Chapter 49
Present Day
My ears are buzzing, blocking out all other noises, and my eyes are open but seeing nothing. I feel nothing. Nothing at all. Like I’m floating in a tranquil ocean.
Something presses against my mouth and I blink, the sensation so familiar and loving and…
Home.
I blink again and my head swims. But my vision clears, allowing me to take in Rohan’s face, his eyes closed as he kisses me.
“There’s our little Nova,” Koda coaxes. I realize with a start that he’s actually holding me, rocking me in his arms. The floating sensation.
Rohan keeps kissing me, life breathing back into me with ever soft peck.
Sweat soaks my brow, sliding down my face, and I think I might be sweating everywhere, my shirt sticking to me. The tremors start as the chill of the air caresses the moistures. The shuddering makes Rohan pull away, finally opening his eyes.
They’re full of terror.
“Shit, she’s cold,” Koda murmurs, still rocking. “We need a blanket.”
“Carry her into the living room,” Theodore orders, but I don’t see him.
“Wait,” I gasp, as Koda lifts me from the floor with Rohan’s help. “Glass. There’s broken glass.”
Koda quirks a brow at me, his smile strained, not at all like the one full of spirit he normally wears. But there’s also relief in his gaze, like my words were what he was looking for. “I’m not worried about it. Even if I wasn’t wearing shoes, I can’t bleed, remember?”
I’m too exhausted to nod, laying my head against his shoulder. He walks through the kitchen, glass indeed crunching beneath his shoes. I’m deposited on the couch and my brows lift in surprise when Jimmy brings the blanket off my bed. He drapes it over me, his image flickering.
“That took a lot of energy,” he mutters to Theodore.
Theodore ignores him. “Baby girl, we need to call Tilly. She can come get you and get you away from Rhea. After that, we can’t risk you staying here anymore.”
My eyes dart to the dining area. “I don’t know where my phone went. Or if it still works.”
“It’s all right, sweet girl,” Jimmy says, trying to calm the panic I’m sure he sees in my face. “We’ll find it.”
“She—she was going to hurt me,” I whisper brokenly. “Rhea’s never…”
Rohan sighs. “We’re going to get you out of here before she comes back, love.”
I shiver, pulling the blanket around me tighter. Shock. I must have been in shock—or I still am.
“Fuck!” Koda seethes, making me flinch. A pained look crosses his face at my reaction and he takes a deep breath. “I wish I could warm you up. Fuck, you don’t know how I wish I could hold you and warm you up.”
Tears spring to my eyes. “I want that too.”
I can’t stand the looks they all give me, the ones that border on pity. I close my eyes, clutching at the blanket, begging for it to chase the cold from my fingers and toes.
Rhea shoves at me. “Catch me if you can,” she taunts, darting into our house.
Daddy says our house is ugly and old. He yells at Mommy about it sometimes. He makes her cry sometimes. He says she’s a crackwhore. I don’t know what that it is, but he doesn’t like it very much.
I chase after her, giggling as quiet as I can. Mommy told us to go play earlier because she was going to take a nap. Sometimes she gets mad when we wake her up from her naps too early.
“I’m going to getchu,” I whisper shout. She darts around the corner, into the hallway that goes to Mommy and Daddy’s room, and to mine and Rhea’s.
I follow her, stopping in the middle by the picture of all four of us on the wall to frown.
Where did she go? She disappeared.
I creep into our room, poking the blankets on the bed we share. Not there. I peek into the closet, but don’t see her either. I glance around the room, but there’s nowhere else to hide in here.
I step back into the hallway and notice Mommy’s door is open just a little bit. I scowl at it.
“That’s cheating,” I mouth, stamping my foot softly as I cross my arms. “Not fair.”
Rhea always says I’m a chicken because I’m too afraid to do stuff like go into Mommy’s room during her naps. I don’t like it when she spanks for me not listening. But I’m mad enough Rhea is breaking the rules, I tiptoe to the door and push it open.
I don’t see Rhea, but I don’t see Mommy either. The bed is empty.
I frown again. “Rhea?” I whisper.
“Shh!”
I jump, but the sound of my sister’s voice draws me closer to the bed. It sounded like she was over there somewhere.I see her head as I get nearer, tucked on the other side as she sits on the floor.
“What are you doing?” I ask, barely whispering. “Where’s Mommy?”
Rhea doesn’t answer me, but I don’t need her to, anyway. I see Mommy laying on the floor by her, and she’s sleeping.
Not sleeping. Mommy coughs, and yucky stuff comes out of her mouth.
“Ewww. Mommy, you’re chrowing up!” I call, covering my nose.
Rhea stares at Mommy. “She won’t wake up,” she says, poking at Mommy’s arm.
That sounds scary, and I step closer. “Mommy?”
“Go away, Nova,” Rhea says, pointing at the door.
“Rhea.” I sound really scared now, like I do when Rhea calls me a baby. “Rhea, is Mommy okay?”
“Nova! Get out!” Rhea yells.
I run for the door. I don’t like it when Rhea yells at me. But I stop before I go out the door, hearing Mommy’s voice.
“Call. Daddy,” she says, and then it sounds like she’s chrowing up again.
“It’s okay, Mommy,” Rhea says. “I’ll stay with you until you are better.”
“No.” Mommy sounds scared too now. “Call. Daddy.”
I want to tell Rhea that we should listen to her, that we should call Daddy. She’s our Mommy. She’s in charge.
“No,” Rhea says, and she sounds mean, so I stay quiet. “I’ll stay with you, Mommy. Only me.”Her head turns, and she looks at me scary. “Go away, Nova!” she shouts. “I told you to go away!”
I jerk awake, gasping, and I’m instantly surrounded by soft touches and concerned whispers. “How long was I asleep?” I pant.
Koda shakes his head. “For seconds, maybe.”
I cover my eyes with one hand, trying to catch my breath. “I want to leave,” I manage to say. “I don’t want to be here when Rhea comes back.”
I know what this means. I may have to leave them behind. Maybe. They’ve followed me before. Maybe they can follow me again. All of them.
Still, there’s no hesitation.
“Let’s find your phone,” Theodore says immediately. “We need Tilly’s help for this. We just—we can’t help you like we want to.” His mouth twists into a frown.
I nod, pushing to my feet and allowing Koda and Jimmy to support me when I stand on shaky legs. Once I have my balance, I nod and they release me, hovering as I limp to the dining area. I look at the catastrophic mess that she created during her tantrum, shaking my head. I still can’t wrap my brain around what happened mere minutes ago. There isn’t a bare spot of floor to step on right now.
I clear my mind. Focus. I visualize where Rhea was standing in the kitchen, and the direction she threw my phone, my eyes tracing along the floor. I sink to my knees and start digging through the papers, shuffling them aside without really looking at what they are.
The guys hover, trying to help sort through it, but they all seem weak, unable to grip anything easily. That’s a problem for later. Right now, they’re right. I need Tilly.
I shove a black canvas bag aside and spot the lavender color of my phone. I snatch it up with a gasp. Pressing the wake button, my heart sinks when the screen peers back at me in a rainbow of colors, a deep shatter that starts at one corner, spreading out like spider webs across the rest of it.
“No,” I moan, despondent. “Please.”
I hold down the wake button until the virtual assistant asks me what I want.
“Call Tilly,” I say clearly, hopeful.
“Calling ‘Tilly BFF—Bat Friend Forever’.”
I could cry as the phone starts ringing, even if the ring sounds sick.
“Please pick up, please,” I plead.
She doesn’t pick up. Her voicemail is automated, asking me to leave a message. It beeps.
“Tilly, please come to my house as quick as you can.” I can’t fight the hot tears burning their way down my face. “Please, I need you before Rhea gets back. She went nuts and…just come get me. I’ll explain when you get here. Hurry.”
I have no way to end the call, so I just set the phone on the floor next to me. I rub at my eyes, swiping away the tears that have fallen, exhaustion filling my veins.
“Love, I don’t think we can wait,” Rohan says gently.
My head is killing me. “I can just walk to Tilly’s,” I mutter, rubbing at my temple. “I—”
I stop, staring at the floor. I angle my head, ignoring the way my head throbs, studying the canvas bag I shoved aside earlier, the corner of something spilling out over the top.
“What’s wrong?” Koda asks, sounding more on edge than any of them.
Tentatively, I pick up the bag, staring into it without replying to him. Turning the bag upside down, wallets of various sizes and color tumble into my lap.
Why would Rhea have all of these?
“Oh, fuck,” Jimmy whispers.
I pick up a black canvas one, fingering the edge of it.
Theodore strides toward me. “Nova, don’t—”
I open the wallet, staring in at the driver’s license displayed in the little plastic window. My brain stalls out, unable to reconcile what I’m seeing with the other facts I know.
Ezra Becker.
Ezra’s face grins at me, the picture showing a boy several years younger than the ghost I met and helped move on.
I look up, realizing how quiet it has gotten. I meet Jimmy’s eyes first. “What is this?”
A hand cradles my arm at the elbow, as if to tug me to my feet. I snatch my arm away and seize another wallet, this one brown leather. The creases are faded, washed out from wear over time, and butter soft as my fingers slide over the outside. Someone whispers a soft, “No,” but I unfold it anyhow. I drop the wallet like it burned me, scrambling back.
“What is this?” I demand, pointing at the still open wallet on the ground.
James Shaw.
Jimmy. That’s Jimmy’s picture. That’s Jimmy’s smile.
It’s Jimmy’s wallet.
Still, nobody answers me. The silence feels full of static.
I lurch forward, grabbing another wallet and another.
Wyatt Martin.
Jeremiah Fischer.
Dakota Parker.
Archer Miller.
Andy Nguyen.
Rohan Desai.
Gabriel Hurley.
Chris Bailey.
Theodore Pappas.
My hands are shaking so badly by the time I finish ripping wallets open, each as unique as each of the ghosts who used to haunt this house, I can barely hold on to them. Nobody touches me or tries to soothe me. Theodore’s wallet remains in my hand, a black credit card gleaming at me from one of the slots.
I throw it as hard as I can against the wall, and every one of the men in the room flinches. “What is this?” I scream. “Why would Rhea have your wallets?”
But I know. I already know. I know what I had been refusing to see, how I had been refusing to connect the dots. Eleven ghosts had haunted this house and, with my help, some of them moved on from being stuck here for an eternity. Not a single one had told me how they died. No, they’d delicately avoided it as if…as if they knew if they told me, it would be soul crushing.
Stupid, stupid Nova.
A furious scream erupts out of me, and I internally cringe that I sound no different than Rhea did as she trashed the kitchen and dining table. I stagger to my feet, cutting a look at Rohan when he tries to reach forward to assist. He withdraws his hands before he touches me, looking wary.
“I want to hear you say it,” I hiss at him, then glare at each of the others. “I want to hear you say it!”
Koda is the first to break, sighing. “We didn’t want you to know too much, Nova. We thought it would put you in more danger.”
Not little Nova. Just Nova.
“Put me in more danger?” I laugh, but the sound is lacking all humor. “I still want to hear you say it.”
He meets my eyes without faltering. “Your sister murdered each of us over the last couple of years.”
“No, she didn’t,” I blurt out. I don’t know why because I don’t agree with my own words. “No. She didn’t. Tell me she didn’t—” Sobs tear through my chest, and this time when Rohan reaches for me, I collapse into him, clawing at him. “Tell me she didn’t kill you. Tell me she didn’t kill the only people who I have ever loved.”
Loved. The people I love.
“We can’t, baby,” Theodore chokes out, and I think he’s crying too based on the way his voice cracks.
It settles in, the signs, the clues, the knowledge. It settles.
My sister killed eleven men and I don’t know what to do about it.