“What good will that do for ghosts?”
“We want to be invisible again. At one timewe believed nothing could be worse than being invisible and unableto communicate with the living. We were wrong. We now know there isnothing worse than being a constant source of fear to most humans.There are those rare humans who accept us, but we have becomeoutcasts, trapped out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“And if I can close the gateway, you’ll goback to obscurity?” I inquired.
“We hope so,” she whispered.
I didn’t say there was a good possibility Icouldn’t do what so many hoped I could. I tried not to think aboutit myself. If I failed, I failed all humankind and demon-kind. Andnow, apparently ghost-kind too. If I thought about all of that toomuch, I’d climb into the black pit where the mechanics once workedunderneath the truck, hug my knees to my chest, and never come outagain.
I was twenty-two years old and they’d ploppedan entire destiny I’d never known about into my lap. I took a deepbreath to steady myself as the weight of the world settled onto myshoulders. Now I knew what Atlas had felt like, but he’d been atitan and I was a mere mortal. I may not be completely human, but Iwas still susceptible to death and dismemberment.
Now thousands, probably millions of ghostsaround the world, either believed or doubted I might be able topull off something I didn’t pretend to comprehend.
If you can’t do it, itdoesn’t mean you failed. It simply means all of them werewrong.
I told myself this, but if I failed, it wouldhaunt me for the rest of my days, and I would blame myself.
“Are you okay?” Erin asked from besideme.
I forced myself to speak through the lump inmy throat. “Yes.”
“This door goes outside,” Daisy said.
In the room behind us, shouts erupted. “Getout!” someone screamed.
“Not welcome! Not welcome!” Became a chantingmantra that blocked out any other noise.
“We have to get out of here,” Corsonsaid.
Daisy vanished through the door. Corsongrabbed the handle and twisted it hard enough to break it off as hepushed it open. No light illuminated the alley when we stepped intothe hushed night. I froze when I discovered Daisy flattened againstthe side of the building, somehow looking paler than she hadbefore.
“Daisy, are you okay?” I inquired.
“Hate the dark,” she murmured.
“Unbelievable,” Vargas muttered.
“Go back inside,” I said to her. “Thank youfor your help.”
“We’ll keep them distracted for as long as wecan. Good luck to you. I have faith in you,” she gushed beforefleeing back inside the building.
CHAPTER 22
Kobal
“Have you ever considered staying on Earth ifwe close this gateway?” I asked Bale as I drove the truck.
I barely paid attention to the ruts and holesin the roadway as my teeth clacked against each other and my headbounced off the ceiling numerous times. Most of the bullets hadworked their way out of me and my flesh was repairing itself, butthe jarring of the truck caused some of the wounds to tear andspill fresh blood over my clothes.
“I think we all have,” she replied. “But thatis your choice to make. It would be your decision to allow us toremain.”
I glanced over at her before swerving out ofthe way of a hole in the earth. The tires spun in the grass anddirt lining the side of the road, pinging the undercarriage withdebris before I corrected the truck back onto the road.
“Are you thinking about it?” she asked.
“I’m considering it.”
“Because of River?”
