Free Hunted by Adam Slater Page B

Callum said fiercely. “All right? I can. I see ghosts everywhere .”
    It was an embarrassment and a huge relief, all at the same time, to say it aloud to another person—to a human, not a bird or a cat. Or a ghost.
    â€œWow,” Melissa breathed, and fell silent.
    Callum couldn’t bring himself to say anything more. He stared at the fire, sipping at his own mug of hot chocolate, his knees drawn up close to his chest.
    After a moment, Melissa stirred.
    â€œCan you see them here? Now?” she asked softly.
    Callum shook his head slowly. “No. Inside this house is the only place I feel safe.”
    â€œWow,” Melissa repeated with feeling.
    Callum was a little perplexed at her eagerness to believe him. “How come you don’t think I’m crazy? It doesn’t make any sense—seeing ghosts, seeing the future. And you’ve only got my word for it.”
    â€œYou proved it to me yourself. You stopped me from being hurt.”
    A glimpse of Melissa lying at the foot of the stairs, her skull shattered, a bloody mess, flashed across Callum’s mind. He tried not to react, but she must have read something in his face, because she suddenly went very still.
    â€œOh my God, it was more than that, wasn’t it? You saved my life. You saw that something terrible was going to happen to me and you stopped it from happening.”
    Callum gritted his teeth and said nothing.
    â€œDidn’t you?”
    He didn’t have the energy to argue with her. His shoulders slumped forwards in defeat.
    â€œYou don’t want to believe it yourself, do you?” Melissa said suddenly. “That’s why you’re so miserable about it. You don’t want it to be true.”
    â€œI don’t understand why you believe it,” Callum said. “You’ve got no proof at all. You don’t see the ghosts, you don’t have the visions, your hands don’t start to tingle when something terrible’s about to happen.”
    â€œDo they really?” Melissa asked with intense interest. “So you can tell if a vision’s coming on?”
    â€œI think so.”
    â€œCan you feel it now?” she asked.
    â€œI—”
    Callum had never seen Melissa look so determined. She was concentrating on something.
    â€œAre your hands tingling now?” she asked fiercely.
    â€œYes.” Callum stared at Melissa. His fingers were electric with pins and needles. “Yes, they are. What are you doing? ”
    Then another vision seared into his brain. Melissa’s hand in the fire, her head back, screaming in agony, the skin of her fist charred with bubbling blisters …
    Callum shook his head, trying to shake the horrific image away. But beside him, Melissa was already reaching out towards the hearth. Pushing her hand towards the burning coals.
    Without thinking, Callum rolled over onto his side, knocking her off balance. Then he grabbed her hand and held it down.
    â€œYou idiot!” Callum gasped. “What are you doing?”
    â€œYou knew!” Melissa crowed triumphantly. “You stopped me!”
    â€œBut you weren’t just thinking about doing it—you were going to do it! If I hadn’t stopped you, you’d have actually done it!”
    Callum thumped her fist down on the floor between them, holding it firmly. Melissa stared back at him, her chin tilted defiantly.
    He suddenly realized he had underestimated her. A lot. She was brave and determined, and for some reason she trusted him—trusted that he could see the future. She’d been willing to risk burning the flesh off her hand to make her point. To prove to Callum, once and for all, what he was. Perhaps someone like that deserved his trust too.
    â€œI said I wanted to help you,” she whispered.
    Callum let go of her hand.
    â€œAll right.”

Chapter Twelve
    â€œHasn’t your gran ever said anything? About you being a chime child, I mean. She must