“No, I’m not a witch. That was a kind of spell, though. It’s called a Melding, and it helps the living connect with the dead,” Jess explained.
“How can you be doing spells if you’re not a?—”
“Look, Wren, I promise I will explain all of this to you when I’ve got my body back,” Jess said, a snap of impatience in her voice.
“Jess, I haven’t been a practicing witch very long, but even I know there’s no magic that can restore a spirit to a body once it’s been severedby death,” I told her, trying to keep my voice gentle, even as the rest of me practically vibrated with the excitement of actually seeing and talking to a ghost.
“I’m aware of that, Wren, but the thing is, I’m not dead. I’m Walking,” Jess said.
“What’s—”
“I used a Casting—that’s what we call spells—to leave my body and take a spirit form. My body onlyseemsto be dead. But I’m still tethered to it, and as soon as I return to it, I’ll be walking and talking and breathing again.”
“Are you serious?” I asked.
“I’ll be happy to prove it to you,” Jess said, and again, there was an undercurrent of impatience in her tone.
“You said, ‘that’s what we call spells.’ Who’s we?” I asked.
Jess let out a groan of frustration. “Wren, I appreciate you want answers, but I’m running out of time, here. I’ll explain everything when I’ve got my body back.”
“But if what you’re saying is true, and you really can rejoin with your body, why do you need our help?” Bea asked in her bright, clear voice.
Jess’s expression turned grim. “Because thanks to Wren and the Sedgwick Cove Police Department, my body isn’t where I left it anymore.”
I felt myself bristling. “Hey, how were we supposed to know you were doing some kind of weird zombie trick?” I snapped. “Your body was just lying there, no breathing, no pulse! Anyone would have thought you were dead!”
Jess rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay, fair enough, but if we don’t get moving, I will actually be dead. Are you going to help me or not?”
“If we do, do you promise you’ll explain everything?” I countered.
Before Jess could reply, Bea piped up again. “Of course, we’ll help you! What do we need to do?”
Jess’s face split into a mischievous smile as she turned to look at Bea. “Ever broken into a morgue before?”
12
“Ican’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Nova grumbled, as we piled into her car.
“I know. I’ll make it up to you,” I said, as I put on my seatbelt. “Bea, put yours on, too.”
“I know how to drive a car, Wren,” Nova snapped, as we jerked our way down the road toward town.
“If you say so,” I muttered. The truth was, I had no other choice. Nova was the only friend I had with a license and her own car—and even that license was still only a few weeks old.
“Am I about to find out why my mother tore out of our house tonight?” she’d asked, by way of greeting. “Because she wouldn’t tell me shit when she got back, but she looked pissed.”
“Yes,” I’d replied. “Yes, I’ll tell you everything your mother wouldn’t tell you, just get over here.”
That had been enough. There was no stronger lure for Nova than somehow outmaneuvering her mother. Check and mate.
“I still don’t really understand what we’re doing,” Nova said, as she barreled down the road. Lightkeep Cottage winked at us from the rearview mirror. I’d made Nova park a ways down the street so that noone would hear the car engine. Thank goddess she’d still been awake when I’d texted her.
“That makes two of us,” I said with a glance into the back seat, where Jess was seated beside Bea, who looked wild with excitement.
“Look, unless you want me to slam on these brakes…” Nova threatened.
“Okay, okay,” I said, and explained what happened after she, Eva, and Zale had left me alone at the Shadow Tree.
