Page 7 of The Spirit Key
“How could you? You cut us out of your life. Tim tried to find you. I don’t want to think about the number of times he cried when he couldn’t track you down.”
I couldn’t have felt worse if she had kicked me in the nuts. “I’m sorry.”
“Yes, you’re sorry. Meanwhile, Tim is—” She stopped, going fuzzy around the edges, and I swear she stuttered for a second, like she was having trouble holding her form together. “I don’t have much time. Tim’s in trouble. I need you to promise me you’ll go home and help him. If he meant anything to you, you have to swear. You owe it to me.”
Her essence dimmed. She no longer looked remotely solid.
The thought of Tim in trouble scared me. “I will. I’ll leave in the morning. When the train pulls in, I’ll come find you and we’ll talk.”
She let her fingers graze over my cheek. It was different than any other ghost who’d ever touched me. Her touch was warm and made my stomach knot. “Afraid not, baby. This was a one-way trip for me. I used up every bit of energy to get here. There’s not enough left to get me back home. Or anywhere else.”
She was dying again. Disincorporating in front of me.
I reached for her, desperate to stop what was happening. “Please, don’t do this.”
She gave me a faded smile. “I need you to remember that you’re as much my son as Tim. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t ask.” She reached out again to touch me but was too insubstantial, and her hand passed through me. She stepped back. “Crap. I thought I’d have more time. Oh well. Look, you need to know, I would give up anything for my boys. Whatever the price, I’m happy to pay it. You made me a promise, Scott. Now don’t you forget it. I love you. And please, don’t break his heart again, okay?”
Break his heart? What the hell did that mean?
Before I could ask, she faded from view. I felt her wink out of existence, and the loss tugged at my very soul.
Chapter Two
I CALLEDmy boss and told him I had a family emergency. Fortunately he was a good sort and gave me a week off to deal with it. I got a ticket on the Amtrak that would get me back to Milwaukee in about ninety minutes. And once I got there, I’d have to face my past if I expected to have any sort of future.
While I packed my bag, I replayed what Tim’s mom had told me. Why was he in trouble? What was wrong with him? And what did she mean about not breaking his heart?
Tim had always been the most tenderhearted person I knew. He was forever trying to take care of injured animals. Which, now that I think about it, he probably saw me as. It was obvious from the way he fussed over me during my… episodes. Any rational person would have hightailed it away from me, but not Tim. He stood there and took whatever life threw at him and still found the strength to stand up for me.
And now he needed me.
While I was filled with trepidation over what I might find when I got back home, I wouldn’t let Tim down. Not again. He’d always had my back, and I ran from him—from my home—in order to save myself. My mental state back then had been fragile at best. Now? I could—would—do this.
Sleep didn’t come that night. Thoughts of Mrs. Jennesee rolled through my head, like a movie on a loop. Through sleepovers, arguments, study sessions, and my mooning over Tim, she was always there, stuffing our faces with pizza and cookies, giving advice or a shoulder to cry on. She was right. I owed her.
A cab pulled up at 6:00 a.m. and got me to the train station by seven. I checked in, then went and got a cup of coffee. As I sat there, staring at the sea of people, I wondered if I could do this. I mean, I knew I had to, but was I prepared to see Tim again? To see my mom or brother?
Shit, what had I promised her? How the hell would I explain to the people I loved why I thought I was toxic for them? Then again, did it matter? It’s not like I could come out and tell them what a freak I was.
They called the train to Milwaukee, and I got up, grabbed my bag, and made my way to the platform. When I took my seat, I started chewing on my nails. This trip, seeing my family again, would tear open old wounds for all of us. Well, assuming any of them had actually missed me.
The trip went quickly, and I breathed easier as we got closer to our destination. Things would be okay. They had to. Of course, that thought lasted until we disembarked the train and I stepped out into the large atrium.
The sun was already beating down, and I figured it would be a scorcher of a day. Still, I took a deep breath, happy to be home.
“Why is my train so late? Sir? Do you know?”
I turned, expecting to see a harried woman pacing on the tile flooring. What I found was completely different. She was—had been—maybe early twenties, her hair short and black, with alternating crescent moons and stars shaved into it. Each ear had a number of piercings, filled with a variety of stars and moons. She was striking. At least until she turned toward me and I saw the dark, charred skin that had peeled back, showing bone and sinew, which had me gasping. Doing my best not to recoil, I stood there and gave her a smile.
“Do you know when our train will arrive?” she asked again. “My parents are probably worried sick. We should have been there hours ago.”
Then I saw what she was holding. He couldn’t have been more than a few months old, sleeping in her arms, his head cradled against her chest. He’d suffered the same burns as she had.
Shit. Not even home for two minutes and already I was seeing ghosts again.
“No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”
“But you can help us, right?” She turned big, pleading eyes to me as she ran a hand over her baby’s head.
