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possible.
    “With that device she used against Mrs. Ruiz, she probably doesn’t need one,” she continued.
    The silence that hung in the air after those words held a slightly different quality, like she was testing the verbal waters and waiting for a “too hot” or “too cold” response.
    Ah, wait. Now I was getting it.
    Maybe.
    “I was just curious,” I said cautiously. “Not looking to change things.”
    “She’s alive. Your mother would like that better.”
    I let out a silent breath of relief. I’d guessed correctly. She was worried I wanted to replace her or get rid of her or something, but in true Alona fashion, she couldn’t just say that. Nope, that would be admitting that it mattered.
    “My mom is still…adjusting,” I said.
    The ghost-talker thing had been a hard reality for my mom to accept, especially once she got the full grasp of what it meant. A normal life for me…would not be so normal, even now. I’d applied to colleges, just like we’d talked about, but so far, nothing but a pile of rejections.
    I couldn’t say I was surprised. You try explaining a spotty attendance record, more detentions than a reasonable person would bother counting, a half dozen or so in-school suspensions, and God only knows what kind of notes from a vindictive principal on your permanent record (which, by the way, really does exist and the school does send it out) without mentioning “ghosts” or “paranormal ability.” There were schools that would probably be fine with me telling the truth—if I wanted to major in crystals or something. But that was not what my mom had in mind.
    Add to all of that, the person that I spent the most time with now was a beautiful girl who happened to be a spirit but who was still living (in her own way) and very touchable? Yeah. For some reason, that meant only one thing to my mom—the possibility of me having weird, undead, inter-dimensional SEX. Right.
    I wish.
    In any case, my mom had been a little less than welcoming the few times she’d been forced to acknowledge Alona’s invisible-to-her presence. But I hadn’t realized it had bothered Alona this much…or at all.
    “She’ll get there,” I said. “She just needs time.”
    Alona closed the kit and zipped it shut before turning to face me. “You know I’d find another way, if I had to. I don’t need you need you.” She met my eyes defiantly, daring me to contradict her.
    “I know.” I wasn’t sure how she would help people—earn her points, learn her lesson, or whatever it was she’d been sent back specifically to accomplish—without me, her only point of access to the living, but I knew better than to underestimate her. I’d learned that lesson already. “But this is not…I don’t think…” Blah, blah, blah. Get it together. I forced myself to stop and start over.
    I took a deep breath. “I’ve been alone with this ghost-talking thing my whole life,” I said, choosing my words carefully. This had serious potential to blow up in my face. “Even when my dad was alive, he wanted nothing to dowith it. So, yeah, finding someone else like me is kind of abig deal.”
    She stiffened.
    “But it doesn’t change anything,” I said. “Not like that.”
    She looked unconvinced. I hesitated and took it a step further. I grabbed her hand, and she didn’t pull it free immediately. That was a good sign, right?
    “I don’t want to do this—what we do—with anyone else, okay?” I said quickly. There. I felt dangerously exposed and kind of like an idiot, but at least I’d said my piece. God, no wonder Alona danced around these kinds of things.
    Her eyes widened, and she pulled her hand from mine.
    I winced in anticipation. It was entirely possible that I’d completely misinterpreted her concerns, and now I was so going to hear about it.…
    She touched my face, her fingers light against my cheek, and then she was kissing me. Her mouth was warm and soft and, as always, tasted vaguely of vanilla lip