Predestined (Existence Trilogy #2)(10)

“Pagan.”

Screaming, I dropped my fork and scanned the room for the owner of that voice.

Leif stood just inside the doorway leading into the kitchen. He didn’t look ghostly or freaky. He just looked like Leif. Except he was in my house. Uninvited. And he didn’t have a soul.

“Pagan,” he repeated.

I opened my mouth to asked him what the heck when he disappeared in front of me as Gee came storming in the door like she was on the warpath.

“Where is he? Where’s that little shit at? I felt him. Now WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”

I watched as Gee scanned the living room and stalked into the kitchen. “He’s gone. Freaking coward,” she said out loud as she stormed up the steps.

I sat frozen waiting for Gee to calm down and come back into the room. I was still reeling over Leif being in my house and Gee was yelling curse words while she searched every corner.

“You okay?” she asked once she walked back into the room. I tried to nod but I couldn’t manage. Instead, I forced a “mmm” out of my throat. My heart was still racing so fast it felt as if it was going to beat through my chest.

“Deep breaths, Peggy Ann. Take deep breaths. Don’t get his majesty over here raining down hell on all who get in his path because his girl is scared shitless.”

Her colorful vocabulary caused a giggle to erupt and I was able to take the deep breath she suggested.

“There we go. Good girl,” she affirmed with a satisfied smile and sank down on the sofa beside me.

I stared down at the salad in my lap trying to work through my head the fact that Leif had been in my house. He’d just appeared out of nowhere. Had it been something else that looked like Leif? He’d sure sounded like Leif.

“You gonna eat that?” Her question sounded more like a demand as she motioned to the salad bowl that had miraculously not been spilled all over the floor during the drama.

I needed to eat it. I hadn’t eaten all day but the hunger was gone. Now I felt slightly ill.

“That was Leif, right?” I asked turning my head so I could see her face.

“Yep. Little shit. Showing up like a damn coward and scaring you like that. Ain’t so sweet now, is he?”

I glanced back over to where he’d been standing. He hadn’t looked scary. He had looked worried. Or maybe guilty.

“Dank’s gonna get this all worked out. Stop worrying. Now, you gonna eat that or not because it looks good.”

I shook my head and Gee snatched it up and instantly a fork was in her hand.

“Sip on your drink if you feel sick. You don’t want to go into shock. The sugar will help.”

Nodding, I took a small sip of the cold sweet soda and my stomach seemed to settle some.

“Why was he here?”

“Cause he wanted to talk to you, I guess,” Gee replied before shoving another forkful of salad into her mouth.

“The kids at school, his parents, they’re all forgetting him.”

Gee nodded, “Yeah they are. He didn’t have a soul, Pagan. Remember, you are a soul. Your body is just the house for it. Those with souls will forget him because their souls were never attached to his. Can’t be attached to something that isn’t there.”

“Why do I remember him?” My voice came out in a whisper. I was almost afraid to hear the answer to this one.

Gee set the fork down in her bowl and sighed. That wasn’t good.

“You’re different. He has... There is this... Ugh, why the hell didn’t Dankmar explain this crazy shit to you?” Gee placed the almost empty tortilla bowl on the coffee table and broke off a piece of it before leaning back again and looking at me.

“Your soul was marked when you were a child. Leif has some sort of claim on your soul. Now, don’t go getting all freaked out. Dank is more than able to fix this but until he does Leif will be linked to you.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Linked?” I choked out.

Gee nodded and took another bite of the broken tortilla bowl in her hand. She was handling all this so casually. Maybe I needed to calm down. She wasn’t worried. But... linked?

“Stop frowning, Peggy Ann. It isn’t all that bad. So, here’s the deal: your mom made a bad decision. You have a dark spirit determined to claim you. Things could be worse,” she finished with a shrug of her shoulders.

“How? How could they be worse? A dark spirit?” I reached for my soda as my stomach rolled at the thought of what a dark spirit actually meant.

“How could it be worse? Well, for starters, you could be without the complete devotion of Death himself. I mean, come on, Peggy Ann. What is one dark spirit up against Death? I mean, really.” Gee rolled her eyes and popped the last bite, of the tortilla bowl she was holding, into her mouth.

I soaked in her words wishing they were more comforting.

“You got anything good recorded on this thing?” Gee asked, reaching for the remote control.

“Um, yes just watch whatever,” I muttered and sipped at my drink wishing Dank would come home. Now.

Chapter Five

Pagan

“Please. If you can save her then just do it! Do whatever you have to,” my mommy begged with tears streaming down her face.

The wrinkled old lady stared down at me. Her white hair stood out against her dark skin. She studied me carefully before lifting her glassy gaze back to my mother. “You axe me for gris-gris dat wilt cause tings you mightna want.”