Free Shadow Bound (Wraith) by Angel Lawson Page B

upset.”
    “He came over?”
    “Yeah, he showed up a little while after we got home.”
    I could see the worry lines at the edge of her eyes. It’s possible she may have aged since I’d last seen her. “He must have snuck out of his room. He’s not allowed to leave the house alone, not in his current condition. Did he scare you?”
    I thought about the way he tightened his grip on my arm and the crazed look in his eyes. “No, he didn’t scare me, not exactly, but he wasn’t acting normal. I asked him to leave.”
    “Good. He cares for you so much. I know he’d never want to hurt you.”
    I found the courage to tell her what I should have a week ago. “He’s off his meds. I found out before the beach, I should have told you.”
    “Oh, honey, this is not your responsibility. I went through his things while he was in detention and found the full bottles. He’s back on them – or supposed to be. Taking his medication is part of his release.”
    “Are you sure he’s taking them?” I tried to control the panic in my voice. Now that I knew why he’d stopped, I was afraid he would fight any attempt for him to start again.
    “We’re watching him. If he doesn’t take them here, then he’ll be admitted to the hospital again where they will enforce it. I know he doesn’t want to go back.”
    “No, I don’t think he does.” Then he wouldn’t be able to see Charlotte, which seems to be his ultimate goal at the moment.
    “He was doing so well. Until that friend of his died,” she said. “Do you know anything about that? Why this is bothering him so much?”
    “No,” I lied. “I don’t really know anything.” I lied for him, which was wrong, but I was also lying for myself. No one could know we were still seeing the ghosts. That would get us both in trouble.
    “When he wakes up, let him know I came by.”
    “I will, dear. And you’re welcome by anytime. Just keep your visits here so we can supervise.”
    “Sure,” I said, and walked way.

“T hanks for coming with me.”
    “Of course,” Ava said. “I’m always up for an adventure.”
    Little did she know that this adventure may just break my heart.
    “Turn left up here,” I said, reading the directions off my phone. “That building over there, with the green awning. The realtor’s office.” She pulled into a deserted parking lot. “There it is.”
    “It was Connor’s latest masterpiece. The one that sent him to detention. I craned my neck to see it through the window. “Holy crap, it’s huge.”
    “Massive,” Ava agreed. The mural spread across the entire side of the building and what I saw shot straight through my veins like ice water.
    “Wow. Legal or not, Connor is pretty talented,” Ava said after we were both out of the car. “What is that?”
    “An angel, I think.”
    I didn’t just think this, I knew. It was similar to the one on his wall, but this one had a face. One I knew well enough from when we met in my room last week.
    “She’s beautiful but super creepy. She looks mean.”
    I nodded. “She does.”
    “I wonder who it is?”
    I swallowed back the truth and said nothing. Instead, I took out my phone and snapped a couple of pictures.
    “Well, whoever this scary girl is, Connor sure did a good job of capturing her.”
    That, was exactly what made me feel sick to my stomach. The portrait showed Charlotte in all her glory. Even the malicious side I’d met in my room. Strangely, I got a better idea about what he meant by not having control over coming here. Charlotte controlled this. She wanted this version of herself for the world to see. Vindictive and harsh. “Okay, I just wanted to see it, we can go now.”
    Ava hadn’t moved and I was about to drag her away when a car pulled up and parked next to her SUV. We both eyed the shiny, new Lexus. Too nice for this part of town, I thought, as a man about my dad’s age opened the door and walked over to us. He was wearing a tie and dress pants. It seemed too hot for