AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Fourteen
After I told Caley and Zach about the recent events, even how Kipp implied Dane’s involvement and of my interaction with Kipp in the Netherworld, minus the juicy bits, both of them looked a little stunned. Not missing a step, I finished up with the freaky note from last night.
Once Zach held the ability to blink again, he grabbed the piece of paper off the nightstand and he read the handwritten note. “You have no idea who left it?” At the shake of my head, his lips thinned. “Why would someone write you a note and not just tell you? It doesn’t make sense.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I muttered in agreement. Which had been exactly what Gretchen and I concluded last night. “The craziest part is it had to be someone who’s staying at the house. There’s no other way someone would get into the bedroom without being detected.” I rubbed my eyes. “It is slightly amusing that the people who might be suspects, also might be the very same people trying to help me.”
“Oh, I find nothing about this amusing,” Caley grumbled. “I’m trying to stay calm.” Her eyes bulged out of her head, so she wasn’t doing a very good job of it. “But you get a note telling you your life is in danger and to get out, and you slept here last night?”
Even now it sounded as insane as it had last night. Gretchen had voiced the very same concerns, but only one truth mattered. “As much as I want to leave—and trust me, I do—I can’t.”
“Because of Kipp?” Caley asked.
I nodded, giving her no wiggle room to argue. “Wayde has the answer to save Kipp—for that reason alone, I’m staying put. Besides, while it seems that someone is trying to protect me, how can we believe it’s actually that?”
“Meaning?” Zach asked.
Gretchen sighed. “What if the killer is sending us the note because they want us to leave?”
Zach agreed with a nod. “It could be a way to push you out easily. Hoping it’d spook you enough to return to Memphis.”
I snorted. “Well, they’re wrong. I’m not leaving until I get that damn book to fix Kipp. Anyhow, it’s sad what’s happened to Alexander and for me to leave him like this when I’m the only one who can see him seems harsh.”
Caley rolled her eyes. “Now you’re having guilt over another ghost?”
“What am I to do, Caley?” I implored. “I can’t want one ghost to be okay and not want it for the others. What kind of selfish bitch would that make me?”
She hesitated. “But what if all this gets you killed? Have you even thought of that? How dangerous it all is.”
“How can I not think of that?” I blasted back, fluffing the pillow at my back to lean against it. “As it stands right now, there’s no motive for Alexander’s death.” I gave her a long look. “None at all. Sure, maybe once we close in on a suspect it would get more dangerous, but honestly, at this point I’m thinking the case won’t get solved.”
“She’s right,” Gretchen agreed. “Even if we help Alexander become stronger, I doubt he’ll be able to tell us anything about his death. From what Tess has learned from him, he doesn’t know who did this to him.”
“Which means,” I continued. “We’ll be running in circles trying to look for a suspect who right now is totally out of reach.”
Zach considered me a moment. “How do you want to handle this, then?”
With little options, only one plan stood out. “I think it’s best to continue on like we have. Find a way to get Alexander to be a friggin’ normal ghost and see if anything comes of that.” I paused, staring into Zach’s warm eyes. “But more than anything, I think we need to save Kipp on our own.” I looked at Gretchen, hating to insult her and hoping it came out gently. “As much as you trust these people, I don’t. Whatever the note means and whom it’s from, it’s warning enough we need to act.”
“So, find the Lux?” she asked.
I gave a firm nod. “I’ll do what I can to help Alexander. Really, I will. But my priority at the moment is to get that book. If I could solve his death, I would, but what if I can’t? Then where will I be?”
Her expression darkened, and I continued, “Exactly. In the same place I am now, only I’m missing Kipp more than ever. I think our best plan is to strengthen Alexander so he can talk to us. See if he knows where the book is. I mean, he was the leader of this group, he has to know, right?”
“I’d imagine he would,” Gretchen said, but behind that acknowledgment, I sensed her sadness that she, and I, suspected Alexander’s murder was unsolvable.
I quickly took her hands, loathing I didn’t have a quick fix to all this. “We never know, in the Lux, there might be a spell to force Alexander to cross over. Maybe we can help him that way, or something.”
She squeezed my hands in return, smiling softly. “You’re right—the Lux might be our answer.” The sadness cleared from her eyes. “I, too, suspect whoever is behind this won’t be easily found. My only concern is not leaving Alexander in the condition he’s in right now.”
“So…” Zach interjected, looking at Gretchen. “How do you strengthen this ghost?”
Frustration etched into her features. “I have a few spells that could work, but it’s nothing I’ve ever done before. I think we need to run them by Alexander. Out of anyone, he’ll know which one will work for him.”
Zach nodded, then to me he asked, “Do you plan on talking to him today?”
“As soon as he shows up.” I gestured toward Gretchen. “She suspects it’s more of a wait-for-him type of thing, because of his…um…condition.”
