Free Shadow Bound (Wraith) by Angel Lawson Page A

me first.” I stared at him. “Unless you’re both lying.”
    “I haven’t seen her!” he yelled. “What did she look like?”
    “You’re kidding, right?” I asked, but I knew he was dead serious. “You really can’t see her? Even off the meds?”
    “No, but…”
    “But what?” I asked. He stared at his shoes. It didn’t matter. I could see the truth written all over his guilty face. He had secrets about all of this he refused to share.
    “Whatever. You need to leave.”
    “No, I need to know everything that happened between you two.” He tightened his grip my arm, but I twisted loose.
    “Go home. Go to bed.” I brushed the angry tears off my face.
    He shook his head. “I don’t want to go home. Not alone.”
    “Then you should have thought about that before all of this.” He stepped toward me again. “Don’t make me call my dad.”
    “You wouldn’t.”
    “I would,” I told him. “Look Connor, I don’t know what’s going on with you, but that’s because you won’t tell me. You’ve shut me out and I’m flying solo over here. But I can promise you one thing,” I said, grasping onto the door knob, “you need to get yourself together. See the doctor, listen to your parents or otherwise you’re going to end up back in the hospital.”
    He stood across from me stone-faced, but I could see the red rims of his eyes.
    I stepped into the house and said, “You’re also going to end up alone.”
    &
    Upset over the way things went the night before, the next day, I hovered around Connor’s front porch, trying to gather the nerve to ring the doorbell. The outside of his house was nicer than the inside of mine. The decor invited a guest to stay for a while. They had a porch swing like we did, but it was massive, covered in plush pillows. I parked on the street before I covertly walked around back to see if his car was there. I cursed when I saw the ratty blue car parked next to the carriage house. Rationally, I knew I should just go to the back door, but I had never been here uninvited. Instead, I chickened out and now cowered by a potted plant near the door, freaking out with each passing minute.
    I raised my hand to knock on the large red-painted door, but just before I made contact it swung open.
    “Emma?” I said, in relief, seeing the little girl’s face.
    “Hi, Jane.”
    I wasn’t expecting her to be the one to open the door. I swallowed. “Is your brother home?”
    She frowned and shook her head.
    “Oh. Well, do you know when he’ll be back?”
    “Um,” she floundered, her hands twisting.
    Her awkwardness made me self-conscious. I should have called. I’d assumed he would be here and we could talk out our fight from last night. The way we left it made me uneasy. And worried. But I guess he didn’t want to see me. “It’s okay. I’ll come back later.”
    I turned to leave, but Emma called her mother anyway. I walked back to my car, brushing the hot tears off my face. I wasn’t ready for this. The rejection. Before I made it to the sidewalk, I heard Mrs. Jacobs calling my name and her sandal-clad feet slapping on the driveway.
    “Jane, wait,” she called.
    I stopped and waited. I couldn’t exactly walk away from his mother no matter how hurt I felt.
    She approached me and I could tell she was taking in my tears. To my surprise, she pulled me into a hug.
    “Oh, honey. I was going to call you.”
    “Did something happen? Something else?”
    “He’s asleep. He had a really bad night and I gave him some sleeping pills prescribed by the doctor.”
    “I figured he wasn’t sleeping well. He looks exhausted.”
    “Things have been pretty bad since he was released. He barely speaks to us and, when he does, his words, or rants rather, make no sense. I caught him talking to himself more than once.” She paused. “It’s so similar to the last time this happened. But last night he was inconsolable.”
    “He came over last night. He seemed lucid, but he was definitely