Page 116 of Dead Wolf Walking (Bad Moon Academy 1)
I lie in bed, listening to Carter’s soft snores and wait for my phantom to show. Does he know the woman phantom from my dreams? Rolling over, I stare at the door, eyes widening when a sphere appears, growing larger with each passing second.
Oh no.
Holding my breath, I watch the familiar spirit take shape and try to keep my heart from fluttering. Mom glances around the room, gaze lingering on Carter in my bed. A funny smile flashes across her face before she looks at me.
My throat closes and the coppery scent of blood tickles my nose. I know if I let my eyes stray toward her wrists, they’ll be covered in scarlet. I stare at her face. Her cheeks are hollow and her skin sickly pale. Sweat breaks out across my forehead when she steps closer, making the copper scent stronger.
With shaking hands, I slowly sit up and shake my head at her. Her face falls and her gaze skates back to Carter. “Baby,” she says.
How dare she baby me. Why does she insist on haunting me? Why won’t she just leave me alone? I don’t want her visits. They only make it harder to move on. She’s ruining my life from the other world, and she doesn’t seem to give a damn. It’s only about what she wants. She didn’t listen when I told her to leave Dad alone, and she’s been forcing her spirit self on me for two years.
I despise how my body trembles in her presence. How my chest tightens and deep down, how a part of me longs to see her. And that no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop loving her and it makes meso mad.
“Don’t,” I whisper when she lifts her foot to take another step. My throat constricts and heat rushes up my neck as tears fill my eyes. “Please, leave me alone.”
Her face crumples, and she presses her lips together.
“No, no. Not the coffee,” Carter mumbles in his sleep, tossing and turning as he battles some invisible monster for his caffeine.
I glance over my shoulder, thankful his eyes are still firmly closed. By the time I look back toward my mom, she’s faded back into the other world. I release a hard breath and lie down, snapping my eyes shut and thinking about anything but my mom.
Chapter 26
Raven
Saturday morning, Carter had to leave to meet with Headmaster Erron, so I end up wandering the grounds by myself. To my surprise, Everett doesn’t come find me right away and Draco is nowhere in sight. While I sort of miss having them around, the break from them is nice. I walk into the woods, ambling through the trees.
Joan’s been gone for a few days now. It’s hard to believe she’s only been with me for three weeks because I feel like I’m missing my best friend. Maybe that has something to do with her being a part of me. She’s seen deep inside my mind, and over the short period of time we’ve been together, I learned so much about her and relied on her help.
I’m so engrossed in my thoughts, I jump when someone tugs on my hand. Jerking around, I sigh in relief when I see it’s only Bea.
“Where are you going?” she asks in a soft voice.
“Bea, you scared me.” I glance around. She’s all alone. Isn’t she a little young to be allowed to explore on her own?
She blinks, waiting for me to respond. Her brown hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail, one she probably tried to do herself, and she’s wearing a simple blue dress.
“I’m trying to find an adventure, want to come?” I jerk my thumb toward the deeper part of the forest.
She tips her head to the side and considers me. “What kind of adventure?”
“I don’t know yet,” I say with a grin.
“Well, have you seen the weeping willow tree yet?”
I widen my eyes, maybe being a little dramatic, but it makes her grin. “No, take me to it.”
She grabs my hand and starts leading me in the direction of said tree. Bea doesn’t speak very often, and the same holds true for our walk through the woods. She silently steps over fallen branches and she doesn’t even flinch when birds swoop in front of us. The trees have grown less dense, and straight ahead is a tall weeping willow. The wispy vines full of leaves hanging from the highest branches are at least six feet long.
There’s a log on the ground in front of it, almost like someone placed it there so they could sit beneath the swaying vines.
“How often do you come out here, Bea?” I ask as she takes us to the log.
She sits and sighs, glancing up into the canopy. “Whenever I can.”
“This is a beautiful tree.” I take the seat next to her.
Bea clasps her hands together and fidgets.
