I watch her from the shadows, far enough that she can’t see me. But close enough that I can’t look away.
She’s walking back to Ria’s. There’s a book in her hand — something she picked up from that half-dead shop that sells everything and nothing. She looks peaceful. And the thought that slams into me is that it’s because she thinks I’m gone. Because she can finally breathe without me near her.
I tried. I swear I fucking tried to stay away. I filled my days with planning, picked fights with my own mind just to distract myself. But it doesn’t matter what I do, I always end up here. In the dark, watching her from a distance like some cursed soul chained to the one thing he can never touch again.
I won’t let her see me. Not again. But I need this. Just a glimpse. Just a second. To make sure she’s okay, to see if she’ll smile. She doesn’t, and the pain inside me keeps growing.
There’s a special kind of agony in being erased by the only person who ever made the world feel like it was worth surviving. Every time she walks past, oblivious to the fact that I’m here, itcuts another wound. Breath by breath, piece by fucking piece. And even if she did know, it wouldn’t matter. She’d still give me that brutal, unrelenting silence.
I’d take a slap. A scream. A broken bottle to the face. Anything over this void.
But she’ll never give me anything, ever again.
It’s like dying in slow motion.
I sigh, drag in a breath that hurts on the way in, and squeeze the keyring in my hand until the sharp metal cuts into my palm. When she disappears into the building, I finally move. I pull out my phone and dial the number Bones gave me.
“Who’s this?” Ria answers, already suspicious.
“Ghost,” I say. “I need to give you something. I’m outside your place.”
“No, thank you, Spookleberry Finn. I don’t need anything from you,” she chirps.
I grit my teeth. “It’s the last time I’ll bother you. It’s for Adora.”
There’s a pause, followed by the most dramatic sigh I’ve ever heard. “Give me five.”
She hangs up.
It takes her fifteen.
I see her step outside, eyes scanning the street. I move out from where I’ve been watching. Hellbat gives me a lazy wave from across the way. I nod back, silent.
My hands still sting. But not nearly as much as the hole in my chest.
Ria’s already glaring when I approach, arms crossed like she has no time for my bullshit.
“Alright, Soul Sucker Supreme,” she snaps. “What fresh fuckery are you planning?”
I toss her the keys. She snatches them out of the air with a speed that almost makes me regret not aiming for her face.
“For Adora,” I say. “Cabin by the lake. It’s hers now.” I hand over the envelope next. “That’s the deed. Signed and done. She can do whatever she wants with it. I took my personal shit out.”
Her eyes go wide, but I’m already turning away. I don’t need a reaction. I just needed to do it.
I make it two steps before she blows out a frustrated breath behind me.
“Hey, Spook Dog!”
I turn, reluctantly. She’s holding something in her hand now, something I hadn’t noticed before — hidden in the folds of her ridiculous puffy skirt.
What the hell is that?
Whoosh.
The sound hits a second before the sting. I look down and blink.
A dart.
