Body and Soul

Keeping an eye on her, I moved warily away from the door. Standing against it would only allow her to pin me there, blocking my exit, if she so chose. “Why would you want to—”

“I’ve been dead for five years, and I’m aware of that fact.” She ticked facts off her fingers. “I’m familiar with how this in-between place works, people trust me, I’m very friendly, I, like, love to help people and whatever…”

Jesus, she was rattling this stuff off like it was a job interview.

“How did you change your appearance?” I asked, interrupting her while she went on about being dedicated.

“Oh, that?” Erin shrugged. “It’s not hard. Just have to concentrate.” She closed her eyes and the outline of her spring-break look shimmered into view over her current appearance for a brief moment before disappearing. “See?”

It was…impressive. Even Alona couldn’t do that. Or, if she could, she was unaware of it. Because there was no way that she would have stayed in her gym clothes for all those weeks if she’d had another option. “But what’s the point?”

“Looking professional makes the other ghosts take me more seriously,” she said, sounding as though the answer should have been obvious.

I frowned. That made no sense. “Why do you care if—”

She made an impatient noise. “I’ve got to get the information somehow, don’t I? It’s not like Malachican get it for himself.” Her smirk and the odd emphasis she placed on his name confirmed my suspicion that it was a fake.

“Wait, wait.” Confused, I held up my hand as though that would slow her words down long enough for me to process the meaning behind them. “You work for Malachi? He’s legit?” If so, he could have fooled me. In fact, he did fool Alona and me, both.

Her expression cooled. “I don’t work for anyone. He owes me, and we’ve worked out a mutually beneficial relationship. Until now.”

So Malachi was for real? My brain was spi

She stared at me mutely.

Apparently, asking about Malachi’s fakery was not the only way to piss her off. I sighed. “All right. Fine.” No questions related to Malachi at all, apparently. But what kind of job interview was it when I couldn’t ask about her previous employer…or whatever? Not that I had any intention of “hiring” her, so to speak. Also, Alona would kill me twice if she ever heard me implying that a ghost-talker was a spirit guide’s boss.

Erin rolled her eyes and sat on the bed, giving an extra bounce on the mattress, seemingly just to hear the springs creak under her weight. Alona had done stuff like that, too, when she’d first realized my presence would give her physicality. “Look, he’s small-time. Lacks vision. He always has.”

I had absolutely no idea what that meant. Either he was a ghost-talker or he wasn’t. Except there were varying levels of ability—maybe that was what she meant. Might also explain why he needed her to get information and relay it to him, as she’d implied.

“Whenever I want to make things better for us, he’s always dragging his feet. I have to do everything. It’s pathetic.” She heaved an exasperated sigh. “But you?” She gri

Huh. I wondered where she was getting her information. The undead rumor mill moved with frightening speed and terrifying inaccuracy. I was a little scared to think about what she’d heard.

“Imagine what we could accomplish together. All those people we could help, the good that would be done.” She shivered as if in anticipation. “It would be amazing.”

“Uh-huh.” I edged back from her. I had, believe it or not, learned my lesson about mysterious girls—both living and dead—who showed up with offers that sounded too good to be true. It hadn’t worked out very well with Mina Blackwell when she’d tried to recruit me into the Order, and I doubted this would be any different. “I need to think about it.” Which was a lie. She’d freaked me out plenty in less than ten minutes. She was way too eager and interested in something most other ghosts saw as a form of punishment. Something was not right. Any kind of a more permanent arrangement was definitely off the table.

Erin pouted, cocking her head to one side. “What is there to think about? Are you still hung up on your old spirit guide, the one who left you high and dry?” She eased up from the bed, swaying into my personal space. “She’s gone for good, I promise you that.” She tapped a finger against my chest, seeming all too pleased with herself. “And I can be very comforting.”

Holy crap.“Uh…” I scooted away from her, my brain still processing her words. “What do you mean, she’s gone for good? How do you know?” I knew the others thought that, but Erin spoke with such confidence it sent alarm bells ringing in my head.

She backed off a step, looking cagey. “Let’s just say I have my ways.”

“Like?” I persisted.

She drew back, her mouth pinched in anger. “You know, if you can’t appreciate what I’m offering, I’ll just talk to the other one, then.” She spun on her heel and started walking away.

“The other one what?” I asked warily.

“The girl you were with this morning, the one who was talking to the crying chick,” she said over her shoulder with some exasperation, as if I should have known. “She’s a ghost-talker, too, isn’t she?”

“Leave her out of this,” I said immediately, before I had time to realize exactly how panicky and paranoid that sounded. Smooth, I heard Alona say in my head.

Erin turned to face me, eager interest written all over her face. “Something’s different about her, isn’t it? I could see it.” She raised an eyebrow. “Maybe shewould be open to some help.”

“No, you offered it to me first. And I said I’d think about it, okay?” I didn’t want her anywhere near Alona. Whoever (or whatever) Erin was, she was powerful and up to something, and Alona was too vulnerable in her current state.

“You know,” she said with a tight smile, “I don’t actually need your permission.”

Uh-oh.I’d been kind of hoping she wasn’t aware of that fact. “Wait, let’s just—”

She shut her eyes and said in a loud dramatic voice, “I claim you as my ghost-talker.”

Panic lit up my insides. “Stop!” I started toward her, not sure what I could do short of tackling her.

“I am yours and you are mine.” She finished in a hurry before I could reach her.

I winced, waiting for a cold blast of air and the supernatural-feeling shift in the atmosphere, the sense of two pieces fitting together. That’s what had happened when Alona had claimed me.

But…there was nothing.

Huh.

She cracked one eye open to look at me. “I am yours and you are mine,” she repeated slowly.

Still nothing. I started to smile.

She opened both eyes and made a frustrated noise. “What the hell?”

“Maybe it knows that tying yourself to someone who doesn’t want you around and can summon you up on a whim is a bad idea,” I said, giddy with relief. I had no idea what “it” was, other than some kind of otherworldly force that seemed to control these things, and I certainly had no way of knowing if it had any kind of opinion on the matches it made. But something had kept the co

Erin folded her arms across her chest. “Are you threatening me?”

Yes.“No. Just making sure we understand each other,” I said.

She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not like it worked, so you don’t have anything to worry about from me.” She turned away and stalked toward the opposite wall to leave.