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see the other man. Three
    days was too much, and it had long since become apparent that Eric  kept his distance only because of the way Ivan had reacted.
    He would have to still be on the property. Eric had told him that,  aside from those times when he’d been pulled to Ivan’s side, Eric had  never had the power to leave the pack land.
    So if Ivan just continued to search—
    A rattle in the trees startled him. Ivan turned just as the gray-white  body of a young boy past through the trees.
    Ivan was frozen in place. The spirits were back. Without Eric’s  protection they had come for him finally.
    And he was out here in the middle of nowhere, by himself. What  an idiot he was.
    Perhaps not. The boy hadn’t seemed to notice him, and though  Ivan had not done very well when it came to pretending to not see them, the little ghost had yet to return.
    He sighed his relief, but then it became apparent that he’d celebrated much too soon. The white face of the child returned, the
    black eyes angry and dark mouth opened in a long gasp.
    Pretend you cannot see him. Pretend you cannot see him.
    Ivan turned about and began walking in the other direction, the  direction he hoped he would find Eric in.
    These ghosts were always somehow different from Eric, though.  Whenever Eric walked around or touched things, they wouldn’t react

    66                            Marcy Jacks
    unless he was also in contact with Ivan.
    But as the boy ghost followed Ivan, his bare blue feet crunched loudly into the dry leaves and twigs. He was getting closer.
    Ivan swallowed hard over the lump in his throat. It didn’t go down well with the other rocks in his gut. He couldn’t stop his arms from shaking. The boy was so close now that he could hear him breathing, a raspy, angry sound.
    Ivan couldn’t do it. The boy knew that Ivan was aware of him, and there was no making him forget it. Ivan ran.
    The boy behind him shrieked and gave chase. His screams sounded like a squawking, high-pitched crow. It hurt Ivan’s ears.
    The spirit had difficulty keeping up with Ivan’s pace. Now that he was free to run, allowing his vampire speed to take over, the ghost could barely match his pace.
    It must be a new ghost for that to be possible.
    Eventually the sound of the running footsteps and bird-like screams fell far behind him, yet Ivan did not yet stop. He couldn’t, not until his chest and lungs burned from the exertion, and not until his feet begged him to stop.
    He slowed his pace to a halt and then promptly fell onto his hands and knees. With the wheezing sound coming out of his throat, he felt as though he could be the ghost here, and not that boy that had been chasing him.
    Ivan shivered. He hated seeing spirits, especially ones so dark and mindless of all things except for the urge to attack and possess. After being with Eric for so long, he’d forgotten what it was to be surrounded by these spirits on a constant basis.
    He needed to find him and bring him back. Ivan couldn’t handle the separation any longer.
    He kept walking, not entirely certain where he was, which was another reason to be fearful, but he’d walked for no more than five
    minutes before he realized that he was coming upon the end of
    DeWitt’s pack territory.

    The Spirit Within                          67

    Eric could not go any farther than this. He’d told Ivan that before.  For whatever reason, Ivan was the only one able to give Eric the ability to travel farther, and only if they were together.
    That had been how Eric had come to see him all those times when
    Ivan was still living with his family, kept carefully hidden away in his bedchamber.
    He nearly turned back when another noise startled him.
    Like an animal that scented a predator, Ivan froze. Another spirit, or the same boy that had chased him?
    He held perfectly still for several minutes, hardly daring to breathe, his eyes darting around for whatever