“I’d help,” Kevin volunteered.

Lark didn’t look at him, but I did. I smiled. My sister kept her gaze locked on Mace, who stared back. “That’s great, but you weren’t there the night they got jumped, so while your abilities might be helpful, there’s no guarantee you’d find the right one, either.”

“We’re all doing this,” Gage proclaimed, his dark gaze traveling from one of his friends to the next. “That’s all there is to it.”

Sarah glared at him. “You guys want to punish me because you blame me.”

What was her...? Oh. Oh, I understood. “Lark, make her put on one of the rings.”

Lark glanced at me, but didn’t hesitate. She picked up one of the rings and handed it to Sarah. “Put this on.”

The other girl shook her head. “I have a metal allergy.”

My sister smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile. “Put it on.”

“No.”

By now the whole table was watching—a couple of customers from other tables were, too.

“Lark, what the hell?” Mace asked.

Gaze narrow, Lark kept her attention on Sarah. “She’s being influenced by the ghost.”

The others all turned their heads to stare at the blonde girl. “That’s stupid,” Sarah protested.

Lark glanced at Mace. “Noticed any strange behavior lately?”

Of course he had—like not even twenty minutes ago. He took his girlfriend by the hand, and then held that hand out. “Put the ring on, Sar.”

She jerked back, hands clenching into fists. “Make me, Daddy’s boy.” Uh-oh. Sarah’s voice had changed. “Lark...”

My sister held up her hand. “I hear it. Sarah, you need to put this ring on for your own protection.”

The other girl turned her head to look at my sister, and when she did I could see hatred burning in her eyes. “You. They should have kept you at Bell Hill. Should have fried that weak little mind of yours.”

“Shut up, Sarah,” Mace warned.

“That’s not Sarah,” Lark informed him, her gaze unwavering. “Who are you?”

Sarah grinned and leaned toward her. Everyone was frozen still now. “I’m the one who’s going to devour your little friends.”

“No, you’re not,” Lark replied. “I’m not going to let you.”

“You can’t stop me, youngling.” Sarah’s voice was low and rough—mannish. “I’ll suck the souls right out of them and lick my fingers when I’m done. Maybe if your sister’s a good girl I’ll let her have the eyeballs.” She looked right at me then and winked.

I froze. How did she...?

Lark leaned closer. “You stay away from my sister, you sorry sack of shit, or I swear to God, I’ll burn your bones one at a freaking time.”

Suddenly Sarah’s hand whipped out and wrapped around Lark’s throat. Roxi cried out. People at the other tables gasped. One even stood up. This was going to get out of control very quickly.

I lunged forward, into my sister. The iron ring in her hand hurt me—like something being shoved under my skin, jagged and sharp, ripping back and forth. I didn’t leave her, though. I put all of my strength into that hand and lifted it to the one around Lark’s neck. My sister struggled for breath and I forced her throat open as I pried at the fingers trying to crush it. Sarah might be a conduit, but she wasn’t a match for the real thing. She shouldn’t be a match for Lark, either, but then this was probably exactly what my sister had had in mind, because normally she would have already punched Sarah in the face. I pried one of the supernaturally strong fingers up, and Lark shoved the iron onto it.

Sarah hissed, and then her shoulders slumped, as though something had let go of them. Let go of her. Her hand fell away from Lark’s neck and my sister gasped for breath.

The strangeness I saw in the other girl’s aura earlier was gone. “She’s good,” I said.

Lark nodded. She saw it, too—only not the same way I did. “Feeling better, Sarah?”

The blonde girl nodded. “I am. What happened?”

“The ghost was influencing you. It was doing a good job, too.”

“This is a powerful ghost,” I said. Lark merely glanced at me. I didn’t need to tell her that. She was worried, I could see it.

“Anyone else feeling weird?” she asked.

Everyone took one of the rings and put it on without hesitation. Maybe I imagined it, but I thought Gage perked up a little.

One of the counter staff approached our table. She wasn’t much older than Kevin and had an apologetic look on her round face. “Guys, you’re disturbing some of the other customers.”

“Drama club,” Gage quipped. “We’re practicing. Sorry.”

“Yeah,” Lark said drily. “Drama. Sorry, we’ll leave.” My sister stood. The others gathered up their belongings and followed her out. Everyone in the shop watched them go, whispering. Lark did not need this kind of attention.

It wasn’t until we were outside that I realized I hadn’t needed to worry about the book at all—no one had tried to touch it, not even Sarah. No, the only thing I needed to worry about was a violent ghost who had killed before and was looking to kill again.

A ghost who knew my secret.

LARK

“You still want to go through with the séance?” Kevin looked at me like I was nuts. No big surprise there.