Coldhearted (9781311888433) Read online

  Edie showed Maddie the necklace. “I don’t know if it was me or Tristan.”

  Diana and Maddie furrowed their brows.

  Diana repeated, “Tristan?”

  Oh, yeah, the news.

  Edie sighed. “Yeah, the ghost, his name is Tristan, Tristan Lockhart. He, uh, appeared to me last night.”

  Madelyn gasped, then yawned, then gasped again. “He appeared, like…manifested?” she asked, apparently familiar with ghost terminology.

  “In the mirror,” Edie informed.

  “What does he look like?” Diana asked.

  Edie told the truth. “Devilishly handsome,” she replied.

  Edie refrained from telling them about the dream. It was just a dream…right?

  “So…what’d he say?” Madelyn asked. “Was it something about trying to dissuade you from going to that sanatorium this Saturday?”

  Edie smacked a hand against her forehead. “Ugh, I forgot to talk to him about it. It was…confusing…being around him. Startling, you know? He’s so wicked, but at the same time, incredibly charming.”

  Edie shivered, cold. Diana and Madelyn hugged her.

  “Don’t worry,” Diana soothed.

  “We’ll get through this,” Madelyn assured.

  Edie thanked them, glad of their unwavering friendship.

  ****

  Diana was showering while Madelyn was preparing a pot of coffee and buttery toast for breakfast. Edie was alone in her bedroom and sat at her desk, staring at the broken chain in her hand. There wasn’t anything that she could do about it now, so she tucked it away into her jewelry box.

  Suddenly, Madelyn came squealing into her room and looked embarrassed, blushing.

  “What’s wrong?” Edie asked.

  Madelyn bit her lip, and then replied, “I ran into your uncle. I mean, I literally ran into him. He was just wearing a pair of boxers, and well...” She gestured at her nightshirt, falling just mid-thigh. “We both just stared at each other, wide-eyed, until he mumbled something, then I mumbled something, and then we took off in opposite directions.” She blew out a breath of relief and collapsed on the bed. “Coffee’s ready, by the way,” she informed as an afterthought.

  When Diana got out of the bathroom, Edie told Madelyn to go next, while she went to go grab a cup of coffee. On the way to the kitchen, she met her uncle, hiding behind his half-open bedroom door.

  “Is your friend freaked out?” he asked.

  Edie stifled a giggle. “Yeah. Are you okay?”

  He opened the door all the way. He was wearing a T-shirt and jogging pants. “I forgot your friends were here. I smelled the coffee and didn’t even think about how I looked…or how she’d look.”

  “It’s okay,” Edie told him, and then added, “my friends think you’re hot, so they’re not grossed out or anything. At least Madelyn isn’t.”

  Uncle Landon furrowed his brow. “They think I’m hot?” He looked uncomfortable.

  “Don’t worry,” Edie said, suppressing another giggle. “I don’t think they’ll try to make a move. They were just checking you out.”

  “Oh, well, okay.” He still looked uncomfortable. “Um…I’ll stay in my room and you tell me when you’re leaving, yeah?”

  Edie gave him a salute. “Aye, aye, captain!”

  He laughed, now a bit more relaxed, and then shooed her away, shutting his door. And locking it, she heard. She shook her head and went to the kitchen. The coffee warmed her up and the buttered toast filled her stomach.

  She was happy, forgetful even, until it was her turn to jump into the shower. She’d stripped down to nothing, but now her smile faded to a frown, as she realized Tristan could see her. She covered herself as best as she could.

  “Can you at least give me some privacy?” she pleaded, looking at the mirror, but only finding her reflection. She looked awful, haggard. Damn ghost!

  “Contrary to popular belief, I am a gentleman,” Tristan said, but only in her ear.

  She waited for him to appear in the mirror, but he was a no show.

  “You weren’t one in my dream last night,” she hissed at the pocket of cold air next to her, assuming that he was standing (or hovering) there. “You broke my necklace, didn’t you?”

  “Dreams aren’t real, Edie. You damaged your necklace, not me.”

  Edie shook her head, disagreeing. “It seemed real. I…felt you…with me.”

  “Your innocence is still intact. The only damage done was your necklace, which you, my sweet, tore from your neck during sleep.”

  Edie shook her head again. “I’d never do that and you know it!”

  “I know a lot of things, Edie. It’s you who are badly misinformed.”

  “About what?” she asked, shivering from nakedness and fear. “About the Grimsby Sanatorium?” she then threw out, hoping to make a hit.

  “You’d better hurry,” he said, deflecting her. “The water’s getting cold.”

  And then he was gone. She no longer felt chilled to the bone. He’d actually disappeared, at least from the bathroom.

  She’d sensed his fear when she’d mentioned Grimsby Sanatorium. “It’s you who are badly misinformed,” he’d said. There was something inside that place, something that he was afraid of, yet he didn’t have the power to keep her away.

  There was a weak chink in Tristan Lockhart’s armor. And I’m going to exploit it.

  ****

  After her cold shower—thanks, Tristan—she entered her bedroom and discovered it to be empty. Diana and Madelyn were in the kitchen, chatting. Knowing she was never really alone, she quickly got dressed, bundling up, as if she were about to take a trek with the penguins of Antarctica, and then dried her hair. She applied medicinal lip balm to ward off dryness, but she was denied the last part of her usual routine: putting on her necklace. She’d always taken it off when she’d showered and put it back on before she’d left the house. Now she was to go without it. She felt naked, not having it around her neck, and secured a scarf around her to the point where it looked like a noose, instead of a garment.

  “Sorry Mom and Dad,” she said aloud, fighting back tears. “I’ll fix it as soon as I can.”

  When they were ready to leave and Mason had been let through the gates, she rapped on her uncle’s door. “We’re leaving,” she announced loudly.

  “Okay,” he yelled back, sounding relieved to have the house—and no half-naked, underage girls—to himself.

  Outside, Mason was waiting, as he leaned against the driver’s side door of his truck. When Edie approached—resisting the urge to leap into his arms—he detached himself and gave her a heartwarming smile.

  “Hey, Edie, I—”

  She didn’t let him finish, unable to hold herself back, and caught his lips in a smothering kiss. When she pulled away, she said, “What did you want to say?”

  It took Mason a few minutes to recalibrate his brain, and then he replied, “I was going to say: things must have gone okay last night. I didn’t get a call.”

  Edie bit her lip, outing herself.

  “Edie,” Mason admonished her. “What happened?” When she stayed silent, he turned toward Diana and Madelyn, sitting in Madelyn’s car, while it was warming up. He tapped on Diana’s window. When she rolled it down, he asked, “What happened last night?”

  Diana glanced at Edie, and then replied, “I thought I saw something, but it was just my imagination.” She shrugged. “No big deal.” She nudged Madelyn. “It’s warm enough. Let’s roll.”

  Edie knew what Diana was doing: she was trying to escape from Mason’s interrogation. Mason couldn’t ask any more questions as Madelyn put her car—a sputtering, yellow Volkswagen Beetle that needed a paint job—in drive and was soon gone, making put-put noises and blowing exhaust out the back, as she sped down the road.

  “That car’s not safe,” Edie observed. “We should leave now and follow behind her just in case,” she told Mason.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed.

  He
helped Edie up into the cab of his truck, making sure that she was secure, then he assumed his position on the driver’s side, and they finally left Edie’s house. Not too long after, the gates shut, and Edie knew that her uncle was relieved to be alone in the sanctuary of his study, where he conjured up horrific tales for profit, and possibly for some sort of peace that he didn’t get in the real world.

  After a long silence, Mason asked, “So…that was it? Diana’s mind playing tricks on her?”

  Edie hated lying to him, but she wasn’t going to tell him everything. He was definitely not going to know about the dream, but she had to tell him something because she was afraid that Diana and Madelyn would unintentionally let some beans spill.

  “He told me his name,” Edie said. “It’s Tristan Lockhart.”

  Mason’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. “What else?” he asked through clenched teeth.

  “I know what he looks like. He showed himself in a mirror.”

  Mason turned his head toward the driver’s side mirror, and then toward the rearview mirror. “Is he here, now?” he asked, like he was gearing up for a fight.

  Edie checked out the mirrors too. “No,” she said.

  “Why didn’t you call me?” His tone was soft, which made it worse.

  Edie told him the truth. “Tristan said if I did, he’d hurt you. Those weren’t his exact words, but I understood, well enough.”

  They’d been going at a steady pace behind Madelyn, but now Mason decelerated, and then turned off onto a dirt trail away from the main road. He parked the truck next to a set of eerie-looking woods; the trees were leafless and covered in snow. He didn’t turn off the engine and she was glad. She was afraid that some monster would leap out from the woods and they wouldn’t have time to bolt.

  Mason turned toward her. “Edie, don’t ever do that to me again. I don’t care what he threatens to do to me. I refuse to let myself be…cowered…by some ghost.”

  Edie stared into his warm, hazel eyes. “Mason, you know what he’s capable of. He tossed you across Diana’s room. He’s getting more powerful, I can sense it. And he’s scared of that sanatorium, for some reason.”

  Mason was shaking his head. “Edie, he’s playing a trick on you, I know it.”

  “No, I don’t—”

  “Please, Edie,” he said, cutting her off. “Please just trust me on this. If you care about me at all, please, please don’t go to that sanatorium.” He cupped her cheek with his warm hand. “Please, Edie, do it for me. Don’t go.”

  Edie nodded acquiescence, even though she was planning on betraying him. She’d have to keep it to herself. She couldn’t tell Diana or Madelyn. Maybe Tristan was messing with her, playing tricks and deceiving her into thinking he was scared of Grimsby Sanatorium. Yet she wasn’t going alone; Jules and her GPS ghost hunters would be there. It was silly to assume that Tristan was the only ghost in town.

  There had to be others and Edie needed to talk to them; to gain some insight into the ghost world and find out how to be rid of Tristan Lockhart, once and for all. Yet she didn’t know anything about contacting the dead. Jules was more experienced at that than Edie was. So she’d wait and meet up with Jules on Saturday. And hunt some ghosts.

  Edie just hoped that Mason wouldn’t find out. Or if he did, he’d forgive her. She couldn’t lose him, but she couldn’t just sit and twiddle her thumbs, either, waiting for Tristan to break up with her.

  She felt something wet against her lips and realized that Mason was kissing her. She kissed him back with fervor because deep in her heart, she was worried it was their last kiss, and she wanted it to be an experience Mason would never forget.

  He pulled his lips away first, panting. “Damn, girl.”

  She smiled triumphant. If Mason had been thinking of breaking up with her, hopefully the realization that he’d miss out on kissing her would dispel any idea of a separation.

  That was the plan anyway. But plans had a way of going very, very awry.

  Chapter 17

  Edie spotted Madelyn’s Beetle parked safely in the student lot and breathed a sigh of relief.

  She and Diana had made it to school. Edie had feared for their safety (and still did) because she knew what Tristan was capable of doing.

  She knew that he wouldn’t just leave on his own, and her demands that he leave would amount to nothing. She didn’t know any other ghosts and had no contacts within the ghost community. Going with Jules to the Grimsby Sanatorium, to investigate, seemed the most logical choice. She hoped that some poor, disembodied soul would be able to shed some light on how to detach a ghost, who was hell bent on destroying not only her life, but everyone else’s, as well. That was the real horror: Tristan didn’t discern between friend and foe. He attacked anyone because it was fun. Well, soon, hopefully, his playtime would be over.

  Edie had managed to attend an entire day of classes without being accused of sleeping with her teacher, being a witch, attacking another student and generally causing the collapse of western civilization. The school had seemed pleasanter without Rochelle and Ravenna there. Rochelle was still suspended, and Ravenna was still recovering from her near miss with Death.

  That was what Edie called the cloaked and hooded man, who’d just whooshed out of thin air in front of Ravenna’s car. Edie knew that Tristan had conjured up the spectacle, but he’d meant to kill Ravenna. So he’d summoned Death in all his horrific glory.

  It terrified Edie that Tristan could do that from a distance. When it’d happened to Ravenna, Edie hadn’t even been around. And Tristan was only getting stronger, not weaker. In the beginning, he’d spoken to Edie, unseen. Now he could appear in mirrors. And he’d gotten in her head, made her dream that debasing scene. Edie hated to admit it, but the memories of what she’d dreamt, excited and scared her at the same time.

  She was no prude. She thought about sex. Tristan knew that she was a virgin. She didn’t know how, but he just did. It sickened her to think that Tristan had been her first; though, he, in his web of lies, had assured Edie that her innocence wasn’t ruined. There wasn’t any way for Edie to check accurately, and she wasn’t going to the doctor. She chose to believe Tristan. She was still a virgin. Besides a ghost couldn’t have sex. It was impossible. But he’d done a lot of things that she wouldn’t have believed if she hadn’t seen it for herself.

  If Edie was to have sex anytime soon, it wouldn’t be with some maniacal phantom. It’d be with Mason. No wait, that’d be weird. The three of them? No, no, way. First, she needed to get rid of Tristan, and then she could have a true relationship with Mason. She was sure that he was thinking the same thing.

  Brazen, she asked Mason, “Are you a virgin?”

  He almost lost control of the steering wheel. It was after school, and they were heading to the movies for their first official date. She’d been expecting Tristan to conjure up a snowstorm and prevent their happiness, but he was pleasantly, although confusingly, absent. He hadn’t bothered Edie at school, either. Even Russell had kept his distance from Edie, which if she were being honest, hurt her feelings.

  Mason cleared his throat. “Uh, why do you ask?” He’d reclaimed functionality of his limbs and was now driving within the lines of the lane.

  “Curious,” she replied.

  He decelerated, and then stopped at a red light. “Uh, yes…as embarrassing as it is for a seventeen-year-old American male to be a virgin…I am.”

  “It’s not embarrassing,” she assured.

  A little smile of appreciation formed on his lips, but he said nothing. When the light turned green, he made a left, and entered the parking lot of the movie theater. It was empty. Edie kept waiting for tumbleweeds to appear.

  “Where’s everyone at?” she asked.

  Mason parked the truck and shut off the engine. “It’s still early,” he replied. “Everyone goes to the nighttime show.” He shrugged. “More romantic, I guess.” He turned toward her. “Do you want to come back?”

  Edie smiled,
shaking her head. “No, I don’t care for crowds. And it’s better this way. I’m afraid that with a dark room, packed full of oblivious teens, Tristan would really pull a number on them. Especially while watching a horror movie. No matter how much comedic relief is packed in during the two hours.”

  Mason said nothing in response. He exited the truck, came around to her side, and helped her down from the cab. He caught her in his arms, as she landed on her feet.

  “Is he here? Can you…feel him?” he asked.

  “He’s always near but today he hasn’t bothered me at all. He hasn’t said one word.” Edie shrugged, confused, but glad.

  Mason’s frown punctured her happy bubble. “Don’t let him fool you, Edie. He’s probably scheming something diabolical.”

  Edie sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She kissed Mason on the lips. “Don’t worry about him. It’s just you and me.”

  Despite her kiss, Mason was still frowning. “I really wish that were true, Edie.”

  Edie noticed that Mason wasn’t holding her as close to him as he once had. “Is-is this too much for you? Do you…do you want to break up with me?”

  Mason answered her with a kiss, hard and fast, almost painful.

  Edie was able to move her lips and smiled. “I take it that’s a no?”

  He smiled back and held her against his chest. “That’s a hell no! I’m not leaving you. One, I can’t leave you in the hands of that pervert, and two, I wouldn’t know what to do without you. Edie, I’ve never felt this way about any girl. I hate that you’re attached to a dead guy, but if that’s the only way I can have you, then I’ll take it, paranormal activity and all.”

  It was the most romantic speech any guy had ever said to her. And she had to ruin the moment by suggesting that they get down and dirty to remedy their shared virginity.

  “I’ve never had sex,” she said, and then quickly turned her face from his, embarrassed, her cheeks red as tomatoes. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I don’t know why I blurted that out.”