“Lower the window, Sam,” Roberto said, sounding slightly annoyed.
“You’re dead,” Sam informed him.
“I am aware of that,” Roberto said, his smile tightening. “Now, lower the window.”
“You’re talking to him?” Jeff asked, staring past her. “He’s there?”
“Yeah,” Samantha grumbled, lowering the window. “And being a bossy ass as usual.” She had never gotten along particularly well with Cian’s long time mortal companion. Roberto and Cian had met in Mexico over a hundred years before and had forged a strong friendship that had been destroyed by Roberto’s betrayal. Roberto had chosen to become a vampire and serve The Summoner instead of standing at Cian’s side. Samantha was sure Amaliya had pushed Roberto over the edge, but that didn’t take away from the fact that Roberto was a Class-A asshole.
Once the window lowered, Roberto leaned his elbows on the window sill and stared at her for a long moment. “So you’re finally useful.”
“Fuck you.”
“And still charming.”
Samantha swallowed hard, leaning away from him. She remembered too vividly what happened when she had touched Cassidy. The last thing she wanted was Roberto gaining the ability to hurt them. “What do you want, Roberto?”
“Death does something to you...” Roberto mused, his fingers playing along the edge of the open window. “Not being able to affect the world around you and wandering in circles, trapped. It’s not the most pleasant of experiences.”
“Why didn’t you move on? You know, go into the light? Or was that light all flamey and fiery?” Samantha arched her brows.
Only Jeff’s steady breathing indicated he was leaning toward her. He was utterly still, waiting to see what would happen. She appreciated him letting her deal with the testy ghost.
Roberto grinned, laughed, and shook his head. “There was nothing. Just darkness and the knowledge that I am tethered here.” Casting a sorrowful look at the hotel, he said, “I’m stuck in this hell hole.”
“Why?” Samantha tried to stealthily unbuckle her seatbelt, but the click gave her away.
The ghost’s intense green eyes flicked toward her, his hand flexing slightly on the window sill. “I’m not sure, honestly. The night The Summoner died there were many of us here, trapped by his power. When he died, I fled. I ran down the road. I’m not sure if I even realized I was dead, I just wanted to escape. I got as far as the city limits and was tossed all the way back to the hotel.” Roberto cast a wary look at the structure.
“And?” Samantha prompted, sensing he was scared and uncertain. She almost felt bad for him, but then she remembered he was a dick.
“The other ghosts were gone,” he said after a beat. “I was alone.” The lines in his face seemed to deepen as his eyes darkened.
“What do you mean alone?”
“The other ghosts were gone. Some were barely there to begin with. Faded memories, but others were very vivid. Including the girl who shot me. She wouldn’t stop crying. When The Summoner died, I...” He seemed to fade just a little, his form dissolving into the darkness that barely relented to the headlights of the Jeep. Appearing distracted, he stared into the night, toward the graveyard. “Even the graveyard was empty.”
The sense of being surrounded by the menacing unknown intensified. Of course, she was also speaking to a ghost, so that had her nerves a bit frayed.
Her hands quivered as she twisted in her seat to stare at the phantom. His form was blurring. It was as if she couldn’t focus her eyes upon him. She needed him to talk to her. There was only one way to keep him from slipping away.
Timidly, she touched his hand. For a second she felt nothing, then his flesh became tangible, cold and hard like a corpse.
Roberto sighed with relief and returned his attention to her. “I’m sorry. It is hard to...hold on.”
“Why did you stop the Jeep?” Samantha queried, curious.
“I felt you coming.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. I just...knew.” He shrugged his shoulders slightly. “I felt you...”
“I can see him,” Jeff whispered in her ear.
Samantha kept her hand pressed to Roberto’s even though it was disconcerting to feel the icy flesh beneath her fingers. “Roberto, why did you stop the car? You don’t like me. If you felt me, why would you stop us?”
“Because of what you are.” Roberto attempted to give her a condescending smile, but it failed. He looked more afraid than any other emotion. It was disturbing to witness. “I somehow knew you would be able to see me, to help me.”
Samantha shook her head. “I can’t help you, Roberto. I don’t even know what I’m doing! This is all new to me.”
The ghost gripped her hand tightly, startling her. Leaning through the open window, his face was illuminated by the glow of the dashboard. “They’re in the graveyard. Something is wrong there. It has been wrong since he died. They’re going to...” Roberto struggled to speak, his tightening grip eliciting a cry of pain from her. “He died there. Do you understand? He died there!”
“You’re hurting me!” Samantha cried out, rotating her hand in a futile attempt to wrest free.
“He died there!” Roberto screamed in her face. “He died there! And the ghosts are gone!”
“Let her go!” Jeff exclaimed, lunging over Samantha to wrestle her hand free.
“You have to stop them!”
Prying Roberto’s frigid fingers from her wrist, Jeff leaned his shoulder into the ghost, pressing him out of the window. “Let go of her!”
Samantha twisted her wrist back and forth in the ghost’s grip trying to break free. She could feel the specter drawing power out of her. Through his touch, Samantha sensed his terrible fear and frustration. He was increasingly agitated, his thoughts flitting incoherently from fear to raw anger.
“I shouldn’t be dead,” Roberto shouted. “I was supposed to live forever!”
Jeff finally got Samantha’s wrist free. Using his body as wedge, the vampire hunter shielded her as she scrambled into the driver’s seat and hit the button to raise the window.
“Roberto, back off!” Jeff ordered.
“No, no! You have to stop them!” Roberto cried out, trying to reach past Jeff and snag Samantha.
The window slid up, cutting off the grasping ghost. With the last of his remaining energy, he beat against the window. Samantha stared at him, tears in her eyes, sorrow filling her. What little connection remained between them dissipated like a wisp of smoke. Sapped of her energy, Roberto wailed and vanished.
“He can’t reform unless you will it,” Jeff said in a tight, scared voice. He collapsed into the passenger seat, his hands resting on the dashboard. “Next time you need to tell him to let you go!”
“I…I…” She realized she hadn’t told Roberto to let go and felt like a fool. Closing her eyes, she saw something, faintly, tying her to the ghost - a silver thread writhing in the darkness. She imagined it snapping and suddenly felt Roberto fade from the grip of her power. “I cut off whatever it was connecting us,” Samantha whispered. Now it was gone and she felt strangely alone. Yet, if she concentrated just a little, she could sense the lost ghost circling the car in confusion. She immediately withdrew any thought of him, trying to raise a barrier between herself and the phantom.
“What did he tell you?” Jeff asked, breathing a little heavier than normal. He appeared shaken and his eyes darted back and forth, searching the illuminated road.
Samantha inhaled deeply, then told him. “Why would all the ghosts be gone?”
“You can’t feel any?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No, just Roberto and he’s, like, totally wispy.”
Frowning, Jeff dragged his fingers through his floppy brown hair. “I’m not sure. But they’re definitely out in that graveyard doing something that’s...”
“This Ethan guy is trying to bring him back, isn’t he?” Samantha’s voice quivered and she hated the fear that laced her words.
“I’m pretty sure that’s not possible,” Jeff said vehemently.
“But you’re not sure, are you?”
Jeff stared out at the bleak darkness, before reluctantly shaking his head. “No.”
Settling into the driver’s seat, Samantha pouted. “Okay, that’s not good. So we can’t just drive out to the cemetery and say hello, can we?”
“I think we should. I think we should just go out there and say hello to Sergio and Innocente. If Ethan’s up to no good, we’ll stop him...somehow. But hanging back here isn’t going to help anyone. Maybe when he sees we’re here and realizes that our crew back in Austin knows we’re here, he’ll think twice about doing anything, you know, dangerous.”
“Like bringing back the asshole?” Samantha lifted her eyebrows.
“Exactly,” Jeff shifted in the passenger seat. “Can we trust Roberto?”