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Kipp squeezed my hand and when I looked to him, he smiled at me. I wrapped my other hand around his, loving just this—holding his hand and chatting with someone.
So simple. So perfect.
The twinkle in his eye told me he enjoyed it, too, and maybe that’s why he’d drawn my attention to it. While we hadn’t finished our conversation, perhaps the break helped, because right now we couldn’t do much about it.
I’d never agree with Kipp’s view on it all. There would be no way in hell I’d ever stop looking for a way to help him. And if he tried to stop me, I’d magically find a way to ensure he couldn’t.
Focusing on Nettie again, I noticed her fiddling with her long skirt, and moving her hips slightly as if she enjoyed the wind. “Your diary is in a safe place, though. Not for public reading or anything.”
“That’s nice to hear.” She laughed, dropped her skirt, and clasped her hands in front of her. “As to your question, yes, when I chose to stay in the Netherworld, my living body died and I’ve remained here ever since.” Her smile faded, and as she looked at Kipp, her blue eyes sharpened. “So, did I hear that you want to be saved?”
Her firm expression made my heart skip a beat. Kipp’s fingers clamped against mine. Oh yeah, it appeared I wasn’t the only one who had the feeling Nettie wasn’t blind to Kipp’s situation.
When Kipp remained silent, I obviously wasn’t nearly as stunned speechless, since I blurted out, “Do you know he’s not dead?”
Nettie’s chin dipped low as her gaze traveled over Kipp in a slow sweep before she turned to me and nodded. “Yes, I can tell.”
Kipp frowned at her before he glanced down at me with a perplexed look. I nodded agreement. I wondered what Nettie could see that I couldn’t. We had the same abilities, that much I did know, but I couldn’t tell that Kipp wasn’t dead.
Well, actually, that wasn’t entirely true. I could tell when I first met Kipp that he was different from other ghosts, but I hadn’t pieced it all together until I saw his comatose body. I wondered if Nettie had met someone like him before. “How can you tell?”
Her gaze skipped from me to Kipp, and yet again, she gave a soft smile. “Simple. I can’t help you cross over.”
I did a double take, looking between Nettie and the confused Kipp, as the dark night spun around me. I finally ended up blinking frantically to gather my wits. What she stated made no sense at all. “But you helped him when he first came into the Netherworld?”
She agreed with a slow nod. “I did what I could to assist him. He seemed so lost. I tried to help him understand where he was. But I couldn’t do anything more, which is why I knew he was different than the others.”
Kipp’s fingers squeezed mine so tight. When I glanced up at him, seeing the stars over his head twinkling, he arched an eyebrow at Nettie. “Why didn’t you tell me that when we first met?”
“You seemed to be dealing with enough,” Nettie said, sheepishly, and she shifted uneasily on her feet. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
I snorted at that ridiculous notion. “We were overwhelmed months ago. I doubt anything you said would’ve made him more confused.” The wind breezed around me again, fluttering my hair over my face and bringing a big whiff of earthy scents with it.
After I tucked my hair behind my ear, I regarded Nettie and noted the slight sparkle in her eyes. I had a good sense this woman knew more than she was telling us, because why else would she be asking if Kipp wanted to be saved? As much as I wanted to let hope drift up, I stuffed it down. I couldn’t be crushed again. “So, why are you here now?”
Nettie paused, her stare fixated on Kipp as her eyebrows furrowed. The streetlight just off to our right started to flicker and part of me wondered if the cause was my irritation and impatience. Then her hard study turned to me. “I sense a connection with you I don’t feel with the others who journey here.”
Now I hesitated, not sure why she brought that up now. It had nothing to do with Kipp. “Well, that’s because we share the same gifts.” We were way off topic and the last thing I wanted to do was talk about me. “But that’s beside the point, why did you come to see us?”
She sighed, glancing down at the pavement. “I know what you’re asking me, without really asking me.” Her head lifted. “The answer to help Kipp is entirely simple.”
I rolled my eyes out of sheer frustration. “Of course it is.”
Her lips twitched. “Think of yourself.” She cocked her head, her amusement fading. “You’re bound to the mystical world. Meaning, you hold power here.” She waved her hands around, gesturing to my pretty, but eerie backdrop. “Do you not remember why you have the gifts you do? The choice you made that gave you such power?”
I stared at her, trying to read what she was telling me and not telling me. First, why wasn’t she outright explaining how to fix Kipp? By all appearances, she knew how to fix him.
Second, she spoke as if she believed without a doubt that I had full understanding of my gifts. That she knew how I obtained my abilities, which was odd. But I wondered if she simply related it to how she received her own abilities.
From what Dane had told me,
I gained my gifts because I had chosen to die when I came into the Netherworld. Then I had been brought back to life in that exact moment. I had wanted to cross over—which I still didn’t believe—but the choice was stripped from me and with that, I attached myself to the Netherworld.
So, I had made the choice to do that.
As I regarded Nettie, with the dark night behind her, and the breeze brushing across my skin, her stare never wavered, firm and direct. Kipp squeezed my hand, capturing my attention. He watched me curiously with an arched brow, his piercing eyes searching mine.
I shook my head slowly at him, trying to understand, but my racing mind couldn’t piece it all together. Deep in my soul, an odd rush of excitement fluttered and time slowed.
