Chapter Eight
Lennon
For a guy who has a well-known problem sleeping, it’s probably no surprise to anyone that I barely sleep that night. For once, my insomnia can’t be blamed on my own bullshit. Instead, I’m haunted by the image of Haylee in the middle of that crowd, eyes closed, hunched down as if to protect herself, terror radiating from her.
I go over it a million times in my head. What in the hell happened to cause that kind of reaction? I can’t figure it out. She told me, once, that she wasn’t a fan of crowds. But she seemed to do so well with it, following me out to the cars, even laughing when I told her how great she looked. So what went gone wrong?
Was it somehow related to her stalker? I picture her icy anger when she threw those words at me back in the alley, about what he did. She hasn’t brought it up once since then. But that was the kind of thing you didn’t just forget about, right?
If I wanted to ask her, she wasn’t going to make it easy. You would think that it would be simple to find someone when your band is on tour with their band—we were, after all, occupying the same hotel, but Haylee apparently had other ideas. She’s nowhere to be found when I come downstairs the next morning, but she somehow manages to get on the opener’s bus just in time for us to leave Glasgow. When we arrive in Edinburgh that afternoon, she again disappears, leaving a wary-looking James to intercept me in the hall outside her hotel room.
“She’s resting,” he explains, arms crossed. He’s a lot taller than me, and the way he’s standing seems designed to take up as much hallway space as possible.
“Can I just—”
“I’ll let her know you stopped by,” he says, turning to go.
“Hey, James?” I call. He doesn’t turn, just stops in the middle of the hallway, waiting for me to go on. “Is she okay? What happened last night was—”
He sighs, his shoulders slumping a little, but when he responds, his voice is firm. “She’s fine. Tired, that’s all. I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah,” I mutter to his retreating back. “See you.”
I could probably push it. I could wait outside her hotel room door until she gets up, or plant myself in their dressing room at the venue until she shows. But something in the way she shut down the night before was familiar. I had the sense that whatever it was she was feeling, it wasn’t all that far removed from my own experiences. Haven’t I spent hours hiding away in a hotel room somewhere, hoping no one would come looking for me? Was I really going to do that to Haylee?
So I allowed her to keep her distance. Even though it sucked.
We were scheduled for two shows in Edinburgh with a day off in between. As was becoming practice on the last two tours, Dad and Levi worked with the booking manager to make sure we have decent time off between shows on this tour, even though we are already operating on a condensed timetable. Another thing they have to thank me for, I think to myself as I make my way downstairs the next morning.
Levi, Daisy, Paige, and my brothers are all there in the restaurant already, waiting for me. I take one look at Paige and know exactly what’s coming.
“I think I’m going to take a walk,” I say before anyone else can speak. “See the sights. Edinburgh is a great city for walking.”
“Nice try,” Cash says, grabbing my jacket sleeve and pulling me into the seat next to him. “Paige has plans.”
“Of course she does,” I sigh, earning a glare from Reed.
“Okay,” Paige says, sounding excited. “This is what I was thinking.”
Before she can begin to tell us, I’m distracted by the sight of the members of Intrigue coming into the restaurant. They’re practically huddled together as they walk, and I’m struck by the sense that they’re in protective mode. Or maybe that’s just my imagination in action when I see Haylee in the middle of the group. Her eyes look red, and dark shadows mar her pale cheeks. I wonder if she hasn’t been sleeping either. She glances at me, and her eyes widen a little before she quickly looks away.
“Hey, you guys!” Paige calls, waving. “Over here!”
“Paige,” I mutter, seeing Haylee wince. “I don’t think it’s a good—”
But Layla is waving and leading the rest of the band over to us, though James’s face has gone rather tight. “Hey!” Layla says. “How’s it going?”
“Come sit down!” Paige urges, holding up the plate in front of her. “We have pastries!”
“I’ve never said no to pastries,” Dylan says, pulling up a chair. The rest of the band follows suit, Haylee sitting as far from me as possible. She doesn’t meet my eyes.
“We were just talking about how to spend our day off,” Paige explains.
“Talking,” Levi mutters. “Yeah, because you were going to let anyone else get a word in edgewise.”
She spares him a single disdainful raised eyebrow before turning back to the others. “You guys should hang out with us!”
“Uh,” Dylan says, gaze shooting toward Haylee. She doesn’t meet his eyes, staring steadily at the ground. “I think we were just going to go out and explore.”
“Exactly!” Paige says. “That’s what we’re doing too! Come with us.”
I can tell that Dylan and James are looking for a way to refuse, their gazes shooting toward Haylee. But Layla puts an end to that. “That sounds awesome!” she says. Under the table I think I see her squeeze Haylee’s hand. “Just what we need today, a little fun.”
“That’s settled then!” Paige says happily. “I think we should start at the castle, obviously, because it’s pretty much the center of town and, like, totally famous.”
“I feel as if a warning is in order before you agree to spend your day with us,” Cash interrupts. “Paige, uh, gets a little carried away with her planning.”
“That’s not true!” Paige cries. “You always have fun when you hang out with me, buddy.”
“Like in the old-timey village?” he asks.
“That was Levi’s idea,” she argues. “And you had fun anyhow!”
“The neon museum.” His voice is flat as he holds up a finger, ticking off the places she’s dragged us over the last few years. “The cat museum. The largest ball of string. The salt and pepper—”
“Okay, okay.” She slaps a hand over Cash’s mouth, and Reed snickers. “You made your point. But all of those things were fun!” She glances at Haylee’s friends, who now seem a little alarmed. “We’re not doing anything all that strange today,” she assures them. “Just a little normal sightseeing.”
I don’t think Paige has ever been satisfied with normal sightseeing in her life, but I don’t point that out. I’m too busy shooting furtive glances at Haylee, trying to judge how she’s feeling about all of this. But she doesn’t argue, doesn’t complain, just continues to stare at the ground until the rest of us stand to go. She follows almost robotically, something about her jerky movements making my stomach clench.
I step to her side, trying to ignore the glare I get from James, and nudge her shoulder a little with mine. “Hey.” She winces, and my stomach clenches again. What upset her so much? “Haylee.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she mutters, and her voice is much more fierce than I would have thought her capable of right now.
“We don’t have to,” I say quickly. “I just wanted to tell you that Paige…” I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one can overhear me. “She can be a little overenthusiastic sometimes, but we do usually have fun with her. Even when she’s making us do something ridiculous.” I take a deep breath. “There have been some days when, uh, I’m having a rough time. And Paige can usually take my mind off whatever shitty thing is bothering me.”
Haylee looks up at me for the first time, and it takes everything I have not to pull her into my arms. Whatever protective streak I might have is set off big time by the look on her face. Her pale skin makes it obvious she hasn’t slept any better than me, and her eyes are huge and dark, filled with something that looks a lot like shame. A lot like pain. She watches me for a minute, as if searching for something in my face, before she finally nods. “Thanks. I guess it’s worth a try.”
Relief flares in my chest as we follow Paige outside, where she confers with Frank, one of our bodyguards. “Okay, here comes the transportation,” she says brightly, sounding a lot like a kindergarten teacher. “There should be room for everyone.”
I follow Haylee into the waiting van. Even faced with the evidence of how rough things are for her right now, there’s a part of me that feels better than I did yesterday. Maybe it’s seeing her, being near her. Maybe it’s the fact that she isn’t pushing me away. At least not right now.
The drive to the castle is short enough that we could have easily walked had security not been an issue. It’s situated in Old Town, perched on the top of a towering, dormant volcano. “That’s pretty sweet,” Cash says, looking up at the ancient structure. “Very Lord of the Rings.”
I’ve been to the castle before, on our last tour of Europe, but I was on my own then, my brothers satisfied with hanging out at the hotel, probably recovering from a night of heavy partying. I enjoyed it then, the historical aspect appealing to what my brothers would term my nerdy nature. And Cash wasn’t joking—it does look like it belongs in The Lord of the Rings. But my feelings that day were nothing compared to how it feels touring the castle with Haylee.
To my very great surprise, and to James’s seeming annoyance, she sticks by my side when we pile out of the van. Paige, ever diligent in her planning, arranged to have sections of the castle cleared out as we walk through. For once in my life, the special treatment doesn’t rankle. Unlike Daltrey and Cash, I can usually get away with being in public without recognition—at least I can when I’m on my own. When we’re all together, it’s virtually impossible to avoid detection, but when it’s just me, I rarely have a problem. Who’s going to recognize the bass player? That’s probably one of the many reasons I’ve earned such a reputation for being a loner. It annoys me to no end that we have to be surrounded by security when we go out together.
But today the security doesn’t seem like such an imposition. From the corner of my eye I watch as Haylee slowly relaxes. Her arms straighten out, her shoulders becoming less hunched, as she looks from side to side, taking in the sites, her gaze no longer solely focused on a spot on the ground directly in front of her. When we take a minute to lean against the outer ramparts, looking down at the entire city stretching before us, the blue waters of the Firth of Forth beyond, she actually smiles.
Expecting my brothers to spend hours touring a historical site—even one that does look like it might be attacked by orcs at any minute—is asking for way too much. After an hour or so, Paige hurries us off to the next stop on her plan.
“What in the hell is this?” Daltrey asks, looking up at the brick building.
“It’s supposed to be really cool—”
“Paige.” There’s a warning note in his voice. “What is it?”
She huffs. “It’s a kind of museum, okay, Daltrey?”
“I knew it was a museum.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I thought we had an agreement after the neon museum in Vegas.”
“This isn’t a weird one—”
“Camera Obscura,” Daisy reads from the sign, squinting. “And World of Illusions.”
“It’s a magic museum?” Cash groans. “Paige.”
“It’s not a magic museum,” Paige argues, looking to Reed for support. He holds up his hands in defeat, and her eyes narrow. “Coward,” she mutters before turning back to the rest of us. “Look, it’s rated highly on all the travel sites online. There’s supposed to be tons of cool stuff in there to look at. And if you would just be open-minded for five minutes—”
“I think it sounds fun,” Haylee says. When Paige turns to her, wide-eyed, she shrugs. “We’re here, right? Let’s give it a try.”
“You, Haylee,” Paige says, slipping her arm around the singer’s shoulders, “are clearly a woman of great taste and intelligence.”
“Good job,” I whisper in Haylee’s ear. “She’s recruited you for her madness now.”
But Haylee’s smile in response is enough to make me thankful for Paige Brennen and all of her silly event planning. “I’m in.”
Everyone else follows us into the building, though Daltrey and Cash do plenty of grumbling about it. Their sour moods don’t last long. As is so often the case with the random sites Paige picks for us, World of Illusions is actually really cool. The museum is a series of optical illusions spread across different rooms. There are light displays that immediately transfix Reed and Daltrey, holograms, trippy mirrors, and several places to take pictures, one of which uses forced perspective to make people in the same room appear to be vastly different heights, providing an excellent opportunity for us to rip on Cash for being short.
“You sure you don’t want another picture, buddy?” Reed asks. “This is your last chance to even come close to being as tall as me.”
“Fuck off, Reed,” Cash growls. “I might be shorter but I’m stronger. And I’m feeling the strangest urge to use that strength to punch that smug look off your face.”
“You guys always like this?” Haylee asks me.
“Mostly. Don’t ever tell him I admitted it, but Cash has a point.” I make a face at her. “I’ve been on the receiving end of both of their punches. Cash is definitely stronger.”
“You hit each other?” She sounds vaguely shocked.
“Well… yeah. We’re brothers.”
“Idiots, actually,” Daisy says, joining us to watch Daltrey and Reed, who have teamed up to get Cash into a headlock.
“You might start throwing punches if you had to live with all three of them your whole life,” I tell her.
“I lived close enough,” she says drily. She looks at Haylee. “I grew up next door. You should have seen how messy they kept that kitchen.” She shudders. “On second thought, idiot was too kind. What’s a word that means immature and animal-like?”
“What’s that, Cash? You want a noogie?” Daltrey asks, ignoring his older brother’s curses to the contrary. “Are you sure? I might ruin the hair you spent twenty minutes carefully messing up this morning. I guess if you insist…”
“See what I mean?” Daisy asks, shaking her head. “And I’m having a baby with that man-child.”
Haylee laughs as Daisy heads over to break up the scuffle, hissing something about them getting us kicked out.
“I didn’t realize you guys have known Daisy for so long,” Haylee says as we wander away from the commotion of my brothers.
“Oh, yeah, she’s practically family. I was seven when we moved in next door to her and her dad.”
“Where did you live before that?”
It’s a simple query, totally the natural question to ask next. But it still has my spine straightening before I can stop myself. “California. We lived there, uh, before my parents split.”
“I’m sorry,” she says simply. I look over at her, relieved more than I can say to realize that there’s no pity in her eyes. “My dad was never around, so I’m totally used to the single parent thing.”
This is new information. “Your mom raised you?”
“Raised me, sponged off me, however you want to look at it.” She grimaces. “Sorry. That sounded bitter, huh?”
“You’re allowed to sound however you want when you talk about your parents.” We pause in front of one of those plasma globes, watching the beams of light that appear when we touch the glass.
“She was really into the idea of me making it,” Haylee says, staring at the globe. We broached this topic a little bit on the plane when we commiserated on having stage parents, but Haylee sounds a lot more dismal about it now. “She had me out busking and playing in cafés and stuff by the time I was twelve—”
“You were busking when you were twelve?” I ask, unable to imagine a little-girl Haylee sitting on a street corner somewhere with her guitar. “And your mom was okay with that?”
“My mom facilitated that. It was all her doing.” She pushes her hair behind her ears, taking a deep breath. When she looks back at me, she’s smiling again, even if it looks a little wistful. “Like I said, she wanted me to make it.”
“Sounds like your mom could give my dad a run for his money.”
She laughs. “The difference is my mom didn’t really know anything about the music business. So her stage mothering days dropped off when things actually started happening.” For a second it seems like she’s going to go on, but then she shuts her mouth with an audible snap of her teeth.
“Is she still in Detroit?”
Haylee nods. “Yeah. I send her money, of course, but…” She shrugs. “She doesn’t really do much these days. Turns out she was more interested in trying to find me a career than finding one of her own.”
I try to choose my words carefully. This is obviously a touchy subject for her, no matter how casual and unconcerned she tries to keep her tone. “A lot of people think that about my dad. That he’s just demanding and constantly driving us for his own sake. They don’t see how much he cares about all of us—”
“Then your dad is nothing like my mom.” Her voice is tight, but she offers me a quick, small smile. “Change the subject?”
“I… Sure.”
I catch sight of Paige down the hallway, waving at us. “Ready for some lunch?” she calls.
“How much you wanna bet she makes us eat haggis?” I ask Haylee in an undertone. She smirks and starts off down the hall. “Come on, Ransome,” she calls over her shoulder. “Don’t be a chicken.”
As I follow her I pass by one of those carnival mirrors, the kind that stretches out your face to the edges of the glass. I catch sight of myself as I pass, and I have the feeling my smile would have been that huge regardless of the mirror.
***
Paige doesn’t make anyone eat haggis. Instead she finds us a comfortable restaurant just off the Royal Mile where we eat fish and chips washed down by ice-cold hard cider. It’s one of the nicer lunches I’ve had in a while. Haylee sits on the other side of the table, a few seats down, and while I would have liked the chance to talk to her more, I can’t complain given my view of her. Even better, though, is my brothers’ moods. Everyone enjoyed World of Illusions, as Paige knew we would, and conversation flows freely between the two bands as we eat. Cash and Daltrey tell the others about some of Paige’s more off-the-wall destinations on previous tours, and they, in turn, tell us familiar horror stories of traveling by van to dive bar after dive bar. There’s a lot of laughing around that table.
And no one looks at me strangely. That’s the best part. I don’t say much, happy to sit back and follow the conversations around me, and no one seems to think it’s weird. No one seems to think they should be worried about me. It’s almost like things are normal.
I kind of wish lunch would never end.
Paige’s next stop is a tour of a local whiskey museum. “I picked this just for you, Cash,” she tells him sweetly as he slings an arm around her shoulder. “So be nice about my outings, or next time I might not be so considerate.”
“You really straddle that line between sweet and terrifying, Paige, did you know that?”
She nods seriously “It’s one of my gifts.”
The whiskey museum turns out to be a hit with everyone. The guide teaches us about the different whiskey regions in Scotland. “The Islay region produces a whiskey that is much more peaty than its compatriots,” he explains, handing out a chunk of peat moss for us to pass around and smell. “In contrast, you’ll see that whiskies from the Lowlands have much fruitier notes.”
“Now I’m always going to be picking up notes of dirt in my whiskey,” I hear Layla mutter as she passes the moss off to Haylee.
“Like your whiskey ever sits in a glass long enough for you to pick up notes of anything,” Haylee says.
After the lesson, they bring us to what is billed as the world’s largest collection of whiskey, where Daisy gives Cash a stern warning against touching any of the decades-old bottles of priceless liquor. The museum experience finishes with a completely cheesy, Disney-wannabe, dark boat ride through the process of brewing. There’s even a cartoon ghost narrating the ride. Daisy and Paige giggle at the ridiculousness, but Daltrey and Cash both declare the whiskey museum totally awesome and Paige and Daisy too ignorant of good liquor to know better.
When Paige announces dinner reservations followed by a ghost tour, our numbers start to diminish. James, Lance, and Layla all decide that they’re tired of sightseeing. “Really?” Paige asks, crestfallen. “But we’ve barely gotten started.”
“Sweetheart,” Reed says, wrapping an arm around her. “You’ve had us going since ten this morning. Not everyone has your stamina.”
She pouts, but it’s Daisy who gets really upset when Daltrey suggests they go back to the hotel to rest.
“What do I need to rest for?” Daisy asks.
“Babe, you’ve been on your feet all day.”
She crosses her arms, a clear sign of danger. “So?” Drop it, man, I try to silently communicate to my brother. But he presses on, and I realize Daisy was right. He is an idiot. “You’re seven months pregnant,” he says, his voice just a shade too condescending. Daisy’s face reddens, another sign of danger.
“Let’s go say goodbye to the others,” Paige says quickly, and we all scurry after her to the street. Behind us I hear Daisy start in on Dalt. “Are you under the impression my pregnancy is some kind of illness, Daltrey?” I shiver a little at the anger in her voice.
“He should have dropped it the second she crossed her arms like that,” Reed says, and I nod.
Out on the pavement we say goodbye to Lance, James, and Layla. I’m more than a little pleased when Haylee tells her friends she’ll stay with Dylan and the rest of us. They’re a few feet away, but I can tell even from here that James doesn’t approve. When Haylee crosses her arms, I stifle a smile. Apparently James didn’t learn from Daisy’s warning signs.
Once Daisy and Daltrey (very red-faced and sullen) join us, we grab a quick dinner before heading for the ghost tour. “What exactly is involved in this, Paige?” Levi asks.
“I’m not telling.”
“Why not?”
“Because not knowing is part of the experience.”
“Paige is big on the experience,” Daisy murmurs to Haylee. “It’s best not to question it.”
We meet our tour guides in front of a church on the Royal Mile. I expected silly costumes and feel a little let down when they greet us in simple, dark suits. Though one is wearing a pretty sweet looking cape. Paige has arranged for a private tour for us, so we follow the guides down the high street to the entrance to the underground vaults.
“We’re going down there?” Cash asks, his voice a little high pitched as he looks down the stone stairway to the dark beyond.
“Oh, don’t be a baby,” Paige says, following the guide down into the darkness.
“Come on, Cash,” Daisy says, holding out her arm for him. “You can walk with me.”
“Fine,” he says, taking her arm. “But I’m only doing this for your protection, you know. So you won’t get scared.”
“Of course you are, dear,” she says, rolling her eyes at me as they head down the stairs. “After you,” I tell Haylee then follow her down. We meet the others at the bottom of the steps in a room with rock walls. It’s lit only by torches, the effect pretty creepy. The guide explains how we’re standing in a portion of the city only recently excavated. The streets and buildings below have long since been built over. As we follow him deeper into the tunnels, I can’t help but feel a little let down. The vaults are creepy and dark, but the guide mostly focuses on historical details, only occasionally mentioning reports of hauntings.
“I thought this would be scarier,” Levi says when we emerge an hour later.
“Just wait,” Paige says knowingly. The next part of the tour takes place in a cemetery called Greyfriars Kirkyard. The guide explains how the graveyard is famous for the story of a loyal dog who guarded his owner’s grave for years after his death. “And,” he says, his voice dropping several notches, “there’s also the matter of all the ghosts.”
Nothing jumps out at us, there are no strange noises. But that doesn’t lessen the fear one bit. There’s something about walking through an old graveyard, in the middle of the night, listening to ghost stories, that is simply frightening. I notice as we walk farther through the headstones that our group in closing in, each of us subconsciously wanting to get closer to the others. Cash is still holding Daisy’s arm, but he seems to be clinging tighter than she is now.
“You know what would be awesome?” Paige whispers loudly. “Playing Ghost in the Graveyard in here.”
All of us who have played this particular game with Paige groan loudly. “What’s Ghost in the Graveyard?” Dylan asks.
“Oooh, we’ll have to play sometime,” Paige says. “I can totally show you, it’s really—” There’s a rustling in the trees, and Paige lets out a little shriek. “What was that?”
“Perhaps a crow,” the guide says. “Or perhaps… something else.”
No one talks much after that. My own heart is beating much faster than I would want to admit. The guide brings us to a stone mausoleum. “Within these walls,” he whispers, and I notice everyone in the group leaning in to hear him better, “dwells the most well-documented poltergeist in the world.”
“A poltergeist?” Cash asks, his voice decidedly squeaky.
The guide nods. “The Mackenzie Poltergeist has been haunting visitors to this spot for decades. Many unexplained things have happened here.”
“Like what?” Haylee asks. Is her voice shaking?
“Many men and women will find their skin marked by this spirit,” he says. “Scratches, bruises, all unexplained. Others will feel a presence, a brush of cold air on their skin. Hands pushing their bodies. Some will hear screams. Pictures taken here have shown shadowy figures standing near our guests.”
Daltrey immediately spins around, as if to catch sight of a shadowy figure.
“I can allow you into the tomb,” the guide says, looking from face to face. “That is… if you aren’t too afraid.”
“Shit,” Cash mutters, and I release a little laugh, needing to break some of the tension. Haylee looks up at me, smiling, eyes flashing.
“Let us inside,” Paige says, her voice shushed.
“As you wish,” the guide says, opening the wooden door to allow us entry. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The guide gestures us through the stone doorway but doesn’t follow as we step into the silent tomb. Does the air feel colder? It’s pitch dark, no light from the moon filtering through the stone walls. When Haylee leans toward me and her hair brushes my ear, I jump a foot in the air. “How much will your brothers tease me if I admit that I’m terrified?” she whispers. Her breath on the skin of my neck makes me shiver, and I can only hope that if she notices, she’ll write it off as a symptom of the cold.
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” I say. “Not that I’m scared or anything.”
She laughs softly. “Sure you aren’t.”
“I’m scared as hell,” Daltrey says from behind us, making me jump again. I had no idea he was back there. He laughs at my reaction. “You sure you aren’t?”
“I feel something in here,” Paige says suddenly, her voice loud in the quiet. Somewhere far above there’s a fluttering of wings. “I swear I do.”
“Like what?” Daltrey asks, his voice tight.
Paige’s eyes grow a little larger in the darkness. “Like… a spirit.”
“Come on, Paige,” I say, trying to tamp down the little rush of fear her words have stirred up in my chest. “You’re just being dramatic.”
“I know what I feel,” she says, tilting her chin up in defiance.
“What, uh, does it feel like?” Daltrey asks, and I can’t help but notice he takes a half step closer to me. I would give him shit about being so obviously freaked if I could just get my heart to stop pounding so hard.
“It’s very… cold. I feel… it’s angry.”
“Shut up,” Cash says. “You’re making that up.”
“I think it wants us to go,” Paige says, grabbing Reed’s hand. “I really think we should get out of here.”
“Fine by me,” Daltrey says, heading for the door.
“Where’s Daisy?” I ask, looking around the dark room.
Reed shoots Daltrey, already standing over by the door, a withering glance. “You know, your pregnant girlfriend?”
“Dais?” Daltrey calls out. “Babe?”
“We need to go,” Paige says, her voice panicked. “Daisy?”
Fingers brush mine, and I clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. “Sorry,” Haylee says, slipping her hand into mine.
“It’s okay,” I whisper back.
“Daisy?” Paige calls again. “Oh, God, where is she?”
“Shh,” Dylan says, holding a finger to his lips. “Do you hear that?”
We all freeze. Sure enough, there’s a sound in here. Like something sliding across the floor. “Oh my god,” Cash says. “Shit. What is that?”
“We need to go!” Paige cries.
“We need Daisy!” Daltrey shoots back.
“Oh, sure, now you’re concerned,” Levi says. “A minute ago you were halfway out the door without her.”
“Shh!” Dylan says again. “It’s getting closer.”
The slithering noise does sound louder. Leaves crinkle against the stone floor and—
“Ahhhh!” Someone—or something—screams, and we all take off running to the door. Daltrey is through it first, Cash close on his heels. I run with Haylee, holding her hand. She lets out a little shriek, followed by a laugh, and suddenly I’m laughing too.
“Why are you laughing?” Paige screams, running past me through the door. “The poltergeist is here!”
We reach the relative safety of the graveyard beyond the tomb, and I stop running, leaning over to catch my breath, still holding Haylee’s hand. From the corner of my eye I see Cash still running past our waiting tour guide, dodging tombstones as he puts as much distance between himself and the poltergeist as possible.
“What are you running from?”
We all spin to see Daisy standing in the door to the tomb, grinning at us.
“Was that you?” Daltrey cries.
“Guess I’m not such a helpless pregnant lady after all, huh?” she asks, leaning against the doorway. “I scared the hell out of all of you!”
“Shit,” Reed mutters, leaning on Paige.
“You scared me!” she cries, and Daisy laughs.
“I figured you of all people would want the full experience, Paige.”
Paige looks like she’s trying to decide if she wants to scream or cry. Finally she lets out a long peal of laughter. “Okay, Daisy. That was pretty good.”
“That was terrifying, Daisy,” I say.
“Definitely,” Haylee says, laughing shakily.
“I think Cash is still running,” Levi points out, smirking.
“Good one, babe,” Daltrey adds, joining her in the doorway. The smile drops from her face.
“Don’t think I didn’t see you trying to get out of there without me,” she says. “You didn’t even know I wasn’t next to you!”
“I’m sorry,” he says, hanging his head. “You really scared me!”
“Remember this the next time you’re acting all condescending about my pregnancy,” she says, jabbing him in the chest. “I am kick-ass and strong.”
“You are,” he agrees, wrapping an arm around her.
“And what are you?” she presses.
“A giant man-child.”
She kisses his cheek. “Don’t forget it.”
The walk back through the cemetery is no longer so scary, now that we’re all laughing. We catch up with Cash a few hundred yards from the tomb. “I knew it was Daisy all along,” he says. “I was just trying to add to the experience for you guys.”
“You know what, Cash?” Haylee says. “You’re kind of full of shit, aren’t you?”
“Haylee, dear,” Levi says, grinning at her. “You’re fitting in beautifully.”
As we make our way back to the hotel, it doesn’t escape my notice that Haylee never releases my hand.
“This was great, Lennon,” she tells me at her door. Everyone else has made their way into their own rooms, leaving Haylee and me alone in the hallway.
“It was, wasn’t it? That’s Paige for you. She has a way of taking something silly and making it fun.”
“She’s definitely fun,” Haylee agrees. “They all are.” She pauses, her eyes falling from my face to my chest. “I think that’s what I need right now, you know?”
“Fun?” I ask, and she nods.
“Fun and… friends.” She meets my eyes again, and hers are wide and pleading, like she’s hoping I’ll understand something. “If you couldn’t tell the other night, I’m pretty fucked up.”
“Haylee, you don’t have to worry about that with me.” I take a deep breath, preparing myself to unload my secret. “I’m definitely messed up myself—”
She holds up a hand. “Let me finish, okay? I’m pretty fucked up, Lennon, about a lot of things. And probably the last thing I need right now is some big, emotional attachment.”
My throat feels dry. What she’s saying makes sense—it’s what Reed has been telling me since that morning in Newcastle. So why does it hurt so much to hear it from her?
“I like you, Len,” she says, her voice softer. “I think we could be really good friends.” She pauses, searching my face. God, she’s so beautiful. “Is that okay with you?”
“Of course it is,” I say without thinking, even though it isn’t. I don’t know exactly what I want from Haylee Hunt, but it sure as hell isn’t friendship.
But then she smiles at me, and there’s no more worry or fear on her face. She doesn’t even look tired anymore. “Thank you. I think that will be… that will be really good for me, Lennon. Having you as a friend.”
How in the hell am I supposed to argue with that? When she leans up to hug me, I hug her back, trying not to think about how great she feels in my arms. Trying not to notice that amazing smell that still clings to her hair.
“So,” she says, pulling back. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“Absolutely.” My voice sounds strangely husky, but I smile, hoping she won’t notice.
“Great. Thanks, Len.”
“No problem, Haylee.”
She gives me one last grin before disappearing behind her door, leaving me to wonder how it’s possible to feel so good and so awful at the same time.