The rest of the morning was relatively normal. No spirits showed up. No ghostly boys dropped by to give me more messages. Luke spent most of the morning on the phone. Whatever he was planning, he didn't want me within earshot of his conversations. Every time I wandered his way, he'd make a none too subtle move to another room. If the guy wanted to keep secrets, so be it. He couldn't leave me in the dark forever. Not if he wanted my help.

Sometime after three o'clock in the afternoon, Luke announced that it was time to head to the hospital. I grabbed a short black coat from Pagan's closet and found a pair of elbow high, black and white striped fingerless gloves. The weather outside had turned chilly.

Storm clouds were gathering overhead. When Luke opened the front door and we stepped out, I could see my breath. I stood in the doorway and buttoned my coat.

Luke came to my side. He was wearing a black parka. He reached into his pocket and held out the pouch. I took it from his hand but didn't hide the surprise I felt. "I can have it now?"

He nodded his head. "You'll need it where we're going. Ready?"

"Yes," I answered, but for what, I had no idea.

Inside the car, Luke turned up the radio, which made conversation impossible. There were so many questions swirling around in my head.

What's with all the mysterious phone calls? Why are we going to the hospital? What does the last ritual entail?

I looked over at him. He seemed relaxed. He was singing along to a song on the radio, but there was an apprehension about him, a radiating tension, a look in his eyes that set my nerves on end.

When we finally pulled into the hospital parking lot, the anxiety building inside me was almost unbearable.

What the hell are we doing here? I wanted to shout at him.

Luke shut off the car and turned toward me. "The pouch. You should wear it around your neck. It'll give you the best protection that way."

I took the pouch out of my pocket and set it in my lap. I slowly started to unwind the leather wrapped around the top of it.

He slid closer to me. "Here, let me help."

I handed him the pouch and lifted my hair off my neck. "How long are we going to be here?"

"Not too long." He lifted the pouch and wrapped it around my neck. He slowly tied the two pieces of leather together. His fingers lingered for a moment.

Delicious sensations ran across my skin where his fingers grazed my neck.

Luke edged his body closer.

My breath hitched in the back of my throat. He's going to kiss me again. At that thought, my heart began to beat faster. That night we kissed on the couch I'd surrendered to the feelings swirling inside me. But then after the first ritual when he kissed me fear rushed in and forced me to push him away. If he kissed me again, would I still feel that same panic and fear?

No. I was no longer scared of him. That irrational fear that consumed me after the first ritual was finally gone. But in its place, I felt this anger, this all-consuming rage. Emotions so foreign to my being that I didn't feel at all like myself.

I might not feel like myself, but I couldn't deny that my body still hummed when Luke was close to me. His arm rested against mine. I could feel this electricity slid across my arm where his skin touched mine. I turned toward him and now his face was just inches from mine. I wanted him so badly to take me in his arms again. I wanted so badly in this moment to forget everything that had happened to me and just sink into him.

Those dark eyes were watching me closely. "There's something you have to know," he said, his voice low. He reached out and took my hand in his. "Now that you're one of us, the hospital..." He seemed to be searching for words. "It's not an easy place to be. There are a lot of souls passing, a lot of spirits lingering around."

While I was sitting there like an idiot hoping he would kiss me, he had been solely focused on the business at hand.

My hand went to the pouch around my neck. "But this will keep them from bothering me."

"Not entirely. They won't be able to possess you, but protection magic isn't strong enough to keep them completely at bay. You'll be able to feel them around. You'll be able to sense them, and maybe see and hear them."

I couldn't keep the horror I was feeling from showing on my face. That was not what I expected him to say.

He reached out and grabbed my hand. "I wouldn't have brought you here, not so soon after the first two rituals, but we're running out of time. You have to get used to dealing with spirits. You have to learn how to trust and use your new abilities. We can't take things slow. Normally you'd be eased into dealing with the spirits and you'd have time to adjust to your new abilities, but we are out of time..." He looked away.

I squeezed his hand. "It's alright. The only thing that matters is getting your sister back." I said it out loud, but I knew as the words left my mouth that it wasn't true. Finding the men who killed my family and making them pay was the one thing keeping me going.

He let out a sigh and looked back at me. "Whatever happens, remember I'm here with you and I won't let anything happen to you."

I nodded.

He reached out and his finger gently brushed against my cheek. "Just remember to breathe."

"Breathe. Got it," I whispered.

We made our way across the parking lot and went through a pair of sliding glass doors.

Remember to breathe, Luke said.

Easier said than done, because the minute I walked into the building, the breath was knocked right out of me. It was as if a wave of static electricity slammed into me. It buzzed against my skin. I stood there, trying to get my bearings, when a cold draft rushed by me. And then another. I heard a whisper of voices on the wind.

We weren't alone.

I felt like I was in a crowded room. I tried to take a breath but couldn't. I was claustrophobic and suddenly it was as though there wasn't enough oxygen. Everything began to close in on me. I felt my knees start to buckle.

And then Luke was in front of me. His eyes were filled with concern. He reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. It'll get better in a minute. Try to concentrate on me."

I looked into his eyes. The feeling of panic, of claustrophobia, started to ebb away.

I took one breath. And another.

"Keep your focus on me. Focusing on the living helps."

I nodded my head and looked around at the hustle and bustle of the hospital. Plenty of living roamed the halls. I just needed to keep my focus on them and away from whatever lurked in the shadows.

Luke took my hand, and we headed through a waiting room and into a wide hallway. We walked up and down a maze of halls, pushed open a door, and headed up a flight of stairs. We were entering another wing of the hospital. In this section, rooms were full of patients. As we passed open doors, I could make out shapes lying in bed. Many of the people were hooked up to machines. Beeping filled the air. There were fewer nurses in this section of the hospital. One glared at us from behind a desk.

Luke abruptly stopped and dropped my hand. He pointed to a group of chairs over in a corner. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

At the loss of physical contact, I felt a moment of panic. My hand came up and grasped the pouch. I settled into a chair and watched Luke head down the hallway.

He stopped in front of one of the rooms. A woman came out and greeted him. They shook hands. I watched them, and then realized someone was talking to me.

"I know you can hear me."

I turned and looked up, expecting to see someone standing over me. No one was there. I was alone.

But I wasn't.

"See. I knew you could hear me."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

The seat next to me rattled. "Listen to me. I need you to listen to me. My son, he needs to know about the ring, I meant to tell him, I thought there was still time."

A spirit was talking to me. I should have felt petrified, but instead I leaned forward to hear the voice more clearly. I felt a tug on my arm and found myself on my feet, heading toward a room.

I stood in the doorway. There was an elderly lady lying in one of the beds. She was hooked up to machines and a mask covered her face. Tubes protruded from her arms.

"I'm no longer in that body, those machines are keeping my heart beating, but it is a heart that no longer holds my soul."

I could feel a breeze slid across my arm. "Tell him I put the ring in a blue box in the back of the closet. My hiding place in case someone robs my house."

I noticed other people in the room. A man and woman were sitting in chairs in the corner by the window. They were holding hands. Sadness filled the man's face.

"He's going to marry her. He told me last week that he was going to propose. He asked me for the ring, but before I could give it to him..." The voice trailed off.

Luke had said spirits are often confused and talked in puzzles. This old women's voice held no confusion. She knew exactly what she wanted from me. She was demanding I tell her son about the ring.

This was crazy. What was I going to say to the couple? I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be interfering in these people's lives, not when they were dealing with something so personal, so sad.

I started to back out of the room, but there was a tug on my arm again. "You have to tell him where to find the ring."

And if I didn't help her, would that mean that something left undone would force her to roam the ether sea forever as an unsettled spirit? Was this one request she had of me the thing that would allow her to move into the light? I would move heaven and earth to help my family find the light.

I had to say something. I had to try and help this spirit.

I opened my mouth and the words rushed out. "Excuse me, sir."

The man looked up at me. Grief filled his face.

"Your mother wants you to know..."

He rose from his seat. "Are you a friend of hers?" He put out his hand. "I'm sorry, I don't know all her friends."

I took a step back and shook my head. I felt a nudge at my shoulder as if someone was giving me a gentle push.

The voice again, this time more insistent. "Tell him about the ring. His grandmother's ring."

"Your mother wants me to tell you that she left the ring in a box. A blue box in the back of her closet."

"The ring?" The man looked confused.

"Your grandmother's engagement ring."

A light of understanding came into his eyes. He turned and looked at the woman. "Oh... The ring."

The voice whispered in my ear, "tell him not to worry. I'm going to a better place."

"Your mother, she says not to worry. She's going to a better place."

"I don't understand." His face suddenly filled with fear. "Who are you?" he demanded.

I couldn't believe his reaction. Here I was, trying to help him, and he was looking at me like I was dangerous. My hands clenched into fists, and I felt a strong, irrational urge to hit him. This man was losing his mother. I should have been feeling sympathy for him, and instead, I only felt anger towards him.

What is happening to me?

I took a step back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

I turned and rushed out the door. I headed down the hallway and ran into Luke.

Luke held up his hands. "Whoa—I was looking for you. Is everything okay?"

I couldn't get the image of the man's expression out of my head. I'd told him something only his mother's spirit would know. The only people who talk to spirits are death dealers. It only took him a moment to realize what I was. That look of fear and repulsion that came over his face was one I now recognized— I was a death dealer now; people would look at me like that for the rest of my life.

I averted my eyes from his. "Yes, everything's fine."

Luke grabbed my hand. "I'm done. We can go."

I started to walk away.

The voice whispered after me, "Thank you. Thank you for telling him."

This was my life now. Dealing with spirits. Despised and feared by people. What had been done to me could never be undone. I had opened the doorway to the spirits, and now I would spend the rest of my life passing on messages from the dead.