The Thrashers(75)

“Reagan has been out to get Lucy for years. These people are jealous or something.”

Jodi felt like there was a chasm yawning between them as he stood playing with the only yellow rosebud that had survived the winter. It broke off in his fingertips.

“They’ve found a pattern, Zack. When it’s a pattern, there’s only so long you can point blame somewhere else.” She walked back to where Paige was trying to meditate among the dormant rosebushes.

Two figures crossed the grass in the distance, the smaller one carrying a large tote bag, like they were going on a picnic. Whatever had transpired between Lucy and Kiera, it didn’t affect the younger girl’s beaming smile when she reached them. Paige helped Kiera unpack her bag—a few crystals, a bundle of sage they couldn’t light, and a Ouija board bought from Target.

Jodi took a seat on Kiera’s right. Zack sat on the other side of Jodi—much to Kiera’s dismay—and Lucy and Julian sat on his other side. Paige made sure she had a good view of the closest streetlamp before sitting between Kiera and Julian.

“Okay, so like, the biggest thing,” Kiera started, her voice all California valley inflections, “is that everyone has to be united. So if anyone thinks this is stupid or that Emily won’t actually talk to us, you have to like, get rid of that.”

Julian mimed tugging something out of his temple and tossing it away.

“Right. So, like, take a moment to center yourself, set an intention for what you want out of the communication.”

Paige’s eyes shut tight like she was praying. Lucy let her gaze soften on the crystals and sage in the center of them. Jodi concentrated on the wind. It was nice that it wasn’t raining, but the chill was still there, seeping under her layers of clothing and freezing her spine.

She’d faced the medium, and she hadn’t expected that to work. But she believed Nan had the ability to connect to the spirit world, and she believed that Emily was still trying to connect.

And she had questions.

Sooner than she expected, Kiera broke their silence.

“Now, we have to join hands and concentrate on Emily.” She opened her palm to Jodi with a smile, and Jodi tried to return it as Kiera crisscrossed their fingers—much more intimate than Jodi would have preferred. Her fingers laced through Zack’s on her right.

Jodi glanced to the street, searching for any late-night joggers or patrolling police cars. Her eyes caught on the streetlamp, and she waited for it to blink at her. Nothing. She looked to Paige and found her waiting for the exact same thing.

“So think of her, picture her. Imagine her presence here with us.” Kiera’s voice was almost soothing in the dark.

Jodi’s thoughts turned inward. She imagined Emily as she’d last seen her. The day before prom at their lockers, asking about the limo. She’d thought in the moment that it was possible Emily assumed she was riding with them. In hindsight, she should have bit the bullet. Jodi regretted a lot about that last month with Emily, but not having the courage for that hard conversation was at the top of the list.

Kiera’s lower tone broke through Jodi’s thoughts—“Emily, are you with us?”

Jodi’s eyes snapped to the streetlamp. She waited, counting her heartbeats.

“Emily, show us you’re with us.”

The streetlamp remained on. Jodi searched for other lamps further away and found no activity.

“Maybe we’ll grab the Ouija board,” Kiera said to Paige. Jodi felt Kiera’s grasp on her hand loosen.

The streetlamp went out, plunging them into darkness.

Paige’s gasp was soft. Jodi felt the crisp tension between her fingers like electricity. And she realized that it wasn’t only the closest streetlamp that had dimmed. Every lamp on H Street was out. Only the moon lit them.

“Ooookay,” Lucy’s skeptical voice came from across the circle.

“Emily, are you here with us?” Kiera asked. Her palm was sweat ing in Jodi’s grip. She could hear her breath shake out of her, the moonlight glowing on the mist of it.

No flicker from the lamps.

Paige sucked in cold air. “Emily, you told me we were safe when I asked you in Nan’s salon. Is that still true?”

Kiera hummed next to her in the dark. “Safe?” Jodi’s brows drew together as she listened to Kiera’s voice. “Maybe.”

Melodic. Like a song. Like Emily’s voice had been.

“Not talking to you,” Julian said, tension in his throat.

“No one’s ever talking to me,” Kiera replied. “Only about me. Isn’t that what you said?”

Kiera’s gaze slid up Julian’s torso like water moving the wrong way.

Julian’s eyes narrowed on her. “You did know her, didn’t you?” he said.

“What’s going on?” said Zack, from Jodi’s right.

“Let’s get back to it,” Lucy’s voice was tight. “Emily, can you hear us?”

“Yes,” Kiera said softly.

“She can? You can tell?”

Jodi turned to Kiera and watched her head pivot to Lucy. Her brown hair fell in thick sheets down the sides of her face, and her posture sagged into something curving and inverted.

“Yes.”

Jodi saw Kiera’s intent eyes, reflecting brightly in the moonlight—