"Why do you think you can tell me what to do? Why do you think the balance has changed between us? You"ve always given me my way. I"ve always dictated our relationship. This time will be no different."

He swallowed, the shadow of his Adam"s apple bobbing on his neck. "Because of..."

"Her. I know. Always with her. You know, you"re kind of a drag now."

"Do you think that will change once you kill her?" He spat. "That I"ll finally become the person you want to be with? You"ve never wanted me before. I"ve always been too weak."

With the flames tinting everything, her wild, blonde hair rose around her head like a halo of fire. She took a step forward. "Yeah, I think it will change. When I can touch you and hold you, and you see her face and feel her hands. It doesn"t matter whose body I"m in. I just want to live."

"What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?" he asked. His eyes look crazy in the firelight. I squinted and looked again. I hoped it was the fire.

"Did she not tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"That she and I are bound. I can take over her body anytime I want."

"Your time is over," he declared. I saw him take a step closer to the wall, his wall, his symbol arching over his head. I searched for Ava and saw her shadow cast across a tree. She hid on the opposite side of the wall, out of their sight. "You can"t escape death," he said.

"Depends on who you ask," she said. "That old lady? She was a wealth of information. Rambling on at night when everyone thought she slept. She just wanted someone to talk to, someone who wouldn"t judge." She laughed like she told the funniest joke. "Who am I to cast stones? But she told me everything. She told me there were doorways between the worlds and options for those of us not ready to leave. Too bad Jane didn"t visit her more often."

"Don"t blame your crazy on other people. You manipulated that old woman the same way you did everyone else."

"Possibly. But who lied to their girlfriend about their meds? You"ve been off them for weeks. In fact, I"m not sure you ever went back on them. You lied about me. You lied about us. You"ve been spewing half-truths for months. And then tonight, you had her in your bed and left." She made a clicking sound with her tongue. "To go where? Here. To find me. Again. You"ll be lucky if she"ll take you back if I chose to let her survive."

Connor"s eyes narrowed as she took another step forward. They were too far away now and I couldn"t hear what she said. I slowly moved down the incline toward Ava on the backside of the hill. From here, I couldn"t see them but I could still hear Charlotte. "Tell me the truth. You stopped taking the meds so you could see me. So we could be together. She never has to know. Pulling her out of that body will be quick and painless with your help. I almost did it once before."

"Why didn"t you?"

"That little brat. She grabbed my arm and pulled me away before I could get her out and take her place."

Tonya. I knew something happened that night. Tonya must have pulled her off of me before she could take over. I crept along the edge of the woods and caught Ava"s eye. I held my finger over my lips to keep her quiet.

We stood across from one another. She was near the wall and I had my back to the forest. Her eyes bugged behind her black gla.s.ses and she waved me over.

"What?" I whispered.

"We need to get out of here," she said.

I shook my head. I looked to make sure neither Charlotte nor Connor saw me and ran to her. Safely by her side, I whispered, "We need to close that gap. I"m going to run out there and trap them both in the circle."

"She can"t hurt him, but she can hurt you. From what I can tell, she has big plans." She leveled me with a stare. "You knew that though."

I broke eye contact. "I have a plan."

"No! She wants to soul suck you or something. I can"t believe you didn"t tell me." Okay, so Ava was not ready to let it go. Her eyes shifted to the ground. "What the h.e.l.l?" I looked down and saw a black shadow at my feet. The bird bobbed and tilted his head in my direction. "Is that the same bird?"

At that moment, I realized Charlotte had been right. I should have listened to Ruth. I should have spent more time with her and learned all the secrets to this crazy life. What she didn"t understand is the little I did know helped me more than her. The bird knew what to do. I just needed to lead the way. "Trust me." I gave Ava a quick hug before walking away.

"This better work," I said to the bird, pulling the bundle out of my pocket. I left the shadowy side of the building and walked into the light to save my boyfriend and myself.

There"s no such thing as sneaking up on a ghost, I knew better than that. She had left Ava alone because she had no use for her, but Charlotte didn"t seem remotely surprised to see me come around the corner of the wall. Connor"s jaw tensed, letting me know that he would rather not see me.

"I"m here," I said to neither of them in particular.

"I was waiting for you and your little friend to stop hiding," Charlotte said. "Come out other girl. Wanna join in?"

"She can"t hear you, moron," I said. Connor cut his eyes at me. I couldn"t tell what emotion he had more of, worry or rage. Worry wouldn"t help either of us so, for once, I hoped for rage.

"Oh, I forgot." She stood in the circle, several feet from the barrier Ava spread around the building. "I wonder if we"ll be besties when you"re gone? I don"t know. She looks kind of dull."

I rolled my eyes. This girl may be the biggest brat I"d ever encountered. "There"s no talking you out of this?" I asked. "Because you can go now. Parker has been taken care of. He"s going to jail."

"That"s nice." She smiled and shook her head. "But, nope."

"Had to try," I said. I shoved my hands into my pockets and took a step closer. "You promise it won"t hurt?"

"Not even a pinch," she lied.

Connor pushed away from the wall and said, "What the h.e.l.l, Jane? Get out of here!"

"It"s not your choice. Plus," I ducked my eyes, "I"ve decided if we switch, then I can go find him."

"Find who?

I glanced at the water tower.

"Evan?" he asked. "You"ve got to be kidding. You"re doing this to get to Evan?"

"Who?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, Evan," I said to Connor directly. "You know how I feel." This time I looked up and held his gaze.

"No," he said, his voice hard. "That"s not true. You don"t love him like that."

"He never lied to me. Or hurt me," I countered. "I"m tired of fighting and I don"t want to do any of this anymore, the ghosts and crazy spirits. How do I know what comes after her is any better? Can"t I just get out now? While I"m ahead."

"You"re just giving up." It wasn"t a question.

"Whatever. You ready?" Charlotte interrupted, looked between me and Connor. "Oh G.o.d, you aren"t going to cry or something, are you?" she asked him.

"Shut up, Char," he said, running his hands over his face. I crossed over the ring of white and stood before him. I"d never seen him so angry. So much that he shook in front of me. His hands balled into fists at his sides. I caught one with mine and smoothed out his knuckles. "I"m not okay with this," he said, but his tone revealed he had little choice.

I touched his chin and rubbed the stubble. "I"m sorry," I said and stopped fighting the tears. Who cared at this point?

"Me, too. For the lies and secrets." He engulfed me in a hug, crushing my face in his chest.

"Finished?" Charlotte asked from behind me.

Connor stared down at me. "Nope," he said, leaning down to kiss me. When his lips touched mine, I figured there was no better way to leave this earth. Being with the one I loved, his warm mouth on mine, his hands pressing hard against my hips. His anger melted and good things replaced the fear I felt, because in that moment I decided to let go and to stop fighting this crazy thing.

The current between us settled in my belly like all the other times until I felt a pressure in my back, a tugging from the inside my body. Different from l.u.s.t and chemistry. I"d felt it before. Charlotte was pulling me out of my body so she could take over.

I groaned, feeling like my navel had been ripped through my back. Connor misunderstood and held me closer, kissing me harder. With as much force as I could gather, I tore open the bundle from Ms. Frances and let it scatter over my feet. I mumbled, "Stop." He stopped. Immediately.

"It hurts," I told him, clutching his sides.

"No!" he shouted at Charlotte, but she was half gone. Half in me, half out of herself. Both of us mixed in s.p.a.ce. He grabbed my face and I saw his red-rimmed eyes. "No. Not like this."

My thoughts blurred and my eyesight turned fuzzy. The tips of my ears and lips and fingers felt numb. They were no longer mine. I heard Connor yelling and Ava... Ava shouted back. I caught trails of pigtails and patent leather. Feathers and grains of white. I heard the caw of a bird. Once the pain stopped, the numbness began and then I floated.

We were next to one another, Charlotte and I, neither here nor there. Sharing this s.p.a.ce that wasn"t exactly real. I knew this because I crossed out of my body and ceased to exist back there. Everything became decidedly clear.

This doesn"t end well for you, I said, speaking without voice because here I could see a glimmer of the future and what it held.

I waited for a comeback, but all I got in reply was a blast to the chest as two strong hands rocked me back into my body. I flew backwards, sprawling across the dirt, landing in a heap of sticks and empty paint cans.

"Wha..." I had no breath, my head hurt and intense heat boiled next to my face. I rolled to the side and realized I landed inches from the fire pit.

"Jane!" Ava ran over and dragged me to safer ground. Connor clutched something in his hands. It was the canvas that held the potion Ms. Frances gave me.

"Hurry, Connor!" I shouted when I realized he was still inside the circle.

He stepped over the line of salt, free from the circle. That was what the potion did. It allowed humans to escape. Spirits were left behind. Ms. Frances knew I would need something to keep her contained. Once I was pushed outside the circle, Charlotte was forced back into ghost form. She bounced off the invisible barrier, screaming, "Let me out! You can"t keep me here forever!" She bounced off again, fueling her rage.

"Shut up," Connor said, moving away from the circle and closer to us. "Do you ever shut up?"

"She will now," I said. I let him lift me off the ground and wrap his arm around me.

"Don"t do that again."

"I had to try." My eyes were on the bird perched on the corner of the wall. Waiting. "Ruth and Ms. Frances gave me all the directions I needed. I just wasn"t listening."

"That old lady?" Charlotte asked. She opened her mouth to speak again but the bird"s caw sliced through the air. He was tired of waiting.

"Guys" Ava said, pointing to the ruins.

The raven that had been following me launched from its perch and flew around the tight s.p.a.ce. Being part of the spirit world, it couldn"t leave the circle either. I watched with amazement as the bird transformed into a dark, hazy shadow. Wide black wings engulfed Charlotte, curling around her like a mist. She had no time to fight.

"Connor!" she shouted. He looked down and tightened his arm around my shoulder.

Her last expression was one of betrayal.

"Holy c.r.a.p," Ava said. "What was that thing?"

"You saw that?" Connor asked. Apparently not all paranormal ent.i.ties were hidden from view.

"Yeah, the bird and the thing. Holy c.r.a.p. That was crazy."

I gave her a hug. "I guess when the angel of death is ready, it"s ready."

"She"s gone?" Ava asked.

Connor nodded. "I think so this time, yes."

"And the other one?"

We looked around, but there was no sign of Tonya. "They should both be gone. I think Ms. Frances made sure of that. Well, her and the raven. It was ready to collect some souls."

Ava yawned and announced, "This has been insane. And by insane I mean pretty awesome, but I"m getting my stuff and going home. You can ride with him."

"Thanks," I said, squeezing her hand. "For everything."

She waved me off and shoved some trash and herbs in her bag, sleepily walking in the direction of the main path. We watched her walk away under the lightening sky. Sunrise should only be minutes away.

For the first time in months I felt relief, but I also carried a sense of dread. This world was bigger than I knew how to handle. And Connor and I, we didn"t deal with things the right way. Our relationship wouldn"t survive another Charlotte-sized ghost.

"You ready?" he asked, linking his fingers through mine. Tugging me the opposite way, to whatever secret trail he took into the Ruins.

"Yeah," I said, but my heart felt lost and my confidence shattered. Things couldn"t remain the same.

I crashed the minute Connor dropped me off with a kiss and a promise to call me the next day. His sleepy but relieved eyes tugged on my heart, and I hated the fact he and I had a big talk coming the next day. If I learned anything over the last couple of weeks it was that Connor and I had issues. Big ones.

"Jane," I heard my mom call through my bedroom door. I looked out the window and saw full light. It must be after noon.

"Come in," I said in a creaky voice. I stretched and tugged at my shirt.

Her face was kind when she opened the door, which made me think she had not seen my mud-caked shoes on the back porch. "You okay? You were out kind of late."

"I was over at Ava"s. I just needed to get out for a while."

She sat on the end of my bed and rubbed my feet under the blanket. "I need to tell you something," she said.

"Okay, what"s going on?" I thought about Charlotte trying to suck my soul out of my body and figured things couldn"t get much worse than that.

"I just got off the phone with Connor"s mom. He violated his probation, including curfew," she gave me a hard look, "and was picked up again this morning."

"Picked up to go where?"

"He"ll have a hearing tomorrow. I"m going to meet them down there. Best case scenario for him right now is boarding school. Worst case is detention. I think we can convince the judge to send him to school though." She reached up and took my hand in hers. "His parents have already applied to several schools just in case."

"How long? And where?" I asked, dreading the answer already. I used the back of my free hand to wipe my face. I had hoped for a day of no crying.