Body and Soul

The thought made me queasy.

“It’s a leap, and not one I want to make unless we’re sure.” In addition to my own desire to survive the ordeal with the least number of broken bones possible, I also didn’t want to waste time u

“You don’t know them like I know them,” Alona reminded me.

“Thank God for that,” I muttered.

She sighed loudly over Ed’s drunken snoring in the back. “I can prove it.”

I snorted. “Right. How?”

She shrugged. “Call Misty.”

I laughed before realizing she was serious. “You want me to call your former best friend, the current commander in chief of the snob patrol, for help? Why would she want to help us on this?” Yeah, she’d tipped me off that something was wrong with “Ally” earlier, but I wasn’t sure if her generosity would stretch this far, especially if her friends—well, Lea

Alona glared at me, probably for the snob-patrol comment. “Because, as far as she knows, you and your strange friend ‘Ally’ saved her ass from me, the big, bad, evil spirit haunting her, remember?” She lifted a shoulder. “And she’s not that bad.”

A far cry from the evil incarnate she’d believed Misty to be only a few months ago.

“Trust me, she’ll do it,” she said, holding her hand out for my phone.

“What is that, exactly?” I asked, not making a move to give my phone to her.

“She’ll tell us for sure whether Erin will be there tonight,”she said impatiently.

I turned on to the highway, pointing us toward Decatur and Groundsboro. “And how is she going to do that? It’s only eight thirty, and you said his parties don’t get going until later.”

“Because if Lea

“Fine,” I muttered. I pulled my phone from my pocket and slapped it into her palm. At least, that was the plan. What happened, though, was it slipped through her faded and flickering hand to the seat below and then bounced to the floor.

Panic lit up my insides. I swerved to the side of the road, ignoring a

Alona wouldn’t look at me, focusing instead on the dashboard. “Just give me a second,” she said.

She whispered to herself, too quietly for me to hear over the noise of passing cars, but after a long heart-stopping moment, her physicality returned, shifting her from see-through and kind of blurry to solid once more.

I bent down and retrieved the phone, resisting the urge to ask once again if she was all right. The truth was, she wasn’t, and she wouldn’t be. And there was nothing she and I could do about it now, except all that we were already doing.

I silently held the phone out to her, but instead of reaching for it, she turned to stare out the window and rattled off Misty’s number. It sent a chill through me, seeing her remove herself from the action, like she’d already given up in some way.

I had to have her repeat the number so I could punch it in, and as the phone started to ring on the other end, I put it on speakerphone.

“Hello?” Misty answered, in the suspicious voice of one who doesn’t recognize the number on her caller ID.

“Hi, Misty, it’s, uh, Will Killian. From before?” I shifted in my seat and looked at Alona for reassurance.

She waved me on, impatient, but a weak imitation of what it would have been under other circumstances.

“Yeah?” Misty sounded wary.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for my friend, the one who was at your house today?” I wasn’t sure whether to call her Lily or Ally.

Misty huffed loudly. “Why are you asking me? She left here with you.”

“I know, but—”

“And her mom has been calling over here, all freaked out about her being gone.”

Crap. I’d forgotten about that.

“What did you tell her?” I asked. If she’d so much as hinted to Mrs. Turner that Lily was going to this party . . .

“Same thing I’m going to tell you. She left with you, and I haven’t seen her since.” Misty’s voice rose on a defensive note at the end.

I gave Alona an I-told-you-so look.

Alona shook her head. “She knows, though. She alwaysknows. Lea

A rustling came through from Misty’s side, followed by a loud clatter and a stream of swearwords. “Look, I have to go. I’m trying to get ready and—”

I took a deep breath, banking on Alona knowing these people as well as she claimed to. “Lea

Misty sucked in a breath. “How did you know that? How do you even know there’s a party?” She made it sound like I’d somehow managed to crack the complicated code surrounding their supersecret elite activities. Like I’d been blind, deaf, and dumb through four years of high school.

I ignored her words and the insult behind them. “Did Lily say she was going?”

She was quiet for a long moment, and I thought we might have lost our co

“Look,” she said wearily. “I don’t want any part in this. This last year has been hard enough—”

Alona gave me a satisfied nod. “Told you.”

“Just tell me what happened,” I said to Misty.

“Lea

Neither of which we could rule out in this situation.

“Thanks, Misty.” I moved to hang up.

“Wait,” she said quickly. “You’re not actually going to goto the party, are you?”

I didn’t say anything; better not to give anyone forewarning. Maybe I’d be able to get in and get Erin/Lily out without notice.

“Listen, I appreciate everything you did,” she said in a rush. “It helps me to know Alona is at peace.”

Next to me, the girl in question rolled her eyes.

“But you have to know that going to Ben’s tonight…that’s a bad idea.” She sounded almost worried. “Like, a reallybad idea.”

I grimaced. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, and disco

Unfortunately, bad ideas, really bad ideas, were the only ones we had.

Once we were back in Groundsboro, I gave Will directions to Ben’s place, though he didn’t seem to need them. It made sense, I suppose. Small town, relatively small school, and Ben’s parties were the stuff of such fervent gossip that you didn’t need to have actually attended one to know how to find their official sponsored location.

Not to mention the fact that about a mile from Ben’s actual house we had to pass THE tree, the one Will would recognize all too well, the very same one that had gotten us into this mess. Well, that may be a slight exaggeration. This particular situation was, I suppose, more my fault for taking Lily’s body than the tree’s for simply existing for Lily to crash into. But still.

I stared at the tree as we drove by. It seemed like it should bear some mark of its significance—if not some otherworldly celestial glow or a giant flashing arrow over the top of it, maybe massive damage left from the crash—a sign that something tragic and important had occurred there.

But there was no glow or arrow, and if there was damage, I couldn’t see it in the dark. It was just a big old tree. A flash of bark bleached white in the sweep of our headlights, and then it was gone, lost to the shadows as we made the curve Lily had missed.