Page 90 of The Ghost and the Graveyard (Knight Games 1)
I needed help. Someone who wasn't afraid to give me a firm kick in the pants if it was warranted.
I needed Michelle.
For the sake of our friendship, I decided not to tell her the entire truth. She would never believe me. But more than that, her specialty was mental health, and I didn't want to end up in the state mental ward. I had to figure out a way to ask her without really asking her.
I jumped in the shower. Usually the hot water was soothing, like I could wash away all of my worries, but today my insides crawled with unrest. Flashes of the last couple of days overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against the shower wall. The pit of my chest felt heavy with...guilt? Fear?
"Are you okay?" Logan's voice came from behind the shower door.
I jolted at the sound. "Yeah. I was just thinking."
"Oh."
"How long have you been watching me shower?"
My answer came in the silence.
"Logan!"
He gave a charming, boy-next-door laugh. "It's one of the few advantages of being a ghost."
I turned off the water and reached for my towel. "I should have kept the bouquet of herbs from Rick. This whole time, I felt you watching me, but I thought it was all in my head. "
"I'm sorry," he said, contrite. "Now that I know it bothers you, I won't do it again."
"Do you promise?"
"Yes. In fact, I'll leave you now. It's time for me to rest anyway. Have a good day."
"You too."
During the whole conversation, I'd never actually seen Logan. His voice had come from the empty corner of the bathroom. But I could tell when he wasn't there anymore. Some part of me had sensed him even before he'd spoken. The weight I'd noticed in the middle of my chest, as if I'd forgotten something important, came and went with his presence. This was new. While I hadn't recognized the feeling until it vanished, I was sure I would in the future.
Was I changing? Becoming more sensitive to the otherworldly? It made sense that I might be. I'd heard it took professional wine tasters years to perfect their ability to separate out complex flavors and aromas. Maybe I was developing a taste for the supernatural.
I tossed on a pair of ruby red scrubs and tied my hair back into the tightest ponytail I could, not a hair out of place. In my head, I thought through the events of the night before with painful clarity. I needed to fix this. I needed a plan.
Rain pelted the Jeep as I backed out of the garage and onto the street. I crossed the stone bridge. My heart sank when I neared Rick's place, the wind chimes creating a cacophony in the building storm. Emotions flooded me, a confusing concoction of anger, unrequited passion, fear, and an odd and unexpected longing. Between the rain and the mist welling up in my eyes, I didn't notice Rick standing in the middle of the road until it was too late.
I slammed on the brakes. The Jeep skidded sideways on the wet asphalt, knocking me against the door. I screamed with horror as I plowed into Rick. Only, there was no collision. At the moment of impact, he dissolved into a smoky mist and reformed behind the revolving metal of my vehicle.
Wearing nothing but black jeans and a trench coat, he reached forward and, in the blink of an eye, grabbed my rear bumper, stopping the Jeep's momentum. He saved me from an almost certain roll in the ditch. My heart pounded. He approached. His dark silhouette sliced though the storm.
Before I had a chance to say a word, he was sitting beside me in the passenger's seat. He'd never opened the door.
I gasped, pressing myself against my window and clutching at my chest as if the personal CPR could coax my heart into beating again. "I didn't know you could do that," I said.
He raised an eyebrow. "I can do anything they can do. I am the balance."
Over his shoulder, the entrance to the cemetery seemed to taunt me with its daytime innocence. "You mean, because the demons can become a mist, you can become a mist."
He nodded. "I can dematerialize like a vampire, I'm fast like a ghoul, strong as a zombie, and there are other things."
I refrained from asking about the other things. I wasn't ready to know. "So, if the vampires developed the ability to travel through time, you would suddenly be able to travel through time?"
"Yes. Although I sincerely hope that particular skill evades them." He leaned forward, crossing the center console and entering my personal space. "I am the caretaker, and in order to do my job, my power has to balance the evil. Balance is a natural law that applies to the supernatural. The only power uniquely mine is the beast."
"Oh." He was so very close. The intensity of his stare left me uneasy.
