Betrayal - By Lee Nichols Page 0,32

heart pounding. After a while, I leaned back against the headboard and thought for a long time about Rachel and her warning about a siren. What could that mean? Could it be worse than a wraith? Impossible. And the poor ghost Max had sent—was she dead?

Then my stomach growled and I stopped thinking. I pulled on my wool sweater and some socks and padded downstairs into the kitchen, hoping for something other than a crust of millet bread.

I found Anatole putting the finishing touches on an ice cream sundae in a fluted bowl, with Celeste setting one place at the table and Nicholas watching me with a boyish grin. With a slight bow, Anatole handed me the bowl with a silver dessert spoon.

You are a god. I was in heaven from the first spoonful. I bet he made the sauce himself. How did you know I was coming?

Nicholas heard you wake. And how could you not be hungry after that shameful meal theez evening?

You don’t have to do what he says, you know.

Celeste shrugged. Iz our duty.

Lukas must be starving, I said, savoring the vanilla ice cream.

Non, Anatole said. He was here not an hour ago, compelling me to make him a zandwich.

And me to run the shower for him afterward, Celeste said.

He made me trot like a horse in circles around his room, Nicholas grumbled.

He’ll regret that, I fumed. He’s gotten away with way too much.

The ghosts smiled in relief and we chatted for a while. I asked them if they knew what a siren was. Anatole had heard of the Greek myth, but Nicholas thought I was talking about the sound on a fire truck. Not at all helpful.

I finished my sundae, and Celeste sent Nicholas to stoke the fire in my room. As I nestled back under the covers, the fear and confusion of the night had mellowed into something warm. The ghosts were a surrogate family to me, always ready with a kind word and dessert. As bad as things got, I needed to remember all the good things, too. Like the fact that I was too busy to miss Bennett.

Okay, that wasn’t a good thing. That was just a lie. If he were here, we could’ve eaten sundaes in the kitchen together. I thought about the little ice cream stand he’d promised to take me to. Memorial Day seemed awfully far away. I wondered what Bennett’s favorite flavor was. I wanted to know everything about him, like if he always got rum raisin.

9

The next day at school, Lukas caught up with me in the hallway. “Do you know her?”

He nodded toward Sara, wandering aimlessly through the halls, looking like … well, like someone just killed her best friend. Sara normally appeared ready for the paparazzi, even in her uniform. Perfect hair, killer shoes, envy-worthy bag. Today her hair looked like something had nested in it. And, my God, were those sneakers on her feet?

“I did,” I said, still baffled about how I could make everything good between us.

“She looks sad,” he said.

“She was in love with Coby.”

“Maybe she just needs someone new to get him off her mind.” He glanced at her, appraisingly.

“Leave her alone,” I said, sharply. “And while we’re on the subject …”

“What did I do?”

He tried to appear innocent, but failed, and I gave him an earful about treating the ghosts in the museum better.

“They’re only ghosts,” he said.

Could he really be so dense? “No,” I said, “they’re people, even if they are dead. And if I find out you’ve made Nicholas trot around like a horse again—”

He towered over me, a slight grin on his face. In my tirade, I’d forgotten how tall he was. “You’ll what, Emma?”

The class bell rang, and I didn’t have time to come up with a better threat than, “You don’t want to find out.”

Then I marched away, before he could mock me.

I sprawled next to Natalie on the gym floor, waiting for Fencing to start.

“Have you seen Coby?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him since I sent him off with Edmund.

“No.” She pulled her hair back and started to braid it. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m just worried about him.”

Natalie glanced at the two ghost jocks sitting in the stands. “It can’t be easy, turning into a ghost.”

“No,” I agreed. “Especially if you get bossed around by some loose-cannon compeller.”

“You still pissed at Lukas?” She snapped a hair band around the base of her braid.

“I talked to him, but I don’t think he took