My eyes harden on the guy who threw his trash on my lawn. “I told you to get lost, fuckface.”
I whip my head round to the sound of a chuckle behind me.
Lynx leans on the rickety doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, wearing a shit-eating grin I’d wipe off for free. “I don’t think they can hear you, dead girl.”
I swing my gaze back to the driveway just as a woman walks right through me. All of them do. They move past like I’m a… ghost.
My fingers tremble at my sides.I’m dead, I remind myself.I buried myself two days ago. Humans can’t see me.
I’m invisible, just like I was when I was alive—just like it’s always been when I’ve been under this roof. My lungs squeeze, and the stone in my stomach turns into a boulder.
I glance behind me as a feminine voice reaches my ears.
“Who are you? You look ready for a ren faire.” One of the girls in a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a coat grins up at Lynx. Something unsettling that I’d rather not name sits heavy in my chest, and images flash in my mind of him focusing his attention on someone else.
The thought unsettles me because once he’s gone, I’ll go back to being alone.
At least now he doesn’t have much of a choice but to interact with me. Not that I want it. But it’s… it’s nice sharing my misery with somebody else.
Behind them, harsh floodlights turn on, blinding the part of the house with the main living room.
Lynx regards her with an arch of his brow, wholly unamused. “I could ask you the same thing.”
She tips her head to the side, matching his stoic aloofness. “Get me a drink, and I’ll be willing to answer three questions.”
“I prefer being told for free,” he deadpans.
I stop listening after that.
More people keep coming through. One right after the other. It’s like the gates are open and every person from the nearest campus is showing up.
Music suddenly blares in the background, some crappy rap song that was making the rounds online before I died. Everyone immediately yells their approval and starts joining in.
I glare into the manor, too in my own head to listen to the heated discussion between Lynx and the girl. I could scream, and the only fucking person that would hear me is the demon that got me into this mess in the first place.
But that’s exactly what I want to do: scream until my vocal cords feel like they’re being ripped out. Until my mouth goes dry and the windows rattle from the force.
Instead, I don’t make a sound. I shove it down and let the feeling claw up my throat.
More people walk through me, into the house. It’s like an endless stream of people that would leave me trampled if I weren’t mist. So I stop being a haze and focus every ounce of energy on taking form.
The next person to enter the houseknowshe’s not welcome. The color drains from his face as he stumbles through me, turning the same shade of blue that paints the sky before a storm. Whatever joy he felt melts from his face, and the power rush it gives me almost makes me feel human.
That’show I haunt people.
I’m dead but not useless. If these assholes want to come wreck my house, then so be it. They’re fair game too.
I storm through the wall, barreling through every person I pass. One by one, they shift, feeling my presence. Their throats bob, and they blink hard, glancing around like there’s a violent breeze they can’t find.
And I find him: the first asshole who thought it was a good idea to throw his shit away onmylawn.
Dirty-blonde hair, zero useful thoughts behind his gray eyes, and a red jersey belonging to a sports team I never cared for.
I’ll call him Connor.
Tonight is an opportunity, and I would be a fool to let it go to waste. So when I slam my body against Connor’s, and his phone goes flying out of his hand, I make sure he doesn’t get the chance to grab it, kicking it out of his reach and into another room while he’s none the wiser.
I snatch it off the floor and use the dark room to my advantage, weaving between people with the phone in my grip. Sweat beads along my forehead as I focus on keeping hold of the device—it feels heavy enough to rip my fucking arm off.
