Grave Possession (Wraith 3) by Angel Lawson Read Free Book Online

I’m not fine. I’m not okay with this.” I gestured between the two of us, my hand waving more wildly than I would’ve liked. “Not a word, Connor. Not one in the year you were gone. Nothing.”
    “Jane,” he said. “I wanted…”
    “No. Shut up. I don’t want to hear your excuses.” I took a deep breath. “You made your…”
    He cut me off with a held up a hand and looked around. “Did you hear that?”
    I shook my head because the only thing I heard was the pounding of my own heart. “No.”
    “I heard a scream,” he said. “Or I thought I did,” he cut off. “There, you didn’t hear that?” He leaned over the railing and I did the same. The water rocked quietly against the rocks below us. I spotted a pair of arms flailing over the waves.
    “Someone fell in!” I cried.
    The water wasn’t easy to get to – at least a 10- to 15-foot jump. A sheer wall of stone separated the land and the water, but somehow someone had fallen in.
    “Help!” a man cried. I heard it this time and kicked off my shoes.
    Connor’s eyes widened and he grabbed my arm. “What? You can’t go down there.”
    We both searched the boardwalk and it was empty. The few other people didn’t seem to notice the emergency. “Who else is going to go, Connor?” I asked, climbing the railing. I pressed my phone into his hand. “Call 911.”
    Connor looked from the water back to me with an odd expression on his face. I took the opportunity to climb the railing.
    “Jane, stop. Stop! This is—“ I jumped, feeling his hands grab for my shirt and then nothing until the cold water from the river engulfed my body.
    My ears filled with water and muffled sounds. Using my arms, I swam back to the surface, popped up and took a gulping breath. I saw a small crowd surrounding Connor. The splash must have brought the attention of a couple of tourists. I searched the water but found nothing. There was no one nearby. I cried, “Where is he?”
    Connor shook his head and mouthed something. Said something. I couldn’t make it out.
    “What?” He leaned over the edge with a grim expression. “Jane,” he yelled and I looked up. Connor shouted the words I hadn’t heard in almost a year. “Water tower!”

     

Chapter 7
     
    A guy on one of the massive tourist boats that lined the boardwalk helped me out of the water. The boat captain acted cool about it – we told him I thought I saw someone down there. That much was true. I guess the fact it was early on a Sunday morning and we were both in workout clothes proved we weren’t a couple of drunks hanging around the empty bar fronts.
    “Shit,” Connor said once we were alone. I stood next to him shaking from the cold, in only a tank and shorts. Even though it was summer, the river water was cold. Water dripped down my bare feet, making a pool on the brick-lined sidewalk. Connor stripped off his dry shirt and quickly draped it over my head. It fell to mid-thigh.
    “Thanks.”
    “Are you okay?” He asked, resting his hand on his arm. I tried to keep my eyes off his chest. I’d never seen him like this. He had a tan and, man, he was ripped. Connor had a six pack. I sneaked a peek. Ugh. And a happy trail.
    “Yeah, just cold and a little freaked out.”
    He carried my shoes and phone, and we walked back toward the park. “So, right,” he said. “That was kind of messed up. I was confused at first with the water and all, but why didn’t you realize it was a ghost?”
    “I just got confused, I guess. That’s never happened before. And what about you? Seeing them before me? That’s the weird part,” I lied. I’d always been able to identify the real and not real. Even that first day with Evan. With Tonya. With Charlotte. The fact I misread the ghost in the water alarmed me. But not enough to say anything, not to Connor.
    “I told you I was off the meds. I don’t block them out anymore.”
    I wiped my face with the hem of his shirt. “How many have you seen?”
    He pushed his hair