She slipped down off the stool to the floor, where she swayed unsteadily, like the room was moving around her.
Out of habit, I lurched forward to catch her arm, expecting her to throw herself backward to avoid my help or glare at me.
But instead, she placed her arm through mine, leaning on me for balance, as if that was what we always did. Which, of course, would be what she’d have thought, based on what she’d seen yesterday at Malachi’s.
She waved at Leanne, who smiled with that hint of a smirk I’d seen countless times before upon encountering her in the hallway.
“See ya, chica. Don’t forget what we talked about.” Leanne pointed her spoon at Ally, who nodded.
I was afraid to ask what that was about. Erin and Leanne conspiring—the very idea was nightmare-inducing.
I led her toward the door to the hall, where she shocked the hell out of me by letting go and launching herself at Misty for a hug. Misty looked equally startled by the gesture. She hadn’t even had time to unfold her arms, and they were now pinned in between the two of them.
“Just know that Alona is in a better place, okay?” she said, her words muffled against the taller girl’s shoulder.
I froze. Had the light come for Alona when Erin had evicted her? Was that what she was saying? Or was this more of her playing the role of Ally, saying what she thought Ally the ghost-talker would say?
Misty looked at me over the top of Ally’s head, her face stunned and pale, albeit for different reasons. She nodded. “Yeah, okay,” she said, and cleared her throat.
Ally pulled back, reaching for my arm before I could offer it. Playing a role in this parody made me feel ill, but I had no choice but to follow through until I could get her out of here.
I led her down the hall to the front door and out onto the porch, where she carefully made her way down the steps, clutching my arm with one hand and the railing with the other. She was definitely not moving as smoothly as Alona had been, so there were side effects of her taking over this body.
“I’m starving,” she announced, when we reached the bottom. “Hurry up.”
“You were just eating ice cream,” I said tightly. With raw cookie dough on top, seemingly without a care in the world about fat grams or any of the other stuff Alona usually complained about. That should have been my first clue, I realized. Not to mention the fact she’d been sharing a bowl without freaking out about Leanne’s germs.
“But I didn’t get to finish,” she noted with a pout, as I led her to the car and helped her in.
“We’re going to get something right now,” I promised, with absolutely no intention of doing so.
“A cheeseburger withfries,” she said, still sulking. “And the beer, don’t forget the beer.”
So, definitely not Alona. “Right, fine.” I slammed her door shut, the wheels turning in my brain. I’d gotten the impostor out of Misty’s; step one complete. But now what?
I opened the driver’s-side door and slid behind the wheel. My brain was buzzing with anxiety and too many questions. Was it better to confront her immediately or try to play along a little longer? She obviously wanted me to believe she was Alona. And where was Alona? Oh, God, if she was gone for good…
I dared a glance from the corner of my eye to find Ally—no, it was Erin, and I had to remember that—staring down at her hands in an admiring manner, as though pleased with the manicure…or, you know, just that she had a physical form that could havea manicure.
Shit.I had to play this carefully. She was possessing Lily’s body, and I couldn’t make her get out. It was like having a built-in hostage. She could theoretically hurt “herself ” (a.k.a. Lily) at any time or threaten to do so to keep me in line.
I started the car and backed out of the driveway, on to the street.
Okay, think. I can’t keep her in the car forever.Taking her to the Turners’ was out of the question. And I couldn’t exactly lock her up at my house.
God, when had things gotten so complicated?
Edmund. Maybe Malachi/Edmund would have something to say about this. It was his freaking sister, after all.
“I screwed up, didn’t I?” she asked, just as I realized the silence had dragged on for a few seconds too long. She turned to face me, her eyes glittering with a hardness that had never been there with Lily or Alona.
I shivered, seeing something alien behind such a familiar face.
“What was it, the fries or the beer?” she asked, still not sounding too concerned about her cover being blown.
No point in further pretending, I guess. “Both,” I said.
She gave an annoyed sigh. “I should have known. She was probably counting calories.”
And her mother was, until recently, a raging, out-of-control alcoholic, not that that was any of her business. “Erin, right?”
She nodded, pleased.
“Where is Alona?” I asked tightly.
She laughed. “Gone. Vanished,” she proclaimed, sounding way too self-satisfied.
I winced, even though I’d been expecting that. “Permanently?”
“How should I know?” she asked, sounding annoyed.
“What did you do?” I demanded.
She heaved an exasperated sigh. “I don’t see how it matters now.”
“It matters,” I said, trying to keep my voice level.
“Is this about the ceremony?” she asked with a frown.
The what?I stopped the words from coming out just in time. A ceremony? There was no ceremony. At least, none that Alona had mentioned to me. “How do you know about that?” I asked instead, trying to weasel more information out of her without giving anything away.
She shrugged. “Alona said something about needing you there for a ceremony, but I figured she was just trying to stall me, keep me out.”
Oh. My chest ached. That was exactly what Alona must have been trying to do. And even though I hadn’t known what was going on, I still felt like I’d failed her.
“Like that’s even fair,” Erin scoffed. “She had her turn.”
“So you ambushed her instead?” I muttered.
“What?” she asked.
I shook my head, feeling the tension creaking in the back of my neck. “Just tell me what happened.”
She shrugged again. “I tried to claim her at first, as my ghost-talker, but that didn’t work any better with her than it did with you.” She rolled her eyes. “But once I figured out she was your spirit guide, it wasn’t that hard to put it all together. Then when I grabbed her, this body sort of pulled me in and forced her out.”
Wait, Alona was still my spirit guide? That would explain why Erin hadn’t been able to make the connection with either of us. We were still connected to each other. Or, at least, we had been up until an hour or so ago. And I’d just left her there.
I shook my head, pushing those thoughts, and the fear squeezing my chest, aside. If anyone could have survived all of this, it was Alona. Maybe another spirit taking over Lily’s body would have been enough to save her. If Lily’s body didn’t need her anymore, maybe that would give her more energy to sustain herself. Maybe.
She smoothed her hands down her body in an utterly creepy manner. “Must have been nice having it all in one package, huh?” She grinned and elbowed me, none too gently, in the ribs. “A spirit guide in a tight, living body. All the perks.”
I grimaced and shifted away from her. She made it sound so gross. It wasn’t like that, had never been like that. We hadn’t even known that Alona was still my spirit guide after she took over Lily’s body. But I doubted Erin would believe me, and I didn’t want to waste my breath explaining something she’d never understand. So weird the way Erin changed everything about Lily into something creepy and threatening, in a way that Alona had not. It said something about how much the soul or spirit in charge mattered. “What do you want?” I asked.