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paper and leather.
    “What’s the matter with you?” Ava asked, hands on her hips. “What are you, twelve? And what are you hiding under the covers? I’d ask if you were using, but you’re too straight and narrow for that.” She snorted.
    I almost asked what she thought I was using before cluing in that she meant drugs. “You can’t be here tonight,” I said.
    “Tonight? Christ, Addison, it’s almost nine in the morning.”
    I fought to keep the shock off my face. Failed miserably. “What?”
    The guy chuckled. “Who spends Friday night cuddling under the covers with an old book?” Oh, God, he’d seen it. What would Green do to Baldy if he found out? I launched up and glared at them both. “You can’t tell anyone you saw the book. Especially not Professor Green.”
    Ava laughed at first, but it faded, and she took a step back. “Jesus, Addison. Did you steal that? I knew you had a book fetish, but that’s totally insane, even for you.”
    “I didn’t steal anything,” I said. “Now, get out of my room, and I meant what I said. Just forget you even saw me today.”
    “Stupid freak bitch.” Baldy said, shoving Ava through her door and slamming it shut behind them.
    I started to shake, but a few mental mantras of keep your shit together, Dad needs you put me back on task. While I rushed to my dresser to start packing, a familiar chill swept the room. No, no, not now! Shadows danced in the upper corners of the walls, and darkness crawled down the cinder blocks. I had an insane urge to reach up and see if my hand would pass through before remembering what had come through it last time and what it might do to me.
    Why was the veil opening now? Could the wraiths sense the book? Did they know Ava’s guy had seen it? Or was it really me they were after? But why?
    Either way, I wasn’t sticking around. I had to warn Dad, though I wasn’t sure how to warn him against something I knew he couldn’t sense, and he was probably safe anyway since he didn’t suffer from any mental illnesses that I knew of. Still, I wouldn’t take any chances that he might become a wraith halfway house.

Chapter 5
    I hastily jammed some clothes into my backpack, folded the book in a blanket, grabbed my cell from my bookshelf, and rushed out into the hallway. Hugging the bundle to my chest, I dialed the cabin.
    It rang three times before Dad answered, bright and cheerful. “Heya, sweetpea, why up so early on this lovely Saturday morning?”
    God, I loved him. It wasn’t really early, but I’d never been much of a morning person. “Dad.” My voice sounded frantic, but I couldn’t rein it in. “You need to listen to me very carefully, okay?”
    Something creaked in the background. I imagined him jackknifing up in the ancient chair in his home office where he managed his business as an electrician. “What’s happened, Addy? You sound scared.” He’d dropped the doting father voice and adopted the stern one that would probably greet a boyfriend with a shotgun if I ever managed to find one worth bringing home.
    I sped along the beige hallway. “I’m coming home for the weekend. Until I get there, I want you to go and work somewhere else, okay? Please?” I’d never seen the walls come apart at anyone else’s house but ours, so I didn’t want him anywhere near there until I figured out what to do. Logic told me it had been happening for years and nothing had gotten him yet—that I knew of—but now that I knew what the wraiths could do, I wasn’t taking any chances with my only family.
    “Tell me why. Do I need to call the police?” No accusation, no “have you gotten yourself into trouble with the law?” questions. Just good ol’ practical Dad.
    I made it to the stairwell, held the door open for a few girls rushing up the steps, and started down once they swept by me. “This has nothing to do with the police,” I whispered, “and I can’t explain now. Just … can you please go to Uncle Oliver’s or someplace