“Why? You know I’m dead. It shouldn’t scare you.”

“You don’t scare me, but that also doesn’t mean the poofing thing isn’t startling.” All chips saved and back in the bag, I rolled the top down and placed it on the counter. “Anyway, I’m guessing you have a message you need me to help you with since you’ve crossed over.”

“How can you—” He faded out without warning, and I found myself staring at the empty space again.

A few seconds later, he started to take form, his messy brown hair showing first and his boyish face next. His slim shoulders appeared, as did his waist, but beyond that? I could see the kitchen island where he legs should’ve been.

“Man, I hate it when that happens.” He shuddered. “Makes me feel like I’m made of wind.”

“I can imagine,” I murmured, trying not to stare at his missing lower half. I knew spirits could be...sensitive about these sorts of things. “Look, I can help you, but you need to tell me what you need before—”

“Before I disappear again? I know. That’s why I bounced before. The longer I’m here, the harder it is for me to stay. I can’t really control it.”

I nodded. “It’s because you’re not supposed to be here, at least not for extended periods of time.”

“I know. That’s what They tell me whenever They catch me leaving. ‘You moved on,’ They say. And it’s okay to check on people I care about, but not too much, because I could get...stuck.”

I had a feeling They were whoever monitored the comings and goings of souls. Probably an angel of the Second Sphere. They were kind of like the Human Resources of Heaven. “What do you mean that you can get stuck?”

“I might not be allowed back in or something. They weren’t very specific,” he explained, and I didn’t find that surprising at all.

“Okay. Then let’s get this show on the road,” I said. “Tell me your name and what you need from me, and maybe I can help.”

“There can’t be any maybes—” He glanced down at himself and grinned. “Hey, my legs are back. Awesome. By the way, did you know that dead jellyfish can still sting you if you step on them?”

I was seriously beginning to think that when people died, they developed a mad case of ADD. I would know, since there was a good chance I had that myself.

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“Sorry.” He lifted his shoulders. “Spewing random facts is a nervous habit of mine.”

“Yeah, that was pretty random.”

“Anyway, I need your help,” he repeated. “Please don’t say no. You’re my only hope.”

I tilted my head. “I’m not your Obi-Wan.”

A goofy grin broke out across his face. “Did you just break out a Star Wars reference? I like you. Look, I’ve been trying to get the message across for weeks, but she’s, well, she’s been hard to reach.” There was a fondness to his tone that was kind of adorable. “I love her with all my heart, but man, she’s not the most observant person in the world.”

I put two and two together. “It’s a girlfriend you need to get a message to?”

His smile slipped as his stare grew distant. “Girlfriend? She was almost...she was almost that.”

The gruffness in his tone tugged at my heart. It might’ve been only a handful of words, but they were full of unachieved potential and heartbreak that made the back of my eyes burn.

Man, I could relate to that.

He looked away. “I need you to get a message to her. That’s all.”

I glanced at the door. “I want to help you, I really do, and I’m not saying I won’t, but you have to realize something. If I tell her whatever you want me to, she’s probably not going to believe me. Based on previous experience, she’ll think there’s something wrong with me.”

“No, she won’t. She... Well, she’s experienced some weird stuff in her life. Maybe not seeing-dead-people level of weird, but definitely some extreme weirdness.” He came closer, flickering again. “Please. It’s important. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I can’t—”

“Leave me alone until I play medium for you, or find real peace until this is achieved?” Nibbling on my thumbnail, I looked at the door again. “Where is she? And how am I supposed to find her? I’m not familiar with this city at all.”

“I can show you. It’s not far from here.”

I hesitated, because this wasn’t like Roth dropping me off in a park. What if the spirit got sucked back to Heaven, and I was out there, unable to see much? A flutter of nervous energy filled my chest.

What was I thinking? I could do this. I was independent, and if this spirit disappeared on me, then I would manage. Just like I’d managed when Zayne had left me on the sidewalk and I’d followed the Upper Level demon. I hadn’t hesitated then. I wasn’t going to hesitate now.

I was a Trueborn, and I was a badass, and this spirit needed my help.

“Okay,” I said, lifting my chin. “Let’s do this.”

Relief poured into his features and he shot toward me, arms out as if he were about to hug me, but he stopped and let his arms flop to his sides. “Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me.”

I had some idea of how important it was, which was why I was helping. “My name is Trinity, by the way. Are you going to tell me yours?”

He looked like he was about to offer me his hand in a greeting, but remembered that wasn’t going to work. “I’m Sam—Sam Wickers. It’s good to meet you, Trinity.”

* * *

Walking down the street beside a spirit was super weird, but it wasn’t the first time I’d conversed with one in public. Back in the Community, I’d usually had Misha or Jada with me, so it hadn’t looked like I was talking to myself.

I didn’t have that luxury today, but I had creativity.

Sam looked at me strangely as I slipped on my dark oversize sunglasses. It was overcast and looked like it would start raining at some point today.

He spoke up finally when I tugged a pair of earbuds out of the front pocket of my bag, which I’d grabbed from the bedroom before we left. I plugged them into my phone and popped them in my ears.

“What’s up with the earbuds?” he asked as we walked down the crowded sidewalk toward Fourteenth Street. Well, I walked. He glided a few inches above the stained sidewalk. “Are you going to ignore me and listen to music? I hope not, because I’m chatty. Annoyingly so.”

I kept my gaze focused on making sure I didn’t knock into anyone. Talking also kept me from freaking out over the possibility that I was going to get super lost. “Listening to music would be kind of rude.”

“Yes, it would.”

“The earbuds make it seem like I’m talking on the phone.” I lifted the string, wiggling the mouthpiece. “I can talk to you without people thinking I’m talking to myself.”

“Oh. Damn. That’s clever.” He kept pace beside me. “You must have a lot of experience with this sort of thing.”

“Some.” A sticky breeze whipped down the sidewalk, tossing my hair across my face and bringing with it the heavy scent of exhaust.

“Like what kind of experience?”

I glanced in his direction, hearing the genuine interest in his tone. Words bubbled up to the tip of my tongue, but this guy—this poor dead guy—didn’t know me. Probably had no idea that he’d roamed into the apartment of a Warden. So, how could I explain what it had been like when I’d done things like this before?

“I have a question for you,” I said instead.

“I’ll have an answer.”

I shoved the hair out of my face. “You...passed on, didn’t you? Saw the light and went through it?”

That question earned me some weird looks from people passing by, but oh well.

“That’s right! You said that before and I wanted to ask, but I faded. How can you tell?” he asked. “That I saw the light and went to it?”

“There’s a difference between ghosts and spirits,” I explained, keeping my voice low. “Ghosts are stuck. They don’t know they’re dead, or they refuse to accept it, and they usually look like they did when they died. You don’t look or act like that, plus you have a...glow about you. A heavenly light, I guess.”

“I do?” He glanced down at his arm. “I can’t see it.”

“You do.” I thought about how Sam had looked different at first. “When spirits have passed on and they come back to check on their loved ones or do whatever spirits do with their time, they look normal except for the glow. They might look younger than they were when they died, or the age when they died. But when I first saw you, you looked like...like you had no features.”

“Maybe I showed up looking different because...when I died, I didn’t cross over immediately. I couldn’t.”

We came to an intersection packed with people waiting to cross. “Straight or turn?”

“Straight. It’s just another two blocks.”

I nodded and started chewing on my thumb again. “Why couldn’t you cross over immediately? You didn’t want to, or...”

Sam stayed quiet as we crossed the street. I looked down but couldn’t see the curb through the legs of people. I figured I had—

The toes on my right foot slammed into the curb, sending sharp pain shooting across my foot. I tripped, catching myself. “Crap.”

“You okay?” someone who wasn’t Sam asked.

“Yep.” I looked to my right and saw an older man in a suit talking to me.

“You should pay attention to where you’re going and not who you’re talking to on the phone,” he advised and then walked on, shaking his head.

“Thanks, douche-canoe, for the unsolicited advice!” Sam shouted to no avail. “Maybe I should go push him into that hot dog vendor.”