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I barked out a half laugh. Noah was also unhinged. He really did love being threatened.

“Go!” Cassian growled at me, shoving me a little.

I broke away. The cops were almost to the field. They’d see me in a moment.

I had to run to the side.

Trees lined up on the long sides of the football field, behind the bleachers. I got to one side of trees and stepped in to hide from the cops, who had started to fan out, searching the area with their flashlights.

They knew I was here. They were looking for me.

A set of cops headed right for Cole, who was standing with her mouth hanging open. She was wavering on her feet and kept touching her face. Cassian had a hand on her back, holding her in place, and at one point, she needed to reach out to further grab ahold of him.

She was just now being told what the bitch ghost had been saying.

Cole started to look around. She was searching for me.

This time, I couldn’t go to her.

I bit back my rage.

A stick cracked under someone’s weight but I knew who was coming was weightless. I glanced down as the poltergeist appeared from behind a tree. He had followed me.

“You didn’t have to break that stick to warn me of your presence. You’re a poltergeist. I can feel you. I’ve always felt your presence.”

“Necromancers are supposed to get rid of evil spirits. I’m an evil spirit.”

“Poltergeists usually are.”

“But you never came for me. Why not?”

Guess we were going to have this conversation now. I knelt down. I didn’t have to, but there was something still so childlike about this poltergeist that I was kneeling before I caught myself. I shrank so I was on equal footing with him. “In all honesty? I didn’t care.”

“But aren’t you supposed to⁠—”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I was born with these powers. Humans call me a necromancer, but I never asked for this power. I didn’t seek it out. I have no intention of controlling an army of the undead. And on your side, you guys consider me your Grim Reaper. I can send an entity to either side. I can control you. That’s all I know, but my parents left me and my best friend died. I’ve not given a shit about a lot of things in life until last week.”

Benji seemed to absorb all of that before he looked back to the football field. “I want to come to your house when she’s there⁠—”

“No.” I stood up.

“But—”

I looked down at him. “I said no. It’s my boundary.”

“Noah can be there.” He was getting frustrated. His anger started to rise, at the same time his color was firmly not flickering anymore. It was almost full color. He was Caucasian when he’d been alive. I hadn’t been able to tell before, but if another human came walking over here, they’d be able to see him. He’d terrify them, and that would give him more power.

It’s the poltergeist’s cycle. More terror meant more power for them, and that meant they could exist longer and longer. But this kid, he loved Cole too, just in a different way.

I knelt back down and opened my mind, letting him see everything I just thought.

He scrambled away from me when it was done, shaking his head so fervently. “No! I’d never—no! I’d never want to do anything to upset her. Never ever. I mean it.”

“I know, but I’m sharing so you can see into your future. You are not a ghost or a spirit. You are a poltergeist, and the only way for you to exist is to do what you know Cole wouldn’t want you to do. You’re always going to struggle if you stay here. If you can’t make that decision, I can make it for you. That’s my offer to you.”

He was so still, knowing what I was saying. He closed his eyes and worked at controlling his emotions until slowly, the color drained from him again. He was different shades of black and white again and he was flickering in and out. “I don’t want to leave her. She’s like a big sister, if I’d ever had one of those. I would’ve wanted them to be like her.” His hands formed into fists, pressed against the side of his legs. “I want to stay. At least for a while.”

“Okay. Where are you going to stay?”