back to normal.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t seen my parents in over a decade. I don’t really know them.”
“Okay,” he said, kneeling in front of me. “Pack a bag. You’re coming to my house.”
“What will your dad think of that?”
“He’s gone out of town on business again. For a week.” He gave a humorless chuckle. “I don’t even know where. He goes so often the house is practically mine.”
“Will anyone at the home worry about you? You haven’t been there in a while.”
“I’ll check in with them. Make sure everything is normal.”
We stared at each other for a long moment, the same eerie thought hitting us both at the same time.
If Delia had changed, others might’ve changed, too.
***
“Why is she looking for me?” I asked, more of myself than of Mick.
We had pulled up to his house, a huge monstrosity of pale brick and several turrets. The beautiful home made it difficult to believe that anyone living in this place could be unhappy. I guess money can buy you happiness, but it depends on how you define happiness.
“Good thing it’s dark out,” I said. “Can’t be seen going into a place the likes of this. No self-respecting creepy girl should be seen walking into this place. I have a reputation to uphold. What would people say?”
“It’s the company you keep that’s questionable,” Mick said, grinning at me.
I smiled. “Right.”
“Why do you think she’d be looking for you? Or should we say it ? That wasn’t your Aunt Delia in her body. Something took her over. Do you think it’s just because you’d be in her memory banks somewhere?”
As I considered this, I got a serious case of the willies. I had to come clean with Mick, if I were going to trust him with my life. Which it looked as if I was going to have to do.
After we entered his house, which was huge and airy and impossibly clean, I said to him, “There is something about me you don’t know.”
He tossed his keys on a table in the entryway. “Spit it out.”
I took a deep breath. The lemony smell of furniture polish filled my nose. “I can read secrets…from people’s minds.”
His brow furrowed as he looked at me. “You can read minds?”
I shrugged. “I guess. Kind of. I can read secrets. If someone has a secret, I can fish around for it. I can take secrets from people, too, to ease their burden. But that has some unpleasant side effects. One of which is that bad…creatures, or entities, would be able to find me and take me away, and do God knows what to me. The idea is that I’d never be seen or heard from again. I don’t know whether it’s the same they , but this talent is the reason my parents sent me to live with Delia. They said I’d be safe with her. That they wouldn’t find me if I never used my…ability.”
“Okay…but why would it or they be after you now? Have you used that talent recently?”
I nodded. “After Eliza vanished, I probed around a little. I thought that whoever took her had to be someone she knew. Someone we all know. Otherwise, why would she go with them?”
“Makes sense.”
“I didn’t find anything out, though. And…” I looked at the floor.
“What?”
“I used it on you…at the diner. It’s why you got that headache.”
He frowned. “Why did you use it on me? You thought I might be the one who took her?”
I shook my head. “No. I was just experimenting a little before I used it on anyone else.”
“Did you find a secret?” he asked me.
“I know you want your father dead. I just don’t know why,” I said. “I backed out before I learned anything else.” I winced. “I’m sorry.”
He stood watching me for a long moment. “The reason I want him dead is because he murdered my mother.”
I blinked. The air went out of me.
“Not in the way you’d think,” he said. “She killed herself.”
“Oh, Mick. I’m so sorry.”
“So am I.” He headed through a large living room area and I followed him into a
I shook my head. “I haven’t seen my parents in over a decade. I don’t really know them.”
“Okay,” he said, kneeling in front of me. “Pack a bag. You’re coming to my house.”
“What will your dad think of that?”
“He’s gone out of town on business again. For a week.” He gave a humorless chuckle. “I don’t even know where. He goes so often the house is practically mine.”
“Will anyone at the home worry about you? You haven’t been there in a while.”
“I’ll check in with them. Make sure everything is normal.”
We stared at each other for a long moment, the same eerie thought hitting us both at the same time.
If Delia had changed, others might’ve changed, too.
***
“Why is she looking for me?” I asked, more of myself than of Mick.
We had pulled up to his house, a huge monstrosity of pale brick and several turrets. The beautiful home made it difficult to believe that anyone living in this place could be unhappy. I guess money can buy you happiness, but it depends on how you define happiness.
“Good thing it’s dark out,” I said. “Can’t be seen going into a place the likes of this. No self-respecting creepy girl should be seen walking into this place. I have a reputation to uphold. What would people say?”
“It’s the company you keep that’s questionable,” Mick said, grinning at me.
I smiled. “Right.”
“Why do you think she’d be looking for you? Or should we say it ? That wasn’t your Aunt Delia in her body. Something took her over. Do you think it’s just because you’d be in her memory banks somewhere?”
As I considered this, I got a serious case of the willies. I had to come clean with Mick, if I were going to trust him with my life. Which it looked as if I was going to have to do.
After we entered his house, which was huge and airy and impossibly clean, I said to him, “There is something about me you don’t know.”
He tossed his keys on a table in the entryway. “Spit it out.”
I took a deep breath. The lemony smell of furniture polish filled my nose. “I can read secrets…from people’s minds.”
His brow furrowed as he looked at me. “You can read minds?”
I shrugged. “I guess. Kind of. I can read secrets. If someone has a secret, I can fish around for it. I can take secrets from people, too, to ease their burden. But that has some unpleasant side effects. One of which is that bad…creatures, or entities, would be able to find me and take me away, and do God knows what to me. The idea is that I’d never be seen or heard from again. I don’t know whether it’s the same they , but this talent is the reason my parents sent me to live with Delia. They said I’d be safe with her. That they wouldn’t find me if I never used my…ability.”
“Okay…but why would it or they be after you now? Have you used that talent recently?”
I nodded. “After Eliza vanished, I probed around a little. I thought that whoever took her had to be someone she knew. Someone we all know. Otherwise, why would she go with them?”
“Makes sense.”
“I didn’t find anything out, though. And…” I looked at the floor.
“What?”
“I used it on you…at the diner. It’s why you got that headache.”
He frowned. “Why did you use it on me? You thought I might be the one who took her?”
I shook my head. “No. I was just experimenting a little before I used it on anyone else.”
“Did you find a secret?” he asked me.
“I know you want your father dead. I just don’t know why,” I said. “I backed out before I learned anything else.” I winced. “I’m sorry.”
He stood watching me for a long moment. “The reason I want him dead is because he murdered my mother.”
I blinked. The air went out of me.
“Not in the way you’d think,” he said. “She killed herself.”
“Oh, Mick. I’m so sorry.”
“So am I.” He headed through a large living room area and I followed him into a
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