Shadow Bound (Wraith) by Angel Lawson Read Free Book Online

along with beads and glitter, to 15 kids a day started to feel like factory work. Ava and I had a good time teaching the class, but I looked forward to my family vacation. Each summer, we took a week off and stayed in a rental at the beach. I’d taken Grace, my pre-ghost-seeing, pre-serious-boyfriend best friend, with me in the past, but this year my parents told me I could invite Connor. Summer school held classes during the first part of the week so he couldn’t come the whole time, but our vacation was over the Fourth of July, which gave him a couple days break.
    “When do you leave?” Ava asked.
    “Saturday morning. Connor gets there next Wednesday.”
    “Good. I think you both need a break.”
    “Yeah, it’s been a hard couple of weeks for him and I won’t deny the idea of having Connor alone for several days feels nice.” A frustrating tension had developed between us since Charlotte died. I didn’t even know this girl when she was alive, but dead she had an unbelievable effect on my relationship. I hoped if we got away from school and work and everything else, we could put it past us and move on.
    “Come on guys, let’s wash your hands and then you can eat lunch,” Ava called out to the group. The kids flew past us to the bathroom where they fought over the sink and made a general mess.
    “Outside… go. Move. Sophie, get your lunch box. Not that one, your lunch box. Yes. That one. Go,” I directed. It was like herding cats.
    The best thing about having the art studio in a house was the fact it had a small back yard. Picnic tables and a small garden added to the open space. It helped everyone to have fresh air and get outside for a little bit.
    We settled the kids, opening containers and drinks before moving over to a small round table to eat our own lunches. The kids were under strict instruction not to get up for 20 minutes. They would pretend to be done in five if you let them.
    Ava methodically sorted her food and containers. She had the worst OCD. I, on the other hand, dumped my lunch on the table, opened my Coke and began eating.
    “I talked to Julia,” Ava said.
    I swallowed a mouthful of turkey. “Did you?”
    “She feels bad about the other day.”
    I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
    “She does. She’s just worried about you. She just doesn’t show her concern well.”
    “That’s an understatement,” I said. “Julia doesn’t understand me or Connor and she especially doesn’t understand our relationship.”
    Ava picked up a container and popped off the lid. “That’s the thing, Jane. None of us do.”
    I stopped the can of Coke before it hit my lips. “What does that mean?”
    Ava looked me directly in the eye. “It means you and Connor are these two vastly different people, both with some kind of secret backgrounds that no one has ever really understood. He spent time in lock-up and you had your problems, but you have this connection – a really strong one. Anyone can see that.”
    “It’s not a big deal.”
    Ava smirked. “Yeah, it is a big deal. He saved your life. You could have died and he was there for you. That, is a big deal.”
    We never talked much about the fire and Evan’s mom. Ava didn’t know the whole story. She believed the story we gave the police and newspapers. Due to my volunteer work at the battered women’s shelter, I found myself in the middle of a domestic argument. She didn’t know about the ghosts.
    “It’s complicated. All that stuff between us,” I replied weakly.
    “I can imagine. I’m not pressuring you to talk about what happened between you guys or about the fire last year, but you need to at least admit that the relationship between you two can be a little intense.”
    That I could admit, to myself at least. We went from quasi-enemies to friends to, well, much more. To more than my boyfriend. We were connected by something greater than both of us. We needed one another and we shared secrets. Big ones.
    I picked up an apple and took