Page 10 of Demon Hunter

She heaves a sigh. “That explains why everyone kept ignoring me. I’ve been trying to get someone to answer my questions forhours. I just thought they were all rude as fuck, but I guess they couldn’t hear me.” She pauses. “How come you can hear me?”

I’m not about to go into the whole hunter thing with a normie, ghost or not, so I say, “I’m kind of like a medium. I can see dead people.” I jerk my head toward Tom. “He can’t, which is why he looks totally confused right now.”

Nodding, she says, “At least he’s not calling the psych ward. I would have done that if someone told me they were talking to a ghost. Hah, only took dying to learn I was wrong about them not being real.”

There’s not a lot of ways to respond to that, so instead I say, “I can try to answer your questions, if you like.”

She puts her hands on her chest and smiles at me. “Thank you! Where am I, for starters?”

“Renown Regional Medical Center. Uh, this floor is mostly the ICU and Palliative Care, but the ER is just downstairs too. I’m guessing you probably came from there.” She’s still wearingher pajamas, and while ghosts can change their clothing easily, the newly dead ones tend to stick to whatever they died in at first.

“Do you know how I died?” she asks hopefully.

I shake my head. “Sorry. I can try to find out, if you like, but HIPAA…” I trail off. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

She purses her lips. “I was watchingLove Is Blindwith my roommate, popcorn, and wine. Just a regular weeknight.” Her eyes narrow. “I think… I think a popcorn kernel got stuck in my throat? I remember I couldn’t breathe, and then I got dizzy… Did I fucking choke to death onpopcorn?”

I cringe. “Sounds like it. If you want, I can go downstairs and see if your roommate or family are hanging around still, try to eavesdrop on them? Maybe I can find out for sure.”

She shrugs and shakes her head. “Nah. I guess it doesn’t really matter. Man, this blows. I just booked a vacation in Fort Lauderdale.”

“I mean, you could still go,” I suggest. “But you won’t get a tan.”

For a second, she just stares at me, then her laugh rings out. “I like you, Dylan. Too bad we didn’t meet while I was alive. I’m a fun date.”

“I’m sure you are,” I agree, “but I’m gay. Sorry.”

A brow rises. “Got a boyfriend? Because my roommate’s single, and he?—”

“I do. That’s why I’m here, actually.” Thank fuck Tom can’t hear her.

Her face changes immediately, filling with sympathy. “Oh, fuck. I’m so sorry. Here I am making this all about me, when you have your own problems.”

God, I hate this world sometimes. How come a nice young woman like this has to die, and so many assholes get to live?“Kristina, you just died. It’s okay to make this all about you this time.”

She snorts. “Guess so. If you can’t be selfish after choking to death on popcorn in your pj’s, when can you, huh?” She looks around. “So what happens now?”

“You have a couple of options,” I begin carefully. “Are you religious?”

“Oh my god, please don’t tell me hell is real, because I donotwant Aunt Sadie to be right.”

Okay, that’s going to make this easier. “Hell isn’t real,” I assure her. “Reincarnation is. So you have the choice to either stick around as a ghost and make some ghost friends, or you can move on to your next life. But you don’t need to decide right now. If you want to stick around for a while and then move on later, you totally can.”

She purses her lips. “Nah. I’m dead. What’s the point in staying here and watching my friends and family live their lives without me? That’ll just bum me out. I want them to imagine me being at peace and shit, so I’ll take door number two. Maybe in my next life, I’ll understand math.”

I grin. It feels weird on my face, and I realize I haven’t really smiled in days. “Anything’s possible.”

“Right. How do I…” She trails off, and I see it happening. The moment her soul lets go of the memories of her life. “Oh. I’m all… tingly… Bye, Dylan. Tha…”

I say a prayer for her soul to a god I only sometimes believe in, then turn back to Tom. “She’s moved on.”

He shakes his head. “It’s so fucking weird watching you guys talk to ghosts, I swear. Let’s go back. You should try to eat something.”

I let him lead the way, and we’re halfway down the hall when I see Ian come out of the ICU and head for the visitor lounge. Breaking into a run, we race the rest of the way, bursting into thelounge to see Connor and Kieran getting to their feet. Ian turns to face us.

“They’re going to take him off life support.”

Chapter 5

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