I lay in Pagan's bed, staring blindly at the ceiling. The drive back had seemed unreal, like some horrible dream. The whole way back Darla had cried, sobbed, and moaned for her brother. Freddy had been silent, and I had stared out the window, unable and unwilling to process what happened.

I kept waiting to wake from this dream—I was desperate to wake and find Luke back at my side.

But Luke is dead.

The words rang through my head. They forced me off the bed onto my feet. I walked over to the window. Storm clouds gathered outside. I wondered when it would start raining. It was cold in the room, but I didn't care. I welcomed the chill—it matched the one surrounding my heart.

The traveler had warned me. She'd said the awakening was dangerous, and she'd been right. The awakening had triggered something inside me. The rituals had changed me. I'd become darker, reckless—I'd given in to my anger and rushed to seek my revenge, not caring about the consequences.

Because of my actions, Luke was dead.

The demon had granted me my innermost wish—to see Macaven dead. But watching his body crumple to the floor hadn't given me any true pleasure.

Revenge hadn't brought my family back.

I'd tried to save my father and my brother but failed them both. Now their spirits were forever intertwined with a demon—an evil creature that was out in the world doing who knew what unspeakable things. It was my fault the demon was free. My reckless behavior had set that monster loose. And if the creature hadn't lied, if it told the truth, then my family was dead because of me.

I shook my head, trying to make sense of it all. Was I really just a puppet in the twisted creature's game? The demon had said our fates were intertwined and that it would see me again...that I wasn't yet ready to give it what it needed.

The memory of its words sent a chill down my spine. What does it all mean?

I threw myself down on the bed, closing my eyes and trying to clear my thoughts. Every time I tried; I saw the image of Luke's lifeless body crushed under the stone. I had fought against my feelings. I had been so scared to open my heart and let him in, but now I knew without a doubt, somewhere along the way, I'd fallen in love with Luke.

I hadn't truly realized it until I looked down at his broken body. In that moment, I knew how much I loved him. How much I needed him.

And now it was too late. He was gone. I'd lost him forever. No tears streamed down my face. I felt nothing now but a dark, deep void.

As I lay quietly, a cold breeze ran across my cheek, and I felt a pressure against my arm. I opened my eyes and sat up. Something was here in the room, something not of this world. A breeze rustled against my neck.

I'm here, Colina. The words slid across my mind.

"Luke?" It's him. His spirit was there with me in the room. I could feel it. I sobbed and reached out. His spirit was with me, but I couldn't touch him. I couldn't hold him. "Luke, I'm so sorry..." I hesitated and looked around the empty room.

I can do this. I can finally tell him how I feel. It's not too late to let him know how much I care.

"I love you." The words were finally out. My declaration was met with silence. The sadness, the heartache I'd forced back until now, came crashing down on me. I'd experienced every girl's fondest wish, I met the boy of my dreams, but my story was a little different.

I met the boy. I loved the boy. I killed the boy.

Then I heard it. A soft whisper floated toward me from across the room.

"I'm here. I'll never leave you."

* * *

The cemetery didn't look any less spooky in the daytime. I was on a hill close by, watching the proceedings from behind a tree. Fifty people were gathered in a semicircle, all dressed in black. I'd watched six strong men carry Luke's casket through the cemetery from afar. It now rested near an open grave.

Storm clouds filled the sky. It hadn't started raining yet, but a cold wind whipped through the trees.

"Thank you," whispered across my ears, and a cold chill ran across my fingers.

I looked up into the face of Sarah's ghost. Her spirit stood before me. She seemed almost solid.

"Because of you, I'm finally free. I wanted to thank you before I go."

"Were you the one guiding me, helping me find Darla?"

Sarah nodded, and her image started to go translucent.

A light, bright like the sun, appeared only a few feet away. Like before, there were forms, shapes at the other end of the light. An incredible feeling of love and joy radiated out from within the light, and voices began calling out Sarah's name.

Sarah turned toward the light, but then looked back to me. "My family is calling. Because of you, I can finally go to them." She looked down at the funeral procession. "I've a message to pass on to you before I go."

"A message from who?" Is it my mother? Can spirits communicate with each other on the other side? I hadn't seen or heard from my mother since the night we worked the Ouija board spell.

"Don't forget who you are," Sarah whispered as the light reached out and engulfed her. She disappeared.

"Don't forget who you are." Those were the same words the traveler healer had told me when she gave me the protection pouch. But I had forgotten who I was. I was no longer the gentle healer. I was no longer on a path of light. I walked in darkness now death and destruction shadowed my every step.

I set the demon free. It was out there, running loose in the world disguised as a little girl.

And Luke... he was still here with me in spirit, but I desperately wanted to feel his arms wrapped around me. The image of his lifeless body flashed before my eyes.

I gave myself a mental shake. I wouldn't think about that now. I would lock those images into the deepest, darkest corner of my mind. Maybe one day I would deal with them...but not today.

It was then that I felt another presence, but it wasn't a spirit this time. It was a person. I said her name but didn't turn around. "Darla."

"I knew you'd be here." She waited for me to say something, but when I remained silent, she continued. "Macaven's coven is broken. My guild is hunting down those members responsible for the killings. There'll be a reckoning for what they did, for the lives they took. They hid their actions by blaming the deaths on the Redeemers, but everyone knows the truth now. Word has spread about what happened. Rumors have started about my kind. People are blaming us for those creatures at the hospital and for the massacre at the hotel.

"My family is in danger because of what you did. I know that you can raise the dead. Freddy told me what you did at the hospital, and I told my family. They had to clean up what you did at the hotel. That thing you left...all those people dead..."

I turned and looked at her. A black scarf covered her chopped hair; her dress was long and black.

I forced myself to ask the question. "How many?"

"Twenty dead, a dozen more in the hospital." Her eyes filled with hatred. "You saved me, and for that I'll give you this warning, my family wants you dead. They blame you for what happened to Luke. I blame you. He should never have gone back into that place. He's dead, and it's all your fault. Don't come back here. If I see you again, I'll kill you myself."

I started to walk away, but she grabbed my arm. "Luke is around, I can feel him. We tried a ceremony to move his spirit into the light, but he won't." She sobbed. "I know it's because of you. Freddy told me what you did for Thomas, you can make Luke go into the light. You can free him."

I shook my head. The thought of losing what little I had left of Luke scared me.

"Please, you can do it," she pleaded.

"No. No, I can't." I shook off her grip and walked away. I loved Luke. I would never let him go.

The sky overhead opened up and rain poured down. There was nowhere left for me to go. My clan would never let me come back once they found out what I'd become...once they discovered the terrible acts I'd committed in the name of revenge. A sob escaped my lips. Nothing seemed real. I was going through the motions, but inside I felt numb.

No, I thought to myself. That isn't true. Inside I felt lost in a sea of hopelessness and despair. At times this sea of emotions washed over me so strongly that I felt as though I could no longer breathe. I felt like I would drown.

Luke was dead. It was my fault. I could never take back the things I had done to avenge my family.

I wiped the wet hair from my face. Luke's death had been violent and unexpected, which meant that, for a short time at least, his spirit should be unsettled, roaming the in between.

But Luke's spirit was here, with me. I could feel him around me at different times.

Possession. The word gave me hope. Luke had said a spirit could overpower someone weak, or someone on the edge of insanity. Wanda's spirit had possessed me. Her very essence had filled me, moved my body and limbs at her command. With Luke's help, I'd been able to force her out...but what if I hadn't? Wanda would have been able to roam the world using my body.

Possession. I was a death dealer now; I could bring him back. Luke could possess someone and come back to me. I could help force his spirit back into a living body.

I looked up at the dark sky and rain fell across my face. I didn't have a lot of power. I'd survived the rituals, but I hadn't finished the death dealer training. There had to be someone out there who could teach me. I could find books that would help me learn spells.

Possession. It was my one chance to bring Luke back. If there was a way to bring him back, I'd find it.

The thought of stealing a body and forcing another soul into it should have horrified me, but it didn't, all I could think of was bringing Luke back. I was prepared to do whatever necessary to see Luke at my side again. I was no longer that healer, that naïve girl who walked into the magic store. I had gone through the rituals, gone through the chaos, and all of that had changed me. I could feel a deep well of anger and violence in my core that hadn't been there before. I was becoming everything my parents had despised and hated.

I wrapped my arms around my body, pushing away my doubts and indecision for just a moment, and looked out toward the cemetery.

"Whatever it takes," I vowed.

And as I said the words, I felt a chill run across my neck and a ghostly touch slide down my cheek.