Betrayal - By Lee Nichols Page 0,21

across the room. They were backlit by the windows, and for once the sun was shining, making them look like avenging angels. I just couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’ve gotta go,” I told Natalie. I stood and helped her pack up the remains of the lunch, then started for the door.

I almost made it. I was three steps away when a foot came out from one of the tables and tripped me. I fell to my knees and, as though I was still six years old, I almost burst into tears.

“This is pathetic,” Natalie said, standing and facing the rest of the cafeteria. “I’m only going to say this once. Emma is not responsible for Coby’s death. He almost killed her by tying her to that torture device you people call a monument. She barely escaped, then Coby took his own life. She doesn’t deserve this. It’s not her fault he’s dead. Mourn him, but don’t smite her. Coby wouldn’t have wanted that.”

When she’d finished, she led me from the room with her back erect and head high, like a queen having issued her edict.

“You were awesome,” I said in the hallway outside. “I’ve never heard anyone use the word smite.”

She grinned. “Old habits die hard.” Then she grew serious. “This is going to blow over, Em. Things will get better.”

“I know,” I said.

But in Western Civ, someone had carved QBK into my desk. I just wished I knew when they’d get better.

After school, I dragged my laptop into the museum kitchen. I bit into an apple and sat in the breakfast nook, scanning my messages. Hoping to hear from Bennett.

He hadn’t e-mailed, of course—but Abby had. Which surprised me, because she’d kind of deserted me. She was a ghostkeeper, too. Sort of. We’d been best friends forever, until she’d hooked up with Max last summer. That’s when she’d discovered she could summon ghosts, though I didn’t know at the time, because I was still in the dark about my own powers.

I guess Max had freaked out, accused Abby of stealing his powers, and dumped her. But Abby hated seeing ghosts, and was trying to lose her powers altogether. She was weak, so if anything, Max would’ve absorbed her abilities. But they’d both acted like drama queens, so that simple solution had never occurred to them.

Hey Emma,

I can’t see ghosts anymore!!!

This cute guy knocked on my dorm-room door last night and offered to cure me. I kind of freaked out, because I didn’t understand how he could know that I saw ghosts. But they were still coming to me in my dreams, and I was just desperate enough to believe him.

It worked, Emma. We held hands and he said some crazy ritual and I could feel all that power draining from me. And now I can’t see ghosts anymore. They’re gone!

Which means we can be friends again, even if you’re in Massachusetts and still part of that creepy ghost world. I’m just glad it’s over. I worry about you. The guy wouldn’t leave his name or number or anything, but I hope he finds you. Maybe he can cure you, too.

And if you ever need me, I’m here—just not about this stuff! Anyway, I thought you should know that there’s hope …

Love,

Abby

Wait. What? Some guy had stripped her powers? That sounded a little too much like Neos for comfort—though nobody would call him cute. Maybe he’d possessed another body to steal her power? Had he approached Abby because of me?

So many questions, and nobody to ask for answers. Normally, I’d be on the phone to Bennett, but not now. Should I call Gabriel or William? I barely knew them, and they already blamed me for everything.

Abby’s e-mail left a bad taste in my mouth. She was there if I needed her … just not about the only stuff I might actually need help with? Everything I was going through—the deaths of my friends, my family disappearing, Rachel dying, Bennett leaving—was because I could control ghosts. How could she expect me to act like it was nothing, like I was just some normal girl?

Because I wasn’t, not anymore. Maybe I never had been.

I didn’t delete the e-mail, but I didn’t respond, either. My mother always warned me that friends grew apart. I just wasn’t prepared for how hard it would be. How hard everything would be.

I stared through the window, taking stock. According to Rachel, I needed a weapon to focus my powers and to watch out for some mysterious siren. Coby