger without him or Simon here to help us, but I was getting desperate. I needed to solve the mystery of Dylan’s death and clear my name. School would start again in a few hours and I didn’t have any way yet of convincing the J-team that I was innocent. I shook my head and pulled a calming breath deep into my belly.

Desperate measures for desperate times. I shivered and stepped out into the moonlit night.

Chapter 11 We shouldn’t have come here. My skin was crawling with the wrongness of this place. I didn’t know if a ghost was really responsible for Dylan’s death, but there was definitely a strong supernatural presence here. It was also really, really creepy. Witchtrot Road was beyond spooky. We lost most of our moonlight as we turned onto the narrow, tree covered lane. Skeletal trees waved their gnarled, multi-jointed fingers to our left and right as though reaching out to pull us deeper into the woods. The forest here was old and dark with an almost tangible presence of its own. I had to take a deep breath and close my eyes to gather the courage to travel past the ever closer trees that threatened to swallow us whole. “Do you smell anything?” Emma whispered. Emma had to keep her eyes forward and both hands on the wheel in order to keep all four tires on the narrow lane. Witchtrot Road may have been easy to travel on horseback, but it was an obvious challenge to navigate safely in a car. Even with Emma’s careful driving, the eerie sound of branches scraping metal raised the hair on my neck. “Not yet, but something’s here,” I said. “I can feel it.” “Do you know where Dylan, um, had his accident?” Emma asked.

Where Dylan died.

“I heard someone at school say he hit pole number thirteen with his motorcycle, but that was probably just a rumor,” I said. In the dark it was hard to differentiate utility poles from the dense line of trees that encroached on the road. I looked for something standing straighter than the rest, but even the telephone poles tended to lean into the road as though listening to the whispers of their neighbors. A flash of brown flitted through the space between the trees ahead, but I couldn’t see well enough to identify the shape. There was only one thing I could be sure of. The shape was large enough to be a person wearing what looked like a hooded cloak, or the ghost of a dead man.

Don’t they make people wear a hood when they go to the gallows? Thud. Thud thunk. Thud thunk, thud thunk, thud, thud, thud. Something, or someone, was pounding on the roof of Emma’s car. “What the heck is that?” Emma shouted, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Thud, thud, thud, splat. It was raining frogs. Big, so ugly they’re cute, frogs. Living things falling from the sky? Never a good omen. Heck, wasn’t that one of the signs of the freaking apocalypse? I knew we shouldn’t have come to this cursed road after dark. “Oh em gees, oh em geeeeeees!” I screamed. Little frog bodies hit the car roof, hood, and windshield. Some of them suffered injuries on impact and their webbed hands clung to the glass windshield as our car lost control. Emma was an excellent driver. She was level-headed and could remain calm under pressure, but like most people Emma had an Achilles heel. Frog carnage. Emma could face down corporate execs from factory farms and argue with angry werewolves, but make her drive through a deluge of bloody amphibians and she completely lost her icy cool exterior. “Oh no, no, no, this cannot be happening!” Emma cried out. “Poor little toads…eek! Hold on!”

Toads? Huh, I never could tell the difference.

Weird, but that was my last thought before the blur of shrieking brakes, crashing metal, and snapping branches. Emma’s car flipped over and the entire world went black. ***** I heard the harsh, grinding creak of a ship’s hull straining against stormy seas just as I felt the vertiginous tilt and roll of the waves beneath me. I considered letting the motion lull me back to sleep, but one thought kept creeping in to ruin my slumber. I wasn’t on a boat. With a jolt I tried to leap upright, but up was down and down was up, causing a searing pain to shoot through my shoulder as I dangled from the car safety belt. I needed to get a look around, but turning my head didn’t seem like an easy option. My neck was stiff, like the time I fell asleep with wet hair, and my head was pounding a rhythm that matched the vampire bats fluttering in my stomach. Come

on Yuki, you can do this. Reaching up to grab the safety belt, I steadied myself and drew in a deep shuddering breath. It did nothing to calm my racing heartbeat, but the pain in my head momentarily lessened. Forcing my eyes to stay open, I turned them to my right and flinched. A ghostly pale face stared back at me and it took a moment for my sluggish brain to realize that the spectral form was only my reflection. I examined the sickly face suspended in the darkness and knew one thing for sure. I looked like hell. For a moment I closed my eyes and gathered another steadying breath, remembering to breathe in the way I’d been taught during the numerous yoga classes that Cal had dragged me to over the years. Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of why I was hanging upside down from a car safety belt, I pulled my eyes to the left. A golden amorphous shape hung glowing beside me and I jumped when it moaned. “Emma?” I asked. My voice was dry and raspy and started a series of painful coughs that nearly made me pass out again. Emma didn’t answer, but with a rush of memory I knew that it was my friend beside me. Emma’s blond hair cascaded past her face to dangle above the glowing

instrument panel. Pale skin, golden hair, and white blouse sleeve were marred only by a dark stream that trickled from her scalp along her arm to drip slowly, tap tap tap, off her fingers onto the windshield. How did this happen? It had to be the curse. I clenched my fist in frustration as my eyes filled with tears. We had known better. Emma with her research and me with my psychic gift to sense the dead; we knew the risks of messing with the curse, but that hadn’t stopped us. Our curiosity had won out over common sense and now we were paying the price. Son of a dung beetle. I just hoped we survived long enough to benefit from the lesson learned. Never mess with a curse and never, ever travel on Witchtrot Road after dark. ***** I tried to stay awake, really I did, but my vision blurred and my head felt like an overfull water balloon—I just hoped it wouldn’t burst. I blinked my eyes to clear away the haze of blurry fog…and drifted to sleep. ***** A warm, wet tongue lapped at my face. Confused, I opened my eyes to find myself lying on my back with Cal’s spirit wolf on top of me. That doesn’t make any sense. I tried to sit up, but the wolf let out a high pitch whine. I sunk my hand into his fur, something I shouldn’t have been able to do. Cal’s wolf didn’t feel like a vaporous, intangible spirit. In fact, the wet wolf slobber on my face felt pretty darn real. Was I dead? I had been in a car accident. That much I recalled, but I couldn’t remember much after that. Looking around I could see the tall, dry grasses of the plain I often visited in my dreams. This was definitely the inbetween realms, but I had no idea how I’d ended up here… and no clue how to get home. “If…if I’m stuck here, please tell Cal that I love him,” I said, brushing his wolf’s fur with my fingertips. “I will always love him.” The wolf whined and nosed my hand, licking my fingers. I pulled myself upright, wolf at my side. A glowing pathway appeared at my feet.

“I guess that’s my cue,” I said. I gave the wolf one last hug and went to step onto the golden path, but the ground started vibrating and earth churned beneath my feet. I fought to remain standing and not fall on my butt, which would be a very ungraceful way to begin my afterlife, when my dung beetle spirit guide burst up and out of the ground. Its arms waved in agitation, flinging clods of dirt in all directions, and the wolf shied away. “Do not set foot on the Path of Light,” the dung beetle said. It was obviously an order and I wasn’t about to argue. Who fights with a seven foot tall beetle? “Um, okay,” I said. “You are not supposed to be here, child,” the dung beetle said. “It is not your time!” With a power I didn’t know she possessed, my spirit guide hit me with a ball of energy that she had been weaving between her hands. The force of the energy ball thrust me out of the in-between realm and back into my body. Unfortunately my body hurt…a lot. “Ouch,” I groaned. I was afraid to see how badly I was injured and hoped there wasn’t too much blood. I opened my eyes to see Simon’s face hovering beside me. He looked worried and maybe even a little freaked out. “Why are you upside down?” I asked, confused. “You’re the one who’s upside down, love,” Simon said. Oh, right. I was hanging upside down from my seatbelt. The realization brought with it a wave of vertigo. “I think I’m going to be sick,” I said. “Just a moment,” Simon said. “I need to get you down from there.” Simon’s hands were moving quickly, looking for injuries and assessing the precariousness of the car. His eyes repeatedly flicked past me and I realized he was looking at Emma. “Emma?” I asked. “Oh God, is she okay?” “I don’t know,” Simon said. Was that a tear glistening on his cheek? No way, it had to be a bit of moonlight hitting

his face. “I can’t wake her up. We need to get you both out of that car and to a hospital.” “No hospitals,” I said, gritting my teeth. The pain was everywhere now, like every part of me had whiplash, but there was no way I could go to a hospital. People died in hospitals. The number of ghosts there was staggering. “Emma needs a neurologist and maybe a surgeon and she’s our medic,” Simon said grimly. “We really don’t have a choice.” I tried to look at Emma, but my neck was too stiff to turn my head. “I’ll go, but only for Emma,” I said. “She’ll need me to be there when she wakes up.” “Okay, now that that’s settled, I need to cut the strap that’s holding you in place,” Simon said. “Is it going to hurt?” I asked. “Yes,” Simon said. “Okay,” I said in a small voice. Simon pulled out a knife and sawed through the strap. He was being as gentle as he could, but I cried out when the knife finally made it through. Simon caught me in his arms and pulled me out of the car, but his eyes were on Emma the entire time. He carried me to his borrowed car and set me in the front passenger seat. We needed the back seat for Emma. Simon’s eyes flicked back to the wreckage of Emma’s car. “Go to her,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” I didn’t feel fine, but I kept that to myself. Simon went to help Emma. She was the one who needed him right now. I tried not to cry, or pass out, while waiting for Simon to return. Simon would occasionally mutter under his breath and at one point it sounded like he was pleading with either Emma or the car, but she never made a sound. The lack of arguing, the absolute silence from Emma, made my heart break with every passing minute. Simon approached the car with Emma’s unconscious body in his arms and arranged her as carefully as possible in the back seat. I tried to look at her in the rearview mirror,

but the limp form didn’t look like Emma. The ragdoll reflection haunted me the entire way to the hospital. “Cal is going to kill me,” Simon said. He was driving us to the hospital and taking full advantage of his werewolf reflexes. Simon ran one hand through his hair and I thought he’d pull it out the way he was tugging on it. “There was nothing else you could do,” I said. “And I’m okay.” “You obviously haven’t looked at yourself lately,” Simon said. “You’re turning black and blue.” I tried to check my reflection in the mirror, while avoiding looking at the crumpled form in the back seat. Ouch. I was turning black, blue, and yellow. My right cheek looked tie-dyed and a lump was forming above my eye. “Why didn’t you call an ambulance?” I asked. “Because I don’t know what’s going on in that place,” Simon said. “If it’s something supernatural, then I’m not going to lead a team of human paramedics there to duke it out with evil spirits. Plus, did you see the size of that road? They’d never be able to drive fast enough.” “How did you even know where to find us?” I asked. “Cal knew you were in trouble,” Simon said. “His wolf spirit told him where to find you.” “And it’s the full moon,” I said. “Yes, love, it’s the full moon so Cal couldn’t come himself,” Simon said. “He sent me here instead. I’m the only member of our pack who can stay in human form tonight, though if you do anything else stupid I might claim I shifted due to stress and bite you just to teach you a lesson.” Simon flashed his teeth at me and I shivered. “All we did was drive down the road,” I said defensively. “How could we have known it was going to start raining toads?” “Toads?” Simon asked. “You better start at the beginning.” Simon continued weaving down treacherous back roads at full speed while I relayed everything that we had recently learned about the legend of Witchtrot Road and the

details of our brief trip there. “You’re sure that you saw the human form just before the toads started hitting the car?” Simon asked. “Yes,” I said. “And now that I’m not all freaked out with toads smashing into the windshield, it seems obvious that it was a person and not a ghost that I saw.” “Why is that?” Simon asked. “Because there wasn’t any smell,” I said. “So a man, or woman, was sneaking around at the exact moment that your car was hit by toads,” Simon said. “It doesn’t sound like a coincidence.” “No, it doesn’t,” I said. “But why would anyone go to such lengths to make the legend seem real?” “I don’t know, love, but I’m going to find out,” Simon said, knuckles whitening on the steering wheel.

Chapter 12 The Goodhealth Hospital emergency room was chaos when we arrived. Apparently a logging truck had slid on a patch of ice causing a multiple car accident nearby. Ambulances were bringing in the accident victims and hospital staff were ignoring our attempts to get their attention. Simon snatched an empty gurney with his foot and settled Emma on it gently before barking out orders for me to keep an eye on her. Like I would do anything else. He was definitely in a mood—not that I could blame him. Simon stalked off in search of hospital staff to growl at and I reached out to hold Emma’s hand. “Hang in there,” I said. Simon appeared seconds later with a frazzled looking woman holding a clipboard. Her glasses were askew and food was stuck to the corner of her mouth as though she had been pulled from her dinner break. Knowing Simon, that’s exactly what had happened. “Another accident victim?” the woman asked, jotting things down on her chart.

“Car accident,” I said. “She hasn’t regained consciousness,” Simon growled. “You need to find her a doctor, now.” The woman blanched and I wondered what kinds of threats Simon had used to get her to abandon her dinner. He obviously wasn’t using his usual method of flirtation and charm. “I’ll make sure a doctor sees her right away,” the woman said, scurrying away. “Does it make you feel cool to play the big bad wolf?” I asked. I was glad that he was getting help for Emma, but I was also feeling sensitive to bullying. “You’re right,” Simon said, sighing. “That wasn’t fair. It’s not her fault you two girls are bloody idiots. Shall I go apologize?” I stiffened at his insult which only caused a painful twinge in my neck and shoulder. “No, the poor woman is scared enough,” I said. “You don’t need to give her nightmares too.” “I could work the old Simon charm,” Simon said, flashing a roguish grin. “Old is right,” I muttered. “I heard that,” he said. Which had been the point. “Let’s just wait for the doctor,” I said. I hoped that it wasn’t already too late. ***** “Who puts a waterfall in a hospital lobby?” I asked. “Board members who care more about appearances than patients,” Simon said. “And who haven’t been drinking coffee for hours waiting for their friend to wake up.” He had a point. The water sounds were making me have to pee. I was also contemplating buying another cup of coffee. The evil lobby designers had placed a Starbucks counter in one corner, with the waterfall in the center, and the smell of coffee and baked goods was making me salivate. “I wonder how many uninsured patients could have received medical care for the cost of that waterfall,” I said. “You sound like Emma,” Simon said sadly.

“Yeah,” I said. “She’ll be okay.” I reached out and awkwardly squeezed his hand. “I have to use the men’s room,” Simon said, stalking off. If I wasn’t mistaken, there were tears in his eyes. Big

softy. I wondered if I should call Emma’s parents. What would I say? We were driving out on a scary road for no good reason and the sky unleashed toad rain? If only Cal were here to talk to. He would know what to do. As though reading my mind, my phone vibrated in my pocket and it was Cal. “Hi,” I said. “You’re okay,” Cal said. He sounded so relieved it brought tears to my eyes. “I’m okay, just bumps and bruises,” I said. “But Emma is still unconscious. The doctors are with her now.” “Have you called her parents?” Cal asked. “Um, I was just trying to decide if I should,” I said. “Do it,” Cal said. “They won’t stay mad about the car, but they will be angry if you don’t call to let them know what happened.” “You’re right,” I said. “Are you coming too?” “Soon,” Cal said. “I only just changed back and some of the younger members of the pack are still in wolf form. I’ll come straight to the hospital as soon as I can.” “I love you,” I said. “I love you more,” Cal said, hanging up. Taking a deep calming breath, I dialed Emma’s parents. ***** Simon walked back to our seats, getting smiles and leers from the female staff as he strut his stuff across the carpet. That guy could really work a room. I was holding two coffees and passed the second cup to Simon as he sat down. “Oh not another one,” Simon said. “Trust me, you’ll need it,” I said. “And why would I possibly want another caffeine concoction at this hour?” Simon asked.

“You’ll want to be alert as possible,” I said. “Emma’s parents are on their way.” Simon shut up and drank his coffee. ***** Emma’s parents, and my own, were back behind closed doors consulting with the doctors. Fortunately for me, I was hanging out with two werewolves who could hear everything that was being said. Simon was leaning against the wall across the hall from the meeting and Cal and I were sitting together in the waiting area nearby. I called my parents when I realized that Emma’s condition was indeed serious enough to warrant an overnight stay…even though the night was nearly over. I didn’t want them to freak out, so I covered the worst of my bruises with concealer and heavy, white face powder. Thank goodness for dramatic goth makeup—it worked wonders. I had no idea what to tell any of our parents, but Cal arrived just before the adults and suggested I tell the truth. I made sure to omit anything to do with ghosts or werewolves, but I did include the rain of toads. They would find toads on and around Emma’s car anyway and according to Simon there were reports of the sky raining toads during micro-burst tornados. It was weird, but not necessarily supernatural weird. The doctors were explaining Emma’s medical status to our parents. According to my eavesdropping wolves, Emma’s prognosis was iffy. She had multiple broken ribs, but the primary concern was head injury. The MRI didn’t show any damage, but Emma still hadn’t regained consciousness. We were all supposed to just wait and see. Waiting for news was hard, but pretending to ignore the ghosts in the room was even more difficult. My head hurt so badly when I first arrived in the emergency room that I hadn’t recognized the signs of an emerging smell impression headache. It was only when the adrenaline wore off and I was sitting in the lobby smelling the coffee and baked goods that I realized something was amiss. Baked goods didn’t usually smell like feet.

Even then, I just assumed it was Simon. What? Well, he did look rumpled, for Simon, so I figured he was wearing old socks or something. As the smell impression intensified with my growing headache, I realized that it was more of a sweaty gauze odor than dirty socks. That was my first sign to worry. I had always tried to avoid hospitals, and anywhere else spirits of the dead had a tendency to gather, for good reason. Ghosts seemed to sense that I could feel their presence and sought me out. Lucky me. Currently I was being followed closely by ghosts that smelled like curry, sweaty gauze, asphalt, cotton candy, and sawdust. A rose scented ghost was also flitting in and out of the waiting room at the top of every hour. It was distracting, to say the least. My nose twitched and Cal squeezed my hand. He flashed a toothy grin, maybe a little too toothy, and bumped his hip against mine. “Come on,” Cal said. “Let’s grab some snacks.” “We already have snacks,” I said. We had raided the vending machines and the Starbucks less than an hour ago. “But it may be less crowded at the vending machine,” Cal said pointedly. Ahhh…it would be nice to escape my stinky ghost stalkers, if even for a few minutes, and I wasn’t quite ready to face Emma’s mom and her sad makeup smudged face. “Oh, right, I’m starving,” I said, winking. In reality there was no freaking way I could eat a single pretzel, cheese puff, or peanut. My nervous stomach was filled with vampire bats and the multitude of smell impressions was making my head pound. Cal pulled me to my feet and signaled to Simon that we would be right back. Cal walked slowly, giving me time to limp down the hall without looking too injured. “How are you really?” Cal asked in a low voice. “I’m oka…actually I hurt all over,” I said sighing. I might as well be honest with Cal. With him I had nothing to hide. “I think I cracked a few ribs, but the rest are just pulled muscles and bruises. Oh, and a nasty welt from the seat

belt.” Cal pulled me over to a secluded corner and gently wrapped his arms around me. I sank into his arms, but didn’t squeeze. My ribs were too sore. “Does this hurt?” Cal asked. “No,” I said, a little breathless. Cal raised my hand and the bell sleeve of my blouse fell back to reveal a bruised forearm. He bent down and brushed his lips over the purpling skin. “And this?” Cal asked. I sucked in a breath, but not because it hurt. Cal left a trail of kisses up each arm and on my bruised cheek and brought his lips to mine. “I thought I lost you,” Cal said. “I’m not that easy to lose,” I said. Electric tingles were running across my skin as his lips grazed mine with every word. “Come with me next time,” Cal said. “Next time?” I asked. “On the next full moon,” Cal said. “Come with me? At least that way I’ll know that you’re safe.”

Oh, right, safe with a camp overflowing with werewolves…during the full moon. “Maybe,” I said. “Maybe is better than no,” Cal said. He pressed closer and kissed me until my legs started shaking. “We should be getting back,” Cal said, eyes sparkling. I felt a little guilty about being happy while Emma lay unconscious in a hospital bed, but I was glad to share that moment with Cal. Every experience was all the more precious when death lingered nearby. ***** My parents were waiting for me when we returned with our snacks. Dad was leaving with Emma’s father to make arrangements for towing, and possibly repairing, her car. He gave me a quick hug and I tried not to wince. “You sure you’re okay?” Mom asked, as they left. “Yeah, I’m fine, just worried about Emma,” I said. “I’m so sorry this happened. You know she was driving really

safe and everything. We weren’t horsing around or partying or anything.” “I know, sweetie,” Mom said. “You are both good girls and Emma is a safer driver than I am.” My mom patted me on the shoulder, letting me know that we were okay, then fluffed her hair. “Well, I better be off if I want to make it to work this morning,” Mom said. Was it really morning already? “Call me if anything changes. And Yuki? I left our insurance information with Simon. Get yourself examined by one of the doctors before you leave.” I guess I wasn’t pulling the wool over my mom’s eyes. She must have seen my bruises, or possibly my limp. “Okay, Mom,” I said. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was pretty sure I needed to be checked out too. The ghosts that were hanging out all around me were starting to glow, just a little. I can’t normally see ghosts, just smell them, unless I’m wearing Nera’s amulet…and I wasn’t wearing the amulet. I went back to our seats where Cal was waiting. “Where’s Simon?” I asked. “In with Emma,” Cal said. “They just moved her into her own room.” “Is she awake?” I asked excitedly. “No,” Cal said. He shook his head and his shaggy hair fell into his eyes. “They said we just have to wait and see. The first twenty-four hours are the most crucial, at least that’s what the doctors were saying to Emma’s mom.” “Is her mom in the room too?” I asked. I know it was chicken of me, but I didn’t want to face Emma’s mother. I was worried that she’d blame the evil goth girl for her daughter’s accident. That wasn’t really a fair assessment, I knew her mom actually liked me, but I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. “Yes,” said Cal. “Okay, let’s go see Emma,” I said with a sigh. Hand in hand, we walked toward Emma’s hospital room. It was a corner room nearest the nursing station and had doors opening onto both hallways. “Sounds like her mom is about to leave the room and

go to the cafeteria,” Cal said, smiling. Werewolf hearing was definitely coming in handy today. I paused to see which exit Emma’s mother would use, then steered us toward the other door. Yes, I’m a coward. At the door I hesitated. Cal raised an eyebrow as I held a finger to my lips, but he didn’t speak. I knew Cal couldn’t see what I was seeing, but Simon was glowing. I tilted my head, curious, and realized that a ghost was hovering around Simon making him appear to shimmer. The smell of lavender and honey filled the room. I was trying to make sense of all this when Emma twitched and opened her eyes. A look of pure relief flashed across Simon’s face, but he hid it well. “What are you looking at?” Emma asked, narrowing her eyes. “I was pondering the fact that you are almost tolerable when you are unconscious,” Simon said. “Almost.” “Almost?” Emma asked. “Yes,” Simon said. “Unfortunately, you snore.” “I do not,” Emma said. “Actually, darling, you not only snore…you drool too,” Simon said, giving an exaggerated shudder. “Um, guys?” I said, finally interrupting. “Epic friend moment here.” I looked at each of my friends in turn and their faces split into massive grins. “You okay?” Cal asked, walking over and taking Emma’s hand. “I think so…” Emma said. “My head hurts and I’m starving, but I’m sure there’s nothing in this place that I can eat. “I found some vegan potato chips,” I said. “We just, um, got back from the vending machines.” I could feel my face burning and knew that I was blushing. “Okay, help me up,” Emma said. Cal reached over and helped Emma into a sitting position and I handed over the bag of chips. Simon stood there with his hands in his pockets looking uncomfortable. He was still glowing, and smelling of lavender and honey,

but I didn’t say anything. “We should get the doctors,” Cal said. “They need to know that you’re awake.” “Good idea,” I said. “I’ll go with you. We’ll be right back, Emma.” She looked tired and her eyelids were starting to droop. “Okay,” Emma said. With one last glance at Simon’s glowing form, I waved and followed Cal into the hall. **** Cal spoke with someone at the nurses’ station about Emma and they sent staff into her room. He was about to follow them when I put a hand on his arm. “I think I might need to get checked out,” I said. Cal raised an eyebrow, but let me explain. “I mean, I probably need to get my head examined,” I said. That made us both chuckle. “Ever since the accident, I’ve been seeing the glowing shapes of ghosts.” “You’re not wearing the amulet?” Cal asked. “No, I don’t even have the amulet with me,” I said. “It’s back at home. Do you think something is wrong with me?” “How about we tell the doctors that you also hit your head in the accident and would like to get things looked at,” Cal said. “But leave out the part about seeing ghosts—for now.” “Good idea,” I said. We were standing beside the directory sign for the nearby elevator which let visitors know that the inpatient psychiatric wing could be accessed on the fourth floor. I shivered and bit my lip. Cal reached out and slid his warm hand into mine. He was here with me and that gave me courage. We walked down to the Emergency Room to find a doctor. I just hoped that I was alright. Fingers crossed, toes too. ***** “I can’t believe they made me take my boots off,” I said, complaining to Cal. It had taken me forever to buckle my boots. Plus, bending over with a headache was not fun. I crossed my

arms and stomped my foot, which only made Cal laugh. “I’m sure it’s just standard procedure,” Cal said. “But I was in the ER to get my head checked out, not my feet!” I said. “Well, just be thankful they didn’t make you parade up and down the halls in your Johnny,” Cal said. “What?” I squeaked. “They’d do that?” “Yes, so you see, you got off easy,” Cal said. “I am so never coming here again,” I said. “Plus, I passed one of The Grays back there by radiology.” I rubbed my arms and tried not to think about why an evil spirit would be lurking around a hospital. Ghosts were hard enough to get used to, but The Grays were flat out creepy. They looked as if they sucked the light from the room, leaving only a dark, gray stinky splotch against the brightly lit interior. “Did it notice you?” Cal asked. He seemed to be taking my new ability to see the dead in stride. That was Cal through and through. He really was made of awesome. “Nope,” I said, smiling. “But I know one place that I’ll never go on Samhain.” We took the elevator up to Emma’s floor and walked to her room. Not knowing if she was sleeping, we approached quietly. Emma’s mom was asleep in the one chair to the left of the room. Someone had been thoughtful enough to drape a blanket over her as she slept. Simon hovered over Emma’s bed and we stopped at their low voices. I didn’t want to intrude, but I couldn’t help but listen. “Don’t ever do that again,” Simon said. “Don’t make me think I’ve lost you.” Emma reached for Simon’s hand hanging by his side. “Simon I…” Emma said. “So how is my little woman?” Gabriel shouted from the other doorway. Simon flinched and the scar at the corner of his lip twisted as he grimaced. Pulling away from Emma, he stormed past Gabriel, who was holding an enormous

bouquet of flowers, and out the door. The room reeked of lavender and honey and I knew it had nothing to do with Gabriel’s bouquet. One of the ancestor spirits, a former pack member, was reacting to Simon’s strong emotions. It was something that I thought was important, but I couldn’t figure it out right now. Emma needed my help. “Do you like them?” Gabriel asked. “Of course you do. They’re flowers and you’re a girl.” He walked over and set them on the table beside Emma’s bed. “I will give you flowers every day when you are my mate.” I thought Emma’s head was going to explode. She turned bright red, then purple, with anger and her eyes took on a steely glint. I knew that look and wondered if I should run for cover. No, Emma just woke up out of a coma. She might be tough, but she still may need my help. “Mate?” Emma asked. Her voice was low as she nearly choked on the word. “Mate, wife, mistress…call it what you like,” Gabriel said smugly. Gabriel was a spoiled brat who obviously was used to getting what he wanted. Flashing money and gifts around must have worked with girls back where he came from, but it wouldn’t work here. Not with Emma. “What I would like is for you to leave and never mention this again,” Emma said. Gabriel looked confused and offended. He puffed his chest out and grabbed the flowers. “Well, I will just give these to a woman who can appreciate what I have to offer,” Gabriel said. He looked around the room and his eyes settled on Emma’s mother who was just starting to wake up. “Don’t even think about it,” Emma seethed. “That. Is. My. Mother.” With one last snotty look, Gabriel and his flowers left the room. I walked closer to Emma’s bed, but had no idea what to say. “Who was that strange boy?” Emma’s mother asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “Flower deliver guy,” I said, shrugging. “Wrong room.”

Emma snorted and let out a snarky sarcastic laugh. “Oh yeah, definitely the wrong room,” Emma said. Gabriel had definitely gone after the wrong girl. Emma was one of the strongest, most sure of herself, girls I’d ever known and wasn’t the type to put up with a bossy-pants boy like Gabriel. A certain roguish werewolf was starting to look more like her type, but I wasn’t going to bring that topic up. No freaking way.

Chapter 13 A few hours, and a gazillion forms to fill out, later, we were all released from the hospital. Emma’s mom was given instructions to make sure that Emma got lots of rest and to bring her back to the emergency room if there were any problems. I received a clean bill of health and since I hadn’t been able to share my secret about seeing glowy dead people, they had no reason to make me stay. Cal texted Simon, but he never returned to the hospital. I had kind of expected Simon to come see us off —it had been a big deal being injured, but apparently he was still perturbed over his run-in with Gabriel. The Brat could get under anyone’s skin, but I was a little surprised that Simon seemed so upset. Of course, I still didn’t know the details of his relationship with Emma. If there even was a relationship. I was probably just overtired and imagining things. The sun was coming up over Wakefield as Cal drove me home. I called my mom and dad to let them know that I was fine, just tired, and that Emma was awake and going home with her mother. My parents were relieved, and sent their love, but decided to put in a full day each of work. A little part of me felt hurt by that, but I tried not to let it get me down. So the rents have to work? Get over yourself. At least they had called school to say I was taking a sick day. Cal slid on a pair of dark sunglasses against the glare as we drove toward the rising sun. He looked like a total rock star. Okay, maybe having the day alone with Cal

wasn’t such a bad thing. Yum. We parked out front and Cal helped me inside. I winced as I tried to take the first step up the staircase to my room and Cal moved beside me smoothly to give me leverage. He always seemed to know where I needed him most. We were like two fish moving together, inseparable no matter how strong the waters…or the monsters lurking in their depths. I shuddered at the image that popped into my mind, Jared Zempter and Jay Freeman with jagged rows of shark teeth, and lurched forward. I was determined to make it up the stairs to my room—where I felt safe. My right knee screamed in protest and I started to fall, shifting my weight fully onto Cal. It was a good thing that Cal had werewolf strength—I probably would have sent us both tumbling down the stairs with that ungraceful move. “Um, thanks,” I said breathlessly. It wasn’t just the almost fall that made me catch my breath. Cal was looking down at me with open, heartstopping adoration. He was never one to hide his feelings for me, at least not since we started dating, but the open way he wore his emotions now that we were finally alone… it made me tingle all over. Cal tore his eyes away and we continued up the stairs, but he never left my side. When we reached my bedroom, Cal pulled back the covers and helped me sit on the edge of my bed. He started unbuckling my boots and, just for a moment, I felt uncomfortable. We were all alone. In my

bedroom. My heart started fluttering like bat wings in a windstorm as I wiped my sweaty hands on my skirt. What was wrong with me? I had been alone with Cal in this very room more times than I could count. Why did everything suddenly feel so intense? I threw my arms around Cal’s neck, for once surprising him, and started kissing him like he was oxygen and I was drowning. He pushed me back against the pillows and a voice inside me was screaming yes, oh hells yes, but Cal pulled away from my kiss.

Cal shook his head, the unspoken no hanging between us, and I suddenly felt very small and foolish. Was I too slobbery? Had I done something wrong? Did I have icky pretzel breath? I should have brushed my teeth first… “Yuki,” Cal said. He reached out to tip my chin up toward him, but I turned away. “Please look at me.” I wanted to bury my burning face under my pillow and keep going until I was buried deep in the cool earth beneath the house. How could I face Cal when he just rejected me. I wasn’t Miss Popular in school, but I never thought I’d be turned down by Cal. He loved me. Didn’t

he? “This isn’t a good idea,” Cal said, running his hands through his shaggy hair. “Don’t look hurt. Please. This isn’t easy for me either.” Oh. God. Was he breaking up with me? No, no, no! Hot, wet, totally unattractive tears started rolling down my face and onto my pillow. “I’m sorry,” Cal said. “Call me old-fashioned, but I’m not ready. Not like this. You are too important to me.” I was important to him? Now I was totally confused. “I don’t understand,” I said. “You almost died last night,” Cal said. “But I didn’t,” I said, sniffling. “I know, and for that I will always be thankful,” Cal said. He reached out and brushed the tears from my cheek. “But now we’re both alive, very, very alive, and I think we’re both feeling that. I don’t want to rush things because of fear.” Wow. Cal was right. I had been so afraid lately. He had felt so warm and alive, but I didn’t want to make decisions based on fear. That just wouldn’t be right. “Okay,” I said, smiling. “Will you stay? I promise not to throw myself at you again.” “I’ll stay,” Cal said, returning my smile. I fell asleep in his arms. ***** I drifted into a wonderful dream. Cal and I were on the porch of our home in a beautiful forest. No creepy skeletal trees or curses here. The sun was shining through the bright green canopy and all around us the werewolf pack

danced and played. Many were running happily in wolf form, chasing butterflies or each other. Everyone was so happy. I felt proud to be standing there with Cal, the leader of the pack. The dream started out so perfect. Too bad it didn’t stay that way. Clouds raced across the sun and a storm pushed in from the south, bringing with it a warm rain. I looked down at my hands and realized that it wasn’t rain that washed over my skin, but blood. The grass and mossy ground was filling with rivers that ran red with it. Spinning around, I realized that everyone had disappeared. Something had gone very, very wrong. Somehow I knew that this was my fault. My actions had led us to this moment. I tried to wipe my shaking hands, but the blood would not come off. My hands were stained red with the blood of my friends. Three figures approached, gliding up the path. They were shrouded in mist and shadow, but their hands extended beyond the miasma to grope and grasp. Their claw-like hands opened and closed compulsively like the mouth of a dying fish out of water. “Give it to us,” three voices said in unison. “Thief. Taker. It belongs to us.” “Whatever you want,” I said. “You can have it. Please don’t hurt my friends.” “Too late,” the voices cackled. “Too late for them. Give us the amulet or it will be too late for you.” Their hands flashed out, closer now, razor-sharp nails inches from my face. “Give it back!” they screeched. I gasped and thrust the amulet toward the darkness. “Take it!” I screamed. “No offense, love, but I really don’t want it,” a voice said. I opened my eyes and blushed. I was tangled in my sheets and holding a wet dung beetle plushie up in Simon’s face. In fact, I think it was covered in drool—my drool. How

embarrassing. “What the heck are you doing here?” I asked. “In my bedroom?”

“Looking for Calvin,” Simon said quirking an eyebrow. “He wouldn’t be under there, would he?” Cal coughed dryly from the doorway and looked irritated. “I called you over an hour ago,” Cal said. “I was busy,” Simon said. “I’m here now.” Cal let out a low growl. “Yes, you are here in my girlfriend’s bedroom,” Cal said. “Not really the orders I gave you.” “You said to come straight here,” Simon said, spreading his hands innocently across his chest. “If you didn’t want me appearing in Yuki’s boudoir, then you should have been more specific.” Cal and Simon stared each other down. Simon was the first to look away. Being alpha had its perks, and putting Simon in his place was evidently one of them. Go

Cal. “Can you guys, um, leave the room?” I asked. “I need to shower and change.” “Do you need any help?” Simon asked. The corner of his mouth lifted in a leering grin. “I don’t mind.” Ugh. Simon was back to his normal annoying self. “Out,” I said pointing at the door. “Now.” Cal made sure that Simon continued down the stairs and didn’t pause to lurk in the hall. “We’ll be down in the kitchen,” Cal said. “Thanks,” I said. I grabbed clean clothes and headed into the bathroom wondering belatedly why Cal had summoned Simon here in the first place. I guess I better wash up quick so I can go

find out. ***** Cal wanted to take action and I wasn’t about to argue. After my nightmare, I was eager to return Nera’s amulet to the Salem witches. To do that, I needed to help guide more spirits into the light. Starting with Dylan’s ghost seemed like a good idea. Returning to the scene of Dylan’s death to look for clues, with the help of Cal and Simon, also made sense. I wanted to get to the bottom of the mysterious

accidents on Witchtrot Road for Emma’s sake as well. The cloaked figure in the woods the night of the toad storm wasn’t a ghost. There had been no smell impression— nothing at all. Which raised the question; what were they doing there? Witchtrot Road was in the middle of nowhere. Why would a person be lurking in the woods on such an isolated road? Did they have something to do with the toads that came raining down on Emma’s car? “If I find the person responsible, I am going to hurt them,” Simon said, clenching his fists. “Badly.” I knew how he felt, I was angry too, but violence didn’t seem like the best option. There had been too much blood spilled on that road already. Of course Cal, whose heroes included Ghandi and the Dalai Lama, agreed with me. “No,” Cal said. “This trip is for gathering clues only. We’ll decide what to do after we have more information.” Simon tensed and the tendons in his neck were pushing hard against his skin. “They hurt Emma,” Simon said. “Whoever is out there could have killed Emma…Yuki too.” So nice to know I’m just an afterthought. Thanks a lot

Simon. “We don’t know that,” Cal said. “It could have been a freak accident.” “I was involved, after all,” I said, attempting to make a joke. “Get it. Freak accident.” Cal groaned and smiled at me, but continued on. “Frogs and toads have been said to rain from the sky all over the world,” Cal said. “It happens.” “I always thought it was aliens,” I said. “You know, sucking up frogs from some pond or something to experiment on and then, bam, they drop them off wherever they happen to be flying.” “That is disturbing,” Simon said. “There is also the possibility of weather systems, like tornadoes, being responsible,” Cal said. “I like my theory,” I said. “I do hope you’re wrong,” Simon said, shaking his head. “But the fact remains that this may have been the result of foul play.”

“If it turns out that someone is responsible, don’t worry, they’ll pay,” I said. For the first time today, Simon and I were in agreement. ***** Witchtrot Road was only marginally less creepy during daylight. That may have been due, in part, to the fog. Fog was rolling along the ground and over tree roots like smoke billowing over ancient dragon claws. Trees grew out of the frozen leaf litter, reaching up through the mist, skeletal branches stretched to block out the sky. The forest was horror movie spooky. It had been an unseasonably warm day when we left my house, but Witchtrot Road seemed to gather and hold close the chill of winter. I shivered against the cold as we hopped out of Cal’s truck to look at the site of our recent car crash. Tendrils of fear crept up my spine. It was amazing that we had survived. Parallel grooves ran off into the trees at a dark patch of bumpy road. Closer inspection revealed the bumps were not part of the road itself, but tiny frozen toad bodies. Simon bent down to examine the toads, but I looked away. Ewww…gross, and sad. Poor little toads. I was warmed with a flash of anger. What did these little creatures ever do to deserve this? Cal reached for my hand and we stepped down into a deep ditch. Following the tire tracks, I was surprised to see them disappear so quickly. Oh yeah, we flipped over. You don’t leave tire tracks when your tires are spinning against the sky. I stumbled as the image of hanging upside down inside Emma’s car made me miss my footing. “You okay?” Cal asked, holding me upright. “Yeah, I’m good,” I said. “Find anything?” Cal asked as Simon joined us. Simon was stuffing a plastic baggy into his jacket pocket and I really hoped it wasn’t filled with dead toad. “There were frozen toads, but no ice,” Simon said. “Doesn’t that strike you as odd?” “Yes, there should have been a layer of ice,” Cal said. “Yuki, do you remember it raining or were there just toads

falling from the sky?” “Um, just the toads,” I said. “I think that rules out a weather event as the cause,” Simon said. “I agree,” Cal said. “That leaves the possibility of someone launching the toads at Emma’s car.” “Or aliens,” I said. “But if it wasn’t aliens, why would anyone want to throw toads at our car?” “Maybe there is something here that someone doesn’t want discovered,” Simon said. “A scary legend, and the threat of an accident, would keep most people away,” Cal agreed. “So what are they hiding?” I asked. “I think we’re going to find out,” Cal said. ***** Cal and Simon raised their heads to sniff the forest air. Whatever they could smell, it wasn’t a ghost. I didn’t smell anything at all, not even Dylan Jacobs. Dylan seemed to still be trapped at Wakefield High. Poor guy. “What do you smell?” I asked. “I’m not sure,” Cal said. “It’s too faint,” Simon said. “We should shift into wolf form and try to catch the scent.” Cal hesitated and squeezed my hand. “It’s okay,” I said. “Simon is right. You’ll be able to uncover clues faster if you use all of your wolf senses.” “I’ll be right over there,” Cal said, indicating an overgrown bush. Why was he going into a bush? Oh, right, he had to remove his clothes. I tried not to blush. “Okay,” I said. “Where’s the fun in that?” Simon asked, winking. Cal glared at Simon and growled, “You have ten seconds to get behind that bush and you’re not to come out until you’re covered in fur.” “Oh okay, but if I get poison ivy, I’m blaming you,” Simon said over his shoulder. “He does realize it’s the middle of winter, right?” I asked. “The chances of getting poison ivy are pretty slim.” “Don’t remind him,” Cal said, grinning. “He’ll only start

complaining about the cold.” Cal walked over to the bush and I turned my back to give the guys some privacy. A few minutes later Cal’s silver wolf loped up beside me. He nudged my hip with his shoulder and I sank my hand into the ruff of fur around his neck. The wolf looked up at me with Cal’s beautiful blue eyes and smiled. He smelled of wet dog and sunshine. Simon waited for us from a few yards ahead. He stood on a fallen tree, his dark fur a sharp contrast against the lingering fog. At a nod from Cal, Simon vaulted off the tree and into the forest. He quickly disappeared into the darkness and mist. It must be nice to have super

awesome wolf vision. The fog was thickening and I could barely see the ground at my feet. It was a good thing that I wore tall, tightly laced, steal-toe boots. Tree roots, loose rocks, and frozen brambles tangled my every step. Even with Cal at my side, I was at constant risk of breaking a toe or twisting my ankle. I tried to force my awareness outward, the way that Simon had taught us during our training sessions, but I couldn’t sense any spirits. I also didn’t see any glowing spectral forms either. The woods seemed to be empty of all creatures, alive or dead. No squirrels scampered and no birds sang. Maine woods are not usually silent, even in winter, but the forest along Witchtrot Road seemed devoid of sound. It was as though the fog swallowed the voices of all who traveled here. A howl broke the silence and I stumbled into Cal’s solid form. Cal tilted his head to the side and, at some signal unheard by my human ears, pushed me back toward the road. I didn’t argue. I was more than ready to get out of the gloomy forest. Cal pushed me to keep a good pace, so I was relieved when he came to an abrupt stop at the bush where we started. Cal was barely back in human form when Simon, who had also shifted, grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the road. “Hurry!” Simon shouted. I was already breathing heavily, but I sprinted to the truck with my last burst of energy. All of my bruises and

sore muscles from the night before screamed at me in protest as I launched myself up into the passenger seat. Simon jumped into the driver’s seat and Cal slid in beside me. The engine roared to life and Simon swung the truck onto Witchtrot Road with deadly speed. I closed my eyes and buried my face into Cal’s shoulder. I prayed that Simon’s werewolf reflexes could keep the truck on the narrow road and that I wouldn’t end up in another accident. “What did you find?” Cal asked. I lifted my head, curious. What, or who, were we running from? “Let me get us off this bloody road,” Simon said. “I’ll feel better when I’m sure we’re out of range of being shot or blown up.” Simon flicked his eyes to the rearview mirror and relaxed his white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel. Apparently whatever he was afraid of wasn’t following us, yet. What could be scary enough to freak out Simon? He was kidding about being shot or blown up, right? Cal raised an eyebrow at Simon, but didn’t ask any more questions.

Chapter 14 After five minutes of driving at breakneck speeds down winding back roads, Simon maneuvered the truck into a bumpy, gravel parking lot adjacent to a small church. I would normally protest against parking so close to a church, since a graveyard filled with spirits of the dead was almost certainly nearby, but I was too curious to complain. What had Simon discovered in the dark forest of Witchtrot Road? “What was in the woods?” I blurted out. “And what was that smell?” Cal asked. “You scouted ahead of us, but I caught the scent you were following. It was like a harsh chemical smell, but, you know, different.” Simon sighed and stared straight ahead, out through

the windshield, and across the empty gravel parking lot. I followed his gaze, but there was nothing there. Simon seemed to be trying to gauge how much to tell us. That just made me mad. Why hold something back from his friends? “Simon?” Cal asked. Cal’s voice was gentle, but there must have been a note of command hiding in his words. Simon jerked, like a puppet on a string, and swung his head to face Cal directly. “This information could place you in danger,” Simon said. “Are you sure you really want to know?” “Yes,” Cal and I said in unison. Simon let out a long sigh and rubbed his hands over his face, fingers lingering over his scar. “It was a meth lab,” Simon said. “I thought I recognized the scent. That’s why I ran ahead…to be sure.” Simon knew what a meth lab smelled like? No real surprise there. He ran with some shady characters after Meredith died and seemed to keep in touch with many of them. “Meth?” I asked. “Doesn’t that stuff make you, like, a zombie or something?” I remember watching a documentary about methamphetamine abuse. It was scarier than any late night horror movie. Users ended up with permanent schizophrenia and Parkinson’s symptoms. They also lost all their teeth. Ewww. “Yes,” Simon said. “It can make you like a zombie…or worse, usually the latter.” Simon looked worried and haunted. His hands were twitching whenever he let go of the steering wheel. He would look down and see them shaking, then reach back up to slide his hands over the leather covering. “I can’t believe there’s a meth lab here in Maine,” Cal said. Simon may have looked haunted, but Cal looked defeated. Cal’s shoulders slumped forward as he shook his head. We were a great team against wayward werewolves and lost spirits, but what could we do against evil drug dealers?

There was no mistake that these people were evil. They were bringing drugs into our town, probably into our school, and hurting anyone who came too close to their operation. These people had used the legend of Witchtrot Road to scare away passersby, but they had gone too far.

Way too far. “They threw the toads at Dylan’s motorcycle and Emma’s car, didn’t they?” I asked. “Were there toads at the scene of Dylan’s accident?” Cal asked. “Yes,” I said. “The kids at school thought it was more evidence of the legendary curse.” “These people need to be stopped,” Simon growled. “I can’t believe anyone would go so far to protect their secret,” Cal said. “They killed Dylan, and almost killed Emma and Yuki, to keep people away from their drug lab.” “That lab is worth a lot of money and these people are ruthless,” Simon said. “They’ll go to any lengths to continue producing drugs. That’s why knowing their secret is so dangerous.” “Did you really mean what you said about trying to avoid being shot and blown up?” I asked. “Yes,” Simon said. “It wouldn’t be unusual for these people to be armed and meth labs have been known to blow up. The people who run the labs are not always the most intelligent.”

Great, idiots with guns. Cal squeezed my hand and I knew he was worried. We had just been running around in a forest that hid armed drug dealers and a potentially combustible, possibly explosive drug lab. We were lucky to be alive. “We need a plan,” Cal said, sitting up straight. “Someone needs to stop these people.” My skin crawled like spiders were dancing beneath the surface and the truck filled with the smell of lamp oil, charcoal, and burning leaves. Son of a dung beetle. There were five or six shadowy, gray shapes moving steadily toward us. I really needed to get working on that Wakefield area ghost map. This small churchyard burial ground must be

filled with angry spirits. Something I would have known if I had a map to navigate away from tragic hot spots and the graves of those who had died a violent death. “Um, guys, I’m all for the plan idea, but can we get out of here?” I said, lips trembling. “We have company, ghostly company, and they don’t look like the warm and fuzzy type.” The Grays freaked me out. Seeing them gather in numbers, when it wasn’t even Samhain, was not a good sign. “Hold on,” Simon said. Cal held my hand as Simon hit the gas. Gravel rained behind us as we hit the pavement and sped away from the church and its creepy residents. “Thanks,” I said, swallowing air. “I’m worried,” Cal said, brow furrowing. “Hasn’t there been a lot of spectral activity since your accident?” “You mean, since my powers expanded or whatever?” I asked, shrugging. “Yeah, I guess so, but I’ve also been hanging out in areas where there are typically more ghosts. I usually avoid hospitals and church graveyards because of all the spirits there. It might just be a coincidence.” “Or your new, stronger powers may be drawing them to you,” Cal said. “I know you want to give Nera’s amulet back to the Salem witches, but maybe we should wait and see.” “I guess it’s just one more reason to help as many good spirits as possible,” I said. I still wanted to return the amulet to its rightful owners. The faster I could do that, the better. My recent nightmare about the witches coming to kill all of my friends was an added motivator. I could still feel their warm blood on my hands. The message of the dream was clear. If I didn’t return the amulet to the Salem witches, there would be repercussions and it would be my fault. “Cal mentioned your plan to build an army of friendly spirits,” Simon said. “I approve.” Wow, Simon agreed with me twice in one day. The apocalypse truly was coming. “So what are we waiting for?” I asked. “Let’s go find a way to help Dylan’s ghost.” “Where to?” Simon asked.

My phone beeped with an incoming text message from Emma. She was awake and, according to her text, bored out of her mind. “To Emma’s house,” I said, grinning. Simon sighed, but a little smile touched his lips. “You do realize she’s going to bring charges of animal cruelty against that lot for tossing toads at moving vehicles,” Simon said, shaking his head. “You know her well,” I said. The smell of lavender and honey filled the air and wrapped around me like a sweetly scented blanket. “Yes, I guess I do,” Simon said.

Chapter 15 With Simon at the wheel of Cal’s truck, we made it to Emma’s house in less than ten minutes. Her mom’s van and dad’s car were gone, so it was probably safe to assume that Emma was home alone. No wonder she was so bored. I knocked and walked in, leaving the door open behind me. Simon hesitated, but Cal had been here a million times before and followed me inside. “Emma?” I called out. “In here!” Emma yelled from her bedroom. “I have Simon and Cal with me,” I said. “Is it okay to come in?” “Okay,” Emma said. “Can you bring a pitcher of water with you? There’s also iced green tea in the fridge if anyone wants something to drink.” “Cool, thanks,” I said. “Be right there.” “Wow,” Simon said, looking at the menagerie of animals as we passed through the living room into the kitchen. “I knew she rescued animals, but that is an impressive amount of pets.” I guess one thing Simon wasn’t likely to make fun of was Emma’s pets. He was part wolf after all. In fact, now that I was looking, it was obvious that the cats in the room

could sense Cal and Simon’s wolf spirits. They were all giving the guys a wide berth. Well, all except for Chairman Meow who was staring down Simon and blocking his way into the kitchen. Chairman Meow was a huge Maine Coon cat easily weighing twenty pounds. Curious, I watched to see what Simon would do. Simon glared at Chairman Meow, flashing a bit of his wolf spirit, but Meow didn’t budge. He was blocking the entrance to the kitchen and I wasn’t sure if Chairman Meow was protecting Emma or his food supply. Judging by his size, he was probably protecting the kitchen filled with food. “Cool cat,” Simon said, relaxing. He let his wolf spirit slide away and smiled. “It’s okay, Meow,” I said, walking into the kitchen. I gave Simon a pointed look over my shoulder. “We’re not here to eat your food.” “I don’t eat kitty kibble,” Simon muttered. “Especially not the vegan kibble they probably serve up in this place.” Simon shuddered dramatically and gave Chairman Meow a sympathetic look. “Poor cat.” “I heard that,” Emma said from her room. I snickered and went to help Cal. Cal filled a pitcher with water and I grabbed four glasses from the cupboard. No tree-killing paper cups in this house. We carried everything into Emma’s bedroom where she sat propped amidst a sea of pillows. Emma’s long, blond hair spread out across the pillows and blankets, adding to the illusion that she was floating on water. Eyes closed, she looked like a beautiful, pale mermaid resting on the sea. “If you’re too tired, we can come back later,” I said quietly. She hadn’t fallen asleep, had she? “It’s just the dizziness,” Emma said, holding herself very still. “It will pass in a moment. Did you bring water?” “Do you have pills you need to take?” Simon asked. He retrieved the pitcher, from where we’d left it on Emma’s desk, and filled a glass. “No,” Emma said. “I’m not taking their toxic pain medicines. I’ll be fine with my herbal remedies.” Simon sat on the edge of the bed and Emma opened

her eyes. “Ready?” Simon asked. Emma nodded and Simon carefully placed the glass of water in her hands. The moment seemed personal, and intimate, and I suddenly felt like an intruder. I picked at my nail polish and tried to think of something to say. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” Cal asked. I wondered if he felt as awkward as I did. “My parents told me I had to stay in bed, on doctor’s orders,” Emma said, eyes sparkling. “They didn’t say anything about having to sleep.” “Are you up for some excitement?” I asked. “What kind of excitement?” Emma asked, grinning. “We went back to Witchtrot Road,” I said. Emma blanched, but nodded for me to continue. “It wasn’t the ghost of Reverend Burroughs that caused our accident, or Dylan’s death. People were trying to scare us away from something they were hiding in the forest.” Simon was growling low in his throat. “Someone threw those toads at your car,” Cal said. “It wasn’t an accident.” “Why?” Emma asked, frowning. “What could be so important to keep secret?” “A bloody meth lab,” Simon said, fists tightening around a piece of fluffy blanket. “A meth lab in Wakefield?” Emma asked. “Do you know how dangerous that stuff is? You didn’t breathe any of the air in the lab, did you?” “No,” Cal said. “Simon realized the danger and got us out of there.” “Thank you,” Emma said, looking Simon in the eye. Simon nodded and reached up to touch his scar. “It’s my job to protect my alpha,” Simon said. “Well, you also protected Yuki from danger and she’s not the fastest runner in those clunky boots,” Emma said. “Hey!” I said. “They’re not clunky.” “She is slow, even for a human,” Simon said, grinning. “The point is, you are not sworn to protect her, but did so anyway,” Cal said. He reached out and put a hand on Simon’s shoulder. “Thank you, man. I won’t forget it.”

“Oh great,” I said, rolling my eyes. “If I thank the old man now, his head will be too big to fit through the door.” “Looks like you owe me, love,” Simon said, grinning. “Ugh,” I said, groaning. “Can’t I just get pledged into the pack or something as an honorary member? Then he’d be sworn to protect me too.” “That’s a good idea,” Cal said. “Do I ever have bad ones?” I asked. “Yes,” Cal said. “Sometimes,” Emma said. “On occasion,” Simon said. “Traitors,” I said, grinning. “So what are we going to do about the meth lab? Should we call the police?” “I was hoping to avoid drawing attention, but that may be our best option,” Cal said. “This is one of those occasions where I have to disagree,” Simon said. “We could face retaliation. I think we should make an anonymous tip to the authorities.” “Well, I’m contacting the authorities about animal cruelty charges as soon as my head stops hurting,” Emma said. Her eyes were closed again and she was massaging her temple. Emma’s headache reminded me of something.

Something important. “Meth labs use cold medicine when they make the drug, right?” I asked. “Yes, but most over-the-counter cold medicines containing the necessary chemicals are heavily regulated,” Simon said. “The average person can only buy a few packages at a time. Not nearly enough to supply a meth lab.” “But a doctor or nurse could purchase it in bulk,” I said. “It’s possible,” Simon said. “Why?” “I think I know who one of the drug dealers is,” I said. “And she works in our school.” ***** I had been wondering for awhile why the ghost of Dylan Jacobs was haunting the halls of Wakefield High. Now I knew. Our school nurse betrayed the Hippocratic Oath of “do no harm” and had killed Dylan by throwing toads at his

motorcycle while he drove down Witchtrot Road. If it had been me, I would have haunted the woman too. “The nurse had a cloak hanging in her office like the one I saw someone wearing that night,” I said. I had seen a cloaked figure behind the trees the night of our accident. “She also said that she didn’t have any cold medicine for students because a shipment of it had been lost or misplaced, but there were crates of the stuff in the storage room where I was held by the J-team.” It was Cal’s turn to growl. He was still understandably upset about my kidnapping. “That woman must be stopped,” Cal said. “As the school nurse she’s responsible for student health and safety and yet she steals medicine to turn it into a street drug.” “And she is a cold-blooded toad murderer,” Emma said. “Whether she intended his death, or just to scare him away, she also murdered Dylan Jacobs,” Simon said. “She nearly killed you both as well.” “Then it’s settled,” I said. “We’re going to the police. These people need to be stopped.” “Aren’t you worried about retaliation?” Simon asked. “Or of drawing attention to our own secrets?” “I refuse to be ruled by fear,” I said. “If I let bullies scare me into silence, then they win. I’m sick of bullying and I’m not going to stand by and watch people continue to get hurt. Are you with me?” “Heck yes,” Emma said, lifting her hand to bump knuckles. “Yes,” Cal said. “Some risks are worth taking.” “Yes,” Simon said, sighing. “Someone needs to make sure you all stay out of trouble.” I could feel myself grinning from ear to ear. My stomach was filled with vampire bats, sure, but for the first time in days I felt like I was doing the right thing. We would tell the police about the meth lab near Witchtrot Road, and our suspicion that the school nurse was involved, and let the authorities take care of the drug dealers. One group of

bad guys down, one more to go.

Chapter 16 Our parents were slow to understand our determination to go the police, but they finally relented. We called them as soon as we made our decision to speak out, and to say they were a little freaked out would be a major understatement. Emma’s parents are the quiet type, don’t ask me where she gets her outspoken personality from, and my mom and dad already have the freak daughter who no one understands. When we proposed going, as a group, to the local police, I swear they had a collective heart attack. I think it was Simon’s insistence that these people were responsible for our accident, and Emma’s head injury, that finally convinced them that we needed to go to the police. Simon had used his connections to get Emma’s car repaired, which had put him in her parents’ good graces. Cal backing up our claims had also helped to convince my parents, especially my mom. We met our parents in the police station parking lot and, after a few uncomfortable moments, all went inside to report what we knew about the drug lab and accidents on Witchtrot Road. The authorities reacted with surprising speed. The school nurse had used a false identity that didn’t match the fingerprints she’d given at the beginning of the semester. When police looked through her office, which was on school property, they found the cloak we’d mentioned and receipts for the purchase of toads from a Portland pet store. That was all they needed to obtain a warrant for her apartment and an abandoned shack on Witchtrot Road. The shack, not so abandoned after all, contained the meth lab and was littered with cold medicine packaging that matched the missing school supplies. The lab was shut down and the bad guys were arrested. Easy Peasy. I was so glad that we had gone to the cops and told the truth. You know that saying, “the truth will set you free?”

Well, it’s totally true. I felt like the weight of all the secrets about Witchtrot Road had sprouted wings and flown away. It was bad enough being weighed down with the everyday secrets of my smell-o-riffic psychic talents and, oh yeah, the fact that I’m dating a werewolf. A girl can only be burdened with so many secrets before she runs screaming to the loony bin. Seriously, it’s a scientific fact. The police were also looking into the circumstances of Dylan Jacob’s death. We told the authorities that our own accident had been the result of toads hitting our car with force. If flying toads could cause a car to go off the road, then they definitely could have caused Dylan’s motorcycle accident. With the toad evidence linking our former school nurse to both accidents, it was possible that she would be brought up on additional charges for Dylan’s death. She was going to prison for a very long time. Dylan would receive closure and I would be cleared of casting any black magic curses. Hopefully proof of my innocence would convince the football team that I wasn’t a witch—and didn’t need to be forced into raising the dead. I’d like to make it through graduation without being kidnapped and tossed into a supply closet, again. Was that too much to ask? ***** We returned to school on Friday, the day after the raid on the meth lab. Emma was feeling better with only the occasional headache, which she blamed on Simon, and my limp was gone. The bruises and scratches from the car accident, and my flight through the forest, remained, but these we wore with pride. Well, Emma and I wore our bruises and scratches with pride—Cal’s speedy werewolf healing left his skin blemish-free. I was prepared for a few weird looks and maybe a couple of “cough, narc, cough” remarks in the halls, but I wasn’t expecting the smiles and high fives. Nope, I definitely wasn’t expecting that. It was like that dream where you find yourself walking naked down the school hallway with everyone laughing at you…except they were laughing and smiling with me not at me. I really had entered the Twilight Zone.

“Pinch me,” I said, turning to Cal. I could feel my eyes drying out and knew I must have a wide-eyed, startled look on my face. I mean, people were going out of their way to be nice…to me. “Why?” Cal asked. “So I’ll wake up before this turns into a total nightmare,” I said. “Or maybe it already is a nightmare. I’m not sure, but the suspense is killing me. I just keep waiting for these smiling things to sprout pointy teeth and suck my blood or get all smelly and try to eat my brains.” “You watch way too many scary movies,” Cal said, smiling his toothy grin. Cal bent down and kissed the spot where my jaw meets my ear. It sent awesome tingly shivers down my neck and I turned to meet his lips. “Ouch!” I yelped. “You said to pinch you,” Emma said, a hint of a grin on her lips. “That was before the yummy kissing,” I said. “You’re right,” Emma said. “I should have pinched you faster and spared us all the public display of affection.” Looking around, I was reminded at how very public it was. I was used to being ignored by my classmates, not unlike the ghost of Dylan Jacobs drifting unseen up and down the halls. Not anymore. At least a dozen people had been watching. My face burned with embarrassment. Jeez, can’t a girl sneak a kiss in peace? I couldn’t wait for my fifteen minutes of fame to be over. “Don’t you guys find it creepy,” I said, gesturing at the crowd. “Find what creepy?” Cal asked. “You know, all of the smiling,” I said. “It’s scary. Make them stop.” Cal chuckled and put his arm around my waist. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep the scary smiling people away,” Cal said. “While you two are hiding, I’m going to take advantage of our newfound popularity,” Emma said. Uh oh. I knew that gleam in her eye. I’d seen it before—right before she threw herself at the front lines of an animal rights protest.

“I’m off to educate the masses.” “You mean convert the masses,” I said. “Exactly,” Emma said over her shoulder. “Oh, and I wouldn’t recommend eating the meat at lunchtime, Cal.” “What did she mean by that exactly?” Cal asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Knowing Emma, you do not want to know,” I groaned. “Just, like, don’t eat the meat. I’m sure she has a plan to make it super gag-worthy.” “That’s what I’m worried about,” Cal said. I left a slightly pale and shaky Cal and headed to class. ***** The Twilight Zone day continued in every classroom. All of the students were nice to me. Like really, really nice. The teachers even called me Yuki when taking attendance, which made me know for sure that I had landed in Bizarro Land. I had been trying for years to get them to call me Yuki, but they almost always called out Vanessa like they were offended by my little name rebellion. The smiling faces were creepy, and could go the way of the dodo, but I hoped that the new name respect lasted. If classes were odd, then lunch time was even more bizarre. I entered the cafeteria to find Emma doing a demonstration about vegan cooking, and the reasons for eating vegan, at the front of the room. Emma was tofuhamming it up and most of the students were watching her with rapt attention. Somewhere between first period and lunch, she’d found pictures of caged chickens and slaughterhouses which she’d taped up beside idyllic photos of healthy vegans eating guilt-free meals. She even had pictures of bee hives, which she’d labeled “bee prison,” to illustrate her favorite rant topic—bee oppression. Son of a

dung beetle. Pushing through the crowd, I found Cal, Gordy, and Katie sitting at our table. They were all eating carrot sticks for lunch. I snickered at the veggie meals and would have raised an eyebrow at Cal, if I could. “I warned Gordy and Katie about the potential grossout factor,” Cal said. “We’re all eating vegan today.” “It seemed like the safe thing to do,” Gordy said,

raising a carrot stick. “And they’re super yummy too!” Katie said, smiling. “No, don’t encourage her,” I groaned. “She’ll do this every day.” We all looked around the table and laughed. I pulled out my own bag of veggies, carrots and celery, and sat beside Cal. “So why are they listening to her, anyway?” I asked. “They never paid any attention to Emma’s rants before.” “You’re all celebrities now,” Gordy said. “You were on TV last night. They ran the story about how you helped the police bust a nearby meth lab and provided information that may help them understand what happened to Dylan.” “You are all hometown heroes!” Katie gushed. “Seriously?” I said. “We’re, like, the Wakefield Weirdo Squad. They never pay us any attention. Why change now?” “Because you all saved the day,” Gordy said. “You make us sound like super heroes,” I said, rolling my eyes. “That’s because you are heroes,” Katie said. “And the whole school thinks so,” Gordy said. “I even had a teacher personally thank me for helping to find out who was stealing from the school infirmary,” Cal said. “I guess it was becoming a really serious problem for the school.” “Wow,” I said. Okay, I know, not the most eloquent thing I’ve ever said, but in my defense this situation was beyond weird. I was used to existing on the fringe, not being thrust into the spotlight of instant popularity. Thinking about it too much made me feel dizzy. I kind of like my place in the shadows

—it’s comfy there. Emma had finished her “how to be a vegan” speech and headed directly for our table. She looked crazy happy. Emma was making the best of our fifteen minutes of fame.

Our very own activist rock star. As the crowd dispersed and moved in our direction, I found myself face to face with hundreds of smiling faces. Uncomfortable, I pulled my long sleeves down over my

hands and fidgeted with the black, ribbed fabric. It reminded me of playing sock puppets with Cal when we were kids. I was jolted out of my momentary anxiety by enthusiastic shouts. “Fight bee oppression!” one of the girls in the crowd shouted, pumping her fist in the air. Emma was truly made of awesome. “You’re glowing,” I said as Emma joined us at our table. She sat beside Katie who gave Emma a huge grin. “That was incredible!” Katie said. “Impressive,” Gordy said, nodding. “Thanks,” Emma said, smiling from ear to ear. “You are going to make an amazing veterinarian one day,” Cal said, flashing Emma his toothy grin. “Cal’s right,” I said. “You rock.” I reached across the table to bump knuckles with Emma and something fell out of my pocket. “What’s that?” Gordy asked. “Here you go,” Katie chirped, handing me a crumpled up piece of paper. It looked like a note, but all of my friends were here. Who else would leave a note in my pocket? I sat back down and stared at the note expecting it to burst into flames or start talking, which was silly. This wasn’t Mission Impossible…or Hogwarts. The smell of motor oil suddenly filled my nose and mouth and I tried not to gag. Apparently this had something to do with Dylan. Great, that didn’t bode well. I wiped my hands on my skirt and reached a shaking hand out to gingerly lift the note and pull it open. The white construction paper reminded me of funeral wrappings. Oh

yeah, I’m not freaked out or anything. I read the childish scrawl and gasped.

Meet us on the athletic field after school, signed, the football team. “What is it?” Emma asked. “Whatever it is, we’re here for you,” Cal said, touching my face. “Thanks,” I said. “It’s…it’s from the football team.”

“What do those jerks want?” Emma asked. I saw Gordy’s hands clench into fists and Cal slid his arm around me. “It says to meet them after school,” I said. My hands were shaking so bad, I dropped the note. “Well they can have fun waiting,” Emma said. “You’re not going to meet up with them.” “No,” I said, taking a deep yoga breath. “This is something I have to do.” “Why?” Gordy asked. He was looking at me like I’d sprouted a second head or something. “I can’t live in fear anymore,” I said. “No one at this school should have to live like that. It’s time someone stood up to these creeps.” “I’ll go with you,” Cal said. “Me too,” Emma said. Gordy hesitated, but nodded. “Okay,” Gordy said. “I’m going too.” “Do I have to go?” Katie asked nervously. I felt bad for the kid. She was trying to be a part of our group, but she obviously had her own issues. Katie didn’t need my problems too. “Can you hang out by the principal’s office while we talk to the football team?” I asked. “That way if we don’t check in with you in twenty minutes, you can ask for help.” “I can do that!” Katie chirped. Gordy mouthed “thank you” and I knew I had done the right thing. Katie was way too fragile right now. Helping out from a safe distance was definitely the way to go. “Okay, then it’s settled,” I said. “We’ll meet up right after school. It’s time the football team learned that they can’t bully people just because they’re different.” “Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Emma said. We bumped knuckles and headed to our separate classrooms. I hope I know what I’m doing.

Chapter 17

I bit my lip and tried not to shake too much as I waited for my friends to show up. Cal was first to arrive at my locker, werewolf speed giving him the advantage, and wrapped me up in his warm, doggy smelling arms. He felt familiar and safe. When I finally pulled away, Cal brushed my lips with his thumb and bent down to kiss me gently. My legs felt weak, but at least it was no longer from complete terror. I smiled and felt more confident. I could do this, I would do this, but it was nice to not have to face my fears alone. And let’s be

honest, the football team scared me silly. I stood up straight and turned to see Emma and Gordy walking toward us. They looked so happy and easy with each other. I was psyched that they could finally hang out again as friends. Of course, as they came closer Gordy began chewing on the tips of his asymmetrical bangs and Emma got a steely glint in her eye. “Hey,” Gordy said, nodding. “Hey,” I said. “Ready?” Cal asked. Nope, not really. I’d rather run away screaming. I didn’t say that, but, you know, I was thinking it. “Sure,” I said. I gave a thumbs up and hoped I didn’t look totally lame. It is hard to look all tough-girl when your knees are shaking. “Let’s do this thing,” Emma said. We marched together out to the athletic field. Cal held my hand and walked in a loose, liquid lope, but I could see his eyes darting in all directions. Gordy and Emma looked intense and alert. I tried not to gag at the smell of motor oil or trip over my own two feet. That’s me, ninja-girl, total

super hero of Wakefield High. The first thing I saw was Jay and Jared standing together and looking confused. “What are you freaks doing here?” Jay sneered. “Yeah, don’t you have after school dork practice or something?” Jared asked.

Sigh. These guys need a new line. “Didn’t you ask to meet us here?” I asked, letting go of Cal’s hand and crossing my arms over my chest.

I sounded calm, which was amazing. “Like we’d want to meet any of you,” Jay said, rolling his eyes. “Maybe we should teach you a lesson,” Jared said. “Losers have no place on our field.” The J-team started moving forward threateningly when a large, meaty hand grabbed Jay’s shoulder…and stopped him in his tracks. “Not so fast,” Meaty Hands Eddy said. “We are the ones who asked you all here,” another huge football guy said. Judging from their uniforms and the number of large guys walking toward us, the entire football team had turned out. I tried not to start shaking again. “Look, I’m sick of this,” I said. “I didn’t have anything to do with Dylan’s death and…” “We know,” one guy said. “And we’re sorry,” another added. “Aren’t we,” Meaty Hands Eddy growled, pushing Jay and Jared forward. “Say you’re sorry.” Jay and Jared turned beet red. “No freakin’ way,” Jay muttered. “You will apologize to Yuki and to us or you’re off the team,” Eddy said. “Sorry,” Jared said. Jay looked angrily at Jared, but added his apology after another squeeze from Eddy. Holy moly that guy was

huge. “Sorry,” Jay said. “The rest of us are sorry too,” Eddy said. “Sorry,” most of the guys said. “Jay and Jared lied to us…,” a team member added. “Yeah, they said they saw you casting spells,” another guy said. “And hexing people,” football kid said. “…cursed our team,” another said. “Said you killed Dylan…” a short guy said. “We’re all really sorry that we listened to them,” Eddy said. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek, but my voice

remained steady. “Thank you,” I said. “Sorry, man,” Eddy said to Cal. “About trying to hurt your girlfriend.” “You were upset about losing your friend,” Cal said calmly. “I’m not saying what you did was right, or even really forgivable, but I do understand.” “Thanks, man,” Eddy said. “A little understanding is all we ask. And we, like, get it if you want to punch us in the face. We won’t fight back. We owe you.” Jay and Jared looked like they were going to totally wig out, but the rest of team just stood there ready to accept whatever Cal and I decided. “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent,” Cal said. He was totally quoting Gandhi. “Dude, hate the sin, love the sinner,” Gordy said. I knew Cal was all into the deep, philosophical stuff, but was a little surprised to hear Gordy chime in with his own Gandhi quote. It was kind of awesome. “You guys are cool,” Eddy said. “Thanks.” With a weird kind of bowing nod, the football team left the field. The smell of motor oil filled my head and Dylan Jacob’s ghost floated in a ball of beautiful glowing light. “Your friends are going to be okay,” I said in my mind. I knew that Dylan could hear me. I didn’t need to say it out loud. “You can go in peace now.” Dylan bounced in a nod-like up and down movement and a brilliant light opened near the goal post. I could feel tears well up as I watched Dylan head into the shimmering light and disappear. “Bye, Dylan,” I whispered. My friends hadn’t seen a thing. “I wonder what they’re going to do to Jay and Jared,” Emma said. “Maybe they’ll listen to our words of non-violence,” Cal said. We all looked at each other and laughed. “Yeah, dude, probably not,” Gordy said.

“A leopard doesn’t change its spots,” Emma said, mock sagely. “A veggie burrito is just a veggie burrito,” I said, nodding. “You must be hungry,” Cal said, grinning. My stomach growled in answer. Facing my fears and helping spirits of the dead find peace was hungry work. “Let’s go let Katie know that we won’t be needing that backup plan,” Emma said. “Then a trip to Mr. Green Genes?” Cal asked. “Absolutely!” I said, bouncing along with my friends. I felt better than I had in days. I had faced my fears, my friends were all getting along, the football team wasn’t going to kidnap me anytime soon, and Jay and Jared had been made to look like the jerks they really were. Oh yeah, and we were all heroes. Could this day get any more strange? ***** Simon was waiting for us when we arrived at Mr. Green Genes. He had even saved us a table. “How did Simon know we’d be here?” I asked Cal. “Emma texted him,” Cal said. Huh, that was weird, but it was Bizarro Upside Down Day, right? “Congratulations, love,” Simon said. “For what?” I asked. It wasn’t like I’d aced a math exam or anything. Like that would ever happen. Math,

yuck. “For standing up to your demons,” Simon said. “It’s not an easy thing to do.” “Yuki was awesome,” Gordy said. “I heard that the entire football team apologized,” Katie said, her frizzy curls bouncing. “Girl, you were totally tough,” Emma said. “You never cease to amaze me,” Cal said. “I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” Cal leaned over and gave me a kiss, in front of everyone, and I thought I’d die of happiness. This was the most perfect day ever. I knew that we had some tough times ahead. Gabriel,

aka The Brat, was still lurking around trying to make Emma his mate and have some kind of macho, revenge showdown with Simon. I also felt bad about the things that had happened on Witchtrot Road. Reverend Burroughs had been wrongfully accused of witchcraft in life and had been used as a scapegoat for evil drug dealers in death. That just wasn’t cool. Maybe Cal could use some of his knowledge of shamanic practices to cleanse the area. Yeah, a healing ritual that could help Reverend Burroughs ghost find peace felt right to me…and I was all about following my heart and doing what was right, even if that meant doing something scary. Speaking of scary, Jay and Jared were also an ongoing problem. The J-team had been subdued, but I couldn’t trust that they had given up. I’d have to continue to watch my back. Fortunately, I wouldn’t have to face things alone. Thank goodness for awesome friends…and the most swoon-worthy soul mate a girl could ever ask for. I leaned into Cal and looked around the table. Gordy and Katie smiling and sharing a smoothie, with two straws in one cup, which was way too cute. Cal and I the perfect soul mates. Simon and Emma holding hands. Wait.

What? So much for the most perfect day ever. ###

Coming soon… SPIRIT GUIDE SERIES

Brush with Death (book 4) The Calvin and Yuki Diaries (novella)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

E.J. Stevens writes poetry and young adult paranormal novels. E.J. is author of the haunting collection of dark poetry From the Shadows, the chilling collection of paranormal poetry Shadows of Myth and Legend, and the young adult paranormal Spirit Guide Series, which includes She Smells the Dead, Spirit Storm, and Legend of Witchtrot Road. E.J. is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and is an active member of the Paranormal Romance Guild. She currently resides in a magical forest on the coast of Maine where she finds daily inspiration for her writing. When E.J. isn't at her writing desk she can be found blogging at From the Shadows, a paranormal book blog, or hanging out on Goodreads and Twitter.

Visit E.J. at: http://www.FromTheShadows.info Learn more about the Spirit Guide Series at the official series website: http://spiritguideseries.blogspot.com